Question on primary residence vs. investment property loan

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Hi All,

Writing with a question on a fairly specific situation and hoping someone may have some insight on how to proceed - we are first-time homebuyers, looking to purchase a single family home (house or townhouse) in the next several months, in the D.C. area (most likely N. VA). We live and work overseas, though are originally from / legal residents of VA. No real estate ownership at all presently. So... the soonest we would occupy the home would be 3 - 4 years from now. It is also possible that we would never actually live in the property, depending on our work assignments in the future (career foreign service, so going back to D.C. is likely, but not definite). In the interim, the goal is to have the home rented as soon as possible after closing on the sale. I am not sure, based on research I've done so far, whether we could qualify for a primary residence mortgage under this scenario, or whether it would have to be an investment property loan instead. I want to make sure we represent our situation honestly and in keeping with whatever rules surround the loan classification process, in order to avoid any potential issues with lenders. Any insights / experience here would be much appreciated. Thank you.