VA Loan in Phoenix Arizona

by Joseph Small

VA home loans have historically outperformed other types of mortgage loan products when it comes to foreclosures. Last year, the VA guaranteed almost 358,000 loans, which is a 14% increase from the previous year. In total, there are now just over 1.5 million VA home loans in the US.

But last year the number of veterans and active service members that sought help for an almost default on their mortgage was just over 72,000, which is up from the 66,000 the previous year. These veterans were either able to retain their homes or avoid foreclosure all together. Over all, the number of foreclosures have dropped by nearly 28%.

Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veteran Affairs said, “The continued strong performance and high volume of VA loans are a testament to the importance of VA’s home loan program and a tribute to the skilled VA professionals who help homeowners in financial trouble keep their homes.” It is important to reach out and contact the Department of Veteran Affairs if you are having financial difficulty with your VA home loan.

If you are thinking of buying a home and would like to perhaps use your VA benefits, then please click here to contact us to see if you qualify.

-The VA home loan mortgage experts! Proudly serving veterans and active military in Phoenix | Tucson Arizona
If you have any questions on this or VA home loans, then please give us a call. We would love to help you out. Phoenix/N. Arizona(480) 788-9221 or Tucson/S. Arizona (520) 303-5620.

by Joseph Small

We recently got a question on VA home loans and thought it would be a great topic to post about. What if my spouse does not want to be on the VA loan, can we do that?

The answer is yes. However, there are some tibits of information that you should be aware of when you decide not to have your spouse on the mortgage.

When a couple makes a decision to not have the spouse on the loan, the lender will have to pull a credit report for the non-purchasing spouse. This is done to give a full picture of the family’s finances and obligations. An FHA home loan also follows this practice. However, there is a slight difference between FHA and VA loans in that the VA will allow the lender to include offsetting income from the non-purchasing spouse.

An example: Bob and Mary are a married couple out looking at homes. They decide that they do not want Mary on the mortgage and will just purchase using Bob’s eligibility. The loan officer runs Mary’s credit and sees that she has a $350 car payment in her own name. Mary makes a $1,000 a month as a secretary. The lender can take $350 of that income to offset the car payment.

- VA home loans in Phoenix, Arizona.
- Your VA loan in Tucson, Arizona.
If you have any questions on this or VA home loans, then please give us a call. We would love to help you out. Phoenix/N. Arizona(480) 788-9221 or Tucson/S. Arizona (520) 303-5620.

by Joseph Small

By now you are probably aware that VA home loans allow you to purchase with zero downpayment, as well as letting the VA funding fee be rolled into the VA loan. Those are some of the great features of buying with a VA mortgage. But another, and important, feature is the ability to have the seller pay up to 6% towards your closing costs.

Typically, you will need about an average of 3 or 4% of the loan amount for closing costs. This could be higher. Since the VA will allow up to 6% seller contribution towards the closing costs, it is not uncommon to see this happen in the negotiations. This sometimes makes it possible for the buyer to avoid having to come out of pocket to pay closing costs.

So lets say you have very little funds available to apply towards the closing costs. When you meet up with your real estate agent, let him/her know upfront of your situation. When you find the house you would like to purchase, your real estate agent will negotiate with the seller to pay as many points towards your closing costs (1 point will equal 1% of the loan amount) as the seller will allow up to the 6%.

For example: Lets say you find a house that is selling for $100,000 and your closing costs comes out to around $4,000. You would need to have the seller to pay 4 points, which would be: 4% X $100,000 = $4,000. With using this same example, lets say that you have $2,000 saved up that you can apply towards your closing costs. In this case, you would want your agent to ask for 2 points in seller contribution towards closing costs (2% X $100,000 = $2,000).

However, any seller contribution that is not needed will go back to the seller. So say your closing cost only comes out to $3,900 and the seller gave you a total of $4,000 allowed. That extra $100 will not go to you, but rather back to the seller.

If you have any questions on this, then please give us a call and we would love to help you out. (480) 788-9221.

by Joseph Small

Here is an article I recently wrote on the topic of Surviving Military Spouses and Using the VA Home Loan Benefit.

“This article will explain what is a surviving military spouse, how to apply for that classification, and the use of the VA home loan benefit.

What is a surviving military spouse and are they eligible to purchase with a VA home loan? To get a surviving military spouse classification from the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), the spouse must be the survivor of a military service member that died while on active duty or as a direct result of military service. This also covers Missing in Action (MIA) or Prisoner of War (POW)”…read the rest here: Ezine Article

About Joseph Small

by Joseph Small

A topic came up the other day that I thought would be fitting to write about: How does the VA look at bankruptcy?

I always get a little nervous when a new client is in my office and he starts to bring up the “I have a friend..” or “what if” scenarios. In most cases, it is usually themselves they are speaking of…. and this scenario was no different.

How the VA looks at bankruptcy is really rather simple: VA guidelines require a minimum two years out since the discharge date. The key in that statement is the “discharge date”. More often than not, I see the confusion of filing date with the discharge date. Filing date, obviously, is when you filed for your bankruptcy. The discharge date is when it was finalized by the judge.

If you plan to purchase a home with a VA mortgage or with any other type of home loan financing for that matter, then it is very imporant to re-establish good credit after the bankruptcy. You will also have to provide a letter of explanation of your bankruptcy. And always keep your bankruptcy papers handy.

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Arizona VA home loans
- Your trusted source for VA mortgages in Phoenix | Tucson, Arizona.

by Joseph Small

Whenever you flip on the evening news, you almost will like to hear on a daily basis the word “foreclosure”. But one loan that is standing out in these troubled times is the VA home loan – and not for what you might think.

According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, the VA home loan continues to have the lowest serious delinquency and foreclosure rates throughout the mortgage industry. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric K. Shinseki recently said, “The continued strong performance and high volume of VA loans are a testament to the importance of VA’s home loan program and a tribute to the skilled VA professionals who help homeowners in financial trouble keep their homes”.

As you probably already know, the VA loan was designed to help US veterans, active military, National Guard/Reservist, and eligible surviving spouses by making home ownership more affordable. Buyers get a no-downpayment loan, and lenders receive a guarantee from loss if the borrower defaults.

With slightly over 1.5 million active VA home loans, there are bound to be some that run into a little bit of trouble. For those who are getting behind, the VA advises veterans and service members to first contact the servicer of the loan (who you send your payment too). However, the VA does have home loan specialist that can intervene on the veteran’s behalf to help pursue repayment plans, forbearances and loan modifications. Veterans and service members can also call the VA toll-free at (877) 827-3702 to speak with a VA specialist concerning foreclosure avoidance.

- Arizona VA Home Loans

by Joseph Small

Our last post dealt with Surviving Spouses and VA benefits in regards to VA mortgages. In continuation on this topic, I thought that I would bring to light of a little known bill: The Disabled Veterans’ Surviving Spouses Home Loan Act.

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx introduced the bill because she feels that our country has a promise and commitment to take care of its fighting men and women, as well as to their families. No doubt, there is a big sacrifice on the families part.

If this bill passes and gets signed into law, which it seems to have bipartisan support, it will allow the surviving spouses of veterans with disabilities, whose deaths were not directly related to their service-connected disabilities, continued access to VA home loans. As the current law stands, the surviving spouses of veterans who passed away due to non-service-related causes, but did suffer from service-related permanent disabilities, can still receive monthly VA compensation checks under the surviving spouse benefits, but they are exempt from using the veterans’ VA home loan portion of the benefits.

I think this bill is definitely a step in the right direction and long overdue. I look forward to posting an update when this bill passes, which hopefully won’t be too much longer.

- VA Home Loans Phoenix
- VA Mortgages Phoenix

by Joseph Small

A few posts back, we covered the recent changes to the VA Certificate of Eligibility (COE). In this post, we will discuss the surviving military spouse and the COE. But first, I think we should explain what exactly is a surviving military spouse. To get this classification from the VA, the spouse must be the survivor of a military service member that died while on active duty or as a direct result of military service. This also covers Missing in Action (MIA) or Prisoner of War (POW).

If you believe that you meet the criteria for this classification, then you will need to apply for a VA COE. This can only be done by mail. Here is a list of documents that you will need:
- A copy of the Veteran’s DD Form 214.
- A copy of your marriage certificate.
- If the Veteran had died on active duty, then a copy of the DD Form 1300 R.O.C. (Report of Casualty).
- A copy of the Veteran’s Death Certificate.
- Also, the service member’s SSN will need to be on all documents.

If you are planing to use these benefits to purchase a home, then you will need to allow ample time – at least two to three months – for the VA to review and determine if the death was service-connected. If you already have the COE and are thinking of purchasing or refinancing your home, then give us a call or shoot us an email.

Arizona VA Mortgage – Phoenix, AZ

by Joseph Small

by Joseph Small

We got a question the other day on the new changes to the VA home loan funding fee, so I thought this would be a good topic to bring up today. The VA Funding Fee is a requirement for all VA mortgages – with a few exceptions, such as service connected disability or even for surviving spouses. Over the past few months, the Department of Veterans Affairs has bounced all kinds of numbers around in regards to the VA mortgage funding fee. When all the dust settled, this is what we now have (thru Sept. 30, 2016):

On first-time use and no down payment, the fee is: 2.15%. On first-time use with at least 5% down, but less than 10%, the fee is: 1.50%. And a first-time use with greater than 10% down, the funding fee is: 1.25%

For eligible Reservist/Guard members, the first-time use with no money down fee is: 2.40%. The same Reservist/Guard on a first-time use with 5% down, but less than 10%, the funding fee is: 1.75%. And a first-time use Reservist/Guard with greater than 10% down would have a funding fee at: 1.50%.

Now this all changes for second time users — as high as 3.30% with no money down for Veterans, as well as Reservist/Guard. The reasoning behind the much higher VA funding fees for second and subsequent use is that these Veterans and Reservists/Guard members have already used their benefits once and should have had time to gain equity or have saved enough for a down payment towards the new home.

If you are a Veteran or Reservist here in Phoenix, or anywhere else in Arizona, and are thinking about buying or refinancing your home and aren’t sure if you are exempt – or even have questions on VA home loans and the Funding Fee, then please give us a call or shoot us an email. Our team would be glad to help assist you.

Arizona VA Home Loans Phoenix

by Joseph Small

When applying for a VA Home Loan, you will need to get a copy of your Certificate of Eligibility. The Department of Veteran Affairs recently made a few changes:

The new Certificate of Eligibility (COE) will now have a field that will show if the veteran is: EXEMPT, NON-EXEMPT, AND CONTACT RLC.
a. EXEMPT status indicates the Veteran is exempt from paying the Funding Fee (FF).
b. NON EXEMPT status indicates the Veteran is not exempt from paying the FF.
c. CONTACT RLC indicates a system-generated determination is not available.

The COE office has also been moved to Atlanta Regional Loan Center (RLC) instead of the Winston-Salem Eligibility Center. Contact The Rider Group if you need any help or have questions on this. We do have Web LGY, which means we can help you obtain it quickly through the internet in minutes.

- VA Mortgages Phoenix