VA Home Loan

 

You’ve served your country now let your country serve you. Home loans backed by the Veterans Administration are the best loans available on the market today, but you must be a veteran to be able to utilize this great loan option.

VA home loans are available for both purchasing a new home or refinancing a current home. If the home is currently financed with a VA loan, then an Interest Rate Reduction Loan (IRRRL) is also available.

You deserve the home of your dreams.

Together we can make it happen!  Benefits of a VA loan are:

  • No down payment as long as the sales price doesn’t exceed the appraised value.

  • No private mortgage insurance premium requirement, saving you hundreds a month and thousands over the life of the loan.

  • VA rules limit the amount you can be charged for closing costs.

  • Closing costs may be paid by the seller if negotiated in the contract.

  • The lender can’t charge you a penalty fee if you pay the loan off early.

On a VA loan, the VA guarantees your loan to the lender against a foreclosure loss and there is very little interaction with the VA.  If any documentation is needed from the VA, as a lender we get that for you and correspond with the VA on your behalf.

Certificate of Eligibility

You can use your eligibility more than one time.  I have access to the VA website to obtain your Certificate of Eligibility for you.

Who is eligible?

Any member of the armed forces who served active duty anywhere from 90 total days or 181 continuous days depending upon the war time served. It’s also available to members who were not active duty but served a minimum of 24 months. Also any current active soldier who has served a minimum of 90 days is eligible.

Also those enlisted in the National Guard who were not called up for active duty are also eligible for a VA loan. Requirements are:
Six years of service in the Selected Reserve or National Guard, AND

• Were discharged honorably, OR
• Were placed on the retired list, OR
• Were transferred to the Standby Reserve or an element of the Ready Reserve other than the Selected Reserve after service characterized as honorable, OR
• Continue to serve in the Selected Reserve Spouses

Spouses

The spouse of a Veteran can also apply for home loan eligibility under one of the following conditions:

• Unremarried spouse of a Veteran who died while in service or from a service connected disability, or
• Spouse of a Servicemember missing in action or a prisoner of war
• Surviving spouse who remarries on or after attaining age 57, and on or after December 16, 2003
(Note: a surviving spouse who remarried before December 16, 2003, and on or after attaining age 57, must have applied no later than December 15, 2004, to establish home loan eligibility. VA must deny applications from surviving spouses who remarried before December 6, 2003 that are received after December 15, 2004.)
• Surviving Spouses of certain totally disabled veterans whose disability may not have been the cause of death

Refinances

The VA offers two types of refinances, a cashout refinance or an IRRRL

IRRRL – Interest Rate Reduction Loan

• In some cases, no appraisal is required
• Only mortgage history credit report is required when applying for an IRRRL
• No income verification is required
• An IRRRL may be done with “no money out of pocket” by including all costs in the new loan or by making the new loan at an interest rate high enough to enable the lender to pay the costs.
• When refinancing from an existing VA ARM loan to a fixed rate loan, the interest rate may increase.
• You may NOT receive any cash from the loan proceeds.

Eligibility

An IRRRL can only be made to refinance a property on which you have already used your VA loan eligibility. It must be a VA to VA refinance, and it will reuse the entitlement you originally used.

Additionally:

• A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is not required. If you have your Certificate of Eligibility, bring it to me to show the prior use of your entitlement.
• No loan other than the existing VA loan may be paid from the proceeds of an IRRRL. If you have a second mortgage, the holder must agree to subordinate that lien so that your new VA loan will be a first mortgage.
• You may have used your entitlement by obtaining a VA loan when you bought your house, or by substituting your eligibility for that of the seller, if you assumed the loan.
• The occupancy requirement for an IRRRL is different from other VA loans. For an IRRRL you need only certify that you previously occupied the home.