The VA Loan process doesn’t have to be difficult. However, having all your documents and steps in order will assure the easiest, smoothest road possible for completing the VA Loan process. Here is what you need to do to complete the process in a nutshell, followed by a more detailed description. When you are ready to move forward, go ahead and contact Tiare Fullerton and let her guide you through the process from start to finish.
VA Loan Process
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Select a VA Loan Officer
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Work With Them to Get Pre-Approved
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Look at Properties and Narrow Down a List
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View Properties
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Submit Your Offer
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Let Your VA Homebuyers Team Do the Rest
More Details
1. Select a VA loan officer that you either know, trust, or have heard good things about. Tiare Fullerton has been working with VA Loans for several years and has guided many families to the home of their dreams by utilizing the VA Loan. Give her a try today!
2. Getting pre-qualified and pre-approved are two different things. Many people come in thinking they are one in the same, but this simply isn’t true. Your VA Loan specialist will explain the different. However, to get properly pre-approved you are going to need to have the following documents available.
- A signed completed Request for Certificate of Eligibility, DD-214 or Reserve Points Total. If you need a copy of your DD-214 click on this link http://www.archives.gov/veterans/.
- W-2’s for the past 2 years.
- Pay stubs (LES) for 1 month.
- Bank statements, retirement statements, IRAs, CDs, etc…. This will help with the amount you can qualify for.
- 2 years of Federal tax returns.
- Bankruptcy Documents (if applicable)
- Divorce Decree (if paying child support)
3. Your Lender should input all your information, pull a credit report from all three credit bureaus, run VA’s loan analysis to ensure you budget for the amount requesting and then run our in house program to receive a computer approval. (If we do not get a computer approval we have the ability to do a manual approval on a case by case basis). Every Lender will work a bit differently. Make sure you get someone who is hands on and very personable.
4. Once you have approval it will be time to choose a Realtor. You may have one in mind already. if not, try to find one that has a lot of knowledge regarding VA Home Loans, as this will make the process much smoother. Or call Tiare and she can refer you to one who is familiar with VA purchases. Some agents work more with VA contracts than others and it can make or break your offer to purchase a new home.
5. At this point you can start looking at properties and sifting through all the ones you really want to see. When you have a solid list of the ones you really want to see you can go ahead and go out with your Realtor to view them in person.
6. When you have found the property you want it will be time to submit an offer. After the offer is submitted it can be somewhat of a waiting game, depending on the seller.
7. Once you have an offer accepted it will be time for your Lender to do an official application with the property on it.
8. Your file is then turned into the processor, who then verifies that everything was inputted correctly and makes a list of outstanding conditions on your loan. The processor also sends your electronic file to VA to open a case number and assign an appraiser. The processor also sends your electronic file to the escrow company so that they may order the documents needed to transfer ownership from the seller over to you. Basically the processor is trying to take care of all loose ends and put everything together for you.
9. Once the appraiser gets their report back to VA. It will be review by VA or a VA designated underwriter and then assign(remove) a NOV (notice of value), which will be used as the appraised value. The appraised value shouldn’t be higher than the loan amount, but it may be. (let’s change this) If the appraiser was able to find sufficient comparable homes that support the value of your sale price then the appraisal should come in at the same price. If the appraiser was not able to find sufficient comparable homes and the value comes in lower you either need to negotiate with the seller or pay the difference between the sale price and appraised value out of pocket. VA will only let you finance the LOWER of the sale price or appraised value. Sometimes the value comes in higher than the sale price, but you can still only finance the less of the sale price and appraised value, but you have built in equity when you purchase the home.
10. Once the Lender receives the NOV (it must be at or higher than sales price) and everything else on the condition list is completed we then order all your closing documents. This is the very end and you are about to get into your home using the VA Loan process.
11. Finally, the we will setup a time and date to sign your documents at the escrow office. If there are any additional funds due at closing you will need to bring the funds in a cashier’s check or wire them to the escrow company. This is the closing process. The lender reviews the loan documents for accuracy and completion and with 24 -48 hours the Lender will fund your loan and the second business day after that your transaction records and you own your own home. Congratulations!
