Often, yes. But lenders rarely count the full rent, and the rules depend on your loan type. For conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae, starting with applications dated Dec. 1, 2026, a signed lease no longer counts for the home you're moving out of. The lender uses market rent, counts 75% of it, subtracts the old home's full payment, and can use any leftover only to cancel out that payment. FHA counts the rent only if you're moving more than 100 miles away. VA lets proposed rent offset the old home's payment.
Keeping Your Home as a Rental: At a Glance
- Conventional (Fannie Mae), applications dated Dec. 1, 2026 or later: a lease doesn't count for the home you're leaving. The lender uses market rent, counts 75% of it, and subtracts the old home's full monthly payment (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and HOA dues)
- Positive result? It can only cancel out the old home's payment. It can't be added to your income. Negative result? The shortfall counts as a monthly debt
- First-time landlord (less than 12 months managing a rental)? Fannie Mae requires six months of reserves covering the old home's payment
- FHA: rent from the home you're leaving counts only if you're relocating more than 100 miles away, with a lease of at least one year and, if you have no rental history, at least 25% equity
- VA: proposed rent can offset the old home's mortgage payment if the home won't be hard to rent. Lenders get a lease if one is available
- Lenders can be stricter than these minimums
Thinking about keeping your place? Have Hometown run the numbers on both homes before you list it or sign a tenant.
Why Does the Old Home's Payment Matter for Your Next Loan?
Two homes, two payments
When you keep your current home, your next lender counts its full monthly payment as a debt. That includes principal, interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance, and HOA dues. Fannie Mae calls this PITIA. Rental income can offset some or all of it, but only under the rules for your loan type.
That payment goes into your debt-to-income ratio (DTI), which is a big part of how much home you qualify for. Want a rough idea? Try our debt-to-income calculator with the old payment in and out. It's an estimate, not an approval.
Why lenders don't count 100% of the rent
Lenders don't count every dollar a tenant pays. Fannie Mae counts 75% of gross rent for a departing residence. FHA and VA also use 75% in their rental income formulas. So $2,000 a month in rent counts as $1,500 before the payment comes out.
What Is Fannie Mae's New Departing-Residence Rule?
What changed
Fannie Mae rewrote its rental income rules in Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2026-08 (Sept. 2, 2026, updated Sept. 23, 2026). It added a new section, B3-3.8-05, "Rental Income from Non-Subject Property: Departing Residence". Fannie describes it as "a new framework for departing residences that relies on market-supported rents, reserve requirements, and PITIA offset limitations rather than lease agreements."
When it applies
Lenders "are encouraged to implement these changes immediately but must do so for all loans with application dates on and after Dec. 1, 2026." The application date decides, not the closing date. Your lender may already be using the new rules. Ask.
Who it covers
A primary residence you'll move out of and turn into an investment property when you buy a new primary residence.
How market rent is documented
The lender can use any of these:
- a complete appraisal report that includes market rents,
- a Single-Family Comparable Rent Schedule (Fannie Mae Form 1007), or
- market analysis tools such as Zillow, Redfin, or the MLS, with at least three comparable rentals, from the same area or subdivision when possible
The lender also has to document your current housing payment. And one line in the rule settles the lease question: "Lease agreements are not permitted for any departing residence."
The math
Monthly market rent × 75%, minus the old home's full payment (PITIA), equals what Fannie calls adjusted monthly net rental income.
- If the number is positive, it can offset the old home's payment. That's all. It can't be added to your income.
- If the number is negative, that amount goes into your DTI as a monthly debt.
Reserves
If you have less than 12 months of experience managing a rental, the lender must verify six months of reserves covering the old home's payment. That's on top of any reserves required for owning multiple financed properties.
Duplexes and other multi-unit homes
Rent from units already leased to tenants follows Fannie's general rental income rules, and the lender needs your most recent federal tax return. The market-rent method applies to the unit you lived in.
This rule covers conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae. Other conventional programs may differ, so ask your loan officer which rules apply. More on conventional loans.
How Does the Math Work? A Worked Example
You're keeping a home with a full monthly payment (PITIA) of $1,900. Your new loan follows Fannie Mae's rules, and your application is dated on or after Dec. 1, 2026. Scenario A: market rent of $2,400. 75% is $1,800. $1,800 − $1,900 = −$100. Most of the old payment is offset, but $100 a month counts as a debt in your DTI. Scenario B: market rent of $2,800. 75% is $2,100. $2,100 − $1,900 = +$200. The $1,900 payment is fully offset, but the extra $200 can't be added to your income. Scenario C: you've already signed a tenant at $3,000. For this loan, the lease doesn't count. The lender uses documented market rent, as in A or B. Reserves if you're a first-time landlord: 6 × $1,900 = $11,400 set aside for the old home, on top of any other reserve requirement. FHA comparison, moving across the Wasatch Front (under 100 miles): the rent generally can't be counted, so the lender treats the full $1,900 payment as a debt.
Before you sign a lease or list the house, find out which of these scenarios fits you. The answer can change how much you qualify for on the next home.
Fannie Mae vs FHA vs VA: How Do the Rules Compare?
Conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae
- Applications on or after Dec. 1, 2026 use market rent, not your lease
- Count 75% of market rent minus the old home's full payment
- Any positive result only cancels out that payment — it's never added to income
- Six months of reserves for the old home if you've been a landlord for less than a year
FHA loans
- Count rent from the home you're leaving only if you're relocating more than 100 miles away
- You'll need a lease of at least a year and proof of the security deposit or first month's rent
- With no rental history, you'll also need an appraisal showing market rent and at least 25% equity
- The lender counts 75% of the lower of market rent or the lease, minus the payment
VA loans
- Let proposed rent offset the payment on your existing home if it won't be hard to rent
- Lenders get a lease if one is available
- In a very strong rental market, a missing lease doesn't automatically rule out the offset
FHA: What Is the 100-Mile Rule?
Counting rent
HUD's rule is direct: "If Rental Income is being derived from a Property being vacated by the Borrower, the Borrower must be relocating to an area more than 100 miles from the Borrower's current Principal Residence." The lender needs a lease of at least one year after closing and proof you collected the security deposit or first month's rent.
No rental history yet?
The lender needs an appraisal showing market rent (for a one-unit home, a standard appraisal plus Form 1007) and proof you have at least 25% equity in the home. It counts 75% of the lower of market rent or the lease rent, then subtracts the payment.
Moving within the Wasatch Front?
Ogden to Provo is under 100 miles. If your new loan is FHA, plan to qualify carrying both payments.
Can you keep an FHA loan and get another one?
FHA generally allows one FHA-insured mortgage on a primary residence at a time. HUD lists a few exceptions:
- an employment-related move to a new home more than 100 miles away,
- a larger family, when the current home no longer fits and its loan-to-value is 75% or less (or paid down to it),
- leaving a jointly owned home that a co-borrower keeps living in, and
- being a non-occupying co-borrower on someone else's FHA loan
More on FHA loans.
VA: Can Rent Offset the Old Home's Payment?
The rule
VA's regulation says: "Proposed rental of a veteran's existing property may be used to offset the mortgage payment on that property, provided there is no indication that the property will be difficult to rent. If available, a copy of the rental agreement should be obtained." In areas where the rental market is very strong, "the absence of a lease should not automatically prohibit the offset."
Offset, not income
The rent can cancel out the payment on the home you're keeping. It isn't added to your income.
Entitlement
If your current home has a VA loan, ask how much entitlement you have left for the next one. More on VA loans.
For Hill AFB families and anyone else on a transfer or PCS, the FHA 100-mile rule and the VA offset rule are the two to know first.
Before You List It or Sign a Tenant: What Should You Check?
- 1.Talk to a loan officer first. Ask which program you'll use and what date your application will carry.
- 2.Know the full payment on the home you're keeping. Pull your mortgage statement, property tax bill, insurance declarations page, and HOA statement.
- 3.Get a realistic market-rent picture. Under Fannie Mae's rule, expect the lender to rely on an appraisal, a comparable rent schedule, or at least three comparable rentals, not on what a tenant agreed to pay.
- 4.Count your reserves. Under Fannie Mae, that's six months of the old home's payment if you're a first-time landlord, plus whatever else the loan requires.
- 5.Using FHA? Check the 100-mile and 25% equity rules before you count on any rent.
- 6.Check whether you can rent it. Your HOA may restrict rentals, and a landlord insurance policy is usually different from a homeowners policy.
- 7.Run your DTI both ways, with and without the rent, using the debt-to-income calculator. It's an estimate.
- 8.Compare keeping vs. selling. Ask us to run both.
Pulling cash out of the old home first? That adds a payment the lender will count too. See HELOC options. And if you're building a rental portfolio rather than keeping one home, look at DSCR loans, which qualify the investment property on its rent.
What Should Utah Homeowners Keep in Mind?
A lot of Wasatch Front owners locked in low rates in 2020 through 2022. So when it's time to move up, a lot of them ask the same thing: can I keep this one as a rental? It can work. It just needs to be planned before the house is listed or leased, because the rent often counts for less than people expect.
We can't promise you'll qualify, or that rent will cover the old payment. What we can do is show you how the numbers look under each program before you commit to anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep my house as a rental and buy another home?
Yes, if you qualify carrying the payment on the home you're keeping, or if the lender can count enough rent to offset it. How much rent counts depends on whether your new loan is conventional, FHA, or VA.
Does a signed lease count as rental income on the home I'm moving out of?
For conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae with applications dated Dec. 1, 2026 or later, no. Lease agreements aren't permitted for a departing residence. The lender uses market rent from an appraisal, a comparable rent schedule, or at least three comparable rentals. Some lenders are applying the rule already.
How much of the rent will a lender count?
Under Fannie Mae's rule, 75% of the monthly market rent, minus the old home's full payment, including taxes, insurance, and HOA dues. A positive result can only cancel out that payment. A negative result counts as a debt.
Do I need reserves to keep my old home as a rental?
Under Fannie Mae's rule, yes, if you have less than 12 months of experience managing a rental. You'll need six months of the old home's full payment, on top of any other required reserves.
Does the December 1, 2026 date mean closing or application?
Application. Fannie Mae requires lenders to use the new rules for loans with application dates on and after Dec. 1, 2026, and encourages them to start sooner.
Can I use rent from my current home to qualify for an FHA loan?
Only if you're relocating more than 100 miles from your current home. You'll need a lease of at least a year and proof of the deposit or first month's rent. Without a rental history, you'll also need an appraisal showing market rent and at least 25% equity.
Can I have two FHA loans at once?
Usually not, but FHA allows exceptions. Examples include an employment-related move of more than 100 miles, a larger family when the current home's loan-to-value is 75% or less, or leaving a jointly owned home that a co-borrower keeps living in.
Can a VA loan count rent from the home I'm leaving?
VA allows proposed rent to offset the mortgage payment on your existing home if it won't be hard to rent. Lenders get a lease if one is available.
Does this apply to Freddie Mac, jumbo, or bank portfolio loans?
The Dec. 1 rule is Fannie Mae's. Other programs set their own rules, so ask your loan officer which applies to you.
"Thinking about keeping your home? Let's run both scenarios. Want to know whether you can keep your home and still qualify for the next one? Talk to Hometown before you list it or sign a tenant. We'll check how the lenders we work with will count the rent on your current home, which rules (Fannie Mae, FHA, or VA) fit your move, and what your application date means for you."
Start with a loan officer conversation, or look over your home purchase options first.
The Hometown Mortgage Co., 476 Heritage Park Blvd, Suite 200-B, Layton, UT 84041. NMLS# 2645893. Utah DRE Mortgage Office License # 14186007. The Hometown Mortgage Co. is not affiliated with or endorsed by Fannie Mae, HUD/FHA, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. This article is general education, not a commitment to lend, and not tax or legal advice. Information reflects our best reading as of October 16, 2026 (America/Denver) — program rules change; verify current figures before relying on them.