Veterans Affairs (VA) helps Service members, Veterans, and eligible surviving spouses become homeowners. The VA provides a home loan guaranty benefit and other housing-related programs to help eligible borrowers buy, build, repair, retain, or adapt a home for their own personal occupancy. VA guarantees a portion of the VA Home Loan, enabling us to provide you with more favorable terms.
Purchase & Cash-Out Refinance Home Loans
With a Purchase Loan, VA can help you purchase a home at a competitive interest rate, and if you have found it difficult to find other financing.
VA’s Cash-Out Refinance Loan is for homeowners who want to take cash out of your home equity to take care of concerns like paying off debt, funding school, or making home improvements. The Cash-Out Refinance Loan can also be used to refinance a non-VA loan into a VA loan. VA will guaranty loans up to 100% of the value of your home.
About the VA Home Loan Guaranty
Most VA Home Loans are handled entirely by private lenders and VA rarely gets involved in the loan approval process. VA “stands behind” the loan by guaranteeing a portion of it. If something goes wrong and you can’t make the payments anymore, the lending institution can come to us to cover any losses they might incur. The VA loan guaranty is the “insurance” that we provide the lender.
VA Home Loan Advantages
The guarantee VA provides to lenders allows them to provide you with more favorable terms, including:
- No down payment as long as the sales price doesn’t exceed the appraised value.
- No private mortgage insurance premium requirement.
- VA rules limit the amount you can be charged for closing costs.
- Closing costs maybe paid by the seller.
- You can’t be charged a penalty fee if you pay the loan off early.
- VA may be able to provide you some assistance if you run into difficulty making payments.
You should also know that:
- You don’t have to be a first-time homebuyer.
- You can reuse the benefit.
- VA-backed loans are assumable, as long as the person assuming the loan qualifies.