VA Loans

[matmacwc]

Sounds like worth the pain.

[RTB]

Definitely. It was a bit of a hassle but it was well worth it.

[Pancake]

Abmwaldo - in a general sense that is correct about the rental properties limitations. The only exception I can think of to that rule is if it currently has a VA loan tied to that property. The VA IRRL can still work if it's currently a rental property. But if it's a non-VA loan right now it's a lot harder to get done with less than 20% equity.

Dan,

Are 80/20 loans still available in this market?

I find it humorous that my bank is willing to loan me $50K for a new car (3.9% APR), but not $32K for an 80/20 (at a higher APR than the car).

Thanks,

Bryan

[danielstevens]

Bryan - I haven't heard of anyone doing the 80/20 loan combo in the last few years. I'm willing to bet one day it'll come back in some form, but there isn't anything I've seen indicating it will be mainstream again anytime soon.

[BONE WSO]

I wanted to give a huge thanks to this board and Dave Devine for saving me a ton of money with a VA refinance. I originally applied for a USAA refinance and did a search on here and found National Bank of Kansas City. I canceled my loan with USAA because NBOKC was over $5000 cheaper. I got my VA loan for 3.25% vs. my old rate of 5%, saving me about $200 per month. Nothing out of pocket at closing, got to skip two house payments, and get all my escrow (about $2000) back. From application to closing only took 3 weeks. USAA was going to take 3 months. I am refinancing my rental with him also and closing on Monday, 3.375% on that one. Thanks again guys!

[uhhello]

I wanted to give a huge thanks to this board and Dave Devine for saving me a ton of money with a VA refinance. I originally applied for a USAA refinance and did a search on here and found National Bank of Kansas City. I canceled my loan with USAA because NBOKC was over $5000 cheaper. I got my VA loan for 3.25% vs. my old rate of 5%, saving me about $200 per month. Nothing out of pocket at closing, got to skip two house payments, and get all my escrow (about $2000) back. From application to closing only took 3 weeks. USAA was going to take 3 months. I am refinancing my rental with him also and closing on Monday, 3.375% on that one. Thanks again guys!

Ditto for me. Pretty much the exact numbers I ended up with. Thanks Greg.

[nsplayr]

I'm curious who you guys' original lender was. When I've shopped around to refi my place I'm getting told that my current lender is not easy to work with thus making it hard to do a refi at all...

[BONE WSO]

I originally closed both my loans with USAA but one of them was sold to PHH Mortgage and the other one to GMAC. It shouldn't matter who old the lender is. They are receiving a check from the new bank for the payoff amount and they really don't have a say in whether it gets done or not.

[nsplayr]

That's what I was thinking but I've been told by more than one lender that having Chase as my original loan complicates things. The wrinkle is that is you have negative equity some leners require an appraisal and others don't, chase being one of the ones that does. No way my place appraises for what I owe unfortunately. Any of you guys in the same situation or were you all above water on the value vs what you owed?

[BONE WSO]

Ok it sounds like that is correct in your situation. I had to get appraisals on both houses and the appraisal had to come in above what the new loan amount would be. USAA does not require an appraisal if you got your first loan through them. I rolled the dice with the $400 appraisal fee that NBOKC charges and it worked out. I had positive equity in both houses.

Edited November 16, 2012 by BONE WSO

[nsplayr]

Cool man, congrats on getting good deals...gotta pay down a little more and hope the market recovers a little more before I can try to do the same. Cheers

[Guest]

They don't get a vote unless you signed a contract that prevents you from paying your loan off early.

[ThreeHoler]

They don't get a vote unless you signed a contract that prevents you from paying your loan off early.

This is one of the great things about a VA loan...it can't have an early payoff penalty. I'm currently working with Dave Devine and I will post about my experience after the closing is complete.

[danielstevens]

I haven't jumped on the board for a while. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the continued questions. I do enjoy seeing the success stories where we can help people.

We've been involved with this forum for about 10 or 11 months now. And we've closed 30 loans from baseops members during that time, and I look forward to building upon that number!

[flyjetz]

Just thought I'd add my experience to this thread. I was already partially committed ($50 app fee + $300 good faith deposit) on a new home purchase ($400K VA loan) with USAA, when I found this thread. I ran the numbers, which I will share below, and decided it was well worth it to sacrifice my $350 already spent and switch from USAA to NBOKC. After reading these posts, I called Dave Devine, and he has been so easy to work with. You'd think that with me living in Omaha, working with a bank in Kansas City, and buying a house in Louisiana would be hard to do. Not at all. Everything has been over the phone, and through email. I close in 3 weeks, but so far, it has been flawless. Here's a breakdown of what Dave offered me, vs what USAA's comparable loan would be:

- I paid $1511 in points to get a 3.5% loan; USAA was charging $8057 in points for the same rate on the same day. (Savings = $6546). (I might point out that a 3.75% rate was offered in which I'd get several thousand back in points, but the seller is paying some of my closing costs, so I took the lower rate).

- Filing fees $90; USAA filing fees $438 (Savings = $348)

- Origination charge = $0; USAA origination charge = $685 (Savings = $685)

- Appraisal Fee = $400; USAA appraisal fee = $425 (Savings = $25)

- Credit Report = $14; USAA credit report = $15 (Savings = $1)

- Flood Certification = $5.25; USAA Flood Certification = $14 (Savings = $8.75)

There were other differences in cost but in my limited knowledge of these documents, I thought they were uncontrollable by the lenders (such as transfer taxes, government recording charges, etc.) I attribute the differences to estimation errors, so I won't list those differences.

TOTAL SAVINGS = $7613.75

Giving up my $350 to USAA and switching to NBOKC was a no-brainer. Wish I had gone with them when I bought my current house.

I just wanted to follow up on a VA Refi that I am working with Dave Devine, from NBOKC. I closed on the above loan seven months ago, and Dave called me last week to run some numbers by me on a VA Refi. He got me a deal that lowers my rate from 3.5% to 3.0%, with total out-of-pocket closing expenses of $1355 (which is rolled back into the new loan). So while my principal will increase by $1355, my monthly payment will go down $108 per month. This equates to a payback time of a little over 12 months. However, I do get to skip a month's mortgage payment (roughly $2183). So if I considered that, the net result of this new loan is $828 credit to me, no change in principal, and a $108 lower monthly payment.

If you currently have a VA loan at 3.5% or higher, I'd highly suggest you give Dave a call (1-800-375-8096 ext 6417), and tell him Flyjetz sent you.

Edited December 14, 2012 by flyjetz

[Spartacus]

I don't qualify for a VA refinance on a rental property that wasn't originally a VA loan. So, I am looking at other options. Does anyone have any experience with Discover Home Loans?

[matmacwc]

I have a VA at 3.75, with equity in the house, can you help me Dave/Dan?

Edited December 17, 2012 by matmacwc

[danielstevens]

matmacwc - based on what you said, there is a good possibility we could help you.

Our dominant VA 30 year fixed rate we are helping people with is 3.25% right now, with a lot of fees paid for, so it definitely could be worth digging a little deeper for you.

Send me a PM when you have some time, and we can talk about specifics in your situation!

Dan

[ThreeHoler]

I just closed yesterday on a VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan (IRRRL), AKA the VA "streamline," with Dave Devine and NBofKC. I would recommend Dave and NBofKC to anyone who is looking to refinance. We dropped to a 3.25% 30-yr fixed VA loan from a higher rate 30-yr loan. Dave secured a $4,200 lender credit with estimated fees of $3,070. Ultimately, the fees wound up ~$3377 (limited by the "may increase 10%" part of the HUD-1). Thus, the lender credit paid for all out-of-pocket fees and $823 of our 1Q property taxes. We elected to pay the remaining ~$680 in 1Q property tax and ~$800 in initial escrow out of pocket. We will be getting ~$1,470 back from our current escrow account. Also, we will be skipping the January 2013 payment (~$1,750 PITI).

This brings our total cash outlay to -$1,740 out of pocket...also known as $1,740 that will stay in our bank account while we enjoy a monthly reduction of approximately $230 in interest charges.

Overall, it was a great experience.

[Cap-10]

Dan passed me off to Aspen Hill and we are doing the paperwork now for a 30yr VA at 3.25% and a lot of fees paid by NBOKC...I'll post later when the final numbers are in.

So far, customer service and correspondence (e-mail and phone) have been outstanding!!

Cheers,

Cap-10

[RescueRandy]

I'm now working with Dave Devine on a refi for an investment/rental property we have in Tucson, AZ. Looks like we're going to be able to lower our rate a full percentage-point to 3.25%. It would have been lower if it were our primary residence. The bank is also giving us $1000 in lender credit to cover costs. Looks like we're going to be able to lower our monthly payment nearly $200. The best part is, our renters' rent will now cover PITI and our property management fees! All-in-all, our situation looks like it's going to be similar to what ThreeHoler described above.

We're due to PCS again this summer and, as long as the rest of process goes this smoothly, we may go with NBOKC for our next home buy.

[Smokin]

Just closed yesterday with Dave, worked out great. Our total cost of refinancing was actually a net gain. Dropped our rate to 3.25, we will get a check from our escrow, and the lender credit is basically funding our new escrow. Overall, a free refinance that will save us about $40K over the length of our mortgage and drops our payments by $150/month. As others have said, the closing was in our house, which was obviously much easier than getting someone to watch the kids while we went to a bank to close.

For comparison, we had previously looked at Navy Federal and their closing costs were in the ballpark of $7K for a VA refi.

[danielstevens]

Hi everybody, I wanted to post my direct phone line on here in case you preferred to reach us that way. I've been getting several PM's with VA related questions, but I know sometimes a phone conversation is preferred.

These days I'm not the person that will complete the mortgage loan for you, but I can answer general questions, and then if it makes sense for you I can put you in contact with one of our loan officers assigned to the base ops channel!

Here's my number: 913-383-6442

Here's my email: dstevens@nbofkc.com

[discus]

Just closed on a re-finance with Brian Myers. Super easy, folks were a big help. They even sent a notary out to Montgomery so I could close while in SOS. Rate was 3.25%.

[Champ Kind]

Closed last month on a re-fi to 3.25 with no closing costs. Worked with Amy Paterson. Nothing but good to say.