As some of our regular readers might know, we here at Summit Buys Houses are long-time supporters of all the men and women who serve their country in the US Armed Forces. We have assisted a number of veterans to navigate through the process of selling their houses. We’ve also sold some of our newly-renovated houses to vets at very advantageous prices. We are regular contributors to the Wounded Warriors Project and in 2022 have pledged to donate 1% of our profits to this organization.
Today we have the privilege of partnering once more with Money.com to give you some up-to-date information about Veteran Administration (VA) loans and the important advantages of using this program to buy a house.
This Is Valuable Help
The first thing to know is that VA loans are backed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and are available to all service members, veterans, and eligible surviving spouses. Unfortunately, sometimes people assume because this is a government program that it could be mired in red tape and works really slowly. The good news is the Veteran’s Administration is very responsive with these loans and is always helpful to those who qualify for them. All of the good things about VA loans really are true and in many cases, it’s been the only way that some veterans have been able to buy a house.
Perhaps the most outstanding benefit for service members who qualify is that it can be possible to buy a house with zero down payment. In Massachusetts where the median price of a house is well over $400,000, many traditional lenders require at least a 10% down payment. This means a typical home buyer has to save at least $40,000 in order to qualify for a loan. Not so for veterans using a VA loan. A major advantage wouldn’t you say?
More Money Saving Benefits
Some other important money-saving advantages besides the zero-down payment, the loans typically have lower than market rate interest rates and very few closing costs. Veterans are also allowed to forgo private mortgage insurance which typical bars would have to pay when they put less than 20% down. As a result, not only is the loan lower cost upfront it is lower cost for the entire life of the loan. It’s easy to see that it could save literally tens of thousands of service members. This program allows those qualifying service members to take advantage of a unique set of benefits, including a $0 down payment, low-interest rates and closing costs, and the ability to forgo private mortgage insurance (PMI), just to name a few.
Related Reading: The team at Money.com created a list of 7 tips for veterans to be aware of if they are looking into buying their dream home in 2021!
Conclusion
The Veterans administration’s home loan program has been popular for a very long time and continues to be so. In 2020 alone, over 1.2 million homes were purchased using this VA program. This is a yearly record number of houses purchased since the program began in 1944.
For some reason, VA loans have acquired the unfair and baseless reputation for being too much of a hassle; the application process is complicated, they take longer to close than conventional loans, and the Veteran’s Administration is a mess. We’re here to tell you it’s just not so! Together with our friends over at money.com we would encourage all our service members to look into this program seriously when they are ready to buy a house.
Do you need to sell your house in Massachusetts? Our team is dedicated to helping homeowners in the Merrimack Valley area who are looking for the best way to sell their homes. At Summit Buys Houses—our name says it all! We buy houses in Lowell and all neighboring towns. We’ve helped homeowners just like you who need to sell a property. As home buyers in Massachusetts, we can walk you through a house selling process that’s less stressful while being really fast and easy!