Posted: 3/2/2010 7:59:44 PM EDT
| Has anyone ever had a a VA Mortgage Loan? Pro's and Con's please. |
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Original loan in 2000 no hassles decent fixed rate didn't have to go with an arm. Re-fi 2009 no appraisal no credit check just a new lower rate. But that's my story I,m sure plenty of people get fucked. You pulled off a re-fi using a VA Certificate, without appraisal ? wow, I may have to check that out. |
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The VA does not 'loan' the money in a VA Loan. The VA simply acts as a 'backer' for you to the lending bank. VA Loan for my 400K house in 2005, Re-Fi to another VA Loan (Wells Fargo both times) in 2008. No PMI, now a rate of 4.0%, and I did not have to pay the 2% admin fee because I am 30% combat disabled. Good deal all around. Just remember that the max you can use for a VA Loan is $417K which includes the 2% admin fee. |
| Also make sure you have a NOBE available, and know how the funding fee's work. Decide how much you want down (0, 5, or 10) as that will effect your funding fee costs, do the math to find which one works best for you. Also realise that the Reserve side, is for pure reserves (no deployments, no 214's). The best part of it is teh no PMI, however, if you plan on flipping the house within a few years, tehn the VA is not the way to go, as you "prepay" your PMI up front. If you plan to live there for a long time, tehn do VA, as your funding fees put you ahead of PMI after 4-7 years. |
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Very easy process, no money down, . Good point, with conventional and FHA loans, you'll need some cash up front, or your payments get goofy. The VA type loan allows you to purchase with no down payment, if you desire (reference funding fees), and will allow you to roll the funding fee into your loan. I beleive you will still need to come up with closing costs, etc., unless you negotiate tehm to the seller, or into the loan itself. One thing to notice, is that USAA is very expedient on getting a pre app. utilising the VA type, whereas commercial banks take a couple weeks. |
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Original loan in 2000 no hassles decent fixed rate didn't have to go with an arm. Re-fi 2009 no appraisal no credit check just a new lower rate. But that's my story I,m sure plenty of people get fucked. You pulled off a re-fi using a VA Certificate, without appraisal ? wow, I may have to check that out. We re-fied at the end of 2009 (Nov/Dec) and we had to have an appraisal. But it was just a "drive-by." He took some pictures of the house and neighborhood. No inside checking. It was nice to get an updated valuation though. |
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I know of nobody who has gotten "fucked" by getting a VA loan. There are extra hoops to jump through, but it is a good program. Those that got "screwed", didnt have all the qualifiers. Make sure your real estate agent is aware that you are financing through VA. The liason from the VA recommended some real estate agents in my area and i ended up useing one of them. It helps to know they come with the VA's endorsement, and it keeps them honest to know i will endorse them again. |
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I am on my second one.
Pros: No down payment required (government guarantees the loan). Must pay a VA "funding" fee unless you are a disabled vet. VA funding fee is 1 or 2% but can be rolled into the cost of the loan. No mortgage insurance required. Save big money. As such, all you need cash wise is enough to cover the closing costs. Cons: Hard to find lenders willing to do one. Expect to have a slightly higher interest rate since lenders don't really like them. |
| Thank you for your service. Overall a good benefit to veterans. There are limits on the amounts and just keep an eye on your property tax payments with the municipality. Sometimes the vendor of the loan for gets to pay them, It has to be a primary or secondary residence also. remember the VA guarantees the loan does not issue it most cases. Do the math versus a fixed rate conventional to be sure. |
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I took over a VA loan on my first house. The lenders are the problem, not the VA.
The rate was lower than usual for this loan, and it worked out fine. Except for drama involving Germania Bank (DO NOT RIP), and the mortgage business in Florida that serviced the loan after the government closed Germania down permanently. Late 80's to 1992 time frame. |
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i just taked to my county va rep who said the va loan only covers 25% off the loan. what the hell is this. i thought the loan was good for 100%. bullshit. True. The thing is that 25% will keep you from having to have mortgage insurance. It is also a buffer for the bank in case you don't do your part in making payments. There has been a lot of changes the last few years but I recently sent for and received my certificate from the VA and the 25% part is how I understood it also. |
| I have purchased 4 homes with my VA Home Loan benefit and have refinanced the one I am in now without a hitch of any kind. If you have it and don't use then you are losing out on one of the few benefits that Uncle Sam gives, or you earn, for you service to this country. The only down side to a VA loan is that it can only be assumed by another vet after they qualify. Good luck on your first home purchase. |
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I love not having to pay Mortgage Insurance, and it dropped the payment down significantly. I had to sell my home, prior to buying a new one to get a new VA loan...and my Mortgage Company did almost all of the foot work....so it wasn't too bad. Last time around, I got a 4.85% 30 year fixed, which wasn't bad. |
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i just taked to my county va rep who said the va loan only covers 25% off the loan. what the hell is this. i thought the loan was good for 100%. The VA GUARANTEE"s 25% of the loan value, just like PMI does. The loan, which you get through a Commercial Bank, is for whateer value you need. The VA does NOT give you any money for teh laon. The VA does NOT issue the loan. The VA Guarantee's (Mortgage INsurance) teh loan. |
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i just taked to my county va rep who said the va loan only covers 25% off the loan. what the hell is this. i thought the loan was good for 100%. bullshit. True. The thing is that 25% will keep you from having to have mortgage insurance. It is also a buffer for the bank in case you don't do your part in making payments. There has been a lot of changes the last few years but I recently sent for and received my certificate from the VA and the 25% part is how I understood it also. The maximum guaranty amount (available for loans over $144,000) is 25 percent of the 2010 VA Limit shown below. Therefore, a veteran with full entitlement available may borrow up to the 2010 VA Limit shown below and VA will guarantee 25 percent of the loan amount. http://www.homeloans.va.gov/docs/2010_county_loan_limits.pdf |
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Quoted: Has anyone ever had a a VA Mortgage Loan? Pro's and Con's please. Dude, I did it and loved it. NO PMI! In 2001 there were cheaper rates, but all of them had big fees. I was able to buy the house, reap the housing bubble, then re-finance with a non-VA loan for several points lower two years later. |
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It's a no brainer unless you have 20% or more down payment, then it's smarter to go Conventional. (says ARFCOM'S in-house Mortgage Broker) A good point, with 20%, you don't need PMI. Also do your homework on your down payment, for example, using 100K, by putting 5% down, you go into the next % bracket of funding fee, and by putting down $5K, you reduce your fee by $800, so if you have teh cash available, put some down, and it's like getting free money back. What I found interesting, is that by putting down 10%, you don't receive as much of a step discount as you do from 0 to 5%. |
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Bought my house with a va loan a couple years ago through USAA. Very easy process, no money down, and no PMI. Nothing but good things to say about the whole deal. Mine was a nightmare. the VA portion went well, and didn't have to pay the funding fee (disability). USAA did not have the final down payment amount until the DAY OF CLOSING. How the hell are you supposed to have cash/check/wire for the closing amount, if they don't tell you what it is???? First they told me one amount. Then over the next month of getting stuff squared away, that number slowly doubled. I asked, and would never receive a decent answer. they blamed it on software, and this and that. Finally, they day of closing, they give me the final amount, and it is within $100 of the original amount. Here I am shitting bricks, and they wait till the last minute to tell me that the closing costs really aren't going to be the double that is listed. Then there's the taxes. They waited till a month after they were due. I called and harped and pleaded, and they claimed they were researching and would take care of it and they would cover any late fees. Yeah.... they covered em all right.... out of my ESCROW. for the first 8 years, USAA was awesome. But I refuse to use them for anything else, and will get rid of them entirely as soon as practical. Sorry for the rant. I am happy with the VA portion of the loan. No mortage insurance... decent rates. |
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I bought a house almost a year ago with a VA loan.
No complaints here. Rate was 5.25%, which everyone tells me is good for a first time home buyer. Also didn't have to make any down payment. If I had to make a large down payment I wouldn't have been able to afford the house. My only gripe was that I had to cut my realtor a $2,500 check for earnest money. I was under the impression I would get it back at closing, however there was some limit to the fees that the seller would cover and it ended up eating up my earnest money. This isn't a VA loan issue, more like a clueless realtor issue. |
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Has anyone ever had a a VA Mortgage Loan? Pro's and Con's please. HAHAHAHAHA! Have fun with that. I would rather go to my local organized crime outfit for a loan than the VA. Wow nice to make a blanket statement with nothing to back it up  You are clearly a financial genius. Why don't you do everyone a favor and limit the amount of "advice" you give.
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Has anyone ever had a a VA Mortgage Loan? Pro's and Con's please. HAHAHAHAHA! Have fun with that. I would rather go to my local organized crime outfit for a loan than the VA. Wow nice to make a blanket statement with nothing to back it up You are clearly a financial genius. Why don't you do everyone a favor and limit the amount of "advice" you give.He's an anti-military troll. Put him on your ignore list. 
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How about defaulting on a VA loan? Is there any attempt by the VA to recover the 25% from the homeowner? I'm under the impression you'll still have to deal with teh bank. THe VA's program is insurance, and they're liable for 25% of teh loan value. Since I haven't heard of any instances where teh PMI company tried to sue a foreclosed homeowner, I would ahve to say no. Like any other insurance, those funding fees from 10 guys makes up for the 1 who screws up. Plus, IIRC, teh insurance part takes effect after teh bank has settled your home, ie; your loan was 100K, you owe 90K, bank sells house for 90K< no insurance payout. You owe 90K, house sells for 60K, insurance pays out. Then again, I'd defer to mcnilsen, as he's a mortgage dude. |
| A lot of brokers don’t like doing them because they aren’t familiar with them. I went to a broker that would. I’m glad I did a VA loan. There are some restrictions attached, but they are mostly for your protection. For example, to refinance you have to get a full point lower, otherwise the cost of the refi, wouldn’t be justified. |