Serving Military Members And Veterans is My Passion
You’re an active-duty service member who has served at least 90 continuous days of active duty.
You’re a veteran, National Guard member or Reserve member and you meet the active-duty requirements for your dates of service.
You’re a surviving spouse of a service member who is missing in action or who died while in service or from a service-related disability.
A VA home loan is a special type of mortgage guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It’s only available to qualified borrowers as a part of their military benefits — this generally includes active-duty service members and veterans, though in special cases military spouses may also qualify.
The vast majority of VA borrowers won’t be required to make a down payment
if they don’t want to. However, in some cases it makes good financial sense to put money down
— it can reduce the amount you’ll have to pay as a VA funding fee (more on that below), and you’ll end up with a smaller loan amount. The smaller the loan, the less you pay in interest and the faster you build equity.
, which covers lenders in case you default on your payments and they have to foreclose on your home. The VA doesn’t require mortgage insurance on any of its loan types.
VA lenders can only charge 1% of your loan to cover their fees, making VA loan closing costs
more affordable than other loan programs. Neither FHA loans nor conventional loans have similar caps on origination or lender fees. Many lenders (those who work with veterans and civilians alike) charge around 1% on just their origination fee but may also charge you fees for your application, underwriting or the processing of your loan.
For homebuyers, buying a home will probably ranks as one of the biggest personal investments one can make. Being organized and in control will contribute significantly to getting the best home deal possible with the least amount of stress. It's important to anticipate the steps required to successfully achieve your housing goal and to build a plan of action that gets you there. Before you can build a plan of action, take the time to lay the groundwork for your decision making process.
First, ask yourself how much you can afford to pay for a home. If you’re not sure on the price range, find a lender and get pre-approved. Pre-approval will let you know how much you can afford, allowing you to look for homes in your price range. Getting pre-approved also helps you to alleviate some of the anxieties that come with home buying. You know exactly what you qualify for and at what rate, you know how large your monthly mortgage payments will be, and you know how much you will have for a down payment. Once you are pre-approved, you avoid the frustration of finding homes that you think are perfect, but are not in your price range.
Second, ask yourself where you want to live and what the best location for you and/or your family is. Things to consider:
convenience for all family members proximity to work, school crime rate of neighborhood local transportation types of homes in neighborhood, for example, condos, townhomes, co-ops newly constructed homes etc.
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