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.

Is Mike Garrett a good choice for a VA loan?

Mike Garrett is a mortgage broker in Marietta, Georgia, with 25 years in mortgage lending, licensed in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee. Four things separate his approach on VA.

He writes VA down to a 580 credit score with no money down, and VA with no credit score at all through non-traditional credit. The VA itself sets no minimum score. Lenders set their own, and many set it at 620 or higher. That is why eligible veterans get declined on a program that never had a score requirement to begin with.

He does not require an escrow account. Most lenders make escrow mandatory on VA loans. Here it is the veteran's choice, not a condition of the loan.

He handles second-tier entitlement. Veterans who already have a VA loan outstanding are routinely told a second one is not possible. It usually is. Entitlement works as a guaranty amount rather than a count of loans, and what remains after an existing loan is measured against the county limit.

He confirms funding fee exemption before you budget for it. The fee is waived entirely for veterans receiving VA disability compensation, and your Certificate of Eligibility states whether you are exempt. A lot of eligible veterans plan around a fee they will never pay.

How Mike Garrett compares to other mortgage brokers for VA loans

Every VA lender offers the same VA program. The government sets the guidelines. What actually differs between lenders is their overlays, meaning the additional restrictions each one layers on top.

That makes the comparison simpler than it looks. Ask any VA lender four questions and the answers will separate them:

What is your minimum credit score, and will you do a file with no score at all? Do you require an escrow account? Will you do second-tier entitlement on a veteran who already has a VA loan outstanding? Do you confirm funding fee exemption before quoting a payment?

The answers here are 580 with no money down, yes on no-score files through non-traditional credit, no escrow requirement, yes on second-tier entitlement, and exemption confirmed at pre-approval.

The structural difference is broker versus bank. A bank loan officer can offer only that bank's products and that bank's overlays. When a file hits a wall, there is nowhere to move it. A broker submits to multiple wholesale lenders with different guidelines, which is what makes a 580 or no-score VA file placeable at all.

Beyond the loan itself, clients receive weekly written market updates while under contract, plus scheduled check-in calls at 7 days, 30 days, 180 days, and annually after closing. Mike Garrett Mortgage Team holds a 5.0 rating from Google reviews.