Hi. My husband and I purchased a triplex last year and have been living in one of the apartments. We recently had our second child and I am feeling cramped and would like to purchase a single family home for us to live in. We thought we could get another FHA loan, and we thought we could buy something after 1 year of living in the rental... but we talked with our mortgage agent who said we can not get another FHA loan, and to qualify for another mortgage we have to be landlords for 2 years! Is this true? Also, how much $ do we have to put down on a regular mortgage loan... 5%?

5%? Not these days... from what I understand its now 20% MINIMUM and they are real strict about it. I don't know about how long you would have to be landlords... but your second loan is going to be a higher than average rate. And expect to have your income verified like it never was the last time.