Purchasing a Home with a VA Loan- Challenges and Opportunities

VA loans are hands down the best loans out there for opening doors with low purchase costs and payments.  You can purchase a home with no down payment. If your Realtor writes the contract correctly, you can often get a credit for closing costs also. So there is the opportunity.

Here are the challenges...The VA will only guarantee loans for homes that are in very good condition. Forget about fixer uppers. The way this works is that the VA appraiser "calls out" condition items that are not acceptable. Either the seller pays for repairs or the sale cancels. If the repairs are minimal, sellers are often prepared to pay. Unfortunately if the repairs are significant, sellers will often look for a buyer with conventional financing. This eliminates the need for repairs to satisfy the lender (with some exceptions).  So in a situation with a new listing or a multiple offer scenario, it can be difficult to buy an older home with a VA loan.

Here is my advice (from over 35 years as a Real Estate Broker). You and your Realtor can first look at available homes in good condition. After that, take a second look at homes in okay condition that have been on the market for over 40 days or so. The sellers of those homes may be more flexible about repairs once their home has been on the market for awhile. I recently closed a sale for a VA buyer under just such a scenario. The seller was resistant to making repairs however time on the market caused her to choose that path. I have also been involved in purchases where the sellers specifically selected an offer with a VA buyer. That's a rewarding transaction, when Veterans are acknowledged for their service with a true Welcome Home statement like that!

If you are a Veteran, you should definitely look into getting your Certificate of Eligibility so you can purchase a home. A local lender who specializes in VA loans can assist you in getting the certificate. It can save you some time. It's a good idea for you to check eligibility though. Here is that information on the eBenefits website benefits.va.gov_homeloans_eligibility

If you do not yet have a Realtor, consider looking for a Military Relocation Professional. Here is a web page where you can search for your Realtor - Military Relocation Professionals-find-mrp

If you are looking for a Military relocation Professional or just a great Realtor in the greater Sacramento area, please contact me! (916) 837-4500 or Pamela@ask-Pamela.com

A Little Known VA Benefit for Active Duty Veterans and Their Widows / Widowers called Aid and Attendance

The VA offers a little known benefit for Active Duty Veterans and their
widows/widowers called Aid & Attendance. If you are in this situation, or have a friend or relative who is, the following information may be important and helpful.

Veterans and survivors who are eligible for a VA pension and require the aid and attendance of another person, or are housebound, may be eligible for additional monetary payment. These benefits are paid in addition to monthly pension, and they are not paid without eligibility to Pension.

Since Aid and Attendance and Housebound allowances increase the pension amount, people who are not eligible for a basic pension due to excessive income may be eligible for pension at these increased rates. A Veteran or surviving spouse may not receive Aid and Attendance benefits and Housebound benefits at the same time.

It’s worth checking into if you think that you, a friend or a relative may meet the qualifications. Here is a link to the VA web page about the programs and the application process:

Aid and Attendance and Housebound Benefits

Here is a link for Information and Instructions for Completing the Veteran's Application for Compensation and/or Pension:

VeteranAid.org

If you are interested in the Reno Nevada area, I am familiar with a warm and wonderful Memory Care Community - The Arbors. If you, or someone you know, has the Aid and Attendance Benefit and needs a memory care community, you might check to see if this is a good fit. Here is  a link to their website and they get credit for the photos that follow (which were taken there): The Arbors Memory Care

Courtesy of The Arbors Memory Care

If the Holidays Are Rough, Know that Help is Available. Resources updated 12/10/2016...

Veterans, active duty military members, and also many first responders have to deal with PTSD (post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and it can be really challenging to deal with. The holidays tend to make things worse for some folks suffering from PTSD (not to mention depression and anxiety). Given this, I did some research and found a good blog on VA.Gov/VAntage. This post was written by L. Tammy Duckworth who is VA’s Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. She served in Iraq as a Blackhawk pilot and is currently a member of the Illinois Army National Guard.

Here is  a link to the blog which contains resources: www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage

 

If you would like to see a mental health professional in person, the Soldiers Project has a good number of locations. I am about to give you that link. If they do not have an office where you live, I suggest you contact them anyway concerning available resources. The help service members face these challenges by providing free, individualized psychological treatment to those men and women who have served in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts as well as their support systems: spouses, parents, children, grandparents, boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, and colleagues. Here is the link to The Soldiers Project thesoldiersproject.org

I also located some good information about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Holidays on the El Paso VA Health Care system pages. That post notes that "Social situations or large crowds can be stressful for someone with PTSD. Find out ahead of time who will be there and how many people are going. The more information you have the less unpredictable the situation will be"  See more at elpaso.va.gov/features/Coping_with_Holiday_Stress

In doing my research, I noted that there is lots of help available for veterans. Last and certainly not least, Here's information on the Veteran's Crisis Line. Their phone number is (800) 273-8255
Here's the link to their website veteranscrisisline.net

And The Soldier's Project offers

This link shows the locations of their offices. They include Sacramento which I am noting because some of my readers are here in the area.

Eligible Veterans and Service Members Can Buy a Home with No Money Down!

Good news for active and former service members is the availability of home mortgage financing backed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.  VA Financing for short.

If you are eligible for a VA loan, you can take advantage of some really great terms including no down payment.

VA Financing is one of the very few options available for no-money-down mortgage financing. Another benefit is that it is easier to qualify for a VA loan because debt-to-income ratios are more generous than for conventional financing.

Other benefits are:

• No private mortgage insurance (keeping your monthly payments lower)
• Loans are assumable by another qualified Veteran borrower.
• Borrowers may apply for a loan sooner after a bankruptcy

VA Financing can be used for homes, condos in VA approved complexes and manufactured homes. The home must be your primary residence and only property.

VA loans cannot be used for fixers or homes in poor condition. If you want to buy a home with VA financing your real estate broker can explain about defects and repair issues that will cause a home, or condo not to qualify.

Here in the greater Sacramento area, there are many homeowners who have taken advantage of VA financing. Perhaps you should join them! Here's a link to eligibility requirements from the VA. Please not that if you do not qualify for a VA loan, you may qualify for CALVET financing (assuming that you are in California). My next blog will address CAVET loans.

Thanks for reading my blog and let me know if I can help you find a home or condo. I am a certified Military Relocation Professional and want to help our veterans and service members find great homes for fair prices.  If you want to know more about me and my business, or communities in the Sacramento area, including the foothills, please visit my website at Ask-Pamela.com
Call me if you want to talk (916) 837-4500.

VA Loans are Available for Surviving Spouses of Veterans and Spouses of Service Members who are Missing in Action or Prisoners of War.

If you are the surviving spouse of a veteran, or the spouses of Service Member who is Missing in Action or a Prisoner of War,you may be here are eligible for a VA loan. VA loans represent a really good program.
 

First let me say that if you are a surviving spouse, or if your spouse is a POW or MIA, I am very sorry for your loss. I cannot even imagine walking in your shoes.  However I might be able to shed some light on an opportunity for you to buy a home with VA financing.

 

VA financing is one of the few options available for no-money-down mortgage financing. Additionally qualifying ratios are more generous than for conventional financing. So if you would like to buy a home, or a different home, let’s look at eligibility.  I am going to provide a link straight through to the VA web page about eligibility and also outline the basics here.
 

Here’s a link to the VA’s info on eligibility. 

 

The spouse of a Veteran can apply for home loan eligibility under one of the following conditions:

•  Unremarried spouse of a Veteran who died while in service or from a service connected disability, or

•  Spouse of a Servicemember missing in action or a prisoner of war

• Surviving spouse who remarries on or after attaining age 57, and on or after December 16, 2003 (Note: a surviving spouse who remarried before December 16, 2003, and on or after attaining age 57, must have applied no later than December 15, 2004, to establish home loan eligibility. VA must deny applications from surviving spouses who remarried before December 6, 2003 that are received after December 15, 2004.)

•  Surviving Spouses of certain totally disabled veterans whose disability may not have been the cause of death.

If you have questions about your eligibility, you can talk with one of the representatives at the VA or you can talk to my terrific VA lender, Bill Anderson. Bill is a veteran himself and an experienced lender. His phone number is (916) 716-6100. You can tell him that you were referred by me if you would like.

Please also let me know if I can be helpful. I can help you find a home, or answer questions about your relocation goals. I am a certified Military Relocation Professional and have been a real estate broker in California for over 35 years.  My phone number is (916) 837-4500.

I hope this information is helpful. Thanks for reading my blog!