Most people, including many citizens, Realtors, brokers, and even loan officers do not really understand the VA loan.
One common myth about VA loans is that you can only use your VA benefit once. The truth is that you can use your VA home loan guarantee as many times as you want. In fact, under a variety of special circumstances, you can even have 2 VA loans at the same time.
If you meet the eligibility requirements, you have a VA loan benefit available to use. Once you take out a VA loan and have the United States Department of Veterans Affairs guarantee the home loan, the benefit is occupied.
If you would like to use your VA benefit again for another loan, you must first restore the benefit.
In order to obtain a VA home loan benefit restoration of one’s eligibility, a veteran or eligible borrower should contact the VA HLC or call the number above to expedite processing.
If You Have Paid Off Your 1st VA Loan:
In the event you have paid the prior loan off, you will need proof of this. The best proof of payoff you can get is a paid in full statement from your prior VA lender. In addition to the “paid in full”, you can use a HUD – 1 settlement statement that has been completed in connection with property’s sale, or refinancing. If you want, VA Home Loan Centers can assist you with obtaining any necessary proof.
If You Want 2 VA Loans At The Same Time:
If you have not paid off your current VA loan and would like to apply for another VA loan, it is possible. To get a second VA loan to use for another home and not pay off your first VA loan, you must meet stricter guidelines than with a single use VA home loan (such as a purchase or refinance transaction).
The borrower may or may not have to make a down-payment.
To qualify for 2 VA loans, you must be able to afford the payments of both mortgages. An applicant is allowed to use rental income to offset the additional (new mortgage) payment.
In either case, VA Home Loan Centers will initiate the restoration during the loan application process.
The process to get more than 1 VA loan is similar, yet slightly different that when you apply for your first VA loan. You must pass the requirements for VA loan eligibility. These requirements are the same for both the first use of the VA loan and each subsequent use.
Note that each time you use your VA loan benefit, you must pay an additional VA funding fee.
To get a VA loan, you must fill out the VA home loan application and receive funding from an approved investor.
The underwriting for all VA loans (except the VA Vendee loan) require that you provide proof of eligibility and proof of income. As was mentioned, some of the fees increase when using the benefit for a second time, but in many cases VA loans are vastly superior to almost every other home loan program. For example VA loans have no mortgage insurance requirement and no down payment requirement. You can even apply for a VA loan online in order to save some time in the process.
