Here's my situation:
My wife and I want to buy a home in Navarre, FL. We want to live in said home for less than a year and then rent it out for about 5 years before selling. We were looking to borrow about $200K. Our credit is great and we have zero debt (thanks to deployments/remote). I'd like to go through USAA, as they have been great to me in the past. What mortgage type would you recommend?

As an aside, we planning on moving after that "less than a year" and we would like to buy a second home (which will then be our primary residence) wherever we end up. Thank you in advance for your help.

Hi, I'm a real estate agent in NC.

I would get a loan that I could afford on one income, if possible. 30 year, fixed loan.

I would look at possible foreclosures since there are so many on the market.

Also, make sure you find a "tough" management company to handle your property once it becomes a rental especially if you will not remain in the area.

We are about to refi our 30 yr fixed to a 15 yr fixed. I would recommend a 15 yr over a 30 yr to anyone, especially at the rates today. We dropped a little over a point in interest for the refi.

Of course though, you plan on footing the bill for two mortgages soon (since you cannot always count on renters or 100% occupancy) and having a higher mortgage payment might hurt you in qualifying to purchase another home.

Other than that, I would highly recommend a 15 yr over a 30 yr. Its going to be tight here but I think its totally worth it.

To the original poster, I recommend you get the cheapest, lowest rate loan you can get with a fixed rate. Then do the same thing when you go to buy the next house. However, make sure your loan officer can pre-qualify your debt ratio in advance to make sure you will be able to afford it down the road.

I recommend against the 15 year loan for your purposes. Rental properties that you know you are going to sell need to be producing income while you own it.

Paul
See my profile for contact information