Looking to Purchase in 1 month... Going VA loan

[Anonymous]

What steps should I take?

I know I should get pre-approved but is it any different than a conventional or fha pre approval?

Any special steps that I need to take for a VA loan or should my bank take care of all the details?

Should I pull my own credit report to bring to the bank?

I am married and have heard they pull the median score from the spouse with the lowest score to determine rate. Is this true and if so, should we both apply?

Any tips / information is greatly appreciated.

[DallasLoanGuy]

you can both apply.... your loan officer will take spouse off if she hurts the deal...

you need to get your va certificate.

no need to bring a credit report.

[Anonymous]

I just used my VA loan for the second time and it is worth it.  You can't beat no money down, but you have to pay a funding fee usually 1.5% for first time users.   I will close on my house next week.  We got pre-approved through Chase.  The lender was able to get my certificate of eligibility.  You will need your certificate of eligibility to qualify.  The lender will take care of everything from running your credit to ordering the appraisal.  Make sure you have all your docs lined up ie..LES, bank statements, W-2s, tax returns.  They will pull both your credit report and your wife's credit report and take the middle score.  I applied by my self but the VA requires them to pull your wife's credit report if you live in a community state ie... California.

It took about 3 weeks from the time a filled the application to the time the underwriter approved me.  Good luck and if you have any questions let me know.  I see we are both Marines. 

[Anonymous]

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SemperFi wrote:

I just used my VA loan for the second time and it is worth it.  You can't beat no money down, but you have to pay a funding fee usually 1.5% for first time users.  

Hi SemperFi,

I just wanted to add something.  It is my understanding that the VA funding fee is waived for any veteran who is receiving VA disability compensation payments.  I thought this might be of interest to some out there who might be wanting to go VA but are hesitant because of the funding fee.

I see we are both Marines. 

Thank you for your service, SemperFi. 

 I'm not a Marine, just a proud spouse of retired Army Special Forces (Green Beret). 

De Oppresso Libre! 

Sorry, I couldn't resist!  :-)

BigTrees

Message Edited by BigTrees on 07-18-2009 05:24 PM

[Anonymous]

do i need to get my certificate of eligibility or will the loan officer take care of that?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
do i need to get my certificate of eligibility or will the loan officer take care of that?

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I believe it depends on the lender and also your particular case, some can use ACE to get the Automated Certificate of Eligibility... however if you want to have it in hand and make sure that you already have everything you need then you can just submit the form to the VA to get it before starting on your loan arrangements.

The info on getting it yourself can be found here: http://www.homeloans.va.gov/elig1.htm

[Anonymous]

This is the VA website.  Read their guidelines and you will have a better understanding on the VA loan process.  I read the thing from top to bottom.

http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/pam26_7.html

[Anonymous]

Even though I had my Certificate of Eligibility the lender still ordered another one, some lenders apparently want to see a "recent" one (mine was two months old). My funding fee was waived, if you are a disabled veteran rated 10% or higher (0% rated does not qualify to have the fee waived) you will need to have the VA letter stating such, this is one you need to get yourself. I didn't have my original letter but I did have one of my "your new payment is xxx" from the VA and showed that amount being deposited every month into my checking account. The lender still went ahead and verified. My wife was pulled off the deal because her mid was too low, my salary still qualified us for the condo, as an aside, I must say it is a little disconcerting that my 65k was deemed enough for $250k that is 3.8x my salary, I thought we were trying to go back to the days of 2.5x, anyway we closed 01JUL. We received $1700 back at closing we had $1000 in as earnest money and our rate was 5.5%.