VA Loan Eligibility Requirements

The VA Home Loan is an amazing opportunity for Veterans to own a home. Are you Eligible? We can help you find out! To be eligible for the VA Loan, Veterans, National Guard members, Reservists, military spouses, and Active Duty members need to meet some easy and basic requirements. All of these requirements are set forth by the Veterans Affairs Department.

Here are some things that can help you determine if you may qualify for a VA Home Loan:

1. Served 90 consecutive days of active service during wartime.
2. You have more than 6 years of service in the National Guard or Reserves
3. 181 days of active service during peacetime
4. A spouse of a service member who has died in the line of duty or as a result of a service-related disability.

 

When apply for a VA Loan, the decision comes down to the VA to get you approved, but these 4 guidelines should give any veteran a pretty good idea if they will be accepted or not.  If you don’t meet one of these guidelines then please give us a call, and we can look into some other cases that may get you qualified.

 

Still not sure if you are eligible? 

If you still aren’t sure you might qualify you can apply for your VA Loan Certificate of Eligibility (COE).  This is going to check the actual length and character of service.  The COE is an important part of the loan process so it’s great to have it in hand when ready to apply (this is not a requirement to get started with Creekside mortgage, but we will need it eventually).

How do you apply for a COE?

• Apply online through the VA’s eBenefits portal
• Apply by mail with VA form 26-1880
• Call Creekside Mortgage, or fill out this form and we will order it on your behalf

 

Does the VA have any income requirements?

The great thing about the VA Loan is that there are not any VA income requirements, but the borrower will be expected to have a stable, reliable income.  That means that you will be able to cover all of your monthly expenses including your new mortgage payment.

Something a borrower should be aware of is that the VA does require an additional amount of excess money that is left over each month.  This comes into place to cover the things after expenses, things like food, transportation, and other family needs, this is called residual income.  The residual income requirement is enforced to prevent foreclosure.  The rate of foreclosures for a VA loan is one of the lowest among all lending options.

This may seem a bit excessive when the VA doesn’t require an exact income level, but you can take solace that the requirement for residual income is in place because it ensures that you will have a cushion in case of a financial emergency.

 

Here are some additional requirements

Ok, we have learned that the VA has their requirements for eligibility, but your private lender that will be helping you get financing for your home will have additional criteria that you must meet.  These are things like debt, income, and credit requirements.  Because the money for the home does not come from the VA, these requirements are a MUST for the bank funding the loan.

Therefore, when you apply for a VA Loan, your VA Home Loan expert at Creekside Mortgage will do a credit check from the top three credit agencies and find our your debt to income ratio.

In addition, in order to qualify for a VA Loan, the borrower must not have been discharged under dishonorable conditions. If you fall under these conditions please call us and see if there is anything we can do.

 

I’m ready how do I apply?

Applying is easy and stress-free.  We try to make the process as easy as possible.  Applying for a VA loan doesn’t tie you down in any way to a particular lender or to moving forward with the process. Finally, here are four very basic steps that you can follow to start the application process for most of the VA Loan products, then we will take it from there.

1. Make sure you are actually eligible according to the requirements above
2. Contact us or fill out our quick application and we will reach out to you to get your application started
3. Obtain your COE through us or on your own
4. Finalize your loan application and provide us with all the paperwork that we require.

 

Questions? 

Please give us a call Monday – Friday, 7 AM – 6 PM.  We have an amazing staff who are veterans and know the requirements for the VA Loan inside and out. So, whether a customer qualifies immediately or a year from now we will put our full effort to get them into a home.  We are “veterans helping veterans”.

Give us a call at 360.571.LOAN (5626) or get started online.