First home purchase, VA home loan

[Lear6T]

Hey guys. My wife and I are planning on purchasing our first home and I would like to use my VA home loan. Does anyone have any input and or point me in the right direction. Thank you.

 

[qmaster3]

Where are you? I'm selling in June, and would love to sell private. As far as the VA we used it. I don't have any complaints. Don't use a mortgage broker, and shop around. I hear a lot of people trash the VA loans, because of the equity thing. Dunno, where I'm at the housing market's great. I will make money regardless. I know in the past the VA used to under appraise to help the customer (you) out, but think they ended up losing money this way. Get your VA eligibility certificate ASAP off the VA website. One last thing is don't be afraid to fire a few agents if you have to. Good luck to you, and let us know when the house warming keg is.

 

[Lear6T]

I am in the Fort Liquordale area. Hope to find something that would keep me
close to Fort Lauderdale Exec.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[Slim]

Lear6T,

I used VA for my first home. The process was relatively painless. You can put money down. Some assume the no money down feature is a requirement.

Before you get that loan...ask youselves the following...how long are we planning to remain in this home? Most first-time home buyers, statistically, will sell that home in 5-7 years. If that is your situation, look at an ARM. You have lower monthly payments and build equity while enjoying the tax advantages of home ownership.

My wife and I sold our first home in two years due to a job change. We did lose some money on that sale.

Like qmaster3 said, don't be afraid to fire some realtors if you have too! I fired one in the early 90s. The new realtor had my house sold in 6-8 weeks!

Good luck...fly safe!

 

[JungleJetCA]

Hey guys. My wife and I are planning on purchasing our first home and I would like to use my VA home loan. Does anyone have any input and or point me in the right direction. Thank you.

The advantage of a VA is you don't have to put money down, thus helping the first time military home buyer qualify for a loan. But it also tends to have a little bit higher of an interest rate since you aren't putting money down and the VA is basically taking on the risk of the loan. If you have the cash for a down payment, you should shop around for a lower rate. Just make sure you are putting enough down so that you don't have to pay mortgage insurance, thus negating the advantage of a lower interest rate.
With that said, I bought my first condo with a VA with no money down, built equity and was able to buy bigger and better later down the road. I was a long term holder and made it through some scary real estate dips that way and then sold it when real estate went back up. Good luck.

 

[Resume Writer]

I think the minimum down to avoid the mortgage insurance or PMI is 20%. When I purchased my house about 14 years ago, I went through FHA, which is kind of the same thing. We also bought this home as a HUD home (foreclosed on) and it was purchased as is. I would not suggest going that route. It was a total nightmare. We spent a ton of money getting the house fixed back up.

No matter which way you go, make sure you have a home inspector conduct a thorough inspection on the home you purchase. We never had the option to do that since we bought HUD. They will look at the plumbing, cabinets, roof, etc. This is helpful because you can get the price of the home down OR you can have the seller fix the problems. Most sellers will either lower the price of the home or they will give you credit toward your closing costs (assuming there are any with VA). The typical figure, depending upon what is wrong with the house, is about $1000.

Make sure you get a home warranty also. It will cover the heating, a/c, plumbing, roof, etc. The seller should pay for this (unless there is something different in VA).

Just my thoughts. If you want more information, go ahead and PM me.

Good luck!!

Kathy

 

['LUVIN LIFE]

I've noticed no one has talked about Navy Federal's Veteran's Choice program. I was going to use VA but then found out about this program. Same no money down gameplan, interests rates I believe are the same, and it actually has a lower funding fee. And the best part is they call the funding fee (I think it's 2%) points! That means it's tax deductible. Not a bad little perk. If you haven't already I would look into it, plus you get to save your VA for the future if you should ever need it. It's is NFCU's answer to the VA program with all the benefits of a conventional mortgage (read - higher borrowing limit if need be).

 

[767/757]

Congratulations on your future home purchase. Going the VA route may not be the most economical in the long run. There are some fees and prepaids that may be more costly than a no money down loan. Remember, whichever route you go to make sure that you finance at the most 80% of your purchase price for your home. If you do not, you will pay PMI which can become costly. If you are unable to cover 80% you can do a piggyback loan for the additional 20% keeping you out of PMI. The resulting 2 loan payments will be lower than paying one payment and PMI.



If you like, take a look at www.DomesticMortgages.com to check on rates and loan packages that I offer. If I can help you and your wife, please give me a call at 678 467 5393 or send me an email at [email protected].

 

[learherkjay]

Um, I just bought my first house in December with a VA. I put very few $ down - close to Zero down and I don't pay PMI. You do pay a funding fee, but no PMI on mine. And my interest rate was 0.25% higher than the lowest going rate back then. So, don't get scared by the VA thing.

 

[767/757]

Congratulations, Leatherkjay on you purchase-

No, do not be scared by "the VA thing." Just make sure you have all the facts. Good luck!

 

[Fury220]

I don't understand this program fully...


...is this like a guaranteed loan program for military members with bad credit/no credit histories or something?


Weird.

 

[mule]

If you can afford to pay the down payment of a conventional, avoid the VA loan. The funding fee for the VA is around 2%. Meaning, if you bought a $150K house, you will pay $153K. This doesn't make your payment jump a bunch, but it is basically like handing the VA $3,000 for their time.

We bought our first house with the VA. We ended up paying $400 after closing when we sold it 4 years later. If we would have forgone the VA, we would have had about $5,000 in our pockets (Funding fee + 3% deposit). It is kind of a pay now or pay later thing.

Navy Fed is the way to go. They don't charge PMI and have a 3% down program. The only problem is that you have to be in the Navy or stationed at a Navy base. It sounds like the Navy thing won't work for you, but you can do an 80-20 loan and avoid the PMI that way.

Good luck!