The quote she got has nothing to do with where she earns her income. Occupancy is what drives pricing here: primary residence, second home, or investment property. Whether this is her first, second, or fifth property does not drive the rate either. The question the pricing hangs on is what the Miami home will be to her. If the house would genuinely be her main home base, it can qualify as owner-occupied regardless of where her paychecks come from. We have closed plenty of loans for people who live and work far from where they buy, including remote workers whose employer confirms the arrangement in writing, and people whose careers keep them traveling while a U.S. property is their real home. The test is whether it is realistic that this home becomes her primary residence rather than a rental or vacation home. So the higher rate she was quoted almost certainly reflects the file being priced as a non-primary residence, and the loan officer explained the reason poorly. If she can support that the Miami home is truly her primary residence, the pricing should follow that occupancy. A second look at how the loan is being structured is worth her time, and that is exactly the kind of thing we work through on a free Roadmap conversation: about 20 minutes where we run her real numbers.