Starting with FHA and Refinancing with Conventional

[Brennan Hile]

I'm looking to buy a duplex with FHA and then refinance to a conventional loan at some point. I plan to live at the property for at least two years. Could anyone share their experience with starting with FHA and then refinancing. How long did it take? What would you do differently? Did you start out wanting to refinance and then decide to keep the FHA loan?

Thanks for the help!

[Chris Mason]

Originally posted by @Brennan Hile:

I'm looking to buy a duplex with FHA and then refinance to a conventional loan at some point. I plan to live at the property for at least two years. Could anyone share their experience with starting with FHA and then refinancing. How long did it take? What would you do differently? Did you start out wanting to refinance and then decide to keep the FHA loan?

Thanks for the help!

In the trade-off between rate and fees/points, keep the fees/points on the FHA purchase to a minimum, even if that means a higher rate. It's not worth "buying down" the rate if you know you will be refinancing in a few years.

It's not possible to speculate, however, on if you will have sufficient equity in 2 years to refinance. Omaha and Oakland experience vastly different rates of real estate appreciation.