If you have had a previous short sale, foreclosure, deed in lieu, or non re-payment of a VA loan in the past you still may have eligibility for a 100% financing VA loan.   What happens when VA does not get repaid in full for a VA loan that a borrower had in the past, is they have a record of the amount they did not get repaid.    This is reflected as the amount your entitlement is charged.   However their is a formula for how much VA eligibility you have remaining.

Let’s say you bought a $190,000 house 10 years ago and had a foreclosure and VA shows 42,000 of your entitlement charged.  And let’s say you want to buy a home with a VA loan in Los Angeles County California.  The VA loan limit in Los Angeles County is $700,000.  So you would take $700,000 X25%=$175,000.  $175,000 is the VA insurance benefit in Los Angeles County.  Then you would take $175,000 MINUS the previous loss VA took from your foreclosure of $42,000 which is $133,000.  Then take $133,000X4=$532,000.  So despite your prior foreclosure you would still have enough VA eligibility left to get a $532,000 VA loan with zero down in Los Angeles County.

So the first step into researching your current eligibility is to send us an email at homeloan8@gmail.com or call us at 858-922-7899 and we can research your current VA eligibility.   What we will do is send you a request for VA eligibility form and to have you fill out this out and send us back your DD214.  With these 2 items we can check your VA loan eligibility.

Please don’t hesitate to call or email if you have any questions or would like to be approved for a VA loan in California.

Some nice features of VA home loans in California:

• Veterans that receive VA disability pay are EXEMPT from the VA funding fee
• VA home loans do not have any monthly mortgage insurance
• VA home loans are zero down payment 100% financing loans

VA Loan Guidelines For Partial Eligibility in California is a post from: VA Home Loans Call Rob 858-922-7899

FHA Loan Requirements for Debt-to-Income Ratios In California is a post from: FHA,VA and Conventional Home Loans in all 50 States

A very important FHA loan requirement to successfully get approved for a FHA loan in California is the debt-to-income ratio (DTI).  There are two types of types of DTI that are looked at with an FHA loan, the front and the back ratios.

The front ratio is your total monthly housing debt (mortgage+property taxes+insurance+hoa dues if applicable) divided by your monthly income.    So for example if you make $5,000 per month and your total housing payment is $2,000 per month, your front ratio would be 40%.  This is acceptable to qualify for a FHA loan in California.  The maximum front ratio is 46.9% to be approved for a FHA loan.

The back ratio is your total monthly housing debt PLUS all the other debt that shows up on a credit report (auto loans, student loans, credit cards, other rental property, etc…).  So let’s say you make $5,000 per month, the house you want to buy has a $2,000/mo housing payment and you have a $300/mo auto loan and a $100/mo minimum monthly credit card payment.  So this would make your total debt $2,400/mo.   $2,400 divided by $5,000 equals 48% back ratio.  This is also acceptable for a FHA loan mortgage in California.  You can go up to a 56.9% back ratio and still qualify for a FHA home loan in California.

So I hope this gives you a basic understanding of the debt to income ratio calculation in qualifying for a FHA loan in California.  Please don’t hesitate to email at homeloan8@gmail.com or call at 858-922-7899 if you would like to get approved for a FHA loan in California or have any questions.

Below are some highlights of FHA loans in California:

• FHA loan down payment is only 3.5% and this can be a gift from a relative
• FHA loan requirements allow for a NON-occupying co-borrower to help you qualify
• FHA loan limits throughout most of Coastal California will be dropping to $625,000 in areas such as San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, Anaheim, Santa Ana.  San Diego FHA loan limits will be dropping to $546,250.  Sacramento $474,950, Fresno $281,750, Bakersfield $271,050, Redding $273,700.

Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

Sr. Loan Officer

858-922-7899

homeloan8@gmail.com

 

Related posts:

1. Understanding the Debt-to-Income Ratio to Qualify for FHA Loans
2. The Importance of Debt-To-Income Ratio When You Apply For a FHA Loan
3. FHA Loan Requirements for Debt Obligations

This post is a list of items you will need to get started in getting approved for a VA loan in California per VA home loan requirements.

• Call a VA loan officer to go though VA loan application and credit check
• Last 30 days paystubs (or LES if active duty)
• Last 2 years W-2′s
• Last 2 years federal tax returns all pages
• DD214 is veteran
• VA certificate of eligibility (please email or call us and we can get this for you)
• Photocopy of drivers license and social security card

This is generally enough for a loan officer to get you pre-approved for a VA loan in California.  There may be some follow up documentation required in addition to the above.

If you have any questions about getting approved for a VA loan in California, don’t hesitate to email me at homeloan8@gmail.com or call at 858-922-7899.

Some advantages of VA loans in California:

• Loan limits for FHA and conventional loans are falling to $625,000 in many areas such as San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County as of October 1 2011.  But VA loan limits are staying up at $1 million with zero down in the Bay Area and $700,000 in with zero down in Orange County and LA.
• VA loans do not have monthly mortgage insurance, unlike FHA and conventional loans
• Veterans that receive any disability pay get the VA funding fee WAIVED
• VA loan interest rates are nearing the lowest they have EVER BEEN in United States history

Best Regards,

Rob Chomentowski 858-922-7899, homeloan8@gmail.com Sr. Loan Officer (and VA specialist)

VA Home Loan Requirements To Get Started is a post from: VA Home Loans Call Rob 858-922-7899

Low Down Conventional Loan Options In California is a post from: FHA,VA and Conventional Home Loans in all 50 States

The low down financing options for conventional loans in California has really improved in 2011.  You can get 5% down in every area of the state of California and pay less mortgage insurance that FHA loans.  Remember, conventional loans with mortgage insurance do not have up front mortgage insurance like FHA and have a lower monthly than FHA.   Below are some of the options for mortgage insurance with a >700 score:

• 5% down .70% per month
• 10% down .45% per month
• 15% down .25% per month

As mentioned above , this compares favorably to 1% up front and 1.15% per month mortgage insurance for FHA loans in California.  Another advantage of a conventional loan vs FHA is that if a spouse is not going on the loan, with conventional you do not have to check their credit and include their debt obligations.  With FHA loans in California, you have to check the non-borrowing spouse’s credit and include all their debt obligations in the loan.  This can make conventional a better option if one spouse carries a lot of debt and/or has had credit issues in the past such as a short sale or foreclosure.

But remember that conventional loans with mortgage insurance have stricter underwriting rules for credit and debt-to-income ratios than FHA.

If you have questions or would like to get approved for a home loan in California please don’t hesitate to email me at homeloan8@gmail.com or call at 858-922-7899.

Some tips about conventional loans with mortgage insurance in California:

• Conventional and FHA loan limits in California are FALLING  as of October 1 2011.  FHA and conventional loan limits in San Jose, San Francisco area, Orange County, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Los Angeles will be $625,000.  FHA and conventional loan limits in San Diego will be $546,250.  Other areas Fresno ($281,750), Riverside ($355,350), San Bernardino ($355,350), Stockton ($304,750) will be $417,000.  Sacramento will be $474, 950.
• Condos are available with 5% down but require 51% of the units to be owner occupied

Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

Sr. Loan Officer

858-922-7899

homeloan8@gmail.com

 

 

 

Related posts:

1. Mortgage Insurance: Conventional vs. FHA Loans in California
2. Conventional vs. FHA Loans And Non-Borrowing Spouses
3. Conventional Loan vs FHA In California

The good news is the your VA loan credit score does not have to be perfect to get a 100% financing VA loan to buy a home in California, or to complete a VA loan refinance.   You can get a VA loan in California with generally down to a 600 credit score as long as you do not have any late payments in the last 12 months.  Additionally, you can have prior collection accounts and other derogatory accounts in your past and still qualify for a VA loan.  You do have to show that for the past 12 months you have been responsible with your credit have made payments on time. In addition, even if your VA loan credit is currently not good enough to immediately qualify for a VA loan, we are experts in analyzing your credit report and assisting you to take the necessary actions to raise your score.  We have a tool we use that allows  us to update your credit report in 2-5 days if we find any mistakes that can be removed or we have you pay down credit cards to 30% or less than your credit limit.  This can allow us to quickly get you VA credit score where it needs to be to get the loan. Below are some general bullet points and tips about VA loan credit scores:

• You can get a VA loan only two years after a short sale, foreclosure or chapter 7 bankruptcy
• If you have medical collections, VA loan requirements generally do not require those to be paid off
• VA loan guidelines state that as long as you are making payments on a tax lien, you can still qualify for a VA loan
• VA loan credit scores improve  if you keep your credit card balance at 30% or less than your credit limit
• VA home loan lenders like to see older accounts, so try not to cancel your older trade lines

So I hope this helps you understand VA loan credit requirements and ways to improve your VA loan credit score.  If you have any questions about getting approved for a VA loan in California don’t hesitate to email me a homeloan8@gmail.comor call at 858-922-7899.   Here are some other benefits of VA loans in California:

• VA lending is the only 100% financing zero down loan available today
• VA loan limits in California for 100% financing go up to $1,000,000 in San Francisco, Oakland, and Alameda County.  VA loan limits go up to $700,000 with zero down in Orange County areas like Anaheim, Santa Ana, Fullerton and more.  VA loans also go to $700,000 in Los Angeles County.  San Diego VA loan limits
• VA loans have NO monthly mortgage insurance

Best Regards, Rob Chomentowski 858-922-7899, homeloan8@gmail.com Sr. Loan Officer (and VA specialist)

VA Loan Credit Tips in California is a post from: VA Home Loans Call Rob 858-922-7899

Conventional Loan vs FHA In California is a post from: FHA,VA and Conventional Home Loans in all 50 States

As of late conventional lending vs FHA has become a lot more attractive in California.  Mortgage insurance companies have become more lenient with their guidelines and now 5% down with a conventional loan is an excellent option in California.

	FHA 3.5% Down	Conventional 5% Down
Up Front Mortgage Insurance	1% of loan amount	NONE
Monthly Mortgage	1.15%	.7% (>700 credit) .9% (620-699 credit)
Max debt-to-income ratio	56.9%	45%
Include non-borrowing spouses debt	Yes	No
Wait after short sale	3	3
Wait after foreclosure	3	7
Wait after bankruptcy	2	2

So as you can see the gap is narrowing comparing conventional home loans vs. FHA home loans in California.   The benefits of FHA home loans is the interest rate is not as credit score driven and FHA allows as much higher debt-to-income ratio allowing you to qualify for a higher purchase price.  So if you have a less than a 680 credit score and carry a lot of debt, FHA may be the better way to go.  FHA can also carry a slightly lower 30 year fixed interest rate than 5% down conventional loans in California, even for those with the best credit scores.   But since conventional 5% down loans have NO up front mortgage insurance and a lower monthly mortgage insurance, this can make conventional a better option for those with the higher credit scores.  Mortgage insurance can be tax deductible depending on your income, please talk to your tax preparer for more details.

Also, a nice feature of a convention loan vs FHA is that conventional loan does not need to include the monthly debt obligations of a non-borrowing spouse.  Where in California, FHA loans require a spouse’s debt to be counted even if they are not going to be a co-borrower on the loan.  So if one spouse has a lot of auto loans, credit cards, student loans, collections, past dues accounts, etc…, but the borrowing spouse does not, conventional can be a better choice than FHA.

So I hope this helps you understand the differences between 5% down conventional and 3.5% down FHA loans in California.  Please don’t hesitate to email me at homeloan8@gmail.com or call at 858-922-7899 if you have any questions.

Below are some up-to-date advantages of FHA & conventional loans in California:

• We lend in every corner of the state of California from San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Bakersfield and on and on.
• You can get a FHA loan three years after a short sale or foreclosure
• You can get a FHA loan two years after  a chapter 7 bankruptcy
• With 20% down you can get a conventional loan two years after a short sale

Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

Sr. Loan Officer

858-922-7899

homeloan8@gmail.com

 

FHA Loan Requirements After Bankruptcy in California is a post from: FHA,VA and Conventional Home Loans in all 50 States

The good news is FHA loan requirements only require you to wait two years after a chapter 7 bankruptcy before you can apply for a FHA home loan.

For a Chapter 13 bankruptcy you only have to wait one year, and:

• all  your payments to your creditors have to be on time
• you have to get permission from the bankruptcy court to enter into a new home mortgage
• all the payments to your creditors will be included in your debt-to-income ratio to qualify

Additionally, if you had a chapter 7 bankruptcy, FHA loan requirements will require you to not have any derogatory credit items after your bankruptcy and you will have to have re-establish your credit.  This means you will want to have some open active lines of credit such as a car loan, credit card or student loans.  This shows the FHA loan underwriter you have re-established credit and are making payments on time.

Another important point, if you had a mortgage that was included in the bankruptcy, FHA loan requirements will require you to wait three years from the date of the foreclosure (deed transfer out of your name) to qualify for a FHA loan.  You have to be careful with this because many times people will include a mortgage in  bankruptcy, stop making payments and move out, and then the lender takes a long time to actually foreclose on the property.  This can prolong your wait considerably to get a FHA loan in California, as the FHA underwriter will require you to wait three years from the date of the foreclosure, even if the mortgage was included in a bankruptcy.

If you have any questions or would like to get approved, please call me at 858-922-7899 or email me a homeloan8@gmail.com.

Some highlights of FHA loans in California:

• FHA loan limits in many parts of California such as Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, San Jose, Alameda County, Anaheim, Santa Ana, still go up to $729,750 but are going down to $625,000 as of October 1st
• FHA loan credit score does not have to be perfect, give us a call if you have credit issues as we are experts on assisting
• FHA loan rates are at close to 60 year lows
• FHA loan guidelines only require 3.5% down and that can be a gift from a relative

Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

Sr. Loan Officer

858-922-7899

homeloan8@gmail.com

 

VA is the only loan type that allows a cash out loan refinance to 100% of the properties current value.  A VA cash out refinance is very different from a VA loan streamline refinance.  A VA loan streamline refinance is for borrowers that already have a VA loan and just want to lower their VA loan interest rate to current market rates.  This loan does not require a full appraisal in many cases and does not require the borrower’s income documentation to fully qualify.  Also, the VA funding fee is only .5% on a VA streamline refinance.  A VA cash out refinance is when a borrower wants to take cash out of the equity of their property or a VA borrower that wants to refinance from a conventional or other type of loan to a VA loan.  In the case of going from a conventional loan to a VA loan, even if a borrower does not take cash out, it is still considered a cash out loan.  With a VA cash out refinance all income documentation is required and the borrower must fully qualify and a full appraisal must be done.  Also, the VA funding fee for a cash out refinance is 2.15% for first use and 3.3% if this is your second or greater use of your VA benefits.  Remember if you receive any VA disability benefits the VA funding fee is waived.

	VA Streamline Refinance	VA Cash Out refinance
Full income qualification	No	Yes
Full appraisal	Not always	Yes
Currently have non VA loan	No	Yes
Funding Fee	.5% (waived if receive VA disability pay)	2.15%-3.3% (waived if receive VA disability pay)
Max loan-to-value	100%+	100%

 

A VA cash out refinance can be a good idea for someone who wants to pay off high interest credit card debt.  The benefits are you take high interest credit card debt and you roll it into a very low 30 year fixed VA interest rate.  This debt also becomes tax deductible when it is in your mortgage.  Also, borrowers with high jumbo loan amounts in many Coastal California areas can benefit from refinancing from a conventional loan ARM or high interest rate to a VA loan because VA allows a very high loan-to-value even on jumbo loans where conventional does not. You can take an adjustable rate loan or high interest rate conventional jumbo loan and refinance to a very low 30 year fixed VA loan.  VA loan limits go up to $1 million in San Francisco, San Jose, Alameda, San Mateo and Contra Costa County.  And VA loan limits go up to $700,000 in Los Angeles and Orange County, and then $546,750 in San Diego County.  You can go up to 100% of those amounts with a cash out refinance.  A conventional loan in many cases would only allow 70% of those amounts and have much more strict qualifications.

So I hope this helps you understand the VA cash out refinance in California a little better.  If you have any questions about getting approved please call us at 858-922-7899 or email at homeloan8@gmail.com.

 

Best Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

858-922-7899, homeloan8@gmail.com

Sr. Loan Officer (and VA specialist)

VA Cash Out Loan Refinance to 100% of Property Value is a post from: VA Home Loans Call Rob 858-922-7899

California Jumbo Mortgage 10% Down to $875,000 is a post from: FHA,VA and Conventional Home Loans in all 50 States

There is an excellent option for getting a jumbo mortgage loan in California where you will not have to put 20% down.  This loan also goes above the new Fannie Mae loan limits of $625,000 throughout California.  You can go up to $875,000 purchase with 10% down in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Francisco, San Jose, Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Santa Barbara County and many more.  In San Diego County you can go to% down to $796,000.

This loan has very low monthly mortgage insurance.  And if you pay the loan down to 78% of the original purchase price the mortgage insurance can go away in two years.  Some other parameters of this California jumbo loan:

• primary residence only
• SFR’s or condos OK
• 5,7 and 10 year fixed ARM’s available

So don’t hesitate to give us a call at 858-922-7899 or email at homeloan8@gmail.com if you have any questions about getting approved for this excellent California jumbo mortgage.

Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

Sr. Loan Officer

858-922-7899

homeloan8@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

One of the really nice things about VA lending is that VA has very high loan limits throughout the state of California for zero down VA loans.  In many cases a VA borrower can get 100% financing on a VA loan to a much higher loan amount than conventional or FHA loans with a down payment.

Below are the VA mortgage loan limits for 100% financing for selected counties throughout California:

• Alameda County: $1,000,000
• Contra Costa County: $1,000,000
• Los Angeles County: $700,000
• Marin County:$1,000,000
• Monterey County: $431,250
• Napa County: $530,000
• Nevada County: $431,250
• Orange County: $700,000
• San Benito County: $843,750
• San Diego County:$537,500
• San Francisco County:$1,000,000
• San Luis Obispo County:$528,750
• San Mateo County:$1,000,000
• Santa Barbara County: $710,000
• Santa Clara County:$843,750
• Santa Cruz County:$706,250
• Sonoma County:$478,750
• Ventura County:$562, 500
• Sacramento County: $417,000
• Fresno County:$417,000
• Kern County:$417,000
• Riverside County:$417,000
• San Bernardino County:$417,000

So the above VA loan limits are for 100% financing.  You can get a loan up to these limits with no down payment or do a VA refinance up to these VA loan limits with no equity.  Now you can go above these loan limits if you put 25% of the difference between the purchase price (or appraised value on a VA refinance).  So for example if you were in San Diego County and wanted to buy a $800,000 house with a VA home loan, you would take ($800,000-$537,500)=$262,500.  Then take $262,500X25%=$65,625 down payment.  So if you wanted to buy a $800,000 home with a VA loan in San Diego County if would require a $65,625 down payment.

There are some big advantages jumbo VA loans have over conventional jumbo loans.  A conventional jumbo loan will in most cases require 20% down.  A VA loan in many cases is ZERO down up the county limit.  Also, if you put less than 20% down on a conventional loan you have monthly mortgage insurance; VA home loans do not have monthly mortgage insurance.  VA also has much more flexible qualifying guidelines with credit and debt-to-income ratios.

These VA loan limits in California also make it attractive to refinance into a VA loan from a conventional loan.  Since you can go 100% loan-to-value up to $1 million in many counties, you can refinance into today’s record low VA interest rates.  Where you would not have nearly enough equity to refinance into a conventional loan.

So I hope this helps you understand the VA loan limits for different counties in California.  Don’t hesitate to call at 858-922-7899 or email at homeloan8@gmail.com if you have any questions about getting approved for a VA home loan in California.

 

Best Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

858-922-7899, homeloan8@gmail.com

Sr. Loan Officer (and VA specialist)

VA Loan Limits In California is a post from: VA Home Loans Call Rob 858-922-7899