{"id":2098,"date":"2019-11-19T21:35:27","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T21:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/?p=2098"},"modified":"2019-11-19T21:35:27","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T21:35:27","slug":"serving-your-military-clients-with-va-home-loans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/serving-your-military-clients-with-va-home-loans","title":{"rendered":"Serving Your Military Clients With VA Home Loans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Since November is host to Veteran\u2019s Day and is Military Family Appreciation Month, I thought that it\u2019s an ideal time to review the unique advantages of the VA home loan program. It\u2019s a great program that provides servicemen and women with financing to purchase a home while they are on active duty or after they have retired from military service \u2013 often without a down payment, and with plenty of other advantages.<\/p>\n<p>I also want to emphasize the growth potential for your business. In October 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau released statistics that 7.3% of U.S. adults have served in the military. That\u2019s 18.2 million Americans! In addition, service members may qualify for a VA loan after just 90 days of active duty. Many aren\u2019t aware that this benefit is available to them so soon.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A well-deserved reward for service and sacrifice<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>VA loans were created in 1944 as part of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Servicemen%27s_Readjustment_Act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Servicemen&#8217;s Readjustment Act<\/a>, which created a variety of benefits for members of the military returning home from WWII. Although some people still assume that only military veterans can qualify for VA loans, this was amended in 1992 to include active duty servicemen and women, many reservists, and some spouses of deceased veterans.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Highlights of today\u2019s VA loan products<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The biggest advantage is that applicants may qualify with <strong>no money down<\/strong>. They will need \u201cfull entitlement\u201d to do this, which simply means they aren\u2019t already using their VA loan benefit to buy another property.<\/p>\n<p>Also, your listings\u2019 sellers are allowed to pay a portion of the buyer\u2019s closing costs, so it\u2019s possible for your military clients to ended up with <strong>no out-of-pocket costs<\/strong> by using a VA home loan to finance their home purchase.<\/p>\n<p>These are just two of the advantages our military clients will appreciate. Here are more:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They don\u2019t have to be first-time home buyers.<\/li>\n<li>If they\u2019ve paid off another VA loan, they can qualify for a new one.<\/li>\n<li>Mortgage rates are typically lower than conventional loans.<\/li>\n<li>Instead of mortgage insurance, VA loans require a Guarantee or Funding Fee. This fee may be financed into the loan amount for borrowers who want to keep their out-of-pocket closing expenses low. The Funding Fee may not apply to veterans with service-related disabilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>\u201cDon\u2019t VA loans take forever to close?\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Sometimes borrowers and real estate agents ask me this. While this was true a long time ago, things have changed.<\/p>\n<p>In the days before the internet, VA home loans could take longer to process than conventional mortgages because obtaining the required paperwork could be difficult. This is no longer a problem, and here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n<p>Almost all of the documents that may be required for VA home loans can be ordered online at the eBenefits web site at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ebenefits.va.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.ebenefits.va.gov<\/a>. If your buyer doesn\u2019t have Internet access, they can permit me to order the most important document \u2013 the Certificate of Eligibility (COE). The following certificates are also available from the eBenefits site:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Form DD-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty.<\/li>\n<li>Form 28-8937 is required for veterans who qualify for service-connected disability benefits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Work with an experienced mortgage lender<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>When you work with an experienced mortgage loan originator, they can offer these services to you and your buyers which should eliminate any perceived disadvantages from property sellers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pre-qualify your prospective buyers quickly<\/li>\n<li>Assist with obtaining a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and other documents if necessary<\/li>\n<li>Walk your buyers through the application process<\/li>\n<li>Explain fees and closing costs in everyday language<\/li>\n<li>Provide fast, accurate status updates from application to closing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s always particularly rewarding to help our military reap the rewards they so richly deserve, and to thank them for their service. When you work with a loan officer who offers VA home loans, it\u2019s a simple way you can give back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since November is host to Veteran\u2019s Day and is Military Family Appreciation Month, I thought that it\u2019s an ideal time to review the unique advantages of the VA home loan program. It\u2019s a great program that provides servicemen and women with financing to purchase a home while they are on active duty or after they [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":2100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columnists"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}