Generally no. FHA and VA assumptions carry the loan's occupancy requirement forward, so the person assuming usually has to intend to live in the home as their primary residence. The details: - FHA. For loans closed on or after December 15, 1989, the assuming borrower must intend to occupy the home as a principal residence (or a HUD-approved secondary residence). Loans closed before that date can be assumed for investment, but that is a narrow and aging exception. - VA. The person assuming certifies intent to occupy the home. A non-veteran can assume a VA loan, but the seller's VA entitlement stays tied up in that loan unless the assumer is an eligible veteran who completes a Substitution of Entitlement. Per VA rules, the seller's entitlement is freed only by paying the loan off or by that substitution, which matters a lot to the seller's ability to use VA again. - Qualifying still applies. Credit and income underwriting happen on an assumption, and the servicer has to approve the buyer. Confirm current occupancy rules with the servicer, since agency guidelines change. Whatever the loan type, you also have to cover the gap between the existing balance and the purchase price, in cash or a second loan, and on an appreciated home that can be a very large number. The honest practical note: assumptions draw a lot of interest for the locked-in rate, and relatively few actually close. Servicers are slow, the process is clunky, and the cash-to-close gap sinks many of them. If you are weighing an assumption against a new loan, we are glad to run both side by side in a free Roadmap conversation.