Military Families
? Re: VA Loans
Please help!
AD, have the COE, do I need to get us pre-approved first or find a house first? VA said to find our own lenders...
Also, please recommend your lender?
Any suggestions/advice, would be really helpful. DH is deployed and wants me to find a house before he comes home.
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Re: ? Re: VA Loans
I have the Certificate from the VA stating we are eligible. I have all the paperwork.
I just wanted to find out from others who have personal experience, whether it is best to be pre-approved or to find the house first?
Get pre-approved first. That way, you'll know exactly how much the bank is willing to give you. Plus, some Realtors will ask for a pre-approval letter before they start showing you houses. Two of the biggest pains in the butt as a Realtor are 1. Spending a boat load of time driving people around and finding out they are just looky-lous who had no intention of buying a house. 2. Spending a boat load of time driving people around to look at houses, finding one, doing all the paperwork to put an offer in, getting it accepted and finding out they can't afford it.
CJ 05/29/2013
YES! Exactly this. We went through USAA, though their mortgages are actually serviced through GMAC. We received a bonus for using a realtor in their network and finding a house was a piece of cake. They were great about answering questions and working with us when any issues came up.
We use USAA for anything and everything we can. I have nothing but good things to say about them.
Definitely get pre-approved first. Nothing would be worse than finding a house you love and then not being able to afford it.
If you're buying, you don't need anyone to pay for your realtor. The seller pays for that.
We are currently buying our first home with a VA loan. We were pre-approved through USAA, but after hearing awful things about their mortgage department we're going with a local lender.
We've had our home inspection, land survey will be submitted tomorrow, and are waiting on the VA appraisal to be scheduled. Hopefully the appraisal won't be as tedious as I think it's going to be and DH and I will start sleeping again, LOL!
We've always gone ahead and gotten the pre-approval letter when house hunting. Our mortgages are through Wells Fargo and Century 21 and we've never had an issue with either.
I will say, we're trying to sell one of our houses now, and a prospective buyer made an offer, but then her financing fell through even though she had a pre-approval letter. It's all so confusing.
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Get a pre approval first. I have used USAA for many things (including mortgages) and their mortgage department has been great. I know with their growth that they've experienced some growing pains.
Being in Mortgage Banking I will say this, Go with a bank (not a local broker or correspondent lender). Look them up first.
When you get your pre approval just use sense when looking at it. You're approved off of your gross income NOT your take home. So look at your take home pay (net), consider all of your current bills (minus rent) and be realistic. I have always gotten approved for WAY more than I can afford (even with today's tightened guidelines).
I work for a bank and have worked for correspondent lenders in the past and have audited many banks and other mortgage entities. Please PM me if you have any questions. I've known too many people that have done things and asked me after the fact when it's too late to fix anything. Also, make sure which ever banker you chose you feel comfortable with them and their knowledge base. This is one of the few positions in the financial industry that do not require much for credentials to write loans. Very few have any college education and many tell you things without verifying the guidelines or just to get you in the door to pay for the appraisal because they know many ppl don't like to shell out money and then lose it to go to another bank. Be firm in whatever choices you make.
Good Luck!!
Also, let me clarify, go with ANY bank (Small or large) just not a broker or correspondent lender. I do like local small banks. Just make sure they're a brick and mortar bank that have savings and checking accounts with customers.