VA Loans

[danielstevens]

Hey everybody! (shameless plug alert!)

While every situation is a little different, i can say that it's pretty rare that we are higher rates than other VA lenders. With Greece going a little nuts over the weekend, that trickles down to us having a strong day on our market for interest rates. Feel free to look through this thread if you'd like to see what other baseops community members think of NBKC. If you'd like for us to get a specific quote for you can PM me or reach out to me directly at dstevens@nbofkc.com.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Dan Stevens

[Phase4]

Wife and I just closed with Kyle Keutzer from National Bank of Kansas City. Kyle was a pleasure to work with. NBOKC gave us the best interest rate and lender credit combination by far. One thing we appreciated was that Kyle gave us a direct phone number and was always quick to respond to all of our questions. Our realtor even told us that he was one of the best lenders they had worked with in a long time. We cannot recommend NBOKC and Kyle Keutzer enough!

[danielstevens]

Hello again!

Just wanted to let everyone know the 10 year treasury yield dropped to 2.20% this morning, edging rates back to roughly where they were in late May. A couple week's ago Greece caused a panic and rates edged down, but that was only for a short time. It's never easy to predict how long a dip will last, but thought i'd let you all know in case you were in the market. Make sure to ask your lender where rates are for them (or you can reach out to me if you'd like NBKC to get you a current quote!) You can always reach me at dstevens@nbofkc.com.

Thanks!

Dan

[stract]

Dan, what's your 30 yr VA refi rate right now?

[danielstevens]

Dan, what's your 30 yr VA refi rate right now?

It's difficult to give a quote without much info as it can vary somewhat based on a few factors. If you PM me your rough loan balance and state you are in I can get back to you pretty quick though.

[JakeFSU]

Currently, I'm in the process of buying a house. I'm running into an issue with eligibility for our VA Loan. I'm guard. I've only been in the guard for three years. But, I've been on Title 10 orders for nearly two years for IFS, UPT, PIQ, and Survival school. Also, I'll have 6 months of seasoning beginning in August. The VA is denying my eligibility. I've submitted my current orders, but still denied. The loan officer is suggesting to write a cover letter, which I will. He's also suggested getting a letter from my commander. Has anyone had an eligibility issue with the VA? Thoughts?

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[Royal]

A letter from the commander actually seems to carry some weight with the VA from what I've seen...It only needs to say something simple and to the effect of you'll be gainfully employed by the unit under Title 10 orders and that you've incurred a 10 year pilot training commitment, so you'll be around for a while.

[FUSEPLUG]

A letter from the commander actually seems to carry some weight with the VA from what I've seen...It only needs to say something simple and to the effect of you'll be gainfully employed by the unit under Title 10 orders and that you've incurred a 10 year pilot training commitment, so you'll be around for a while.

I closed on a VA loan with NBoKC in March and simply had a signed letter from my Sq/CC saying I was ensured gainful employment with the unit for the foreseeable future. They don't need details on what sort of orders you are on or how long you think they'll last. As long as you can provide a full-time LES and a letter from your Commander, you should be good. As always YMMV.

[JakeFSU]

I closed on a VA loan with NBoKC in March and simply had a signed letter from my Sq/CC saying I was ensured gainful employment with the unit for the foreseeable future. They don't need details on what sort of orders you are on or how long you think they'll last. As long as you can provide a full-time LES and a letter from your Commander, you should be good. As always YMMV.

Thanks, fellas.

FUSEPLUG, would you be willing to send me a copy if that letter? If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to use it as a templet.

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[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

We didn't use NBOKC for our VA loan, but got two great deals from Trident Home Loans in Gulf Breeze, FL. We're at Hurlburt and they were able to get us a 3.75% 30yr last year with a $7.2K lender credit which paid our VA funding fee so we didn't end up having to tack that onto our loan. We just finished a refi of the same property with them and got it down to a 3.25% 15yr with a $5K lender credit. There were no fees charged to us or added to our loan balance so they basically did a free refi. I got to meet the owner of the company (flies for Delta and was a Navy prowler pilot) during the process and he basically takes less of a profit to hook up military and pilots. Not saying they don't do business with other people, but he focuses on what he knows and cares about. A few other people from my squadron have gone with them too and got the same type of deal I did. Actually, it was an AF buddy who referred me to them because he got such a deal.

If you're paying money to refi or aren't getting a massive lender credit when you buy then you're doing it wrong. My broker was Stacy Haynes or you can PM me if you want to talk to the owner directly (I don't want to put his cell # on the web). He's a great dude to talk both mortgages and airlines stuff with.

[MilitaryToFinance]

The first time I bought a house I was able to get much better rates with a traditional loan so I didn't spend too much time researching VA loans. Is it still true that VA mortgages are capped at the FHA loan limits? It would be nice if there was a way to do a jumbo loan given the housing costs in my area but I'm guessing that isn't possible.

[nunya]

There are higher jumbo limits if you're in the one of these counties:  https://www.fhfa.gov/DataTools/Downloads/Documents/Conforming-Loan-Limits/Counties_with_increases_cy2015.pdf

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

edit:  If your NY location is accurate, looks like you're stuck with the $417K if you don't want to make a down payment.  I'm surprised no NY counties made the 2015 list.

Edited August 24, 2015 by nunya

[MilitaryToFinance]

Yeah it looks like the loan limit for the county I would be shopping in is $625k but that still doesn't buy you anything worth owning unless you want to basically gut every room and remodel. I'm not sure I have the patience for a remodel so I guess I'm stuck saving for a downpayment for a while.

[danielstevens]

Just wanted to reinforce that the max loan size limits being quoted above is when 100% financing is involved.  You can always go higher than that as you begin to put a down payment.   A good rule of thumb is "Sales Price minus County Max Limit X 25% = Down Payment"

So $500k sales price in a $417k county limit needs only a down payment of $20,750.

This assumes the veteran doesn't have any other existing VA loans that reduce the amount of eligibility.

As you can see with my "simple" explanation, this can get quite confusing to understand.  if you have a scenario that you'd like us to check for you, just send me an email (dstevens@nbofkc.com ) or PM me!

Dan

 

 

[MilitaryToFinance]

Thanks I didn't know that. Certainly beats saving a full 20% down.

[i.o.w.a]

Thanks I didn't know that. Certainly beats saving a full 20% down.

Judging by your screen name and the fact that a $625K home is a fixer upper in your market, I assume you have some financial awareness.  So I will humbly disagree that a VA loan beats a full 20% down...

... a VA funding fee of 2.15%(if first time for VA loan) that goes straight to the bank, is roughly $13K of wasted money, money that could have been yours in a down payment.  Additionally, your monthly payment is going to be $500 a month higher minimizing your investment options.  So while the market can go up or down, there are very few situations where a VA loan at that price makes sense.  I compared situations at this site https://www.mtgprofessor.com/calculators/Calculator9ci.html

Now if you don't have the money for a down payment that is another story, conventional really isn't an option anymore and then the VA loan is doing what it is intended to do by getting veterans into homes.

What combination of market performance and TimeToSell/BreakEvenPoint are you considering the VA loan the best option?

(In rereading this I sound very antagonizing, I apologize, my intent is really just to hear your viewpoint.)

[MilitaryToFinance]

Judging by your screen name and the fact that a $625K home is a fixer upper in your market, I assume you have some financial awareness.  So I will humbly disagree that a VA loan beats a full 20% down...

... a VA funding fee of 2.15%(if first time for VA loan) that goes straight to the bank, is roughly $13K of wasted money, money that could have been yours in a down payment.  Additionally, your monthly payment is going to be $500 a month higher minimizing your investment options. 

What combination of market performance and TimeToSell/BreakEvenPoint are you considering the VA loan the best option?

This is why I figured I would pose the question on here. I'll be honest I forgot the first time VA loan has a funding fee that high. I remembered that the interest rate is marginally higher which makes sense given the increased credit risk. I'd be willing to pay a slightly higher interest rate on debt given the ROI I will get on money not put into a downpayment but you are right, reaching breakeven after that up-front fee is probably unlikely. I was really hoping to avoid saving up $150k+ for a downpayment but I guess I'll be renting for the foreseeable future.

[danielstevens]

This is why I figured I would pose the question on here. I'll be honest I forgot the first time VA loan has a funding fee that high. I remembered that the interest rate is marginally higher which makes sense given the increased credit risk. I'd be willing to pay a slightly higher interest rate on debt given the ROI I will get on money not put into a downpayment but you are right, reaching breakeven after that up-front fee is probably unlikely. I was really hoping to avoid saving up $150k+ for a downpayment but I guess I'll be renting for the foreseeable future.

I think there is some middle ground between these two viewpoints.  Just wanted to remind everyone that the VA funding fee percentage is a sliding scale as you add down payment.  Throw that in there, along with VA's variable formula max loan amount (see my last post), the VA funding fee exemption for service related disabilities, as well as that quite frequently the interest rates are cheaper on the loan itself on VA loans (often around 0.5% spread between the two on 30 year fixed)  it really pays to spend time to look at each individual situation uniquely.    

I'm sure you guys would do that already,  but I certainly know it can be tricky to keep track of all the moving parts when comparing the two loan programs strengths.

For reference this is the official VA funding fee matrix for anyone wanting to look: 

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

 

[Techsan]

Just closed on our VA loan with NBOKC, and was blown away @ the service we received. Matt Hering was our guy & was always available to answer questions over the phone or by email, even on the weekends. Like others have mentioned, both our agent & the seller's agent were skeptical that we could close in 30 days, but Matt & his crew easily surpassed their expectations. His good faith estimate was only $5 off from actual closing costs.

We had the choice of 3.5% and no lender credit, or 3.75% with $6700 in lender credit.

Here's Matt's info:

mhering@nbokc.com

913-383-6479

www.nbofkc.com/mhering

[pbar]

Like many here, we had a great experience getting a mortgage with NBOKC.  However, if you have to deal with them for a property loss, beware.  We had a kitchen fire and our insurer, USAA, cut a check to the lienholder, i.e. NBOKC, so we could pay for the repairs.  Dealing with their Loss Draft dept. has been a nightmare.  Numerous times we thought we were done with a step, having submitted all of the paperwork only to find out there was more paperwork they didn't tell us.  And so it's been two months since the repairs we complete and we still haven't been able to pay our contractor.  Talking with a supervisor there hasn't sped up the process after their mistakes either.  For my next mortgage I'm not going with NBOKC.  To be fair, I think their Loss Draft dept. might be subcontracted but I'm not sure.  If they would have given us all the paperwork up front, it should have taken two weeks, not two months.  YMMV.  On the insurance side, while USAA is more expensive for homeowners' insurance, they were a dream to work with on this.

[CDAWG]

Another satisfied customer of NBOKC. Worked with Mary Bennett who was amazing to work with. There was no delays on NOBKC's part of the deal, working with the VA is what took the longest. Locked in a rate of 3.625 on a fixed 30 year. 

[Techsan]

Another satisfied customer of NBOKC. Worked with Mary Bennett who was amazing to work with. There was no delays on NOBKC's part of the deal, working with the VA is what took the longest. Locked in a rate of 3.625 on a fixed 30 year. 

Any lender credit with that rate?

[CDAWG]

There was up to $2300 if I sacrificed going up to 3.8% I didn't think it was worth it.

My house was only $154k I'm guessing that's why they only offered me that amount of lender credit.

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[old crow]

Another NBOKC satisfied customer here.  Recently had David Devine of NBOKC get me 3.5% on a jumbo loan here in Commifornia.  I don't remember the exact amount of fees, but it was about half of what the banks here in Bay Area were quoting me.  Closing was smooth and painless; my realtor said Dave was one of the most proactive guys he has dealt with.

Dave Devine and NBOKC = Win

Dave and USAA's Mover Advantage = Double Win

 

[Goblin]

We didn't use NBOKC for our VA loan, but got two great deals from Trident Home Loans in Gulf Breeze, FL. We're at Hurlburt and they were able to get us a 3.75% 30yr last year with a $7.2K lender credit which paid our VA funding fee so we didn't end up having to tack that onto our loan. We just finished a refi of the same property with them and got it down to a 3.25% 15yr with a $5K lender credit. There were no fees charged to us or added to our loan balance so they basically did a free refi. I got to meet the owner of the company (flies for Delta and was a Navy prowler pilot) during the process and he basically takes less of a profit to hook up military and pilots. Not saying they don't do business with other people, but he focuses on what he knows and cares about. A few other people from my squadron have gone with them too and got the same type of deal I did. Actually, it was an AF buddy who referred me to them because he got such a deal.

 

If you're paying money to refi or aren't getting a massive lender credit when you buy then you're doing it wrong. My broker was Stacy Haynes or you can PM me if you want to talk to the owner directly (I don't want to put his cell # on the web). He's a great dude to talk both mortgages and airlines stuff with.

Another shout out for Trident Home Loans and Stacy!  

Stacy is extremely helpful when it comes to getting a loan and as mentioned before everyone is very military friendly.  She was able to get me a 30 year loan at 3.65% with about $7K in lender credits, which helped take care of the VA funding fee.  She was also able to get us back about $1500 at closing as well.  

Super easy to work with, felt very personal and was able to call and ask any questions I had without seeming like a bother.  

PM me if you'd like any other specific details.