Moving out of owner occupied home early

[Charlie Miner]

Hello,

I purchased my first house hack September 1, 2022 and moved in immediately (day of closing) with an FHA owner occupied loan. I understand the requirement of needing to live in the home for a year before being able to fully rent out. I will be doing that, however my question is directed towards when can I close on my second house hack? I am beginning the house search process for property #2 and am wondering, is the earliest I can close September 1, 2023 (exactly 1 year later of initial closing/move-in date) or can I close any sooner? The reason I am looking to ideally close sooner is to start slowly moving in the new house while still maintaining my current property as my primary until 9/1/23. I am talking a matter of closing August 1 at the earliest as I do not want to be paying two mortgages at once.

Thank you in advance for any feedback or advice.

[Ryan Thomson]

@Charlie Miner love the plan to scale the house hacking. 

This would be a great question for your lender (I would ask a couple). 

The rules say you have to "intend to live there for a year". And the rules of the 2nd loan will also say you intend to move in within 60 days of closing. 

You should be able to close 60 days before the end of your first year with the intention of moving into the new house on the 59th day. This is getting very nuanced and detailed and at the end of the day if you are making your payments the lenders aren't going to care if those days are a little off. 

You will need to have a reason for leaving the first one and moving within the same area. The lender can help you with all of those acceptable reasons. Pretty easy to find one. For example "we want to upgrade".