1 year FHA residency requirement

[David A.]

Hi all! I know there's a one-year period where an owner must occupy their FHA (3.5% dp) purchase, but curious how flexible that is. I bought a home with a 3.5% down payment on an FHA loan on December 20, 2019 and moved in that day. If I want to purchase my next home with the same FHA loan, does that mean I can close no sooner than December 20, 2020?

I guess a couple loopholes I'm seeing around the internet that make me ask this question - I know that there's a 30-day grace period to move into a home, so I'm wondering if I could close on this new home NOVEMBER 20, 2020 instead? I also see some language around having to live in an FHA loan property for "at least half a year", so does that mean at any point after JUNE 20, 2020, I would have been able to purchase a new home with this kind of loan?

I just know there's probably some nuance here, so with the November/December 20 deadline coming up pretty soon, I wanted to hopefully get a little clarity, as that means I'll be starting looking again pretty soon. Just want a more concrete timeline and to not run into issues when trying to close. I'm not sure if this is even something that a real estate agent/atty will consider at all during the closing process or if ensuring the residency requirement is being met is a job from someone else in the background,  but... :D