Conventional/Investment Financing prior to using FHA (Owner Occ)

[Troy B.]

Hello All,

In a lunch discussion with fellow investors, we generated some unresolved questions. I will keep this brief and I hope this discussion will help future readers. The more we look into the topic, the more misinformation we are finding.

Question: 

Can a person purchase a non-occupied residential property using a conventional/investment mortgage (Non owner occupied, 1-4 units, 25% down) and still retain their eligibility to use an FHA backed mortgage (owner occupied, 1-4 units, ~3.5% down) on another property?

Cliff:

Person owns SFH rental, non occ. Can they obtain an FHA mortgage (Typical or 203K) for a primary residence to occupy? Also, are their any caveats to this "yes" or "no" answer?

Thank you!