Refinancing a Primary Residence that is House Hacked

[Khang Nguyen]

I purchased my current primary residence (Portland, OR) back in October 2019 with a conventional loan. We rent out the top portion of the house while my financee and I live in the basement. There is a separate entrance with a shared laundry room. We are working through a refi and the appraiser came by today to take a look at the house and he asked if I was renting out the top and I said yes. Then he says, "well that changes things" and I ask how so and he responds, "well now it would be considered an investment property."

So I'm a little worried that my refinance will get rejected now if they would consider this an investment property instead of a primary residence. This is what my mortgage disclosure papers say in the occupancy agreement (I checked the primiary residence box), "If the Borrowers have indicated that the Property is their primary residence, the Borrowers represent that they have no present intent to sell, lease, rent or otherwise dispose of said Property, upon occupancy of the Property they will not have any other permanent and primary residence, and the Property is not used for investment purposes." Not actually sure how this plays out if I'm owner occupying the space.

I'll hear back from the lender sometime next week but was just wanting to get any stories from others who have gone through a similar situation.