VA Home Loans

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United States Marine Corps Color Guard at the Iwo Jima Memorial

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The VA benefits are available to the active duty professionals and war veterans and, in certain cases, to their immediate families. There are more than 29 million veterans and service personnel who are eligible to receive VA benefits, including VA loans and VA refinance loans. The federal government has improved the VA loan program which has made it more attractive to the veterans. Apart from that, the VA loan limit has been raised to $729,000. As a result the veterans will be able to qualify for larger loan amounts as a part of their VA benefits.

 

Eligible people who can qualify for home loans using VA benefits

Here is a list of eligible persons who can qualify for VA benefits:

• Veterans
• Active duty personnel
• National Guard members
• Surviving spouses of active duty personnel who died while on duty
• Spouses of active duty personnel who are:
• (a) Missing in action
• (b) Captured by the enemy when on duty
• (c) Detained (by force) by a foreign power

Basic requirements to qualify for home loans using VA benefits

In order to qualify for a home loan or a refinance using VA benefits, the property should be your primary residence. Apart from that, you must meet the income and credit requirements as stated by the lender. You should have a minimum credit score of 600-620 in order to get a VA mortgage or a VA refinance loan. If you don’t have the required income or credit score, VA lenders can reject your loan application.

Steps to qualify for mortgage using VA benefits

• Get pre-qualified: Contact the local banks and financial institutions that participate in the VA program and get “pre-qualified” to know how much loan you can afford.

• Certificate of eligibility: You will have to obtain the “Certificate of Eligibility”. Your lender can help you get this online or you can even do it on your own.

• Contact a real estate professional: Look out for a real estate professional and find a home that you want to buy. You should make sure that the purchase and sales agreement mentions the “VA option clause”.

• Provide required documents: Once you have selected the property, you should formally apply for a VA-backed loan with the local lenders. You should provide the required documents like pay stubs, bank statements and so on to get the loan.

• Appraisal and loan processing: The lender will apply for VA appraisal and will start processing all the gathered information. This will help him decide whether or not the loan should be granted. In case of VA refinance loan, the borrower should have 20% equity in his/her property.

• Closing the loan: In the last step, the closing takes place and the property is transferred to you.

Home loans and mortgage refinance using VA benefits are preferred by the veterans because they are available at a zero down payment and low interest rates. As VA guarantees the loans made by private lenders, they are protected against any loss if the borrower is unable to pay off the loan. Thus, the down payment is not required and veterans can easily qualify for better mortgage terms and conditions.

Author Profile:

Rikk is the Community Member of MortgageFit. Not just that, he has also made notable contributions through the various articles written on different subjects related to the mortgage industry.To get mortgage refinance related help visit:http://www.mortgagefit.com/refinance.html