Texas Veterans - Welcome Home

A Strong Texas Economy

According to the

Real

Estate

Center

in

College Station

,

Texas

is fairing better than much of the nation with employment rates. 

Texas

employment rates have increased by 2.4% over the past twelve month period while national employment rates have decreased by 0.1% over the same twelve month period.  Additionally,

Texas

adjusted unemployment rates are sitting at 4.7% while adjusted national unemployment rates are a whole percentage point higher at 5.7%.  Higher oil prices have helped contribute to these numbers as the mining industry in

Texas

has caused the highest number of new jobs in our state.  Additional industries creating new jobs in Texas are professional and business services, construction, leisure and hospitality, education and health services, much of which you can see obvious growth within San Antonio itself. 

As we’ve talked about in previous blogs, there is still quite a bit of interest in

San Antonio

for many new businesses due to the infrastructure of our city.  Increased employment rates mean more money in circulation which in turn means a higher confidence rate in our local economy.  All of these factors help contribute to a quicker recovery in the local housing market and a more positive outlook for the months and years to come. 

The Texas Vet Expert

Push Play Pat is your expert on Texas Vet loans.

Thank you!

Texas Vet loans (Changes)

Many people ask about extra discounts that can be earned using the Texas Vet program for the purchase of a home.  Over the years, discounts have come and gone with the Texas Vet program, but the one discount that has continued on for years is the Disabled Discount.  If the client is already out of the military, and has been granted a VA Service Connected disability of 50% or more, the Texas Veterans Land Board allows us to give the Veteran an additional discount of .35%.  This discount is taken off of the weekly base rate at the time of locking the loan.  Here’s an example of how things work:  Let’s say the weekly base rate is 6.00% and the client meets the 50% VA Disability rating.  This Veteran would realize a net rate of 6.00% less the .35% Disabled Discount for a net rate of 5.65% fixed for 30 years.  In today’s military, over 70% of all soldiers exiting the military are granted a disability of 10% or more, so always ask the Veteran if he or she has a VA rated disability.

 

Patrick Fitzgerald

Texas Veterans-Welcome Home

It all started back in 1946 when the State of Texas Legislature approved the creation of the Texas Veterans Land Board.  The purpose of this at the time was to help Veterans returning from World War 2, acquire land for their homestead, and eventually build their home.  The method of creating the funds for this program, was to sell mortgage bonds on the open market.  To this very day, they are still operating utilizing this same method of funding this program.

Back in the early days, I am told they could only lend $5000 to a Veteran to assist with the purchase of land.  Home purchases did not become a part of this program until 1983 as a matter of fact.  Flash forward to 2008, and you will find that the program now goes all the way up to $325,000 for a home purchase, $80,000 for Land purchase, and $25,000 for a Home Improvement loan.  By far and away, the Home Purchase portion of the program is the most utilized in today’s market place.

Many people do not understand just how this program really works, so please allow me to explain it to you in simple terms.  On homes priced between $45,000 and $325,000, the VLB (Veterans Land Board) will refer a client to their list of registered mortgage providers that do home loans utilizing this program.  In other words, the VLB does in fact lend money for Land Loans, Home improvement Loans, and house priced under $45,000, but they do not do the loans for home purchases priced between $45,000 and $325,000…..this is where we come in.

A Texas Vet Home loan is really not a standalone loan itself, but rather a Certificate of Eligibility that we get for the Veteran or Active Military person , that allows us to lower the interest rate on the mortgage.  How do we do this?  We gather a little bit of paperwork from the client, have them fill out 3 very simple forms that are available at www.texas-vet-loans.com and submit to the VLB.  Within roughly 48 hours, we receive what is called a “NOE’ or “Notice of Eligibility” back from the VLB.  This NOE means that the VLB has accepted the person that we submitted, and will in fact allow us to provide a lower interest rate for this person on their home loan. 

Since this is not a “stand alone” mortgage how does this really work?  Well, 85% of the time, we use this NOE with a VA Loan for the client.  Far and away, this is the most popular loan, due to the fact that there is no down payment required with a VA Loan, plus using the VLB program piggybacking along with this loan the client gets the best of both worlds (100% Loan, combined with the lowest interest rate). 

There are two additional loans that the VLB program can be utilize with.  This program can also be used with a FHA Loan or even a Conventional Loan.  There are strict guidelines that must be followed if one is electing to use a FHA Loan, such as the mandatory 3% down payment, and also PMI (private mortgage insurance) is required with this program.  FHA has recently increased the amount a person can borrow based on the County the home is in.  For example, in and around San Antonio, the limit is now $332,500, but in other counties around Texas, these limits vary widely.  To be sure, it’s always best to check with us to verify.

Should you want to use the VLB program with a Conventional Loan, the client must put down a minimum of 5% down payment, which by the way…incurs PMI with the payment.  In order to avoid PMI utilizing this method, a 20% down payment is required.

Who sets the interest rate on the home program, and how often does it change?  The Texas Vet interest rate is subject to change only once per week, and that change occurs on Friday evening at approximately 6:00pm.  At that time we update our website with the new interest rate for the next 7 days.

How far out can you lock a Texas Vet home loan?  We can lock a loan up to 45 days from closing.  If you are building a home, you cannot lock until you are 45 days out from closing.

What about extra discounts when using this program….are there any?  There is one extra discount that people that are already out of the military can possibly qualify for.  If you have a VA rated disability of 50% or more, you will receive a discount of .35% off the weekly base rate.   Some of you may have heard that the VLB offered discounts for Vietnam veterans, and 15 year mortgages, and they did until the program changed on Friday, August 8, 2008, when those discounts were eliminated in favor of spreading them equally across the board to benefit all people that qualified to use the program.

There is much confusion as to exactly who qualifies to use this program.  Let’s break it down first if you are already out of the military. Actually, it’s very simple is as follows:

• You have a Honorable Discharge or General Discharge under Honorable conditions.
• You served in the military for a period of at least 90 continuous days (not including boot camp)
• Was your “Home of Record” any City in Texas when you originally entered the military?  (Don’t confuse your home of record with your place of entry). If yes, you are eligible.
• If your “Home of Record” was not a City in Texas, but you have been living in Texas for a period of 12 continuous months leading up to the closing of the home, and you have established your residence in Texas, If yes, you are eligible.

For Active Military people, there it’s a little more involved, and is as follows.

• Was your “Home of Record” any City in Texas when you originally entered the military?  (Don’t confuse your home of record with your place of entry). If yes, you are eligible.
• If your “Home of Record” was not a City in Texas, but you have PCS orders to a military base in Texas, and you have been in Texas for at least 1 day, have reported for duty, and your LES reads “TX” as your current State of Residence, you are eligible. 
• If the above is true but your LES does not read “TX” as your current State of Residence, you can immediately file form DD2058 with your finance office on base, and get a copy of this signed form you are surrendering, and this will be acceptable as proof you have applied to change your State of Residence.  You are eligible.

There are a few things you should know about this program.

• You cannot use the Texas Vet program to refinance your home.  The program is only for home purchases.
• You cannot do a Texas Equity loan to get cash out on your home using this program
• You can have only one Texas Vet Home loan at a time
• The home you are purchasing must be your primary residence, not a rental property or a 2^nd home
• You can use this program to purchase a multifamily property such as a Duplex, Triplex or even a Four-plex.  However, you must live in this property as your primary residence, and the property must be at least 5 years old or older, at the time of purchase.

For more information go to www.texss-vet-loans.com for even more detail on this wonderful program.   

Pat Fitzgerald

We are honored to provide below market financing for Texas Veterans

Eligibility requirements
To be eligible to participate in the Texas Veterans Loan Programs, applicants must have:

• Served no fewer than 90 continuous days on active duty (including active duty for training) in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard or United States Public Health Service (unless discharged sooner by reason of a service-connected disability), or a reserve component of one of the listed branches of service, or have enlisted or received an appointment in the Texas National Guard after completing all initial active duty training requirements as a condition of enlistment or appointment, or have completed 20 years in a reserve component so as to be eligible for retirement as a condition of enlistment or appointment, or, if currently an active duty member of a listed service or a full-time reservist, have completed the initial service obligation;
• Served after Sept. 16, 1940 (for Texas veterans who entered the armed services before Jan. 1, 1977, and who have been discharged from active duty less than 30 years, certain interest-rate incentives may be available for housing or home improvement loans);
• Been honorably discharged;
• Been a bona fide resident of Texas at the time of entry into the military or must have resided in Texas for at least two consecutive years immediately prior to filing an application; applicant must be a bona fide Texas resident at the time the application is made (a bona fide resident is someone who is living in Texas with the intent to remain in Texas). Presence in Texas due to military service alone does not establish bona fide residency); and
• Have successfully repaid any previous TVLB loan within the same loan program. A loan is considered repaid when the account has been paid in full by the original veteran purchaser or last approved assignee. Any active TVLB loans in programs other than the one for which application is being made must be in good standing.

Whether you served in the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, National Guard, or any of the armed services, it’s easy to take advantage of these great programs that thank you for your service to our country. For more information, contact the Texas Veterans Land Board at 800-252-VETS or visit their Web site. The Veterans Land Board also sponsors free public information seminars that are conducted throughout Texas; call for details.