No more 3.5-5% down FHA loans for duplex-fourplex as of Jan. 19?

[Justin Homer]

Hi everyone, so I am new to real estate investing and am trying to get my first investment property. I am a real estate agent in MN but have only been doing that since August of 2018 so I am still learning a lot about how the industry works! My main goal right now is to owner occupy a duplex-fourplex and put down 3-5% through an FHA loan and avoid the whopping 20% that most investment properties require. My lender is telling me that this is no longer an option as of Jan 2019 and you must put down 20% for all FHA loans pertaining to any multifamily property, can anyone confirm or deny this? Thanks in advance!

Justin Homer

[Tim Swierczek]

@Justin Homer The other lender is definately not correct. You can get a 3.5% FHA duplex-4plex. The only thing I can think of is your lender may have recently had a buyer who wanted to have a cosigner on a duplex and that is not allowed at 3.5%, it requries 25% down (not 20%). Not sure where this person is getting their information. FHA's last guideline press release was put out a few days ago and has to do with 3rd party reports. They had another guideline release in November of 2018 regarding AirBnB style short term rentals, but this did not impact down payments. Feel free to PM me we can chat.