Short answer: often yes, but the VA occupancy rule is about your intent when you closed, not a promise to live there forever, so check your loan documents before you sign a lease.
- A VA loan requires the home to be your primary residence, generally occupied within 60 days of closing. That rule looks at the day you bought the home. It does not require you to stay for a set number of years afterward.
- PCS orders, deployments, and follow-on assignments are exactly the kind of life change the military expects. New orders moving you to a different installation do not undo the occupancy you already certified when you closed.
- Your loan servicer still has a say. Some loan notes include language about owner occupancy, and a servicer may ask a few questions before updating the file to reflect a renter. Read your note and call your servicer before you advertise the home for rent.
- Any entitlement tied up in that loan stays tied up while the loan is open. You can't apply the same entitlement to a brand-new VA purchase until this loan is paid off, or until you request entitlement restoration after you sell.
- Keep a copy of your PCS orders and your original move-in date with your loan file. If anyone ever questions the original occupancy, that paperwork answers it in one conversation.
Gene can walk through your current loan and entitlement with you so you know your options before your move, whether that's renting the home out or selling it.