What You Need To Know About VA Home Loans

By Joshua Holt

Meet Joshua, a licensed real estate professional and accomplished broker. As the forward-thinking leader of the Holt Real Estate Team, he has forged a strategic alliance with Keller Williams and PLACE to deliver on Our Promise.

Are you interested in a VA home loan but aren’t sure how they work? Acronyms and technical jargon can be confusing, but I am here today to clear things up.

VA stands for Veteran Affairs. With a VA direct home loan, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs would act as your mortgage lender. With a VA-backed home loan, they would guarantee a portion of the loan you would get from a separate lender. Either way, you’d get some great benefits, including better terms than a conventional loan and no down payment.

With a VA home loan, you can buy a home or a condo, build a new home, and make changes or add new features to make your home more energy efficient. You do have to qualify to obtain this type of loan, however. To get a VA home loan, you need to qualify for the VA’s Certificate of Eligibility (COE), meet standards for credit and income set by the VA and your lender, and live in the home that you’re trying to buy (as opposed to renting it out, for example).

Then comes the process of finding a home. You’d start by applying for your COE, take a look at your finances to make sure you’re ready, choose the lender and real estate agent that are right for you, and then shop around for homes. Once you’ve found the home you want to buy, you would work with your agent to put together your purchase agreement. Make sure it includes a “VA escape clause” or “VA option clause”, which would allow you to void the contract if the property doesn’t appraise for the contract price.

The rest of the home-buying process is very similar to buying a home with any other type of loan, as you would then have the house inspected and appraised, review and/or turn in any necessary paperwork, close on the house, and move in!

Overall, as long as you have help from a trusted lender and real estate agent, you can go through each step seamlessly. Also, if you’re interested in learning more, you can always go on the VA’s website where you can find testimonials from people who have purchased a home with a VA loan, learn more about the benefits and the process, and watch helpful videos on things like where to start and the true costs of homeownership.

If you have any questions or are interested in getting this process started, I would love to help you! Reach out to me by phone call or email anytime. I look forward to working with you.