According to the Real Estate Center College Station , Texas Texas Texas Texas
As we’ve talked about in previous blogs, there is still quite a bit of interest in San Antonio






According to the Real Estate Center College Station , Texas Texas Texas Texas
As we’ve talked about in previous blogs, there is still quite a bit of interest in San Antonio
Posted by Jeff Hamilton on August 30, 2008 at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Push Play Pat is your expert on Texas Vet loans.
Thank you!
Posted by Jeff Hamilton on August 27, 2008 at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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
Posted by Jeff Hamilton on August 27, 2008 at 09:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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:
For Active Military people, there it’s a little more involved, and is as follows.
There are a few things you should know about this program.
For more information go to www.texss-vet-loans.com for even more detail on this wonderful program.
Pat Fitzgerald
Posted by Jeff Hamilton on August 20, 2008 at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Eligibility requirements
To be eligible to participate in the Texas Veterans Loan Programs, applicants must have:
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.
Posted by Jeff Hamilton on August 16, 2008 at 12:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)