You can go out a rent yourself, and your rental will still count as a rental.If you are moving to Florida for a valid reason (new job, new business, be closer to parents, etc.) and can establish that this is not a strategic "move" (your child is enrolled in local school) you can buy a property in Florida as your primary residence.The rent credit will depend on your experience as a landlord and LTV of the outstanding loan.Hope this helps.Upen PatelMortgage Banker, VA Loan SpecialistNational Lender, Federal NMLS# 1374243

Lots of hype with no information. unless his family and dog and beginner real estate counts. 

With a 35 day closing every day counts. 

@Chris Wallace  I would not count on a HML coming to the rescue unless you have significant equity in the deal... most HML do not want to come into a half completed project  ( at least I never did)... if this is your back up   I would be pinging them right away to make sure your back up is actually a back up and not a wish and a prayer.

Yes, your property will probably appraise for more in the future, but I just count that as a bonus.

You can never count on tenants to be diligent with your property.  

And if you pre commercial thin you can create the necessary ring counts and knots to jump into an export grade log which will bring 20 to 40% or more in value than a domestic log.So if you combine this with the same buying principals that most of us RE folks look for IE a deal day one..

They told me I should just "count it at a loss" Lost $580.

Count me in for another inquiry on "Why Chicago?"

Count me in!