Four VA Home Loan Myths Debunked
Are you using VA loans properly in your real estate brokerage business? Most agents don’t fully understand them and their customers are suffering because of it.
Here are four myths, truths and action items, about VA home loans, that could help you serve your home buying customers better:
LOAN MYTH 1: You have to be on active duty, in the military service, to use a VA home loan.
FACT: Eligibility is determined by current and past service. Essentially, if a veteran served for at least six months, from 1964 to today, they most likely have VA home loan eligibility. There are 15 million veterans under the age of 65 today; most of them should be eligible.
ACTION ITEM: Ask every new homebuyer, regardless of their age if they served. Don’t rule out the gals; about 10% of those vets are women.
LOAN MYTH 2: Sellers have to pay for the veteran’s closing costs.
FACT: The VA doesn’t allow for certain loan-related fees to be paid by the veteran. Those fees are usually about $1,200. The loan originator or REALTOR can pay those fees. THE VA allows the seller to contribute up to 4$ of the selling price towards ANY loan-related costs but the seller does NOT have “mandatory” fees.
ACTION ITEM: Write “seller not responsible for any allowable or non-allowable VA loan-related costs” and call the listing agent to explain this when presenting an offer. Continue reading this post