Obtaining a home loan for the purchase of property can be stressful and a massive experiment in red tape. Military veterans can avoid much of this with VA loans.
Advantages of VA Loans over Conventional Loans
If you have not served in the military, getting a home loan can be maddening. The amount of documentation you have to supply can be shocking. After you submit the first pile of documents, the lender may ask for more. After a while, you start to wonder if you are applying for a home loan or seeking passage through the pearly gates. For veterans, getting a VA home loan is shockingly simple.
One of the major advantages of a VA loan is the application process. It is so simple, one tends to laugh when going through it. The first step is to contact the local VA office and apply for a Certificate of Eligibility. Upon approval, you will go house hunting and find the home you wish to purchase. You then contact a VA approved lender. The lender will order an appraisal, pull credit and ask for income statements. Basic closing tasks are undertaken such as title checks. If no issues arise, the lender issues the loan and you move in.
In many situations, the VA has created an even quicker process for veterans to be approved. One of the lengthier tasks in a loan approval can be the appraisal process. To shorten this up, the VA has a program known as the Lender Appraisal Processing Program. Lenders approved for this program can essentially accept the appraisal as a carte blanche valuation and issue a loan on the amount. This can greatly speed up the approval process for veterans.
An additional advantage of VA loans concerns the out of pocket cost to actually purchase a home. Whereas most non-military borrowers are looking at a ten to twenty percent down payment, VA loans often require little or no down payment. This allows veterans the opportunity to purchase a property without having to go through the process of saving up funds for a down payment.
Private mortgage insurance is the bane of most borrowers. Most lenders require PMI when a borrower fails to pay at least 20 percent of the sales prices as a down payment. PMI is required because the lender wants to cover the risk of the loan being defaulted on before there is much equity in the property. There is no PMI requirement for VA loans, since there is no risk with the government guaranteeing repayment. This advantage can save a borrower thousands of dollars.
The above represent only a few of the numerous advantages one can get with a VA loan. Contact your local VA office to find out more if you have served in the military.
Sergio Haros is with Great Western Mortgage - San Diego mortgage brokers.
