Here at Gracie Morrow Mortgage Group, it's our duty and pleasure to educate all branches of the military of the benefits of owning a home. Sadly, there's a huge percentage of veterans who don't even know they have a excellent benefits to purchase a home or even refinance their existing home. Unfortunately, there are plenty of mortgage companies that lack the knowledge about the program. There are a lot of misconceptions about the entire process.
What exactly is a VA Loan?
VA Loans Is a guaranteed loan by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs. Designed for acitve-duty military. Veterans, and their families, this loan requires zero money down.
VA Loan Requirements
- Served 90 consecutive days of active service during wartime (or less if you were discharged for a service-connected disability.
- Served 181 days of active service during peacetime
- Served more than six years with the National Guard or Reserves (or 90 days under Title 32 with at least 30 of those days being consecutive)
- A Certificate of Eligibility, or (COE,) serves as that proof. Your COE will have the entitlement amount on it so the lender knows exactly how much the VA will give them if you were to default.
Veterans are only allowed once chance to use their VA home loan benefit *FALSE* - Veterans can use their benefit multiple times throughout their life. Guidelines may apply; however, there is actually no limit.
Veterans are only allowed one VA loan at a time *FALSE* - VA benefits can be used to purchase a home that is now being rented and you did not use all of your eligibility, you can apply the remainder to a second VA home loan.
Veterans are only allowed one VA loan at a time *FALSE*- VA benefits can be used to purchase a home that is now being rented and you did not use all of your eligibility, you can apply the remainder to a second VA home loan.
Vets have to be discharged or retired to use their VA Loan benefit *FALSE* - Active service members get full access to the VA mortgage benefit, too! (After 181 days of continuous service or 90 days during Gulf War period for active duty personnel.)
Widows or widowers of Vets are not eligible for the VA loan benefit *FALSE* - Surviving spouses of fallen veterans who died on active duty or as a result of a service-connected disability may be eligible for a VA loan.
Members of the Reserves or National Guard are not elebigble *FALSE* - Members of the Reserves or National Guard are eligible after six years of honorable service.
VA Loan Pros
- Very low mortgage rates
- Absolutely no down payment is required
- No mortgage insurance
- Very lenient about credit scores
- 15– and 30–year fixed–rate loans available
- Adjustable–rate mortgages available
- One– to four–unit homes are allowed; you can rent out additional units as long as you live in one
VA Loan Cons
- Minimum service history required to qualify
- Upfront funding fee required, ranging from 1.4% to 3.6% of the loan amount (though this can be rolled into the mortgage instead of paying upfront)
- The home must be a primary residence
Header Photo by Craig Adderley from Pexels
