Your Guide to VA Home Loan Eligibility

Serving as a member of the military must have been a proud accomplishment for you and your family. You love your country, your family, and you served your country with all your heart. Now is the time for you to take care of your family. A VA loan will help you get your dream home. A VA loan will help purchase your dream home so that you can spend the rest of your life happily with your family. Before considering a VA loan, you need to know whether you’re eligible for it or not.

 Below are important factors that will help you to know whether you qualify for a VA loan or not.

• If you have served for 90 consecutive days of active service during wartime.
• If you have served for 181 days of active service during peacetime.
• If you have more than 6 years of service in the National Guard or Reserves.
• If you’re the spouse of a service member who has died while in the line of duty or as a result of a service-related disability.

Non-Veterans can also avail the VA home loan program.

• The spouse of a military member is eligible for a VA loan for one-time use only if the service person is alive and has been officially declared missing in action (MIA) or prisoner of war (POW) for at least 90 days.

• If the service person to whom the spouse was married is dead, then the surviving spouse may be eligible if he or she hasn’t remarried and meets other eligibility requirements.
• Children of veterans are not eligible for the VA loan.

• If you’re a member of the National Guard and Reserves and have completed 6 years of service in the Selected Reserve or National Guard, then you can be eligible for the VA loan.
•  A service person who continues to serve in the Selected Reserve or were honorably discharged, listed on the retired list, or transferred after an honorable service to the Standby Reserve or an element of the Ready Reserve other than the Selected Reserve, may also be eligible.

Qualifying requirements for a VA loan are relaxed than those for a conventional loan. However, an applicant still needs to have a decent credit score and sufficient income to purchase a home. The home must be used as a primary residence.

Read More : Step-by-Step Guide to the VA Home Loan Process

There is no minimum credit score to qualify for the VA loan. Instead, the lender needs to review the entire loan profile to make a lending decision.

The VA doesn’t specify a maximum debt-to-income ratio. However, lenders set their own maximum debt-to-income ratio requirements. If the debt-to-income ratio is above some percentage, then you need to have a strong compensating factors, such as:

• High credit score
• Ability to make a down payment
• Increased earning potential

You don’t need to make a down payment. If the purchase price of the home is greater than its appraised value, then you may have to make up for the difference amount.

If you’re looking for a mortgage lender in MA for a VA home loan, Drew Mortgage Associates, Inc. can help! Drew Mortgage Associates, Inc. is a Boston mortgage lender that can provide mortgage loans at a low-interest rate. Our home loan officers will help you identify the best mortgage loan based on your financial goals. We are the most preferred mortgage lender in MA. What are you waiting for? Call Drew Mortgage today!

Apply Now