Questions on Occupancy for First time buyer

[Stewart May]

Hey everyone. I came across this site and need some help. I have a client looking for my advice but I haven’t come across this specific situation before.

A newly married couple (both first-time buyers) went into contract on a house as a primary home but wanted some major upgrades (House is totally fine but they had big plans for their dream home). The contractor came back and the price is much more than anticipated. They still want the house and plan to live there but need more time to come up with the money for the renovations.

They brought up the idea of renting it while saving money for a year to do the renovations they want.

I know they don’t have another 10-15% to put down as a rental property or they would just pay for the renovations now.

Any thoughts on this? Again, they are first time home buyers, not looking to scam anyone and will occupy the house eventually but I do know they have to sign something saying they will live in it for a year, which will more than likely not be the case.

They want my advice and I came across this string hoping to get advice from others in the industry since I haven’t personally dealt with this before.