Brian Quigley

Do you qualify for a VA Home Loan?

Besides the fact that enlisting in the U.S. military is one of the most noble acts a man can do for his country, comes a plethora of benefits that many veterans might not know about. One of those benefits is the VA home loan. This loan is insured and backed by the U.S. government to stimulate the housing market to offer no money down financing for qualified veterans. This loan was introduced shortly after the great depression during World War 2 in an effort to put a spark in the U.S. economy. There are many benefits of this home loan, and I will be discussing the most important ones.

• No money down - As long as the veteran has at least 181 days in the military and can obtain a certificate of eligibility, without any dishonorable discharge, the veteran is qualified for a no money down mortgage
• 4% seller concessions - In addition to being a no money down program, you are allowed to have the seller pay up to 4% in closing costs, meaning that you really get to move into your home fore FREE if the seller is paying all the closing costs.
• Medically Discharged Veterans - If you are medically discharged from the military and receive at least 10% medical benefits, your VA funding fee is waived, which can cost up to 3% of the loan amount for vets not medically discharged or injured.
• No Mortgage Insurance - Because the VA funding fee you pay goes into a foreclosure pool, there is absolutely no mortgage insurance to pay on this loan.
• Assumable to Qualified Vets - You can have a qualified vet just take over your payments, if you want out of your mortgage loan.
• Higher Loan Amounts - Currently, in certain counties, the VA loan limits are as high as $417,000!

If you are interested in a VA Colorado Home Loan, please give us a call!

Last evening, I turned on CNN around 7pm MST, and saw that Barack Obama was up almost 100 electoral votes on McCain and climbing readily. The news anchors could not outright say the election was over, so the Republican Party could save face. But it was a bloodbath in my opinion, and it was clear that our 44^th President had been elected long before the polling was complete.

With 1 out of 3 people saying that the economy is the number 1 concern for Americans, Barack Obama will have his hands full in trying to turn this mess around. 11 trillion dollars in debt, record foreclosures, low GDP numbers, highest unemployment rates in 5 years, tightening of credit, both personally and commercially, record high oil prices, should I go on?

Let's keep it simple to the point shall we. This is a mortgage broker blog, so I am only going to focus on housing and mortgages. Barack Obama has proposed a 90-day moratorium on homeowners struggling to make good on their mortgage payments. What this means is that if the banks were considering foreclosing on their homes, they will have a 90 day protection period to get themselves financially back on track. Barack Obama also has approved the 700 billion dollar government bailout package, in addition to cracking down on predatory lending. Personally this is exciting because I now will be given the opportunity to help more people through special loan products like FHA secure. I can help people get into a home with 3% down, and have them get a $7500 tax credit. I can assist people in finding FREE ways to keep their homes through loan modification companies that charge no money. I really feel that we will see a change in our economy and that 2009 will be a thawing of the freeze of 2008, however I think that we will rebound in the next couple of years.

Barack has proposed tax cuts for people making under $200,000, tax credits for employers of $3000 for each new hire, and people will be able to withdraw up to $10,000 from their retirement accounts without being taxed, to get through this downturn. All in all, he commented that the root cause of all of this is that people were living beyond their means. No money down loans, super appreciation in markets, cash out refinances to pay off debts, increased spending, etc, are some examples. We should all take a close look at what is happening now and why, and learn from this experience.