When does one year Owner Occupancy start?

[Kyle Hoorn]

Hello,

This is kind of a novice question but I am trying to accelerate my "bank hacking"  by buying owner occupied homes as fast as possible for the next few years as I am still in my 20's and is easier now. Without getting into mortgage fraud territory. As owner occupant you are required to live in property for 12 months.

When I got my first two mortgages, the last one I closed on January 7th 2021, but my first payment was not due until March 1st. I moved into the house on jan 14th.

Does my 12 months of owner occupancy start when I move in or do I have to make 12 payments as owner occupant to fulfill my OO mortgage requirements? Sure this is only a 6-7 week difference, but doing this 7 times adds at least 42-49 weeks over the course of 7 years, which would allow me to buy one extra house as OO in that time.

I know it's not a huge difference in time but the terms are so good as OO that I am trying to get as many of those loans as I can before 35 at which point I will relax into a more permanent house.

I enjoy my career and don't see myself leaving it to do RE full time. Acquiring OO loans over the course of my life is how I plan to acquire RE. So just trying to figure out how to accelerate this a bit. I know it's not the fastest way to build but I enjoy what I do and don't want to give that up. 

Thanks for your help