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Yes, the terms of the loan were for a primary residence thus they expected me to actually live there. If I recall it also stipulated it had to be my primary residence for some amount of time.

Basically, they wanted to make sure I wasn't getting the mortgage to buy a commercial property since that would have had different terms associated with it.

Ah cool, thanks!

Yep. It’s tied to U.S. housing subsidies. Basically the Federal Government wants people to own their own home so they subsidize home loans. But to help prevent people from using the subsidies for 2 houses or rental properties they require you to move in within a limited timeframe.

It’s likely an owner-occupied mortgage rate. Mortgage rates are lower for properties you live in vs ones you want to rent out (seen as higher risk).