Clarification on FHA 203k loan

[Michael H.]

Hi BiggerPockets members!

I registered to this forum to learn more about real estate investing - specifically in single rehab homes or multi-unit properties.

I am currently living in the DC area. I would love to find a multi-unit home in DC but this is not realistic as home prices are too expensive which defaults me to the Baltimore area where there are several multi-unit properties. I would like to use a FHA 203k loan to rehab the property. I've done my research through this forum and it was unclear to me if you can use the 203k loan to fix up the rental units.

The 203k rules limit the rehab portion of the loan to the unit that will be the owner's primary residence. Is this true? Through this forum, it sounds like people are using the 203k loan to fix up the whole building as oppose to just the unit that the owner will reside in.