VA Loan Exemption

[James Letchford]

I'm new to BP and just getting started in my real investment journey. I need some help with freeing up my VA Loan so I can make another jumbo purchase. Here's my situation:

In 2008, my wife and I purchased our first home in Southern California with my VA Loan.  In 2013, we found a home near the beach and used our one exemption from the VA to purchase our home with a jumbo loan.  (The VA allows one-time exemption for someone to own two pieces of property that were originally purchased with a VA Loan.  I assume that this is a measure that prevents veterans from running around scooping up an empire of properties on 0% to very little down.)

We no longer own our 2008 home, but still own our current residence on our VA Loan exemption.  We'd like to keep this home near the beach and are considering relocating to a mountain town for 2+ years to try something new.  Our plan is to rent our current residence out as an income property and acquire another in the new setting.

Here's my question:  Is there an creative way to free up my VA Loan so I can purchase another property with a jumbo loan?

Thanks in advance.

[Chris Mason]

@James Letchford, once you refinance your current home to non-VA financing, your full VA loan entitlement is restored. That's the most common solution.

But that may not be the best option in the end, depending on how jumbo your VA jumbo loan will be. Jumbo conventional v jumbo VA takes a little bit of careful analysis to figure out which is best.