Is 4.25% a good rate on a VA loan (30 year fixed) for a $650K home loan?

[dmv101010]

LOL oh why not your only a chapter 7 away from hitting the repeat button anyways! enjoy the new place!

[leavingwash]

I think the rate is good. I appreciate the advice that people have offered out. I agree with it but also realize that each person has their own comfort zone on financial situations. From your recent post it sounds like you have been paying $3000/mo for rent and $1100/mo for daycare. So if your payment is as you indicated around $3600 , once your child gets into school next year you will actually be about $500/mo ahead of where you are right now.

Also, I am not too familiar with VA loans but I thought I had heard that under a VA loan you would not be required to pay PMI. If that is the case, that in itself can save you quite a bit of money.

Good luck!

[kww]

Originally Posted by leavingwash

I think the rate is good. I appreciate the advice that people have offered out. I agree with it but also realize that each person has their own comfort zone on financial situations. From your recent post it sounds like you have been paying $3000/mo for rent and $1100/mo for daycare. So if your payment is as you indicated around $3600 , once your child gets into school next year you will actually be about $500/mo ahead of where you are right now.

Also, I am not too familiar with VA loans but I thought I had heard that under a VA loan you would not be required to pay PMI. If that is the case, that in itself can save you quite a bit of money.

Good luck!

VA loans typically come with a funding fee. that fee can be waived at times (if claiming disability, for example), or can be at an increased percentage if being used for a second purchase (using VA entitlement)

[VRE332]

Originally Posted by Generic Alexandria Guy

I do appreciate all of the advice and concern. The roof is a year old, as is the HVAC. There has been one owner. There is all new vinyl siding. We are getting a year of the "home shield" protection plan payed by the seller. Our combined income is $239K gross. Our son just turned four and he is our only kid (and we are done). The truth is we have lived like rock stars up until the past year - season tickets to the Caps (Acela Club) and Redskins, exotic vacations, personal trainers ($800/month), $5K carbon road bikes, etc. However, we want our kid in a good school district and in a nice neighberhood (he'll start kindergarten next year which will allevaite the $1,100/month daycare cost), and I don't want to spend the time commuting from Ashburn or Manassas. As some one pointed out before, we have been paying a lot for rent (just over $3K for the SE quadrant of Old Town).

[SmartMoney]

The rate is good, but the market is slow enough you could probably play a couple lenders off each other to either get some closing costs paid or bump some costs off the quote. In the past couple weeks, the trend has been down, so I would lock. There are a couple lenders now offering free float downs (without adding to the price, which is practically unheard of), so do ask.

[slim04]

Originally Posted by Generic Alexandria Guy

I do appreciate all of the advice and concern. The roof is a year old, as is the HVAC. There has been one owner. There is all new vinyl siding. We are getting a year of the "home shield" protection plan payed by the seller. Our combined income is $239K gross. Our son just turned four and he is our only kid (and we are done). The truth is we have lived like rock stars up until the past year - season tickets to the Caps (Acela Club) and Redskins, exotic vacations, personal trainers ($800/month), $5K carbon road bikes, etc. However, we want our kid in a good school district and in a nice neighberhood (he'll start kindergarten next year which will allevaite the $1,100/month daycare cost), and I don't want to spend the time commuting from Ashburn or Manassas. As some one pointed out before, we have been paying a lot for rent (just over $3K for the SE quadrant of Old Town).

I think you probably should take a closer look at the public school situation. The schools along the Mt. Vernon trail are some of the weaker schools in the entire northern virginia area, particularly the high schools. I think that's why some of the houses near the trail look so attractive and seem like good bargains.

Also, don't live too close to the Mt. Vernon Trail. A lot of those properties are in flood zones. The Potomac River swells occassionally and some of those houses had flooding issues when the hurricane hit in 2003.

[DC area refugee]

The rate is ok, but not really that great, depending on what the points are. USAA's 4.25% VA loan has -1.375 points (i.e. they pay you 1.375% of the loan value at closing).

One thing to be careful of with VA loan is the required funding fee (http://benefits.va.gov/homeloans/doc..._fee_table.pdf). In addition to any discount points, you'll have to pay a VA funding fee of between 1.25% and 3.3%, depending how much you put down and whether you've used your VA eligibility before. If you're financing the whole thing, that could be more than $20K. This is important to factor in, especially if you other closing costs you plan to fold into the loan, because you're getting very close to the maximum allowable VA loan in Arlington, which is currently $692,500 (http://benefits.va.gov/homeloans/doc...oan_limits.pdf).

[Generic Alexandria Guy]

Our VA funding fee is 1.25%. We are using my wife's, as I used mine when we bought a house in Hampton Roads 10 years ago (and we made $75K on after only owning it for 2 years). Also, the house is 48 feet above sea level (as opposed to the 17 feet of our current house in Old Town). My kid will go to Waynewood Elementary which has a pretty good darn rating on greatschools.com (9). The assigned Middle School and High School have lower ratings (Sandburg Middle School - 6, West Potomoc High School - 4), but I'm not too worried at this point. Schools will change, principals will change, etc. I also believe that parental involvement/style is a much greater variable in predicting a child's well being and worldview than the school he/she goes to.

I know there are a lot of "yes, but...you could get cancer, lose your job, the zombie apocolypse might take place," but I really think we're making the right long term decision.