How Strict is the VA (Veteran Affairs) when it comes to Mortgage Approval???

[Anonymous]

Well, we have have been leasing this home for 2 yrs now paying, 1600 a month, and we would like to purchase the home before the lease is up in September. In the beginning they were asking like 269,000 for the home, which my husband found out after the fact that the homes in the area only accessed for like 230,000 the max. So, I'm only going to offer the seller like 225,000 for the home, being that we have technically already given him over 20,000 already paying in rent. But, another realtor told me yesterday, that if we contact the Regional VA office, that sometimes they will help us out anyway, since my husband is so close and the fact that he's an disabled vet. So, I'm going to work my options out this week...

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

September is a few months away, you have time to work on your scores, you'd also probably want to look into seeing if they could extend the lease on month-to-month or 3  month increments, etc.  On a $225k loan amount the FHA monthly mortgage insurance is $215.62/mo, and you typically end up paying it for ~10 years, 120 payments @ $215.62/mo = ~$25,874 more in payments an FHA loan would have than a VA loan would have over 10 years.

VA doesn't lend money - they won't give you a mortgage.  They can give you a thumbs up saying that if a lender funds the loan, they'll guarantee it, andt that can make lenders feel more comfortable, but VA doesn't offer mortgages directly to consumers.