True VA Loan Occupancy Rules (Is There Really a Length Requirement?)

[Chris Kay]

Hi everyone, new to investing here but I've used the VA loan 3 times now and have had 2 at once so I have a good understanding of how it works. My dad and I (both with access to VA loans) are about to get into the multifam game and how we proceed is really going to depend on the true occupancy rules for the VA and our lender. So, this whole "you must live in the property for 1 year" claim that we see online seems to be completely baseless. Just read under Occupancy: https://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/docs/admin26/handbook/Chap...

All the VA says is that you must intend to occupy the property within 60 days, and there are even exceptions to that. There is nothing about how long you need to occupy the property for.

So unless our lender puts a demand on us I see no problems legally in occupying each property for any amount of time to fulfill the requirement, then rinse and repeating this process up to our full entitlements, so long as the lender is willing to keep giving us loans. Between my dad and I that is $1.6 mil in entitlement (minus my current house) for 2025.

Has anyone gotten more than 1 VA loan in the same year or come up against problems with this strategy? My realtor is reaching out to local lenders now to ask questions so I'll see what they tell me directly but I'd rather buy more sooner than later if we can.