VA Loans

[Inertia17]

Delayed roughly a month, but another shout out for Jon and the team at Trident! Deployed location, spouse out of the country, and at no point were Trident the limfac. Great rate, super responsive, no hesitations recommending them to anyone who is looking for a lender!

[Disco_Nav963]

You guys are all going to be shocked, but I have another rave review for Jon and the folks at Trident. My wife found the perfect place for her to live her dream of rehabbing a historic home in the historic district of our medium-sized military town (the other ATX), and when we put an offer in we found out why it had been on the market (in this market) for 6 months: the sellers had rejected three previous offers by buyers who were planning on using VA loans. Either they or their listing agent were sure that dealing with VA buyers was a nightmare and that the appraisal would come in 30% below comps and kill any deal. Jon spent a half hour on the phone sweet talking the listing agent—busting myths, explaining the process for getting a second opinion from VA staff appraisers, etc etc.

Jon did more to make the deal happen than my buyer's agent did. They accepted our second offer and we closed yesterday... Interest rate 1.6% below current market rates (and about 0.5% below the market rate at the time we locked). Zero bureaucratic hassle with Jon's staff. Could not have gone smoother. (Unrelated: Appraised just fine.)

With both the contract price and our interest rate, in this market, it feels like we made it onto the last chopper out of 'Nam. We can't thank Jon enough. 

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

On 4/30/2022 at 5:29 AM, Inertia17 said:

Great rate, super responsive, no hesitations recommending them to anyone who is looking for a lender!

Thanks man and great working with you again!  Congrats on the new home and enjoy the new assignment!

18 hours ago, Disco_Nav963 said:

Jon did more to make the deal happen than my buyer's agent did. We can't thank Jon enough. 

Thanks for the kind words and congratulations on the new home!  I’m glad I was able to help with the negotiations!  I’ve definitely seen a lot of success helping folks use their VA benefits in this market by spending some on phone with the agents.  A little education and letting them know my experience with VAs has gone a long way.  Glad it worked in your case.  I definitely always try to help seal the deal for my clients.  Let me know if I can do anything to help in the future!

Cheers!

Jon

[Lecarpetron Dukemarriot]

On 5/1/2022 at 9:48 AM, Jon - Trident Home Loans said:

Thanks man and great working with you again!  Congrats on the new home and enjoy the new assignment!

Thanks for the kind words and congratulations on the new home!  I’m glad I was able to help with the negotiations!  I’ve definitely seen a lot of success helping folks use their VA benefits in this market by spending some on phone with the agents.  A little education and letting them know my experience with VAs has gone a long way.  Glad it worked in your case.  I definitely always try to help seal the deal for my clients.  Let me know if I can do anything to help in the future!

Cheers!

Jon

Jon,

I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the housing/mortgage markets moving forward. Caveat: not looking for "legal or financial advice". 

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

12 hours ago, Lecarpetron Dukemarriot said:

Jon,

I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the housing/mortgage markets moving forward. Caveat: not looking for "legal or financial advice". 

Obviously no crystal ball but here are a few thoughts:

1) Until demand is less than supply and inflation is under control we’ll continue to see some more home value appreciation 

2) The Federal Reserve is trying to kill inflation as quickly as possible which mean higher interest rates on everything to include mortgages over the short term.  That being said they gotta get it done in a expedient manner before they trigger a recession

3) While higher interest rates suck it’s only a short term problem because everyone will just refinance in a couple years and the Fed knows that.  
 

Lots of people made a lot of money on Wall Street/Real Estate and got some crazy rates thanks to the Fed during COVID.  That’s gotta dry up temporarily to get the economy back on track for future gains.  I believe everything right now is just a short term rip the bandaid approach to curbing inflation then game on again.  
 

As far as mortgages go, I’m sure everyone who is getting a mortgage now won’t be stuck in it for more than a couple years so if you keep a long term perspective you’ll be fine.  In the meantime BAH will also adjust to offset the higher costs if you’re still AD.

Cheers!

Jon

[Herkdrvr]

Posting to publicly thank Jon and his entire Trident team for helping my wife and I land a home (twice!) in a particularly challenging market. 

Jon's assistant, Olivia, was superb. She authored/sent loan approval letters in a timely manner & as we found homes where we seriously considered making an offer, she rapidly got us the relevant loan information to help us make an informed decision. 

We finally landed a deal in the ~Mar timeframe. We discussed numbers on Fri & by Monday the Fed had raised rates.  Despite the higher rates, Jon honored the lower figures we discussed. 

The combination of low rate, zero lender fees, & applicable lender credits meant in addition to 0% VA down, I would have next to zero closing costs. 

Equally impressive was Roy. Once we had a signed our offer, Roy helped navigate us through the various closing disclosures, VA paperwork, and loan requirements. When I had questions, Roy answered them swiftly & with sufficient clarity to aid two home-buying novices like me and my wife. 

Unfortunately, this particular deal fell apart over our appraisal. 

We spent the next 3 months looking for a home & utilizing Trident's services.

Time & again we funneled Olivia various property addresses; she would give us the relevant numbers. When we put in offers that weren't accepted, the Trident team was empathetic & encouraging. Roy & Olivia both kept me informed of the rate landscape until we made our 2nd offer.

Yet again: Trident rates soundly beat the market, low fees, and 0 down. It was a no brainer. 

Once we finally got to closing, duties transferred to Jen who completed this phenomenal quartet.  She worked directly with me & our title company to finish all the closing documents. Suffice to say: we're thankful to be (finally!) out of the rental market and into a home.

Jon, Olivia, Roy & Jen made the process seamless with minimal damage to the ol' bank account. 

If I'm ever in a position to buy a home again, I'm giving Jon a call. 

If you are considering a purchase, your search has ended. 

THANK YOU TRIDENT!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Herkdrvr
Spelling

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

On 7/29/2022 at 9:00 AM, Herkdrvr said:

THANK YOU TRIDENT!!!!

Thank you Sir and congratulations on your new home/new chapter in life!  I'm glad you were well served by my whole team.  Roy, Olivia and Jen  are all rock stars!  We've made a lot of improvements to take our customer service and our rates to the next level which earned Marty the #1 VA originator ranking in the country for 2021 and I was #8.  Constant improvement!  I'll keep you on the radar to do an IRRRL for you when the market declines!

As everyone knows rates are up as a whole but they are actually down over the short term.  Obviously no crystal ball where things will go for the rest of the year but we'll seeing rates similar to the spring of 2019 right now when the bond market was moving up but at a slower pace.  The Federal Reserve rate hikes are not directly connected to mortgage rates so don't let the news scare you.  Streamline refi's will be a player again probably by the end of 2023 or in 2024.  Rates are still well below the 5.5% I got on my first home loan back in 2009 on a VA.  The 10yr treasury bond shows the trend of the mortgage market and if you do a 3 month look back you can see a the bond is down .8% since it peaked in Jun.

Happy to chat or give you a rate quote over the phone or email.

Cheers!
Jon

850-377-1114

jk@mythl.com

[VMFA187]

All,

I came across a really great property yesterday in an area that we have quietly been eyeing for some time. I didn't anticipate it garnering so much attention and was caught off guard when the sellers agent stated that they would be accepting offers through Monday. After talking with the wife I knew we wanted to give it a shot so I messaged Jon from Trident Home Loans around 2pm PST. He told me to call him and we spoke at length running rough numbers over the phone while we drove home. Just over 12 hours later, with one of his guys working the process at 3am PST on a Sunday, I had the pre approval letter to provide to our realtor along with our upcoming offer. 

Second time I've worked with Jon and can't recommend him highly enough. 

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

On 8/28/2022 at 11:59 AM, VMFA187 said:

Second time I've worked with Jon and can't recommend him highly enough. 

Thanks for the compliment!  I wish I could take credit for the early AM work on the weekend but that was one of my great assistants!  I’m definitely fortunate to have a great team supporting me and our great clients like you.  Always happy to help!  Fingers crossed for you!

Jon

[LookieRookie]

Rates around 5.5% for a primary residence, non jumbo loan?

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

2 hours ago, LookieRookie said:

Rates around 5.5% for a primary residence, non jumbo loan?

Lots of variables in rates but VAs are closer to 5.0% and conventionals closer to 5.75%.  I’d need more details if you want to dial it in.  The bond market is near the high for the year right now so hopefully we’ll see another dip like in Jul.

Jon

850-377-1114

 

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

Good news before 2023 PCS season…Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac raised the normal lending threshold today on conventional loans by almost 79k to $726,200.  There are higher limits for expensive counties like those in the DC, CA, CO, UT areas. 

The VA will certify these new limits soon which means you can borrow more before it becomes a high balance VA loan which keeps your rate lower.  It also helps people looking to get a second VA while keeping one they have on another property because VA entitlement is calculated off these numbers too.  Basically you’re getting another 79K of VA insurance if you have an outstanding VA loan.  No change to entitlement if your entitlement is fully available…you can still go zero down without a loan limit assuming you qualify debt to income ratio wise.

Let me know if we can do anything for you or if there are any questions I can answer.

Happy Holidays!

Jon

850-377-1114

jk@mythl.com

[jonlbs]

Just to piggyback off what everyone else has said and already knows.

First time homebuyer and reached out to Jon purely based on these forums. Couldn't have been a better decision. I still don't know much but I know I got a pretty decent rate (5.75) which beats the current market avg (7.5ish). Higher than sub 3% but hey... at some point we all get tired of living in an apartment.

All you need to know is they take care of you. Hell, only talked to Jon a handful of times, so his team should get more of the credit lol. Olivia and Shaundra were awesome and helped me out every single time I called. They walked me through everything and no matter what time or day they picked up the phone and worked with me (nice for an airline schedule). 

It is as simple as you are the priority and they will get it done for you. I couldn't have been happier going down this road as new home buyer not knowing shit. So if this helps you choose Jon and crew, I can firmly stand by you are making a great decision.

Thanks again to all y'all...

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

On 12/9/2022 at 12:34 PM, jonlbs said:

It is as simple as you are the priority and they will get it done for you. I couldn't have been happier going down this road as new home buyer not knowing shit. So if this helps you choose Jon and crew, I can firmly stand by you are making a great decision.

Thanks again to all y'all...

Thank you so much and you're welcome Jon!  Congratulations on your new home!  My team definitely makes the magic happen...I'm just the facilitator and chaos coordinator.  They are amazing!  I'll be keeping my eye out for free streamline refi opportunities as rates continue to decline through '23 into '24.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you or your friends in the future!  

Have a great Christmas and New Year!

Jon

jk@mythl.com

850-377-1114

[HuskyPilot]

Another happy customer for Jon, Roy, and the whole team at Trident! 

[bcuziknow]

3 hours ago, HuskyPilot said:

Another happy customer for Jon, Roy, and the whole team at Trident! 

Ditto on the team Trident. Hands down the best VA team, process, and results. I’ve used others and closed on 4 VA loans in the last 6 yrs with the most recent Trident. Minimal invasion of financial colonoscopy, minimal calls to respond to, and smooth closing. Definitely the only mortgage I’ll ever use. 
 

Thanks again Jon/Roy/and the staff to make it happen on a short notice closing.

Walt & Tracey 

Edited February 1, 2023 by bcuziknow

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

10 hours ago, HuskyPilot said:

Another happy customer for Jon, Roy, and the whole team at Trident! 

 

7 hours ago, bcuziknow said:

Ditto on the team Trident. Hands down the best VA team, process, and results. I’ve used others and closed on 4 VA loans in the last 6 yrs with the most recent Trident. Minimal invasion of financial colonoscopy, minimal calls to respond to, and smooth closing. Definitely the only mortgage I’ll ever use. 
 

Thanks again Jon/Roy/and the staff to make it happen on a short notice closing.

Walt & Tracey 

Thanks for the compliments from both of you!  I enjoyed working with you guys and happy my team could provide such a great rate/service.  I'm always here for you and I'll be keeping an eye out for no cost streamline IRRRL opportunities as rates decline!

I've been meaning to post a market update on here since we're getting into PCS season.  Also with all the crazy airline hiring we're doing a lot of loans for new hires or people upgrading so I'll address those too.  Here are the highlights:

1) Mortgage follow the trend of the 10yr treasury bond not the federal reserve rate moves.  The bond market as of today is down over 1% since it's high in Oct which means rates are down over 1% as well.  The trend will continue through '23 with expectations that VAs will be back to the mid 4 area by the end of the year and then see continued decline back into the mid to upper 3s over the next couple years.  Rates are definitely getting better and no cost refi opportunities are around the corner so reach out anytime if you want a sanity check.

2) If you closed Sept-Dec of last year you unfortunately hit the peak rates...reach out to me when you're making your 6th payment and I'll do a no cost VA streamline refi for you (informational flyer attached).  No closing costs so no breakeven...then we do it again after you make another 6 payments as rates continue to decline.  Anyone 5.5%+ will probably be able to take advantage of this by the end of the year.  If you're 6%+ you'll be able to do it sooner.

3) Congratulations to anyone getting CJOs...so much hiring going on.  Transition is a tough period when qualifying for a mortgage as is being on first year pay.  I recently did a video (below) and had an article published in Aero Crew News (below) on airline pay that you can checkout.  Every scenario is a little different so give me a call to chat through it.

Pilot Pay Article: https://aerocrewnews.com/education-2/finances/mortgage/know-your-worth-pilot-mortgages-debunked/

Video: 

 

Bottom line is there is a lot of good stuff on the horizon and I want to help you however we can.  Please feel free to reach out anytime.

Cheers!
Jon

850-377-1114

jk@mythl.com

https://jonathankulak.floify.com/

 

[Homestar]

Thanks Jon. Working with you right now on a possible move to Utah.  Got to say, Jon is where you want to go if you’re an Air Force to Airline guy for sure! Great comms and he knows the ins and outs of airline life as a current airline pilot himself. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Homestar

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

5 minutes ago, Homestar said:

Thanks Jon. Working with you right now on a possible move to Utah.  Got to say, Jon is where you want to go if you’re an Air Force to Airline guy for sure! Great comms and he knows the ins and outs of airline life as a current airline pilot himself. 

Thanks man!  You’ll be in a good spot once you get the class date locked down.  I think Trident is one of the few credible lenders out there that can speak/execute AD/reserves/airlines loans very well.  There are some small broker shops that do but they don’t lend their own money or do their own underwriting.  
 

I always recommend folks transitioning add a mortgage plan to their 1yr out checklist if they plan to move.  Once you are inside of 1yr from your separation date no underwriter for any VA, conventional or FHA can use that income because it’s not stable.  There are ways to use future income or close you before your separation date is in but you gotta know the rules to work the gray area.  I see other lenders preapprove people all the time based on their current AD income because they don’t check anything or are incompetent then it all comes falling apart in underwriting.  Helped a guy who’s lender canceled them the day of closing because they did a final employment verification and discovered the separation date.

Don’t fall for fancy sales tricks or being told what you want to hear.

Always here to help!

Jon

[Guardian]

Alright. Question for the group. Might be retiring or separating in the next 1-2 years but buying a house soon. Currently no VA disability but as a guardsman I can always apply. I’d like to preserve my ability to get my VA funding fee back and close on a home. I’ve heard that it’s possible to file intent or just file for one think VA I know I will get and refile for everything else later? Or maybe there is a 3rd option. Any recommendations?

And how does this work with VA loans and closing timing?

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

1 hour ago, Guardian said:

Alright. Question for the group. Might be retiring or separating in the next 1-2 years but buying a house soon. Currently no VA disability but as a guardsman I can always apply. I’d like to preserve my ability to get my VA funding fee back and close on a home. I’ve heard that it’s possible to file intent or just file for one think VA I know I will get and refile for everything else later? Or maybe there is a 3rd option. Any recommendations?

And how does this work with VA loans and closing timing?

This is one of those phone call scenarios because a lot of variables...are you AGR, ART, TR, Full Time, etc?  Do you have a civilian job?  How we qualify you and what documentation you'd need would depend on where you work, what your status is, where you want to buy, and when.

As far as the disability if you're active duty your VA award date is backdated to your separation date so if you close before you separate it's unlikely you'd get the funding fee refund.  Only way around that is to get a proposed memorandum of rating issued by the VA but I rarely see those play out.

As a reservist, guard, or a vet who hasn't applied you'd definitely want to do an intent to file app.  That buys you a year to get your actual app in, but once awarded they'd back date to your intent to file date plus backpay you.  As long as you closed on a house after your intent to file date/aka the date they backdate to then you're eligible for the funding fee refund.  I tell everyone who has separated/retired to do the intent to file JIC before they close if they don't have disability.  Some people don't want to file or plan to but then decide later they do.  Doesn't cost anything except a couple mins to do it and can get you/save you a lot of money.

On our end you fill out a VA form that says you have applied for disability with the original initial docs we send you then we upload that to the VA.  We then follow up with VA prior to closing to see if they have a proposed memo or an award to exempt you.  If they don't then you close with the funding fee and once you get your backdated award the VA will automatically process the refund which will go into the account you have setup for direct deposit of your disability check.  You can also call the VA regional loan center to initiate the refund process.  There is a paragraph and phone number on the bottom of your VA certificate of eligibility explaining the refund stuff.  I've seen it work out just fine for folks.

Let me know if you want to talk more specifics offline.

Jon

850-377-1114

jk@mythl.com

[tedybearofdoom]

A long overdue review about Trident. About 3 years I got back from a deployment and I was ready to jump into purchasing my first home. Based on this thread I ended up contacting Jon who put me in touch with Aaron who was licensed in PA. For a first time home buying process it was incredibly painless thanks to Aaron and team and I was incredibly impressed with all the communication and willingness to guide/help me through the process. I ended up locking an amazing rate of 2.25% and essentially being paperwork complete long before the closing date.

Three years later and it's PCS season and I had no hesitation as to who I was going to work with again. After reaching out to Aaron again, I received the the same level of service and I knew it was going to be a cake walk. I ended up finding a place while TDY and Aaron worked with me on a Sunday evening to get a pre-approval letter to submit an offer as well as a solid rate of 6%. After the offer was accepted, the rest of the process was just as easy as the first time. In fact, we were able to push closing a few days earlier because of how quickly Aaron and team worked on the loan. Even the title company had nothing but good things to say about working with Trident during the closing process.

Shout out to Trident, Aaron and team for all their hard work!

 

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

49 minutes ago, tedybearofdoom said:

Shout out to Trident, Aaron and team for all their hard work!

 

Thank for taking the time to write the great review and for trusting us again with your big life events!  We're always working to keep our customer service level high and our rates low.  I think we'll start seeing relief on rates next month after April's inflation data comes out which should start the slow decline of rates eventually back down to the 3.75%ish level that VAs like to sit at.  The models predict mid to upper 4s by the end of this year with that continuing in '24-'25.  We're already geared up to start doing no cost streamline refi's on VAs where we give a lender credit to wipe out the costs.  Feel free to visit our website on the program and reach out if you're interest/want to get on the list.

Cheers!
Jon

No cost VA refi: https://tridenthomeloans.com/irrrl/

[username]

Jon,

Due to upcoming retirement and plans to move out of state, I'll be putting my house on the market in the next couple of months.  I've never tried selling and buying a house near simultaneously.  I have a post-retirement job secured.  Likewise, my wife will probably have something secured within the next month give or take. 

The goal is to be able to house shop ASAP and am anticipating a fairly quick offer once the house is on the market.  Probably blurring realtor vs finance questions, but what are the options as far as pre-approval timing and conditions?  Can you get a pre-approval letter that assumes your DTI will not include your existing house that's theoretically under contract?  FWIW, my existing mortgage is a VA loan.  Unknown if we'll want to re-use the VA loan, but I'm guessing yes.  I assume we then can only provide contingency offers on houses until our current house we're selling closes?  Are we able to proceed with a purchase in parallel to our existing home selling (again, perhaps a realtor question)?  I've got 800+ credit.  Just for an upper bound (not our plan A), but I'm reading that a lot of mortgage companies look for 41% DTI or less.  If that's accurate for Trident, would you recommend what I was planning on doing which is to pay off our two vehicle loans?  The interest rates on the two loans are around 1% and 2%, respectively, but they're also 36 month loans with ~$2,000/mo total in car payments, so makes a big impact on DTI. 

Happy to discuss over the phone, but perhaps some of this would be pertinent to others.

Thanks!

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

3 minutes ago, username said:

Happy to discuss over the phone, but perhaps some of this would be pertinent to others.

Thanks!

Definitely worth a phone discussion since there are a few variables to ensure a seamless closing...850-377-1114. Some general answer that’d help everyone…

1) Conventional conforming loans (not jumbos) with good credit can go up to 50% debt to income.  VAs will go higher…I’ve had a 74% before.  All lenders use the same automated underwriting systems so unless they have a self imposed restriction then everyone can go above 41%
2) VAs have the lowest rates usually by .5-.75% on 30yr loans.  15s are pretty similar.
3) You can do a simultaneous sale and purchase with both running in parallel and we don’t need to count the current home as long as it sells prior/we can get a copy of the signed closing docs

4) You can potentially qualify for a second VA loan not contingent on the sale of the current property but there are some VA entitlement numbers we need to run.

5) If you’re retiring or separating within 1yr then you need to build a plan because their are a lot of underwriting rules that apply that we can help you circumnavigate 

6) Don’t pay off anything you don’t want to until we run automated underwriting because it may not be needed.  Worst case we can exclude it and mark it paid at closing to save paperwork/energy on your part.

7) Preapproval apps don’t expire as long as income/assets don’t change.  The hard pull credit report is only good for 120 days and needs to be good through closing but that can always be refreshed.  A soft pull is an option but automated underwriting can’t be run off a soft pull so if debt to income is tight then a hard pull is the only way for us to determine what will work.

Its always good to build a plan and there is no reason not to start sooner than later especially with major life transitions.  Happy to chat anytime.

Cheers!

Jon

850-377-1114

jk@mythl.com

https://tridenthomeloans.com/jonathan-kulak/