Planning to keep your current home as a rental when you buy your next one? You may no longer need a signed lease to document the rental income under Fannie Mae's new departing-residence guidelines. That change — outlined in Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2026-08 — takes the dated lease agreement out of the picture for a departing residence, replacing it with market-based documentation instead.
But before you celebrate, read the fine print. This is not a green light for every borrower, and it does not mean your old home's payment automatically disappears from your qualifying math. Fannie Mae still insists on rules that decide how much of that rental income counts toward getting you approved. Below is what this actually means, in plain language, for borrowers and the agents who guide them.
What exactly changed for a departing residence?
A "departing residence" is the home you already live in that you plan to keep and rent out after you buy a new primary home. Under older Fannie Mae rules, your lender usually needed a signed lease agreement to count that future rent toward your income. Under SEL-2026-08, that lease agreement can no longer be the way the income is established. Lenders must instead support the projected rent with market data instead.
That market data can come from a complete appraisal that includes market rents or a rent schedule, such as Fannie Mae's Single-Family Comparable Rent Schedule (Form 1007). Lenders may also rely on market-analysis tools, like Zillow, Redfin, or the local MLS, pulling rental comparables from the same market area when they are available. The goal is simple: prove what the home would realistically rent for, not just trust a lease you typed up.
Does this mean everyone qualifies now?
No — and this is the part worth reading twice. Under SEL-2026-08, the easier paperwork does not mean every borrower is approved, and it does not mean the departed home's payment disappears from your qualifying picture. The math stayed strict. Fannie Mae calculates your net rental income by taking 75% of the monthly gross rent and subtracting the departing residence's PITIA — the principal, interest, taxes, and insurance on that home's mortgage.
Think of it as a safety cushion. The lender assumes only 75% of the rent is a dependable number, building in room for vacancy and repair costs. If that net number comes out positive, it can only be used to offset the departing residence's principle, interest, taxes, insurance and any association dues or PITIA — it never adds extra positive income to your application. If the net number is negative, the shortfall is added to your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, which can work against you.
Walking through the math, in plain numbers
Here is how the calculation works with a concrete example. Say your departing home's mortgage payment (PITIA) is $2,000 a month, and market data shows the home would rent for $2,400 a month. Lenders multiply that $2,400 by 75%, which gives $1,800. Next they subtract the full $2,000 PITIA, leaving a net rental income of negative ($200). That $200 shortfall is added to your debt-to-income ratio.
Now flip it. If the same home rents for $3,000 a month, 75% comes to $2,250. Subtract the $2,000 PITIA, and you get a positive $250. That $250 can offset the departing residence's PITIA only — it chips away at the $2,000 payment in your DTI rather than vanishing. It never becomes extra income you can lean on for your new mortgage. That single rule — offset-only, no positive income — is the biggest surprise for most borrowers.
The reserve requirement for newer landlords
Here is the second real constraint. If you have less than 12 months of property-management experience, Fannie Mae requires you to verify six months of reserves to cover the departing property's PITIA — in addition to any other reserves your new loan already needs, per the departing-residence guideline (B3-3.8-05). Here is what that looks like in practice: for the same home with a $2,000-a-month PITIA, you would set aside liquid savings equal to six of those payments, separate from your down payment and closing costs.
"Property-management experience" means you have owned and rented out a property before, typically documented through Schedule E on your tax return. Lenders verify it through Schedule E covering the past 12 months; if you closed on a rental just last year, you may not have enough history yet. A first-time landlord — someone converting their only home into a rental — will almost always hit this requirement. The good news for experienced landlords with 12 months or more on Schedule E is that the added six-month reserve buffer is waived, because they have a track record to prove rents are collectible.
What this means for Realtors
For listing and buyer agents, this is real selling-point material if used correctly. When a move-up buyer asks whether they can keep their current home as a rental and still buy a new one, the answer is more encouraging than it was a few months ago — but honest caveats apply. The old lease choreography, rushing to secure a signed lease with a start date before closing, is no longer the linchpin it once was for a departing residence.
The rules are mandatory for loan applications dated on or after November 1, 2026, as spelled out in SEL-2026-08. Fannie Mae encourages lenders to adopt them immediately, so two lenders can be on different rulebooks during the transition window. That is exactly why referrals matter: a listing agent who understands the timing can steer clients to a lender already operating under the new framework, smoothing a transaction instead of stumbling through it.
What agents should not do is promise qualification based on rent alone. The 75% haircut, the offset-only rule, and the six-month reserve for newer landlords can still sink a file. The professional move is to tell the buyer the door is more open and then connect them to a mortgage expert who can run the real numbers before they fall in love with a house.
The bottom line for homeowners
The headline is genuine good news: if you are planning to keep your current home as a rental when you buy your next one, you may no longer need a signed lease to document the rental income. Market-rent documentation replaces it, and that is less friction for a lot of move-up buyers.
But the qualification math has not loosened. Your rental income counts at 75% of gross, only offsets the departing home's PITIA, and never adds positive income. New landlords face a six-month reserve requirement. The change is real — the discipline isn't. If this describes your situation, talk to a loan officer who knows the new rules and can run your exact numbers before you commit to a new purchase.
