– Are you in the military and thinking of using your VA eligibility to purchase a home? In today's video I'm going to be covering the top 10 military and
veteran home loan questions that you've been asking. And if this is the first
time that we've met? My name is Sean Uyehara,
Sales Manager with loanDepot, helping you finance your
homes all across America, whether you're thinking of
purchasing or refinancing, buying your first home, or if you're a seasoned
investor looking to build your real estate portfolio or
purchasing a vacation home, we've got you covered
all across the country.
Don't forget, you can hit
the description below. There's links to more information on how to get your mortgage right. Number 10. How do you purchase a
home in the military? It's the same process,
like any other purchase, the first step, you always
want to get pre-approved to make sure that you
know, what you qualify for, what those numbers are going to look like, especially if you're relocating to another part of the country. Just so you have a good
budget to understand what your new payment's
going to look like. I would definitely recommend
working with a lender who is familiar with VA loans.
There are certain nuances that a lender must take into account when
doing a pre-approval upfront. And if you're working with a lender that isn't familiar with that? That could be something
that could potentially make or break your deal. Once you get pre-approved, you definitely want to get with a realtor, especially if you're looking to relocate to another part of the country, or for some of you that we've spoken to, you're actually coming back
to the states from overseas. I think an agent who has the
ability to do a video call or video conferencing is very important because as you're making your relocation, especially coming from overseas, you need somebody who can
get out to the property and probably hop on FaceTime or something to at least show you what
the actual home looks like.
And I think another important
part is accessibility. Like I mentioned, some of
you have reached out to us, and you are looking to
relocate back to the states. So the time difference
can become a problem, and it can be a little challenging. So having somebody who's able
to text and accommodate you for whatever time zone you're
in, that's also a big key, whether it'd be a lender
or a real estate agent. Number 9. Can you get a loan if you
are active duty military? As long as you've been
active for 181 days, and you have your
certificate of eligibility, you are eligible to use your VA loan, or if you've been in the
national guard or the reserve for at least six years.
And again, if you have your
certificate of eligibility, you could qualify for a VA loan. Now, if we are considered in war time, you only have to be active
duty for at least 90 days. So there's three different criteria that you could potentially meet if you are active duty in order to utilize your VA eligibility. Number 8. How much income do I need for a VA loan? There is no cap on the
amount of money you make, or there is no minimum as to
the amount of money you make. Like any other pre-approval, we will look at what
you are currently making in order to qualify for your mortgage.
So make sure you keep
your documents handy. We're going to look at your
last two years of returns, we're going to look at your
last 30 days of pay stubs. Make sure to keep that
handy for your lender so they can figure out your
DTI in order to calculate how much home you can purchase. Number 7. What are the disadvantages of a VA loan? In my opinion, the only disadvantage is a VA loan is only for
your primary residence. So if you are looking to
purchase investment properties, you can't use your VA eligibility to purchase a rental property. Now I've seen many of
our clients in the past. They use their VA to move into the home, and after a couple of years, maybe they're getting stationed somewhere else across the country. So they do sometimes turn that property into a rental to maintain it. And then they may use
conventional or FHA financing, or even maybe another VA loan to purchase wherever they get relocated to. So there are ways to turn
your property into a rental, but when you purchase it upfront, you cannot use a VA loan to buy that home as strictly as an investment property.
Number 6. Can my girlfriend be on the loan? The answer is no, you
can only have your spouse be a co-borrower on a VA loan. So if you've got a mom, dad, aunt, uncle, they wouldn't be eligible
to go on the loan. We'd have to look at
another type of financing, whether it be FHA or conventional. So only your spouse would be
entitled to be on the loan with you in order to qualify. Number 5. Can I use my VA loan
for my son or daughter? Again, the answer is no. It has to be your primary residence. And again, if you are
looking to buy a house with your son or daughter, we would have to look at
some sort of other financing like FHA financing or
conventional financing. But, strictly on a VA loan, you've got to be the primary borrower, and it's got to be your primary residence. Number 4. Why do realtors hate VA loans?
I think a lot of the hate really just comes from misunderstanding. Many agents out there
don't do a lot of business in order to see the benefits of a VA loan.
For example, realtors think
that VA appraisals are horrible. When in actuality, VA is the only loan where the appraiser will
go out to the house, and if they don't think the house is going to come in at value of
what your contracted price is? They will then issue a
Tidewater to the lender that allows the lender to
go back to both agents, buyer and seller and say,
"Hey guys, the appraiser is not going to come in at value. Here is your opportunity
to give us your comps, your comparable sales, as to
how you derived your price." That is the only loan that
allows you to do that.
On FHA and conventional, the appraiser's going to
come back with their value and then you have to figure it out. So in my opinion, that
is an amazing opportunity to validate the value,
especially if you're in a challenging market
where maybe the seller is trying to push the value on the home. Another reason why realtors
don't like VA loans is because they look at the
veteran putting no money down as that person being an inferior borrower, which honestly ticks me off
because it has nothing to do with the qualifications at all.
Like I've mentioned in a lot of my videos, as a veteran, you've earned
the right to use this program. There is no detriment to you because you're putting no money down. That's the way the program is written. And it's not against you at all. I've done loans from countless veterans that have lots of money in the bank, and they have amazing credit scores. Why not utilize the
ability to purchase a home with no money down if you
have every right to do so? Another reason why realtors
don't like VA loans? I think a lot of them assume that the loan's going to take longer than 30 days to close. When an actuality, a VA loan
doesn't take any much longer than an FHA or a conventional loan. In my opinion, a lot of agents that don't truly understand a VA loan, they are going to look at
it in a negative light, but I think if they were
to do more business, in terms of helping veterans, or took the time to
understand the program, I think they would be bigger advocates to help veterans get into homes.
Number 3. Why you shouldn't use a VA loan? In my opinion, the only reason why you would not use a VA loan
is if you can't qualify for whatever reason, whether it's your credit score, your debt to income ratio or anything that's holding you back from qualifying. If you have the ability
to use that loan, to me, it is one of the greatest ways in order to purchase real estate and start building your real estate wealth. You really can't argue with the fact that you can buy a house
with no money down, or very little money out of pocket in order to purchase a home. If you looked at home values
over the last several years, prices have only been
going up every single year, which means if you had to put money down, that's more and more money that you have to come out of pocket.
So why not utilize the one
program that's literally in your favor where you
don't necessarily have to put money down to buy a house? You can't beat that opportunity. Number 2. Who pays the closing costs for a veteran? In a perfect situation,
the seller would cover all of the closing costs for the veteran. So you truly don't have
to come out of pocket with any money, other than maybe
your earnest money deposit, which if the contract
is structured properly, you could actually get
money back at closing. So it truly depends on
the market that you're in, it depends on the agent
that's working for you and it depends on the seller.
So we've had opportunities
where we ask the seller to cover all of our clients closing costs. Again, that doesn't always happen. So sometimes the veteran does
have to come out of pocket with some cash in order
to close on a home. But again, that is why,
like I mentioned before, in a lot of my videos,
strategy is super important. And also having a realtor by your side, that's going to advocate and fight for you and knows how to negotiate, can help minimize your
out-of-pocket expenses when it comes to your
closing costs for a veteran. Number 1. Do military get discounts on homes? I have seen some organizations out there provide closing costs
or some sort of rebate to help veterans get
into their properties. I think this is a great way, again, to help the veteran and really
say thank you for the service that you provide to
all of us as Americans. It's the least that we
can do to say thank you to help you get into a house. I would definitely do some research and see if there are
organizations out there that are willing to offer some
sort of discount or credit in order to help you get into a home.
If not, I have seen realtors out there offer something back to the veteran, just to say, thank you again, to help you for everything
that you've done for us. Those are the top 10 questions that you've asked about VA home loans. Don't forget, you can
check out this playlist to learn how to get your mortgage right. If you still have additional questions? You can always comment
below, I'm here for you. And my name is Sean Uyehara. I'll see you on the next video..
Sell your Home for a $5000 flat Fee Full service Soldier to Soldier
