FHA Strategy help needed!

[Joe Mende]

Hello everyone, I just had a quick question about FHA loans. I've been reading these forums like it's my religion and I came across a post recently about FHA loans and how the limit is 4. If I get married, can I still acquire 4 FHA loans and my wife acquire 4 more? Or would WE only be able to acquire 4 total? I know you can only be in one FHA loan at a time, but my goal was to basically acquire one per year and we just move after a year into a new place, hack it for a year...refi and move to the next spot.

[Andrew Postell]

@Joe Mende the good thing about Bigger Pockets is the amount of great information you can get. But every once in a while, there is some incorrect information too. And that person who posted was probably told wrong by someone else so don't take it out on them. Here's the rundown on FHA loans:

• You can receive as many FHA loans in your lifetime as you like.
• FHA does not allow you to have more than one FHA loan at a time UNLESS you have justification for it.
  • For example:  Your family grew and you need more room.  Or your job transferred you and you need a home outside of your pre-existing commuting area (generally 90 miles)
• So if you are moving from one home with an FHA loan and you are moving up the street, and your family size did not change, then you would need to do a conventional loan.
• But if you refinance that FHA loan into a conventional loan you could get as many as you need.
• Keep in mind that if you used 3.5% down on a duplex, a conventional loan will require you to have 15% equity to refinance.  If it is a single family home, then you would only need 5% equity.  So depending on the property you are house hacking this might have an impact on your ability to refinance.

There are a lot of rules to these so feel free to tag me if  you have any other questions.  Thanks!