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VA Loans are the best mortgage options for serving military personnel, military veterans, or surviving spouses of military personnel who died in active military service. These loans have incredible benefits that make them stand out above other home finance options, such as low-interest rates and no down payments. Deserving veterans looking for their first homes or investing in a second should immediately turn to the VA Home Loan.

What is a VA loan

VA loans are a unique loan type guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, differentiating them from standard mortgages. For example, if the borrower defaults on a conventional loan, the government will pay back the amount on their behalf. VA Loans, however, do not request down payment because the loanee must finish the loan.

Private entities, such as banks, credit unions, or mortgage companies manage this affordable veteran-designed home finance option. VA loan lenders do not require down payment, provided your loan application does not exceed the approved limit for the area where you want to buy a house.

Eligibility for VA Loans

To qualify for VA loans, you must be active-duty military personnel, a qualified veteran, or the surviving spouses of military personnel killed in active service. If your spouse died from a service-connected disability or is a prisoner of war, you are eligible. Reserve and National Guard personnel are also qualified.

Private lenders offer the VA Home Loan to help eligible past and current service members easily purchase their dream homes. You must meet length-of-service requirements to be qualified and have the following:

  • Served 90 consecutive days of active service during wartime, or
  • Served 181 days of active service during peacetime, or
  • More than 6 years of service in the National Guard or Reserves

Other eligibility criteria that you should keep in mind are:

  • If you are a surviving spouse of a service member who died while on active duty or from a service-connected disability, you must not have remarried or remarried after the age 57 or Dec. 16, 2003
  • While there is no minimum credit score for VA loans, some lenders may set basic requirements for credit and income
  • Also, the property you want to buy must be your primary residence and should satisfy safety standards and local building codes

How Do VA Loans Work?

If you meet the eligibility requirements highlighted above, your next step would be to select a lender of your choice and complete the VA mortgage application process through that lender. Many banks and conventional loan companies offer VA loans. You’ll also find others who have licensing to serve VA loan borrowers.

Our team at Valoansforvets specializes in offering VA loans to qualified veterans and active-duty service members looking for an affordable option to purchase a home. Most lenders will consider your income and debts to evaluate your ability to repay the mortgage. Note that not all properties are eligible for purchase with VA loans.

The home you want to buy must meet the VA minimum property requirements. A VA-approved appraiser will evaluate and estimate the value of the home to ensure compliance in this regard.

VA Loan Limits

In 2021, the VA loan limit in Phoenix, Arizona, is $548,250 for a single-family home. This figure is the same for all U.S. counties. However, if it is an expensive or valuable area, the limit can run as high as $825,500.

Both limits outline what the government’s guarantee covers. If you want a higher amount, most lenders will ask that you make a down payment. Therefore, the VA loan limit is the maximum amount you can borrow without making a down payment. Therefore, you can apply for a VA loan amount above the county limit, but you’ll have to make a down payment.

Types of VA Loans

  • VA purchase mortgage: Qualified service members can buy a home without a down payment.
  • VA cash-out refinance: This allows you to replace VA mortgage or conventional loans with another VA loan.
  • VA interest rate reduction refinance loan (IRRRL): Also called VA streamline refinance, this is an ideal home loan solution for lower interest repayments. To do this, you replace the current VA mortgage with a VA loan and refinance from an adjustable to a fixed rate.
  • Native American Direct Loan (NADL): With NADL, eligible Native American veterans can purchase loans to buy, build, remodel, or refinance a home on federal trust land.

VA Loan Funding Fee

While VA loans do not require mortgage insurance or initial down payments, getting one attracts a VA funding fee. The government set the funding fee to cover the foreclosure cost if a borrower defaults. The rate for the VA funding fee depends on your down payment and whether you have requested a VA loan before.

The fee typically ranges from 1.4% - 3.6% of the loan. Borrowers can either pay this fee upfront or carry it into the loan. It will become part of the monthly payment you’ll be paying.

Advantages of VA Loans

  • No down payment or mortgage insurance required
  • VA mortgage lenders offer competitive mortgage rates
  • Closing costs are not more than 1% of the loan amount

How to Begin the VA Loan Process

After you find a trustworthy lender for veterans, there are three items you need to accomplish to proceed with the VA Loan process, which they will help you complete:

  • Get pre-qualified for the VA Home Loan
  • Obtain a COE (Certificate of Eligibility) to prove to the lender that you meet the VA Loan requirements
  • Unless you are on active duty, locate a copy of your DD214 document.

Get Started with Your VA Loan Today

When you apply for a VA Home Loan, our Highly Motivated Vercellino team will reach out within one hour to discuss your home buying needs. We would be honored to advise you on your best financing options and walk you through the loan process.

Begin Your Personalized Loan Journey

Video Transcript

Hey, ohh rah warriors… Jimmy Vercellino here, United States Marine Corps Veteran and your very own highly motivated, truly dedicated producing branch manager and trusted advisor specializing in VA Loans.

So today I wanted to roger up with all my veterans and active duty service members and talk about the VA Loan process and how to get started. So you want to us a VA Loan right? So welcome to the very best mortgage loan financing type- in full disclosure I have a full biased opinion here but I think our VA loan cannot be touched for a number of reasons right? And I’ll talk a little more about that here in just a little bit.

But before I do I wanted to ask you a favor. If you find that the information that I share with you today is of value, would you consider showing your love by hitting like and subscribing to this channel so that way you and I together can educate more veterans and active duty military and dispel a lot of the myths that exist out there with our VA home loan benefit?

Good to go? Alright, lets get started. So the VA home loan- why do I say it’s one of the most competitive loans that’s available in the market place and in my personal opinion THE BEST LOAN is because it’s the only 100% financing loan that’s available in the market place today that you and I as veterans can purchase a home up to any loan amount or any purchase price, so long as we’re eligible and qualify for that loan of course- any loan amount and any purchase price with no down payment and no private mortgage insurance, allowing us as veterans to have a low 30 year competitive fixed rate mortgage.

So those are just a few reasons why I love our VA loan benefit. But how as Veterans do you and I get stated with this process? Easy to talk about it, but what are the first steps? So allow me to explain. The first step that’s going to allow you as the veteran or active duty service member to be ready to roll is to is two things- the first is get a copy of your DD214. If you’re active duty don’t worry about it but If you’re a veteran- get a copy of your DD214 and we as the lender are going to make sure that on box 24 you have been honorably discharged and you’ve served your full enlistment. So from there we’re going to get a copy of that dd214.

Then the next step is to get something called a C.O.E. (Certificate of Eligibility) and that form is so incredibly important and the reason why is because now its going to say you’re eligible for your VA loan. Alright? So there’s a couple of ways you can get that- you can go to your E-benefits portal and request a copy there. You can request a copy from VA.gov, or you can go to your mortgage originator who specializes in VA Loans- somebody like myself, and they can request a copy for you as well.

So now we’ve got our DD214, our certificate of eligibility- now Veterans it’s the third step. We need to get pre-qualified. So make sure you roger up with a mortgage lender who specializes in VA loan and you get that process stated by submitting an application.

From there what the mortgage lenders going to do is- he’s gonna run your credit, they’re gonna ask you for things like W2’s, bank statements, pay stubs, and then they’re going to certify your prequalification letter and prequalify you for a specific amount, so you can go out and start shopping for a new home that’s in line with your monthly budget and your cash, to close among other things.

So that’s a little bit about the beginning steps on how to get pre-qualified for, or I should say, how to get started on the VA loan process and eventually get you pre-qualified.

\Would you do me a favor? If and only if you found this information to be of value today would you consider showing your love by hitting like and subscribing to this channel so that way you and I together can spread the good news about VA loans and help more veterans achieve home ownership.

My name is Jimmy Vercellino. If you have more questions, feel free to visit my website at VALoansforvets.com. Thank you and may God bless you for your service to our great country. Semper Fi.