House hacking, school, loans

[Allyson Mitchell]

I am a traveling healthcare worker and my two major goals are buying multi family properties and going back to school. I either want to go back to school August 2025 or August 2026. It is a very specific one year program that will allow me to make a lot more money in a full time position.

My questions are regarding timeline. I want to buy a house next summer, at that point I will be a traveler for 2 years so I will hopefully appear stable enough to get a loan. Ideally I would want an FHA loan. Would I be able to get a loan if they know I will be without a job for school for a year soon after. I already will have enough saved to make the payments for an entire year while I am in school so if I provide them proof of that will there be an issue? Do I even have to disclose that to them as long as I get the loan before I start school and continue to make payments on time? If I still buy a house next summer but don't start school until 2026 and continue to travel for work, I believe most FHA loans require you to not rent out your permanent residence for the first year following your loan? I was also reading that you have to physically be at the address 6 months out of that year? So could I travel for work 6 months out of that year as long as I am not renting out my primary residence while i am gone, and then live there 6 months? Can I air bnb it in the first year while I am gone, that would be renting so I feel like maybe not? And of course I want it to be a multi family property so no matter what the scenario is, I can always have the other units rented out correct? After the year is up can I house hack the side I was living in like normal? I know I mentioned FHA loan, would the same rules apply to a different loan? Would there be any reason for me to not get an FHA loan and put down a bigger deposit, any benefits to that? I'm sorry this is probably confusing with all my statements with question marks. I'm really just looking for confirmation on what I think I know, advice, clarification.