VA HOME LOAN

[William Ladd]

Good Day,

I served four years in the US Navy and am approaching the end of my contract. As I transition to the civilian life I would like to utilize my VA home loan to start my real estate journey. Any tips?

[Erik Browning]

Quote from @William Ladd:

Good Day,

I served four years in the US Navy and am approaching the end of my contract. As I transition to the civilian life I would like to utilize my VA home loan to start my real estate journey. Any tips?

 Hey Will,

I'm a veteran, investor, and mortgage lender and I've used my VA loan multiple times to buy homes, refinance, and sell. It helped me quit my old job after I got out of the Marines and now I do lending full time. One of the ways in which I was able to do this was by using the VA loan to the maximum as a tool in my investing toolbelt. I'm gonna go over a few things that most folks don't know to better help you out.

1. If you plan on using your GI Bill, great! But you can't use that income to help you qualify for a VA loan - or any other loan type for that matter.

2. If you plan on getting a job, make sure you work 40 hours each week.

3. You can have 2 VA loans at the same time. Then, you can refinance both of those VA loans into conventional, keep them as rentals, do what's called a "1 time restoration," restore your VA entitlement, and repeat the process again. Totaling 4 homes that you acquired at zero down.

4. As soon as you get into a home, househack. Then, on your taxes, make sure that Schedule E is filled out for the room/unit that you rented. Putting this on your taxes will help you in the long run.

5. If you have any sort of injury you suffered from the military, GO TO THE DOCTOR and document it. Then, as you are processing out, claim all of those injuries. The goal is 10% or higher disability. If you have 10% or more of a disability, the VA funding fee is waived.

6. If you want to buy a multifamily (4 units or less) you can use the projected rental income on the other units to help you qualify. Ex. You make $3000/mo on your job and the rental income from the units is $1000/mo. You can use 75% of that $1000 toward your income to help you qualify ($750). $3000/mo + 75% of $1000/mo = $3750/mo.

7. Pay off your debts. Sell the Challenger you bought and get a beater.

8. Consider a VA Renovation Loan to finance the repairs into your loan.

9. Work with me because I'm a VA lender, investor myself, and a veteran that knows how to navigate this better than anyone on these forums.

[Steve Meyers]

@William Ladd Thank you for your service, the VA loan is a great thing to be able to leverage. As @Erik Browning pointed out you have a lot of different options. I'm currently helping an E5 engineer with a house hack in the college area out here in San Diego. Her and her bf plan on converting a section of the house to an attached ADU to help with bringing in some cash flow and renting out the other bedrooms to some friends of theirs. As someone whose been a realtor for 6 years here locally in SD I'm very familiar with the VA loan and would be happy to help guide you on your RE journey. Shoot me a PM if you'd like to chat further.

[Carlos Scarpero]

Go for it. It's a great program

[Jennifer Sarmiento]

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Quote from @William Ladd:

Good Day,

I served four years in the US Navy and am approaching the end of my contract. As I transition to the civilian life I would like to utilize my VA home loan to start my real estate journey. Any tips?

 Hey Will,

I'm a veteran, investor, and mortgage lender and I've used my VA loan multiple times to buy homes, refinance, and sell. It helped me quit my old job after I got out of the Marines and now I do lending full time. One of the ways in which I was able to do this was by using the VA loan to the maximum as a tool in my investing toolbelt. I'm gonna go over a few things that most folks don't know to better help you out.

1. If you plan on using your GI Bill, great! But you can't use that income to help you qualify for a VA loan - or any other loan type for that matter.

2. If you plan on getting a job, make sure you work 40 hours each week.

3. You can have 2 VA loans at the same time. Then, you can refinance both of those VA loans into conventional, keep them as rentals, do what's called a "1 time restoration," restore your VA entitlement, and repeat the process again. Totaling 4 homes that you acquired at zero down.

4. As soon as you get into a home, househack. Then, on your taxes, make sure that Schedule E is filled out for the room/unit that you rented. Putting this on your taxes will help you in the long run.

5. If you have any sort of injury you suffered from the military, GO TO THE DOCTOR and document it. Then, as you are processing out, claim all of those injuries. The goal is 10% or higher disability. If you have 10% or more of a disability, the VA funding fee is waived.

6. If you want to buy a multifamily (4 units or less) you can use the projected rental income on the other units to help you qualify. Ex. You make $3000/mo on your job and the rental income from the units is $1000/mo. You can use 75% of that $1000 toward your income to help you qualify ($750). $3000/mo + 75% of $1000/mo = $3750/mo.

7. Pay off your debts. Sell the Challenger you bought and get a beater.

8. Consider a VA Renovation Loan to finance the repairs into your loan.

9. Work with me because I'm a VA lender, investor myself, and a veteran that knows how to navigate this better than anyone on these forums.

@Erik Browning That's a wealth of information, thank you for sharing! Wondering how one does 2 VA loans at the same time, I don't know if that is possible in San Diego. @William Ladd Wondering how your RE journey is going, hope you took this advice :) 

[Erik Browning]

Quote from @Jennifer Sarmiento:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Quote from @William Ladd:

Good Day,

I served four years in the US Navy and am approaching the end of my contract. As I transition to the civilian life I would like to utilize my VA home loan to start my real estate journey. Any tips?

 Hey Will,

I'm a veteran, investor, and mortgage lender and I've used my VA loan multiple times to buy homes, refinance, and sell. It helped me quit my old job after I got out of the Marines and now I do lending full time. One of the ways in which I was able to do this was by using the VA loan to the maximum as a tool in my investing toolbelt. I'm gonna go over a few things that most folks don't know to better help you out.

1. If you plan on using your GI Bill, great! But you can't use that income to help you qualify for a VA loan - or any other loan type for that matter.

2. If you plan on getting a job, make sure you work 40 hours each week.

3. You can have 2 VA loans at the same time. Then, you can refinance both of those VA loans into conventional, keep them as rentals, do what's called a "1 time restoration," restore your VA entitlement, and repeat the process again. Totaling 4 homes that you acquired at zero down.

4. As soon as you get into a home, househack. Then, on your taxes, make sure that Schedule E is filled out for the room/unit that you rented. Putting this on your taxes will help you in the long run.

5. If you have any sort of injury you suffered from the military, GO TO THE DOCTOR and document it. Then, as you are processing out, claim all of those injuries. The goal is 10% or higher disability. If you have 10% or more of a disability, the VA funding fee is waived.

6. If you want to buy a multifamily (4 units or less) you can use the projected rental income on the other units to help you qualify. Ex. You make $3000/mo on your job and the rental income from the units is $1000/mo. You can use 75% of that $1000 toward your income to help you qualify ($750). $3000/mo + 75% of $1000/mo = $3750/mo.

7. Pay off your debts. Sell the Challenger you bought and get a beater.

8. Consider a VA Renovation Loan to finance the repairs into your loan.

9. Work with me because I'm a VA lender, investor myself, and a veteran that knows how to navigate this better than anyone on these forums.

@Erik Browning That's a wealth of information, thank you for sharing! Wondering how one does 2 VA loans at the same time, I don't know if that is possible in San Diego. @William Ladd Wondering how your RE journey is going, hope you took this advice :) 

 Will and I actually worked together after this post. 
You can certainly do 2 VA loans at the same time in San Diego, it just depends on how much entitlement you have remaining. If you don't have any entitlement remaining, you still have options for a VA loan, though they are less attractive.
Beyond that, there are still other ways to get into another place for either low or no money down. 
Everyone's situation is unique and it requires analysis on your actual numbers.