Phil: 0:00

Welcome to the first time home buyers podcast by LoanPros. Today. I want to talk about VA loans. I'm Phil Mastroianni and I'm a licensed mortgage loan originator as well as a licensed real estate agent. And I'm happy to help answer any questions you have I want to start off by just saying, we're only going to scratch the surface of VA loans on this one. There's so much depth to this program. There's so many nuances on eligibility and limits and things like that. So if it is something you're interested in, definitely listen to this episode and reach out, make sure that this is going to work for you and your situation. The department of veteran affairs, VA loan. Is an amazing loan program for our active duty and our veterans. Sometimes there's a misconception on where you can get this loan. You don't have to go to that credit union. That's tied to. a, military branch or anything like that. Most lenders are going to be able to do a VA loan. The department of veteran affairs VA offers a mortgage loan that can be used by those who have served or are presently serving in the military with no down payment required and no mortgage insurance. This is one of the best loans available. If you are a service member, past or present, thank you for your service. And I'd love to help you buy a home with this amazing program. Now, this was all due to the department of veteran affairs, which created this program in 1944. So this has been around for like 80 years, almost. It's part of the GI bill that was intended to help returning service members, purchase homes without having any money down. It's helped more than 22 million veterans realize their dreams. If you are a veteran or an active duty military member, interested in purchasing a home. Here's what you need to know. First for eligibility for a VA loan. If you're a current service member, if you've served for at least 90 continuous days, all at once without a break in service. You meet the minimum active duty service requirement For veterans, you meet the minimum active duty service requirement. If you serve for at least 24 continuous months. Or if you're a surviving spouse, as an example, there's a lot of different scenarios. So the best thing is talk to a loan officer and they can go ahead and help determine whether or not you are eligible for a VA loan. The next step is to get a certificate of eligibility, C O E from the department of veteran affairs, to confirm your eligibility. Most often your loan officer someone on their team's going to be able to request this from the VA. So don't worry about necessarily getting this doc. But you will need to make sure that you have your DD214 available. They're going to need that in order to pull that for you. Once you have your COE. Your DD two 14. And you filled out an application with your lender. You're ready to start shopping for a home. There is no technical minimum credit score required for a VA loan. But lenders may have their own minimum credit score requirements. Typically a lender will require credit score of 580 or higher for approval. I have though I have seen some get approved lower than that. But that is lender by lender. Now let's talk about the different types of VA loans. There's really just two main types of VA loans. The first is a purchase loan. These loans can be used to buy a home or to build a home. The second is a refinance loan. These loans can be used to refinance an existing VA loan or a non VA mortgage. There are several different types of refinance loans, including the interest rate reduction, refinance loan. IRRRL. And the cash out refinance loan. A purchase loan can help you purchase a home at a very competitive interest rate. Generally, you do not have to make a down payment or buy any mortgage insurance. To obtain a purchase loan. With the VA streamline refinance loan. You can obtain a lower interest rate by refinancing your existing VA loan. You can also refinance a VA adjustable rate mortgage or an arm into a fixed rate mortgage. Then the cash out, refinance loan. If you want to cash out your home equity so that you can pay other debt, pay for school, tuition, home improvements. Then the VA's cash out. Refinance loan may actually be an option for you. The cash out refinance loan can also be used to refinance a non VA loan into a VA loan. The VA guarantee loans up to a hundred percent the value of your home. So let's talk a little bit about some of the benefits of a VA loan. Well, there are a lot of benefits. The most significant one is that you can buy a home with no money down. This can be especially helpful for first time home buyers who may not have all the cash saved up for a down payment on their dream home. In addition, there's no mortgage insurance required with a VA loan, which can save you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan. Closing costs are allowed to be covered by the seller though, there are limits on how much they can charge you. Lastly, interest rates on VA loans. In my experience are often some of the lowest and typically lower than conventional loans because of their backing by the government. The VA home loan program is a great benefit for veterans, but there are fees.. There is a funding fee for first time veterans using this program. And also there can be funding fees and they might be higher if you don't make that down payment, depending on different eligibility circumstances. There's also situations where the funding fee is waived. For example, if you have a service connected 100% disability. Or are the surviving spouse of a veteran who died in service or from a service connected disability, you are not required to pay the funding fee. This funding fee is typically rolled into the loan. So it's not necessarily money. You have to come up with out of pocket upfront, but it does add to your monthly amount. There are loan limits. In a sense, veterans with their full entitlement. And that's from that COE can get a loan for as much as their chosen lender is willing to give them without anything for their down payment. If you are a veteran with an existing VA loan or you have defaulted one in the past, you will encounter a limit for the zero down payment loan. VA home loan limits are the same as the federal housing finance agency, FHFA limits. These are called conforming loan limits. Check out the current list at the link I'll have in the show notes here. In November of 2022, they just updated the 2023 numbers. We're looking at about $726,000. For a single unit property. If you're in a higher cost of living area, that cap is going to be over a million dollars. So for most people, this isn't going to be an issue. Any difference you can make up with a higher down payment. Now if you're an active duty or a veteran, you're thinking about buying a home, you want to take advantage of a VA loan. Flexible eligibility requirements, generous benefits, like no money down, no mortgage insurance. It's really pretty obvious to see why so many veterans and military members are taking advantage of this. So contact us today. We can pull your certificate of eligibility and find out exactly what we can do for you.