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Sadly, this is what some of VA hopes for...that the vet will eventually give up.
I have been one of several who helped vets get the benefits the VA employees were told to deny at least two times, sometimes three just as a matter of course. Yes, three denial letters. And in at least one case we proved they did not even read the info and denied it automatically.
I have been neighbor to a wonderful vet who wound up in such a bad state the VA hospital told him and his family he would not improve, just put him in a facility. They believed that because it looked bad and they trusted their VA. But somehow they were encouraged to try the next VA hospital. That one told them they could get him to good quality of life for many years, which they did and which the family and vet still greatly enjoy.
So here you have Pfhtex who knows how to get things done. Your current means of approaching VA is not getting good results. I hope you let Pfhtex help. Direct Messaging (were you able to open that?) and a phone call between you two could bring great results.
I can only guess what I'd be qualified to buy since I could never apply without the VA COE. My guess is at the high end $120k, though where I'm looking I'm much more likely to purchase for around $80k. While it would be amazing to get into a beautiful fully renovated home, I'm definitely not counting on it. My dream home is simply one where neighbors don't live above or below me and one that has evidence of being well-maintained over the years. I have (had) very little other criteria.
.
You just need a modest small home and you can find it if you look hard and have a good re agent.
FHA mortgage insurance is not that high.
It's 1.75% upfront and 0.85% per year split into 12 months
$120K loan
1.75% = $2100 and that goes into your closing costs that you can ask the seller to pay 6% of the home so if the home is $120k you can get $7200 and the rest can be paid in gift funds from a close family member,
also $1020 a year for the life of the loan unless you can refinance at a later time. But it comes to $85 a month and may fit into your preapproval
$80k loan
= $1400 in the loan due at closing, You can ask for $4800 from the seller which is 6%. and then yearly it's $680 and monthly it's only $56.66 extra.
Good luck, don't give up.
FHA pmi is not hundreds of dollars a month unless you buy a home over $300K
Go get preapproved for an FHA loan where they will give you the loan estimate, they can't deny you for disability or age, and the numbers if taxes and insurance are low in your area should be less than what rents are.
With FHA you only need to put 3.5% down and you can pay that at closing with seller concessions or gift funds.
120K = $4200 down
80K = $2800 down
I would steer clear of HUD homes.
Last edited by LifeIsGood01; 11-17-2015 at 04:02 PM..
OK, you're in Atlanta, too!
There's a great program to check out: National Homebuyers Fund, Inc.
It's aimed at low-to-moderate income buyers, and it's in the form of a grant -- no repayment required. You get it through participating lenders.
Some highlights:
3-5% down payment
FHA/VA/Conventional or USDA
Anywhere in Georgia (other states are using it, too)
Single family, condo or a townhouse
Income levels: Max $78,545 for FHA, VA and USDA loans
Max $64,400 for conventional loans
Credit scores: Min. 640, with debt-to-income ratio of 45% (that means that your house payment plus all credit payments can't be more than 45% of your monthly gross pay)
The rates are usually 1/4-1/2% higher than a standard loan
And you don't have to be a first-time homebuyer
Some lenders don't like to do down payment assisted loans because they aren't as profitable, but they go through the same underwriting as anyone else. If your agent doesn't know about this, tell her/him to check it out. If you need to be pointed at some lenders who do it, PM me.
Please help me understand how, without giving me your name, just telling me " I served in the ____ from ___ to ___ and was discharged due to injury when ____ happened" is going to what, give me enough info to hack into your bank account? I'm not asking for ID, income docs, DD214, nothing that would identify you.
Considering I'm constantly getting letters from the VA that my data has been compromised, I can't imagine it would be too difficult to cross reference some of this data if one had access to the stolen data from the VA. But that's really not exactly what was in mind when I politely declined your offer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cully
Sadly, this is what some of VA hopes for...that the vet will eventually give up.
I have been one of several who helped vets get the benefits the VA employees were told to deny at least two times, sometimes three just as a matter of course. Yes, three denial letters. And in at least one case we proved they did not even read the info and denied it automatically.
I have been neighbor to a wonderful vet who wound up in such a bad state the VA hospital told him and his family he would not improve, just put him in a facility. They believed that because it looked bad and they trusted their VA. But somehow they were encouraged to try the next VA hospital. That one told them they could get him to good quality of life for many years, which they did and which the family and vet still greatly enjoy.
So here you have Pfhtex who knows how to get things done. Your current means of approaching VA is not getting good results. I hope you let Pfhtex help. Direct Messaging (were you able to open that?) and a phone call between you two could bring great results.
While I appreciate his offer, I don't know who Pfhtex is. I have utilized the assistance of people or groups I do know. I was on top of it everyday for months. I know how horrible it can be for veterans trying to get access to their benefits. I'm one of those who gave up too early trying to get my GI Bill to pay for college and there was no way I was going to allow that to happen with the VA loan. Considering all I did, I doubt a phone call from someone I don't know and who doesn't know me was going to somehow make them change their mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by so954
You just need a modest small home and you can find it if you look hard and have a good re agent.
FHA mortgage insurance is not that high.
It's 1.75% upfront and 0.85% per year split into 12 months
$120K loan
1.75% = $2100 and that goes into your closing costs that you can ask the seller to pay 6% of the home so if the home is $120k you can get $7200 and the rest can be paid in gift funds from a close family member,
also $1020 a year for the life of the loan unless you can refinance at a later time. But it comes to $85 a month and may fit into your preapproval
$80k loan
= $1400 in the loan due at closing, You can ask for $4800 from the seller which is 6%. and then yearly it's $680 and monthly it's only $56.66 extra.
Good luck, don't give up.
FHA pmi is not hundreds of dollars a month unless you buy a home over $300K
Go get preapproved for an FHA loan where they will give you the loan estimate, they can't deny you for disability or age, and the numbers if taxes and insurance are low in your area should be less than what rents are.
With FHA you only need to put 3.5% down and you can pay that at closing with seller concessions or gift funds.
120K = $4200 down
80K = $2800 down
I would steer clear of HUD homes.
Thanks for this. I hadn't looked too much into FHA loans. But this does tell me that I really need a different re agent. Mine has been so useless. She started off showing me homes that were in my price range but were simply too large. She didn't seem to understand the reasons that someone might desire a smaller home. Plus, she hasn't helped me even a little with the loan thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dblackga
OK, you're in Atlanta, too!
There's a great program to check out: National Homebuyers Fund, Inc.
It's aimed at low-to-moderate income buyers, and it's in the form of a grant -- no repayment required. You get it through participating lenders.
Some highlights:
3-5% down payment
FHA/VA/Conventional or USDA
Anywhere in Georgia (other states are using it, too)
Single family, condo or a townhouse
Income levels: Max $78,545 for FHA, VA and USDA loans
Max $64,400 for conventional loans
Credit scores: Min. 640, with debt-to-income ratio of 45% (that means that your house payment plus all credit payments can't be more than 45% of your monthly gross pay)
The rates are usually 1/4-1/2% higher than a standard loan
And you don't have to be a first-time homebuyer
Some lenders don't like to do down payment assisted loans because they aren't as profitable, but they go through the same underwriting as anyone else. If your agent doesn't know about this, tell her/him to check it out. If you need to be pointed at some lenders who do it, PM me.
OK, you're in Atlanta, too!
There's a great program to check out: National Homebuyers Fund, Inc.
It's aimed at low-to-moderate income buyers, and it's in the form of a grant -- no repayment required. You get it through participating lenders.
Some highlights:
3-5% down payment
FHA/VA/Conventional or USDA
Anywhere in Georgia (other states are using it, too)
Single family, condo or a townhouse
Income levels: Max $78,545 for FHA, VA and USDA loans
Max $64,400 for conventional loans
Credit scores: Min. 640, with debt-to-income ratio of 45% (that means that your house payment plus all credit payments can't be more than 45% of your monthly gross pay)
The rates are usually 1/4-1/2% higher than a standard loan
And you don't have to be a first-time homebuyer
Some lenders don't like to do down payment assisted loans because they aren't as profitable, but they go through the same underwriting as anyone else. If your agent doesn't know about this, tell her/him to check it out. If you need to be pointed at some lenders who do it, PM me.
I was going to suggest the OP look at a grant assistance program too. I know lenders out here call them community fund loans. We also have a program called Oregon Bond that is for lower income homeowners that is a state program.
While I appreciate his offer, I don't know who Pfhtex is. I have utilized the assistance of people or groups I do know. I was on top of it everyday for months. I know how horrible it can be for veterans trying to get access to their benefits. I'm one of those who gave up too early trying to get my GI Bill to pay for college and there was no way I was going to allow that to happen with the VA loan. Considering all I did, I doubt a phone call from someone I don't know and who doesn't know me was going to somehow make them change their mind.
Did you contact your Representative in Congress about this? If not, that would be my suggestion.
I was going to suggest the OP look at a grant assistance program too. I know lenders out here call them community fund loans. We also have a program called Oregon Bond that is for lower income homeowners that is a state program.
I would not get his hopes up too high with those programs.
I looked into them locally in south Florida and hit road blocks everywhere.
They either had no funding, could be the time of year, some may have funding, but only if you lived in the city limits, Still technically with a city address and a block outside the city limits and they only offer assistance for new construction. Plus I was told there was no grant money, but they do offer a 0% second mortgage that never needs to be paid back unless you sell your home, the problem was the guys calculations were way off, I could cover most of the loan and had trouble with just the closing and down payment, he said they did not want to offer that and to get me down to 30% he offered a $35K second mortgage. So I'm thinking wait for just a few thousand in closing cost and an extra hundred a month in insurance to get me down to 30% net income you want me to get a huge second mortgage? And the worst part would be that if I ever had to sell the home for any reason I would owe them $35K and plus the bank their original loan too. The guy was really nice but he said things that proved to me that he didn't know what he was talking about. He told me that the appraisal would need to be paid up front, when I know that the appraisal is paid with closing costs.
I would suggest you take a first time homeowner workshop, they are usually free and run by non profit organizations, mine was held at a library on a Saturday and lasted about 8 hours. They brought in different speakers such as an insurance agent, a real estate agent, a banker, a housing discrimination specialist and a few others and you can ask questions too. All it cost afterwards was $25 to get the certificate which is good for a year in the entire state and needed when applying for grant or housing assistance programs.
Also get your denial letter from the VA loan. Many people along the line will ask if you ever served in the military and try to steer you into a VA loan again, one might have success, but if you don't want to waste time show them the letter.
I would not get his hopes up too high with those programs.
I looked into them locally in south Florida and hit road blocks everywhere.
They either had no funding, could be the time of year, some may have funding, but only if you lived in the city limits, Still technically with a city address and a block outside the city limits and they only offer assistance for new construction. Plus I was told there was no grant money, but they do offer a 0% second mortgage that never needs to be paid back unless you sell your home, the problem was the guys calculations were way off, I could cover most of the loan and had trouble with just the closing and down payment, he said they did not want to offer that and to get me down to 30% he offered a $35K second mortgage. So I'm thinking wait for just a few thousand in closing cost and an extra hundred a month in insurance to get me down to 30% net income you want me to get a huge second mortgage? And the worst part would be that if I ever had to sell the home for any reason I would owe them $35K and plus the bank their original loan too. The guy was really nice but he said things that proved to me that he didn't know what he was talking about. He told me that the appraisal would need to be paid up front, when I know that the appraisal is paid with closing costs.
Our Bond program is like that. Once the bonds sell, then they are out of loan funds until the next fiscal year when they sell more bonds.
That is different than community loans though which will vary from state to state.
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