VA Loan

[Zachary Cuneo]

Hey everyone. So I'm coming up on my one-year of using one of my units as a primary residence and was wanting to start looking into purchasing another property. Currently, the only way I'd be able to do that would be to use another VA loan. However, as I stated above, I am currently using a VA loan. So I have a couple of questions:

1. How do I go about making my current mortgage into a regular mortgage (not thru the VA)?

2. If I do manage to do the above, will I begin to have PMI?

3. The property I'm looking at is has 6 units, but two buildings (3 units in each). Are they treated as one whole building on a plot of land, or two separate Triplexes?

4. Let's say I do have to have PMI if I don't have my currently mortgage as a VA loan anymore. My brother wants to start investing and we were talking about going in on a house together and he has never used his VA loan. Would we both be able to apply for a mortgage as a VA Loan with just him using it?

I hope these questions aren't are understandable. Any help someone could provide would be awesome. Thanks.

[Daniel Lehman]

1. How do I go about making my current mortgage into a regular mortgage (not thru the VA)?

- You would basically do a refinance to a conventional loan. That would pay off the VA loan, and you could then reinstate your eligibility with evidence that the loan was paid in full and use it again. Be careful of the "subsequent funding fee" though - you may want to put 5% or more down to reduce that from 3.3% to 1.5% if you are not service connected disabled...

2. If I do manage to do the above, will I begin to have PMI?

- Maybe, but only if your new loan is above an 80% loan to value. That being said, even if it is, MI isn't the end of the world, it is just a tool. If it helps you get the VA loan done, it may be a good deal for you.

3. The property I'm looking at is has 6 units, but two buildings (3 units in each). Are they treated as one whole building on a plot of land, or two separate Triplexes?

- Residential lending only goes up to 4 units max.  A 6 unit would be commercial.  So I am assuming that it is 2 tri-plexes, but you should be able to check the title for the zoning and property description to verify. 

4. Let's say I do have to have PMI if I don't have my currently mortgage as a VA loan anymore. My brother wants to start investing and we were talking about going in on a house together and he has never used his VA loan. Would we both be able to apply for a mortgage as a VA Loan with just him using it?

- Yes, you could use your brothers eligibility and you would be able to go on the loan ONLY because you are also a veteran. That being said, it would have to make sense that you would move in to the property together because VA is only for owner occupied properties. If not, just have your brother buy and you can go on the title with him after the fact if that makes more sense...

Hope this helps!  

Daniel Lehman