Housing News for Veterans - Part II - Arizona REALTOR® Voice

On November 8, the Arizona REALTORS® 2018 President-Elect Patrick Lewis hosted the Facebook Live event “Housing News for Veterans” with REALTORS® George “G-II” Varrato, MVHC and his wife Lori Klindera, CRM. Here are some highlights.

Part Two: VA Loan Limits?

G-II Varrato: You can finance a home with your VA Loan for as much money as you can afford. When you reach that place in the amount you’re going to finance that eclipses the Freddie Mac conforming loan limit, you have to supplement the loan with a 25 percent downpayment; here in Arizona (it’s) $453,100.00.

So, if you’re going to do a $553,100 loan, you have to come up with $25,000 as a downpayment (25 percent of the $100K difference) and you still get all the perks of the VA Loan (such as no) mortgage insurance.

There’s a piece of legislation in Congress right now that will pass in the 116th Congress…this is breaking news…you will be able to secure a VA loan for any amount of money that you qualify for with NO downpayment. You want to buy a home that’s $600,000.00? A million? Five million? If you’re a qualified veteran, you will be able to make that loan with no money down. They’re removing the ceiling.

Patrick Lewis: That would be amazing to watch that happen and it will happen. You heard it here first.

G-II Varrato: Here’s the deal. The URLA (Uniform Residential Loan Application, or) Fannie Mae 1003, was going to be released about a year ago. When all the fussing and mussing got done, it had to go to some planners in our industry. Some of these folks had some anxiety with the construction of the document and how data was going to be aggregated. So, they sorted all that out and it was going to get released the middle of this year.

Once they got it that far, somebody didn’t push the button. So it got delayed again — just a clerical issue. Now all the bugs are worked out of it. It’s going to go live in July of 2019.

Patrick Lewis: Wow, that is good news!

Portions of this transcript may have been edited for clarity.

Next: Have You Served?
Previously: Committees & Loan Apps

Related Story: Veterans Added As a Protected Class Under FHA/ECOA (Dec. 9. 2018)