House hacking setup: Refi current primary and split occupancy

[Gregory Fluharty]

Goal here is to use the VA's 0% down on a multiplex and rent out the unit I'm living in after 12m.

The mental gymnastics I'm going through is how exactly that would work without committing fraud.

Can I refinance my primary residence 30yr conventional loan into an investment loan of some type and have my wife & kids live there while I live in a seperate primary residence (multifamily) to satisfy the 12m occupancy of VA loans?

Is there a defined definintion of occupany that mandates a set amount of days per month that I must sleep under the roof of my primary residence? I ask because it appears I can make this work by rotating occupancy throughout the 12m between my old primary (now refi'd to an investment property) and the new primary.

[Gregory Fluharty]

Quote from @Matt Devincenzo:

If your wife and kids aren't moving in with you, then it's not your primary. That isn't written somewhere specifically that way, but your lender will ask why you would move your primary from (for example) a 2,000 SF SFR to a 750 SF unit in a four plex? Your answer needs to make sense, and be true.

Also refi'ing your current primary into an investment loan also has the potential to be fraudulent if your family still occupies it as their primary. 

To the nuts and bolt question of what defines occupancy, it is the place you reside and spend the majority of your time/nights. So you need to live there. If you're going through mental gymnastics to make it work, then it probably isn't your primary. 

 I've had a lender more or less share similar wording to define occupancy. Case closed... thanks for the help everyone. Was looking to save where possible in this market but the method I proposed is not worth the consequences. 

looks like 20% down it is!