Wednesday, September 24, 2008

VA Mortgage Guidelines

Who ever would have thought our economy would have come to this all because of the sub-prime mortgage guidelines (or lack there of) our government forced onto our Lenders in the name of: equality for minorities. It all sounded really good and honorable didn't it. There was no malicious intent to destroy our economy and redistribute wealth toward a more socialized economy. Or was there? ... I don't know and I'm getting really tired of hearing about. It's like the old spilled milk thing. Let's get over it and move on.



Now that we are here, for what ever reasons, the VA Mortgage seems like a great options for people who need a zero down payment mortgage. It is a great loan but, ... not everyone qualifies.



Let me go further here. Just because you are a Veteran doesn't mean you can get this loan either. Vets get confused with this because of the terminology.



We are told one of our benefits is a Guaranteed VA Loan. It is the word Guaranteed that confuses us. It does not mean that because we are a Veteran we are guaranteed a VA Loan. It means that The Veterans Administration will Guarantee the top 20% of a mortgage to the Lender if a Veteran qualifies for the loan. This removes the lenders risk so they will finance your home with zero down payment. That is really a big deal.



Just keep in mind that you still have to qualify for the loan based on the underwriting guidelines. You know, ... good credit, income, and DTI. There are still a few gotchas you need to be aware of to get this loan. We will go over a few of them in our next post.



As for now, you are the deserving ones. 100% LTV is hard to find in today's economy.