What You Don’t Know About VA Loans
As of this 2020, there are more than 21 million veterans and service members that live in the U.S. today, but only 6 percent of them have bought a home using a VA Loan in the past five years. A shocking understatement of sorts, but this percentage could be higher. The reason why there is such a low percentage could be that many veterans don’t know the advantages that VA Loans provide. In today’s blog entry, we’ll be looking at some facts that many veterans might not know about when it comes to VA Loans.
No Expiration
Once you’ve earned eligibility for a VA loan, that eligibility doesn’t expire. Those who served 20 or even 50 years ago can buy a home if their eligibility is properly established! To check eligibility, first, obtain your DD Form 214. With that document, a VA-approved lender can request your VA Certificate of Eligibility for you, or you can request it directly from VA’s eBenefits website. You may be eligible to buy a home using a VA home loan, even if you served long ago.
Repeat Usage
VA home loans are not a one & done scenario, as you can use it a multitude of times. Say that you purchased a home with a VA Loan, but over time, you have outgrown the home and need bigger living space. Once you sell the home and pay off the VA Loan completely, you can re-use your benefit to buy another home, with restored entitlement as well! But that’s not all as eligible veterans can also receive a one-time restoration when they pay off their VA Loan, keeping the home as well. You can keep your home and enjoy the benefits of VA home buying yet again!
Eligibility for Surviving Spouses
In 2015, more than 3,000 surviving spouses were able to purchase a home with their fallen partner’s VA benefit. Today, that number continues to increase. Un-remarried husbands and wives of veterans who were killed an action can purchase a home with zero down payment and no PMI. Plus, the VA funding fee is waived. While there can never be a proper way to repay the spouse of a fallen hero, this benefit can surely help them move forward after a tragedy as such.
There’s a wide array of another fact that we have yet to go over, but we’re just scratching the surface. Join us next time when we go over more facts that you might not know about VA Loans. Until next time and from all of us at Mortgages Done Right, have a good rest of your day.