Co-Signer Required to Live in Property for Owner-Occ FHA Loan

[Marc Weisi]

I recently spoke with my lender about options for obtaining an FHA 203k loan on a multi-family here in NJ. Since I'm partnering with someone, my lender stated that FHA owner-occupied loans require both signers on the mortgage to live in the premises. This is a problem for my partner as he has a family that very much likes where they currently live. Is there any way to get an FHA loan with a partner without requiring them to ALSO live in the property (I'm looking to house-hack but he can't/won't)? That low down-payment and rate is too enticing for us to simply start looking for private/hard money if there's another option out there. Thanks for any guidance.