by rob on February 8, 2010
VA lending to active military and veterans remains the incredibly flexible, 100% zero down home loan it always has been as other types of home loans continue to significantly tighten their lending guidelines.
Here are some examples:
VA loan credit score:
You can still get a 100% zero down VA loan with a 600 credit score where FHA you need to be at 620 (in most cases) and sometimes 640. Conventional if you are putting less than 20% down you generally need a 720 credit score
VA loan cash out refinance
VA allows up to 90% loan-to-value on a cash out refinance where FHA and conventional loans do not allow you to go up this high on loan-to-value.
Debt-to-income ratios to qualify VA loan
VA is more concerned with a VA borrowers “residual income”, how much a VA borrower has left every month after paying income taxes, housing payment and other debt obligations. FHA and conventional home loans are more concerned with a borrower’s debt-to-income ratio. So a VA borrower can have a higher debt-to-income ratio than FHA or conventional loans would allow and still qualify for a VA loan.
So those are just three of many really significant areas where VA home loans have not changed and FHA and conventional loans have tightened substantially.
Some other highlights of VA lending:
- VA loan limits in many parts of California such as Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Orange County can go all the way up into $900,000 range with zero down
- VA loan interest rates on 30 year fixed home loans are still ridiculously low historically
- VA loan streamline refinances allow VA borrowers to drop their rate easily once they have a VA loan
Give me a call (858-922-7899) or email (homeloan8@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to apply for a VA loan.
Warmest Regards,
Rob Chomentowski
Sr. Loan Officer (and VA specialist)
858-922-7899
homeloan8@gmail.com
by rob on January 26, 2010
Remember if you go into contract by April 31st 2010 you get a $8,000 tax credit from the IRS. This is really an amazing once in a lifetime type of deal. You literally get a $8,000 check from the IRS. And if you are VA eligible you can get a VA loan with 100% financing.
One item to remember is that you have to live in the property for 36 months as your primary residence or your have to pay the tax credit back. However there are certain exceptions. If you are a military member and you are transferred to a different part of the county within the military, you may be exempt from this rule.
Also, you must have not owner a primary residence in the last 3 years to qualify for the full $8,000 credit. But even if you currently do own your primary residence and you are buying a new home, you can still qualify for a $6,500 tax credit.
Just think with a zero down 100% financing VA loan you can actually get a check for $8,000 to buy. You can actually make $8,000 by buying. This could be used to pay down debt, furnish your property, make improvements such as remodeling a kitchen or bathroom, or just put in the bank!
So if VA loan benefits and can get a VA loan, you may want to consider looking into it. Some advantages to VA loans:
- VA is the only major 100% financing, zero down home financing option available today
- VA loan credit scores do not have to be perfect to get the best VA interest rates
- Interest rates VA loans are STILL at historic lows
- VA loan limits in California cities like San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and more can get up very high to above $800,000 with zero down
- The guidelines to qualify VA loan are much more flexible than conventional and FHA loans
Give me a call (858-922-7899) or email (homeloan8@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to apply for a VA loan.
Warmest Regards,
Rob Chomentowski
Sr. Loan Officer (and VA specialist)
858-922-7899
homeloan8@gmail.com
by rob on January 18, 2010
If you are a VA eligible borrower you may want to take advantage of today’s incredible home prices in California and rent out your current primary residence and buy a new home to live in with a 100% financing VA loan. Remember, if you currently have a VA loan on your current home, you can’t get a second VA loan until that current VA loan is paid off. But if you do not have a VA loan and you are eligible for VA lending, what a great opportunity to use your VA benefits and buy a home with 100% financing at today’s bargain prices in California.
Here’s how it works. VA lending guidelines are very special in that they allow the VA borrower to use a lease on their current home to offset the housing payment to qualify VA loan. So if you current house payment is $2,500/mo and you can lease it up for $2,000, generally you can use 90% of that $2,000/mo lease amount to offset the $2,500 housing debt. And it will have to make sense to the VA underwriter that you plan to live in the new house. If you are moving from a very large house to a very small house they may question that. Or if you are moving further away from work they may question that. It has to make sense.
FHA loans and conventional loans are much more stringent. If a borrower wants to rent out their current home to buy a new home, they must have at least 25% equity in the home in order to count the proposed rent to help qualify for the new loan. So basically, unless they have 25% equity, they must qualify for the new FHA or conventional loan with BOTH housing payments. This is very difficult for most. But VA borrowers are very lucky in that VA does not have this 25% equity rule.
So take advantage of today’s low prices in California and get a California VA home loan on a new house you plan to occupy.
Some great advantages of VA loans:
- Maximum VA loans and jumbo VA loan up to $962,500 in the San Francisco Bay Area Counties, $593,750 Los Angeles, $437,500 San Diego, $593,750 Orange County (feel free to call for your county limit)
- VA loan credit score can be as low as 600 for 100% financing, you don’t need perfect credit
- VA loan interest rates for 30 year fixed loans STILL at historic lows
- VA lending has the most generous debt-to-income ratios – VA loans can allow upwards of 55% ratios where conventional with <20% down is 41% with min 720 credit
- Second VA loan (and third, fourth, etc…) available if you have paid off your first VA loan
- 100% financing on VA loans and the seller can pay all your closing costs, so you can buy with almost zero out of pocket
Give me a call (858-922-7899) or email (homeloan8@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to apply for a VA loan.
Warmest Regards,
Rob Chomentowski
Sr. Loan Officer (and VA specialist)
858-922-7899
homeloan8@gmail.com
by rob on January 14, 2010
When you get a VA loan to purchase a house the great thing is your are getting 100% financing, there is no down payment. This is the #1 of many VA loan benefits available only to veterans and active military. There is no other mainstream loan available that is 100% financing no money down.
However, when you get a VA loan to purchase a home, there are still closing costs to be paid. These VA loan closing costs are items such as:
- Escrow fees
- Title insurance
- Home insurance premium
- Property tax reserves collected by the lender
- Interest for the remainder of the month your are closing in
- Lender fees
- Appraisal fees
- Home inspection fees
First off, one great thing with VA lending is that when you get a VA loan, the seller must pay the escrow fee and the lenders processing and underwriting fee. Those are fees the VA borrower is not allowed to pay. However, there are still a significant amount of closing costs that remain that will have to be paid before closing on your house. Sometimes as much as 2-3% of the loan amount. There are still some ways to get around having to come out of your own pocket for closing costs. The #1 best way is to ask the seller to credit you 3% of the purchase price for closing costs. You can work with your real estate agent to write this into your purchase offer. If you can negotiate this, then you can have a no money down 100% loan AND not have to pay ANY closing costs! The nickname for this loan is the VA “no-no”. No money down, no closing costs.
Some other nice advantages of VA homeloans:
- To qualify for a VA Loan credit does not have to be perfect, even if you think you have bad credit you may still qualify for a VA loan
- 100% financing with VA lending – VA offers the only zero down loans today
- VA loan interest rates are at historic lows – the U.S. Government is artificially pushing down rates to stimulate the economy so take advantage of it while you can!
- $8,000 home buyer tax credit available until April 2010!
- VA homeloans allow the seller to credit you for all of your closing costs – so this + 100% financing means you can buy with almost no money out of pocket
Give me a call (858-922-7899) or email (homeloan8@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to apply for a VA loan.
Warmest Regards,
Rob Chomentowski
Sr. Loan Officer (and VA specialist)
858-922-7899
by rob on January 4, 2010
The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Home Loan is a very little known 100% financing home loan available to people buying homes in rural areas of California and the rest of the U.S. This is another option for those who qualify for VA loan, but may already have a VA in place and need another 100% financing solution (you can only have one VA loan at a time). There are many locations that are surprisingly considered “rural” according to the USDA. Even locations that are less than one hour from major California cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno, Riverside, and San Jose. The USDA home loan program is really a tremendous loan program that not many home buyers utilize because they just plain haven’t heard about it!
Some highlights of USDA Home Loan:
- 100% financing, ZERO down payment needed
- No monthly mortgage insurance (unlike FHA and conventional loans (with <20% down) that carry monthly mortgage insurance
- Excellent 30 year fixed interest rates at historic lows
- You do not have to be a first time buyer to qualify for a USDA loan
- Seller can pay for all your closing costs
Here are some additional requirements of USDA Home Loans:
- Your income needs to be within 115% of the area median income
- A USDA loan is only allowed on your primary residence
- USDA loans are for purchases only, not refinances
Below are some selected areas in California that qualify for USDA Loans. This is not an exhaustive list, just a sampling:
San Diego County
- Alpine, Ramona, Valley Center, Campo, Julian, Rainbow, Pauma Valley
Riverside County
- Desert Hot Springs
- Coachella
- Sun City
- Winchester
- Idyllwild
San Bernardino County
Imperial County
Sonoma County and Napa
- Windsor, Healdsburg, Guerneville, Calistoga, St. Helena, and much more
Contra Cost, Alameda, Solano
- Byron, Rio Vista, Isleton
Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, El Dorado
- Lincoln, Auburn, Ripon, Lathrop
Central Valley Counties
- Tehachapi, lots of the towns surrounding Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, Merced, Redding and more qualify
Monterrey, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura
- Boulder Creek, Scotts Valley, Moss Landing, Prunedale, San Juan Bautista, Paso Robles, San Miguel, Morro Bay, Solvang, Santa Ynez, Carpentaria, Ojai
So if you already have a VA loan on one property and you would like to get 100% financing, inquire about 100% USDA financing.
So give us a call or email today if you have any questions about USDA Rural Development Home Loans. Direct 858-922-7899 and email rob@affinity-financial.com.
Warm Regards,
Rob Chomentowski
Sr. Loan Officer
homeloan8@gmail.com
858-922-7899 (direct)
