Using a Joint VA loan to purchase greater than 4 unit properties

[Sean Hudgins]

Hi,

Im an agent in Virginia Beach and a Navy veteran. I have been curious about this method for a long time and have only seen it in theory and would love to hear from someone who has actually done it. 

The Theory is this:

(Quoted from VA.org: Those who apply for a VA mortgage with another veteran (a VA “joint loan”) may be permitted extra units for business purposes, which means your multi-unit property could have more than four units. Chapter Seven of the VA Lender’s Handbook clearly states:

“If a property is to be owned by two or more eligible Veterans, it may consist of four family units and one business unit, plus one additional unit for each Veteran participating in the ownership”.

That means if you and another veteran apply for a VA mortgage together you can build or buy a property with as many as “six family units (the basic four units plus one unit for each of the two Veterans), and one business unit.”)

My Take:

I interpret this as possibly a mixed use building with 6 residential units and one business unit like a restaurant or coffee shop down stairs. I do wonder if this could be accomplished with a 7 residential unit and using one unit as a short term rental though. 

Has anyone actually pulled this type of VA funding off? If you have please fill us all in I think this could be a huge opportunity for a lot of VA buyers that are looking to think outside the box.