Can I live in a home with a DSCR loan?

No. DSCR loans are business-purpose loans for investment property only. You sign an affidavit at closing confirming you will not occupy the property, and moving in would breach the loan terms. Second homes and primary residences need a conventional or other owner-occupied mortgage.

The reason is regulatory. A loan on a property you live in is consumer credit, subject to ability-to-repay rules that require the lender to verify your income. A DSCR loan skips that verification, which is only legal because the loan is for business purposes. Occupying the property removes the exemption the whole product depends on.

Lenders verify with a lease and rent deposits or a post-closing occupancy review. If you later need to move in, refinance into an owner-occupied loan first. Living in one unit of a duplex does not qualify either; that is a house hack, financed conventionally or with FHA.