VA Loans

[faip]

Just closed on a 2nd Home with Trident.  Went into contract the week of Thanksgiving, and closed on the 20th!  Great rate and service from Ashley G. --  30yr conventional,  2nd home @ 4% with only 10% down.  Highly recommend Marty and his folks with Trident loans.

[Marty - Trident Home Loans]

Just closed on a 2nd Home with Trident.  Went into contract the week of Thanksgiving, and closed on the 20th!  Great rate and service from Ashley G. --  30yr conventional,  2nd home @ 4% with only 10% down.  Highly recommend Marty and his folks with Trident loans.

Thank you Sir! Ashley is amazing and I’ll pass along the kind words!

Conventional and second home rates are slightly higher than VAs so that’s why the 4.0% rate for anyone interested. I’m still doing VAs at 3.5 with no lender fees or points (non-jumbo, >200k loan, and >680 credit. Edging towards 3.625%.

The VA approved the increase to a $453,100 limit for 2018!

https://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/purchaseco_loan_limits.asp

Thank you to everyone who made this a great 2017 for our 25 member team at Trident! Each one of you have been a pleasure to serve! You all are no doubt the best clients we get.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy 2018 to everyone!

Marty

[Best-22]

I’d like to add another glowing review for Marty and the team at trident. Just closed on a nice place in Navarre, FL. I’m a first time home buyer and I really appreciated how Marty patiently explained the process to me multiple times. 

I worked with Ashley G and despite working around the Christmas holiday season, she was easy too contact and it felt like we were perpetually ahead of schedule. The title company decided at the last minute that $1000 of closing costs should be paid by the buyer (me) instead of the seller. Ashley went to bat for me and pushed back saying the seller should pay without me even having to ask. When I said it was fine and I would pay it, Ashley felt that was unfair to me and gave me an extra $500 in lender credit to split the costs with me 50/50! Wow! I can’t imagine other companies would take care of their customers like that. Needless to say I’ll be recommending them to all my friends/coworkers. 

Thanks again Marty, you and your team are great! 

Edited January 7, 2018 by Best-22

[Marty - Trident Home Loans]

1 hour ago, Best-22 said:

I’d like to add another glowing review for Marty and the team at trident. Just closed on a nice place in Navarre, FL. I’m a first time home buyer and I really appreciated how Marty patiently explained the process to me multiple times. 

I worked with Ashley G and despite working around the Christmas holiday season, she was easy too contact and it felt like we were perpetually ahead of schedule. The title company decided at the last minute that $1000 of closing costs should be paid by the buyer (me) instead of the seller. Ashley went to bat for me and pushed back saying the seller should pay without me even having to ask. When I said it was fine and I would pay it, Ashley felt that was unfair to me and gave me an extra $500 in lender credit to split the costs with me 50/50! Wow! I can’t imagine other companies would take care of their customers like that. Needless to say I’ll be recommending them to all my friends/coworkers. 

Thanks again Marty, you and your team are great! 

Thank you Sir and congrats on the new house!  Ashley never disappoints and I'll make sure I pass along your review!

I've always believed mortgages are commodities and our difference is the service, experience, and ethics we offer.  Combining those with wholesale rates and no hidden fees has made us different than every other lender out there.  That's what each of you should expect in every business transaction you make.  We just do what we say we're going to do.

Happy New Year!
Marty

[Standby]

Full disclosure, I usually don't write a ton of reviews online but Trident is offering me a Starbucks gift card to "...honestly review your experience with us on baseops (both the good and ugly)."  My wife and I decided to do some house hunting in our last half of PIT so we took the drive to Del Rio to scope the market.  We looked at a ton of places and had it narrowed within a few days.  After making the requisite offers and being accepted, we had a decision to make with financing.  We have a home in Navarre and the mortgage was sold-off to Bank of America.  For this reason, we initially contacted Navy Fed.  The closing estimate they provided was extremely high and chock full of bullshit fees that we didn't want to pay.  From here, we had recommendations from our realtor but secretly had Trident in the back of our minds (gathered some VA IRRRL numbers a while ago).  I called Marty and explained my desire to minimize closing costs while maintaining a decent rate.  He provided several options for me and after gathering the necessary information, terminated the call.  Jumping forward, I called Marty back to confirm numbers (which he did) and was passed to Elena for processing/closing.  Working with Elena was very easy.  The whole process was fairly hands-off from a buyer's perspective.  We had some small hiccups that were no-drama (e.g., AFPC puts Fairchild AFB as the TDY location for PIT causing underwriter to require doc explaining) but it was easily handled.  Although the process went smooth, my only complaint revolved around closing.  We gave Trident less than a month to work closing and Thanksgiving was in that window so I cannot blast them for this, but it was slightly disappointing.  We set a NLT closing date but I called to see if we could move it up from a Monday to the preceding Friday.  I received a favorable response on this but we ended up missing the revised closing date.  Apparently Elena didn't realize that an additional review of the docs by some legal jabroni was required which caused us to miss the revised deadline.  This made us spend a few more nights in a shitty hotel with our cars loaded full of sensitive personal effects and documents but it was made up for at closing because we got a lower rate than initially quoted AND we walked away being paid $1,000 in closing.  I would wager that very few people walk away from closing being handed a check rather than writing one.  All-in-all, the rate was competitive and the lender credit was equally as competitive.  Our intent was to minimize closing costs via maximizing lender credit but without chomping down on an abnormally high rate.  Marty and his team at Trident were able to do this and I write this from a plush desert home with no regrets.

BL: we used Trident to purchase our home in Del Rio.  Made contact with Marty, worked with Elena -- would do it again.

 

Edited January 8, 2018 by Standby

[Marty - Trident Home Loans]

Full disclosure, I usually don't write a ton of reviews online but Trident is offering me a Starbucks gift card to "...honestly review your experience with us on baseops (both the good and ugly)."  My wife and I decided to do some house hunting in our last half of PIT so we took the drive to Del Rio to scope the market.  We looked at a ton of places and had it narrowed within a few days.  After making the requisite offers and being accepted, we had a decision to make with financing.  We have a home in Navarre and the mortgage was sold-off to Bank of America.  For this reason, we initially contacted Navy Fed.  The closing estimate they provided was extremely high and chock full of bullshit fees that we didn't want to pay.  From here, we had recommendations from our realtor but secretly had Trident in the back of our minds (gathered some VA IRRRL numbers a while ago).  I called Marty and explained my desire to minimize closing costs while maintaining a decent rate.  He provided several options for me and after gathering the necessary information, terminated the call.  Jumping forward, I called Marty back to confirm numbers (which he did) and was passed to Elena for processing/closing.  Working with Elena was very easy.  The whole process was fairly hands-off from a buyer's perspective.  We had some small hiccups that were no-drama (e.g., AFPC puts Fairchild AFB as the TDY location for PIT causing underwriter to require doc explaining) but it was easily handled.  Although the process went smooth, my only complaint revolved around closing.  We gave Trident less than a month to work closing and Thanksgiving was in that window so I cannot blast them for this, but it was slightly disappointing.  We set a NLT closing date but I called to see if we could move it up from a Monday to the preceding Friday.  I received a favorable response on this but we ended up missing the revised closing date.  Apparently Elena didn't realize that an additional review of the docs by some legal jabroni was required which caused us to miss the revised deadline.  This made us spend a few more nights in a shitty hotel with our cars loaded full of sensitive personal effects and documents but it was made up for at closing because we got a lower rate than initially quoted AND we walked away being paid $1,000 in closing.  I would wager that very few people walk away from closing being handed a check rather than writing one.  All-in-all, the rate was competitive and the lender credit was equally as competitive.  Our intent was to minimize closing costs via maximizing lender credit but without chomping down on an abnormally high rate.  Marty and his team at Trident were able to do this and I write this from a plush desert home with no regrets.
BL: we used Trident to purchase our home in Del Rio.  Made contact with Marty, worked with Elena -- would do it again.
 

Thanks for taking your time to review us and congrats on the new house even if it’s in Del Rio;) We aren’t perfect by any means but I will always try to make it right even if it isn’t our fault. Maybe a lesson I learned from my airline. I know that if I mess up any of your loans I will get blasted on here (rightly so) so I’m overly sensitive to every baseops loan we do. I want everyone of you to get the best rate/deal along with the best service. If we ever fall short for any reason please let me know. Thanks again!

Marty

[xaarman]

Has anyone ever used a VA loan to build a custom house? Are there any major issues? Is it the same financing rules?

 

Also, as I begin the airline saga, is getting a mortgage impossible on first year pay or do underwriters understand our progressive pay scale?

 

Speaking of which.. NBOKC/Marty - what are the 15 year fixed VA rates nowadays? Is there any difference between a 760 and 805 score, rate wise? I distrust the Quicken loans pop ups...

Edited January 10, 2018 by xaarman

[di1630]

Has anyone ever used a VA loan to build a custom house? Are there any major issues? Is it the same financing rules?

How custom? We had a reputable builder build a house we designed and had no issues with a VA loan.

[xaarman]

 

4 minutes ago, di1630 said:

How custom? We had a reputable builder build a house we designed and had no issues with a VA loan.

 

Pretty much exactly that. I have bought/sold two houses with VA loans, but never done anything from scratch before. 

[PilotWife2]

25 minutes ago, xaarman said:

Has anyone ever used a VA loan to build a custom house? Are there any major issues? Is it the same financing rules?

 

Also, as I begin the airline saga, is getting a mortgage impossible on first year pay or do underwriters understand our progressive pay scale?

 

Speaking of which.. NBOKC/Marty - what are the 15 year fixed VA rates nowadays? Is there any difference between a 760 and 805 score, rate wise? I distrust the Quicken loans pop ups...

 Hello! Are you looking to convert your own construction loan to permanent VA financing or is your builder obtaining the construction loan? Custom homes aren't an issue as long as there are decent comparable sales that support the value. If it's too tricked out and overpriced for the area, you may run into an appraisal issue, but that isn't VA specific. That could be an issue with any type of financing. 

[PilotWife2]

 PM the particulars i.e. purchase price, state and down payment if any,  and I'll work up a 15 yrVA quote for you. Thanks for keeping NBKC  in mind! 

[xaarman]

14 minutes ago, PilotWife2 said:

 PM the particulars i.e. purchase price, state and down payment if any,  and I'll work up a 15 yrVA quote for you. Thanks for keeping NBKC  in mind! 

PM sent!

[Marty - Trident Home Loans]

Has anyone ever used a VA loan to build a custom house? Are there any major issues? Is it the same financing rules?
 
Also, as I begin the airline saga, is getting a mortgage impossible on first year pay or do underwriters understand our progressive pay scale?
 
Speaking of which.. NBOKC/Marty - what are the 15 year fixed VA rates nowadays? Is there any difference between a 760 and 805 score, rate wise? I distrust the Quicken loans pop ups...

Using a VA loan to build a home has a great advantage of builder paying interest charges as well as getting the reduced funding fee if you have at least a 5% down payment or have a VA disability.

If you don’t use the VA loan to do the construction portion, you will have a 3.3 VA fee refinancing the loan into a VA loan which is expensive and unnecessary.

Going conventional 15 will be cheaper.

A 740 credit score or greater gives you elite pricing so you’ll be good.

Getting a mortgage on first year pay isn’t an issue. We do it all the time and haven’t had any issues getting someone approved. Worst case you can start with a 30yr and then do an IRRRL (VA refi) into a 15yr once pay increases if you have a high debt to income. Everything is easily workable.

Let me know if you need more specifics. I’d be happy to chat anytime.

Marty

[MilitaryToFinance]

Speaking of which.. NBOKC/Marty - what are the 15 year fixed VA rates nowadays? Is there any difference between a 760 and 805 score, rate wise? I distrust the Quicken loans pop ups...

Beware that interest rates are moving up. My house hunting has been slow moving and I keep watching my quoted rate move up and up.

[Marty - Trident Home Loans]

1 hour ago, MilitaryToFinance said:

 

Beware that interest rates are moving up. My house hunting has been slow moving and I keep watching my quoted rate move up and up.

Rates have been trending up and are sitting at a 6th month high.  Big picture...3.625-3.75 on a non-jumbo 30yr VA and 3.25-3.375 on a 15yr is still incredibly low compared to historical averages.  Mortgage rates have a strong correlation to the 10yr treasury bond which you can also see has been on the rise.

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/^TNX/

Another good resource to get a feel for rates and the current trend along with commentary is:

https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/

A good strategy in a rising market environment is to "lock and shop" if you have a good timeline for when you expect to find a house.  I posted about it before "we lock you 60 days out from your expected closing date at the current market rates while you shop around for a house.  Once you go under contract we will give you the better of the original "lock and shop" rate or the going market rate.  It's a great way to hedge your position without it costing you anything."

Good luck with your house hunting!

Marty

[MilitaryToFinance]

Rates have been trending up and are sitting at a 6th month high.  Big picture...3.625-3.75 on a non-jumbo 30yr VA and 3.25-3.375 on a 15yr is still incredibly low compared to historical averages.  Mortgage rates have a strong correlation to the 10yr treasury bond which you can also see has been on the rise.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/^TNX/
Another good resource to get a feel for rates and the current trend along with commentary is:
https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/
A good strategy in a rising market environment is to "lock and shop" if you have a good timeline for when you expect to find a house.  I posted about it before "we lock you 60 days out from your expected closing date at the current market rates while you shop around for a house.  Once you go under contract we will give you the better of the original "lock and shop" rate or the going market rate.  It's a great way to hedge your position without it costing you anything."
Good luck with your house hunting!
Marty

Where I'm buying it takes 60-90 days to go from offer to closing. So a 60 day rate lock wouldn't have done much good, plus I was expecting to spend a couple months looking which I did in the end.

From a historic perspective yes rates are still amazingly low. It still sucks to watch my quote on a 30 year Jumbo VA loan go from 3.375% when I started looking to 3.625%-3.750% today. On a jumbo every eigth of a point makes a big difference.

[Marty - Trident Home Loans]

Where I'm buying it takes 60-90 days to go from offer to closing. So a 60 day rate lock wouldn't have done much good, plus I was expecting to spend a couple months looking which I did in the end.

From a historic perspective yes rates are still amazingly low. It still sucks to watch my quote on a 30 year Jumbo VA loan go from 3.375% when I started looking to 3.625%-3.750% today. On a jumbo every eigth of a point makes a big difference.

I definitely get it and and eight of a point is a big deal on a jumbo. 120 and 90 day locks are out there but the pricing isn’t very good so it doesn’t help the hedge very much. You always have the IRRRL (refi) option if rates go back down after you’ve made your 6th payment.

[disgruntledemployee]

Ok, I'll follow up with calls, but I'm seeking a little clarification from our experts. I plan on building a customized home, (local builder, make the plan, build it).  I planned on getting the construction loan.  I understood the process of a construction loan to VA loan as not costing anything more than a regular VA loan (with VA disability rating). However, reading above it looks like there may be a refinance cost by doing it this way.  If so, I'm definitely going to look for VA financing off the bat for construction. 

Out

[Marty - Trident Home Loans]

Ok, I'll follow up with calls, but I'm seeking a little clarification from our experts. I plan on building a customized home, (local builder, make the plan, build it).  I planned on getting the construction loan.  I understood the process of a construction loan to VA loan as not costing anything more than a regular VA loan (with VA disability rating). However, reading above it looks like there may be a refinance cost by doing it this way.  If so, I'm definitely going to look for VA financing off the bat for construction. 
Out

If you have a VA disability rating the funding fee is waived. That being said the process is still going to be much smoother if you do a VA construction loan right off the bat. It’ll be interest only while you’re building (builder can pay that) and once the house is done it’ll automatically switch over to a 30yr VA or whatever you decide to go with. A lot of banks have a higher interest rate on construction loans but you can always make 6 payments then do an IRRRL (no funding fee again since you have a disability) to lower your rate down. The VA offers a lot of protections that a conventional loan does not.

For not disability folks, a subsequent VA loan use increases the funding fee up to 3.3%. If it’s a new purchase or new construction that you do off the bat you can put 5% or 10% down to reduce the funding fee. For cash out refinances or doing an existing conventional to a VA refinance you can’t buy down the funding fee so it can get expensive. That was my caution. Here is the funding fee chart:

https://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/documents/docs/funding_fee_table.pdf

Marty

[MilitaryToFinance]

Has anybody ever seen a sale contract that explicitly says you can't use a VA loan?

Purchaser shall get "a first mortgage loan, other than a VA, FHA or other governmentally insured loan."

[nunya]

Yep.  VA can be a pain in the ass for a seller, especially if the appraiser screws them with a low ball appraisal.

[mcbush]

I’ve seen the same - couldn’t use a VA on the first house I bought. Wound up going conventional and eventually refinancing to a VA later on.

[Marty - Trident Home Loans]

20 hours ago, MilitaryToFinance said:

Has anybody ever seen a sale contract that explicitly says you can't use a VA loan?

Purchaser shall get "a first mortgage loan, other than a VA, FHA or other governmentally insured loan."

Some sellers don't want government loans because the appraisal/inspection is more detailed or because of VA non-allowance fees put on them.  The appraisal/inspection has higher standards which scares the seller, but protects you.  They can also take longer which if they are trying to close super fast can slow the process down.  This is especially true if the appraiser finds a problem and it must be fixed then reinspected.  You can also walk away from the deal if the appraisal comes back low which some sellers don't like.  Overall a VA loan is great for the buyer, but not for the seller.

That being said, if their concern is with the cost side of the VA, we can pay all VA non-allowances.  The sellers don’t want to be liable to pay these fees so we can ensure that they don’t have to. These fees apply only if a lender is doing borrower paid VA loan such as a broker and not a lender.  I do all I can to put the sellers at ease with this issue so you can use your VA benefit.  I have had good success talking to sellers' realtors into allowing a VA loan.  Refinancing is the worst option unless your disabled because you’ll pay a 3.3% funding fee on a subsequent use or 2.15% first use funding fee and it isn’t reduced by putting extra money down.  Additionally you'll have another round of closing costs to pay so it definitely gets pricey.

Marty

[MilitaryToFinance]

Thanks. I'm letting my lawyer hash it out for now, sounds like it might just be boilerplate language. The seller won't have to pay anything, I'm putting 25% down, and closing usually takes 90 days here anyway so it shouldn't delay the process. There is really no logical reason to deny the VA loan except the inspection.

[Truman08]

Anybody ever heard of/dealt with the assumption of a VA loan?  I’ve been house hunting for a while and came across a seller who has owned a brand new home for three years, has a quick military move, and is looking for somebody to assume their VA loan. I’ve been trying to get smart on the process should it go forward, but it sounds like it rarely ever happens so not many people know a ton about the process.