VA Home Loans

What we do differently on VA

The VA sets no minimum credit score at all. Lenders do. A veteran declined at 620 somewhere else has been declined by that lender’s overlay, not by the VA. Our floor is 580 with no money down.

We can also finance a veteran who has no credit score whatsoever, using documented non-traditional credit.

And we do not require veterans to set up an escrow account. Most lenders do. If you would rather manage taxes and insurance yourself and keep that money in your own account through the year, you can.

We pull your Certificate of Eligibility

You do not have to go get it. We request the COE during pre-approval, and in most cases we need nothing from you at all.

Occasionally the VA comes back asking for a DD-214 or a Points Statement. If that happens we will tell you exactly what to send.

The funding fee, and when you do not pay it

The funding fee is a one-time charge, calculated as a percentage of the loan, that can be rolled into the loan rather than paid at closing. It varies by down payment and by whether this is your first VA loan.

The fee is waived entirely if you receive VA disability compensation. Your Certificate of Eligibility states whether you are exempt. A lot of eligible veterans budget for a fee they will never pay.

Getting PCS orders and keeping the house you already own

This is the most common second VA loan situation, and most service members are told it cannot be done. It usually can. It is called second-tier entitlement.

Think of entitlement as a guaranty amount rather than a number of loans. With full entitlement and no VA loan outstanding, there is no county loan limit. When you already have a VA loan in place, part of your entitlement is tied up in it, and what remains is measured against the county loan limit where you are buying.

If the remaining entitlement covers 25% of the new purchase price, you can still buy with no money down. If it does not, you cover the gap with a down payment, and that gap is frequently far smaller than the 20% people assume.

Call before you list or rent the first house. What you do with it changes what you can do with the second, and some of it is hard to undo.

VA with no credit score at all

This is separate from the 580 program. The requirement is that you have no score, not a low one. If any borrower on the loan has a usable credit score, that score has to be used and the loan follows standard credit guidelines instead.

Non-traditional credit here means 24 months of housing payment history plus alternate credit such as a mobile phone contract, cable or internet, or utilities, with no major derogatory credit in the previous twelve months.

The program is purchase only, primary residence, one unit, up to 100% loan-to-value with a maximum loan amount of $1,000,000.