Straight talk on mortgages from a loan officer who's done it for 10+ years.
Keeping your current home as a rental while buying your next one sounds simple in theory. In practice, whether you can actually use that future rent to help you qualify depends heavily on one thing most buyers never think to ask upfront: what type of loan are you using for the new purchase? FHA and conventional financing handle this exact scenario very differently, and the gap between them is bigger than most buyers realize.
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If you're planning to buy your next home while keeping your current one as a rental, Fannie Mae just rewrote a rule that directly decides how much house you can qualify for. On September 2, 2026, Fannie Mae issued Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2026-08, and buried inside it is a real overhaul of how "departing residence" rental income gets calculated, not a minor technical tweak.
Here's one of the most stressful situations in real estate: you've found the home you want to buy, but your money is tied up in the home you still own. You can't comfortably buy the new one until you sell the old one — but if you wait to sell first, you risk losing the home you love, or ending up with nowhere to live in between.
Talk to Nate directly — no forms, no call centers, no runaround.