VA Home Mortgage Loans

You served your country, and at the very least in return for your service you deserve special home buying opportunities.  VA loans offer incredible home buying programs for qualifying active duty military and veterans.  This includes the potential of buying a home without any down payment, receiving lower rates, and other special loan terms offered exclusively to members and veterans of the US military.

Advantages of VA Loans

Below are some of the advantages that VA loans offer:

• 100% Financing – You may be able to purchase a home with no money down. The amount you can borrow without putting any money down varies from county to county, with most being the standard conforming limit of $726,200. For high cost areas, this number goes all the way up to $1,089,300.
• No PMI – Save thousands of dollars over the life of your loan by not having to pay private mortgage insurance, which is required on all FHA loans and conventional mortgages over 80% LTV.  This is a huge money saving benefit of VA loans.
• Competitive Rates – The VA backs your home loan which allows mortgage lenders and banks the incentive to provide you with special loans to finance your home purchase or refinance your existing mortgage.
• Less Credit Restrictions – VA loans are seldom denied a loan simply based off of a low credit score. If your “file” has redeeming factors you may still qualify for a VA loan in situations where you might otherwise be turned down. If you are refinancing, it is very important that you have 12 months with no late mortgage payments though.  Even late payments are not an automatic cause for denial though.
• IRRRL -Veterans that are currently in a VA loan may qualify for the IRRRL program. IRRRL stands for Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan. The VA IRRRL program is also referred to as a VA streamline refinance. This loan carries many benefits, such as low fees, lower than usual interest rates, and easy processing. These loans do not require you to submit an appraisal, and there is no requirements for credit review and underwriting.
• 100% LTV Cash Out Refinance – Veterans who quality for a VA loan may be eligible to cash out up to 100% of their equity. This is a significant “perk” of VA loans since other cash out refinance programs are restricted to 80% or 80% LTV. The VA mortgage cash out refinance also tends to have lower rates than most other cash out loans.
  

The amount of money that veterans can save using a VA loan is significant.  The combination of lower rates, and also not having to pay PMI, can potentially save you plenty of money overtime.

Would you like to see if you qualify for a VA loan?  We can help match you with a mortgage lender that offers VA loans in your location.  To have a VA lender contact you, request to get matched with a VA lender.

VA Loan Eligibility Requirements

In order to be eligible for a VA loan, you must meet the requirements that are established by the Veterans Administration.  Below are some of the basic requirements to get a VA loan:

• Certificate of Eligibility – VA loans are strictly available for active duty military members, veterans, and certain military spouses. The VA states that you must have served 90 days of active duty, or 180 days during peacetime. We can help you obtain your certificate of eligibility (COE), or you can submit VA Form 26-1880 to the Veterans Administration to receive your copy.
• Credit History–  There is a degree of flexibility in what sort of credit scores will be needed in order to qualify for a VA loan.  A borrower may be able to qualify even with no credit score.  Service members and veterans who have less than perfect credit will be glad to know that credit is not as important of a factor as it is with other loan products, such as conventional home loans.
• Income Requirements – You must be able to demonstrate the capacity to pay your new mortgage payment.  There isn’t any specific amount of income that is required.  What is more important is sufficient job history and a low enough DTI ratio (debt-to-income ratio).  Your mortgage payment and other monthly debts should not exceed 41% of your income.

These are just a few of the eligibility requirements for a VA loan.  To easiest way to find out if you qualify for a VA loan is to speak with a VA lender.  To have a VA lender contact you, request to get matched with a VA lender.