If you’re a veteran or an active military member, the VA loan is an outstanding loan for a home purchase or a refinance!
With no down payment, easy credit qualifying requirements, and low-interest rates, no other mortgage program can come close to these benefits.
Are you considering a VA loan for your home purchase or a refinance? Here’s how the VA loan application process works.
How to apply for a VA Home Loan
To apply for a VA loan, you’ll need to find a lender that can originate VA loans. Unfortunately, not all lenders offer the program.
Our company, Coole Home, is approved to do VA loans by the Veterans Administration; you’ve come to the right place. =)
Once you’ve found a lender, the next step is to submit a loan application along with several documents lenders require for a VA pre-approval.
VA Loan
Application
The VA loan application will ask several questions about your income, employment, marital status, current address, the amount paid for rent or a mortgage, debt obligations, credit, Etc.
When completing the application, try to be close to accurate as possible.
The lender will be verifying the information listed on the VA application.
Giving your lender complete and precise details during the pre-qualifying step can help prevent surprises later during the mortgage underwriting process.
For example, if you make $3000 a month in income, do not put $6000 because this information will be verified.
Once the application is submitted, the next step is getting your paperwork to the lender.
Paperwork needed for a VA Loan
This paperwork will be needed for all borrowers that are on the loan.
- Last 30 days of paystubs
- Last 2 years of W2s & 1099s from all jobs
- ID or Drivers License
- Last 2 months of bank statements
If you’ve had a bankruptcy
- Copy of the Bankruptcy documentation including all schedules
- A simple letter explaining why you had to file for a bankruptcy
If you’ve had a foreclosure or a short sale
- A simple letter explaining why you had a short sale or a foreclosure
- The address of the property
If you are retired
- A copy of your award letters for Social Security or VA benefits.
- Or a copy of your monthly income statements
If you are self employed
- Last 2 years of your personal tax returns
- Last 2 years of your business tax returns
If you own a home
- Most recent mortgage statement
- Copy of the homeowners insurance policy
What happens after the VA application and paperwork has been submitted?
A mortgage loan officer will review the loan application and your paperwork to determine if you can qualify.
This process can take a few days.
If everything checks out, the loan officer will issue a pre-approval letter.
What are the VA qualifying requirements?
VA Loans are easy to qualify for compared to other home loan programs available on the market.
Here are a few of the VA loan eligibility requirements:
- Minimum credit score of 620. (Lower scores are approved on a case by case basis)
- Consistent income. Is your hourly or monthly income consistent on a weekly/monthly basis?
- A reasonable debt to income ratio. Generally we like to see a 42% debt to income ratio but we have approved loans with a ratio as high as 60%.
- Bankruptcy. How long has it been since the bankruptcy? For a chapter 7, two years must have lapsed since the discharge and a chapter 13 we like to see on time payments to the trustee for the last 12 months.
- Foreclosure or Short Sale. How much time has lapsed since the foreclosure or short sale? We typically require a waiting period of 2 years on VA loans. Read more about this: Buying a House After Foreclosure
- Home must be your primary residence. The VA loan is only for primary residences. If you live in Florida but are trying to purchase in Texas, questions will be asked to determine if the home being purchased or refinanced is really your primary.
- Do you have enough funds for closing costs? The VA does not pay your closing costs. If you are purchasing a home there are buyers closing costs that need to be paid for. They can be paid by you or the seller. If you are refinancing, the costs can be rolled into the loan. You can read more about closing costs here: Closing Costs – How Much are Costs & Who Pays Them?
- Certificate of eligibility. A COE that states you are elibile for the VA loan program is required. We will pull this COE once a va loan application has been submitted.
Learn more: VA Loan Requirements
What is a VA pre-approval letter?
It’s a letter from your lender that states how much you are qualified for.
Getting pre-approved for a mortgage shows that you’re serious about buying a home and that you can afford it.
Once the pre-approval letter is received, you can provide this to your realtor or the seller to let them know that you are now qualified. Most realtors won’t show you property unless they have a pre-approval letter in hand.
Are you ready to apply? Start the process by completing the form below.