Plan on a year. The standard conventional loan documents include a one-year occupancy commitment, with room for genuine life changes. When you buy with a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac conventional loan, the security instrument you sign says you'll occupy the home as your principal residence for at least one year after moving in, unless your lender agrees otherwise in writing or extenuating circumstances beyond your control come up. So the one-year figure people quote is real. It's written as an intent you're committing to, with those two exceptions built in. The exceptions exist for honest situations. A job relocation, a family change, circumstances that genuinely shift after closing: that's what they cover. What they don't cover is planning from day one to rent the home out quickly. If that's the plan, finance the home as an investment property from the start, because otherwise you'd be signing an occupancy statement you never intended to honor. Selling is a different question. You can sell at essentially any point, even right after closing, as long as you understand the cost of selling that fast. Between agent compensation and closing costs on the sale, a quick turnaround can easily wipe out any gain, so run the numbers before you count on one.