BF2S Forums Has anyone ever used a VA Home Loan

SEREMAKER wrote:

I have completed all my permits and we have finalized all the little details on our house and now I'm shopping for home loans. As a 1st time home buyer/builder this is getting nerve racking. Has anyone used a VA home loan - I have been reading up on them about there loans and just like everyone else they have there ups and downs

Yes. What do you want to know?

It basically extra protection for the buyer so you don't get duped into buying a shithole. There is an extra inspection where things that dont meet the VA Home Loan criteria must be fixed or the house cannot be sold. Many sellers will not work with you because it can ge strenuous trying to fix all the shit they want done for your benefit. Some sellers would rather deal with someone without the VA loan to avoid extra fixes and costs.

Also, the home buying process tends to drag a bit longer with that loan due to the extra inspection and regulations. Its for you r benefit though.

I have a bit of info on it. Let me know if there is something specific your needing info on.

Have you been pre-qualified yet?

Mason4Assassin444 wrote:

Have you been pre-qualified yet?

I just filled out that info about 10 mins ago, but I know I will be qualifed - 8 years active duty, Honorable discharge, I check my credit once a week and I have between 755 - 762 on the 3 credit raters

SEREMAKER wrote:

1 question I can't get answered from a VA person is : Do I get the loan before we break ground or does everything need to be complete before I have the loan ?    I found there Q/A section on there website and they mentioned "pre-approval letter" to give to the realtor, trouble is I'm not using a realtor

Pre-approval is the best step forward when starting. Get it done at the bank you want to work with. If your not sure, many bank sites have thier current interest rates for home buying/building. ONce you find who you want to work with get pre-approval through them. They do one credit check and tell you $____ this is what you can afford. THats what you work with as far as building the house within your monetary means.

You get the loan before you break ground as far as I know. Once its being built, you'll have a number of inspections from the bank and VA home loan office to make sure everything is on par and in line with the banks needs. You can even ask the bank for pre-approved building plans which they love working with because they know how its going to turn out in the end product.

Are you working with a contractor or building this thing yourself?


As far as giving a pre-approval letter to the realtor, its basically, "Here is the letter from the bank stating what I can afford. Now what houses can you show me within this money value."

Realtors take you more seriously as a buyer when they see what you can spend per your credit according to the bank. If you call up and say "Hey I want to look at some houses" without that letter, your automatically on the back burner.

Also, I believe when building, the contractor is who will get the pre-approval letter rather than the realtor. But once the pre approval is done, and with your credit score, the bank will bend over backward to make sure you get the answers you want. The pre-approval just shows your serious.

Last edited by Mason4Assassin444 (2007-05-29 09:36:12)

its a modular thats getting built, on my land so I don't have to worry about a realtor