Does being on the road three weeks a month break the owner occupancy requirement on a house hack?

Question

Here is a scenario worth working through. A buyer is closing on a two-unit property with an owner-occupied loan and the loan officer keeps using the phrase principal residence. The buyer's job has them out of state most weeks, sleeping in hotels, and they would genuinely be in the unit maybe eight nights a month. One forum answer says the rule is 51 percent of nights, which does not appear in writing anywhere. Another says it simply means the buyer does not own another house they call home. Those are very different standards, and nobody should sign an occupancy certification they are already failing on day one without knowing it. Which reading is right, and what does the lender actually look at?

brandonlee36 · Answer

The 51 percent of nights rule is forum folklore as far as anyone can document. What a borrower actually signs is an occupancy certification stating that they will occupy the property as their principal residence, move in within some window after closing, usually 60 days, and stay for a set period. Principal residence is about the property being your one home base, so driver's license, mail, voter registration and tax filings all point at that address. A traveling salesperson with no other house is a different picture from someone who owns a place in another state and stays at the duplex on weekends. Ask your loan officer to show you the actual certification language before you get to the table.

renee_dubois · Answer

Practical wrinkle on top of that: if you are gone three weeks out of four, decide now who handles a burst pipe at 2am. Onsite ownership is most of the appeal on a small building and you will not have it. The minimum before closing is a plumber and an electrician who will take a call from a number they recognize, plus a tenant next door who has permission to shut the main off.

jessreyes12 · Answer

The part I got wrong for months was thinking occupancy was something the lender checks up on later like a home inspection. It's a statement you make, and misstating it on purpose is the problem, not being out of town. Which is why I'd want your answer in writing from the lender rather than from us.

Does being on the road three weeks a month break the owner occupancy requirement on a house hack?

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