It’s still a great time to purchase

As of Jan. 1st, 2020, there are no VA Loan limits! If you have your full VA loan entitlement intact there are no loan limits anymore – you can still purchase with no money down and no PMI. If you have entitlement used, you can still utilize your VA benefit, but you are now subject to the county limit rule. You still can go over your remaining entitlement, but you are required to come in with a down payment of 25% of the difference over your remaining entitlement. Honolulu County limits if you have a portion of your entitlement used is $970,800. Example: You purchase a home for $400,000. This leaves you with $570,800 of remaining entitlement. You live in your $400,000 home for 1 year then you rent it out and buy another home with that remaining entitlement. The new home is purchased at $670,800 (which is $100,000 over your remaining entitlement) so you are required to come in with $25,000 down payment (25% of the difference over your remaining entitlement) $670,800 – $570,800 = $100,000 / 25% = $25,000.

HOW DO I USE MY VA LOAN BENEFIT TO BUY A HOUSE?

The best place to start when thinking of buying a home with the VA Home Loan Benefit is to find out if you are eligible by first obtaining your Certificate of Eligibility. This can be done through the eBenefits portal online, or just reach out

to your Aligned Mortgage Loan Officer and they will take care of that for you! Once you’ve taken care of that, the next step is for a loan officer to review your current finances and see how financially fit you are. A few of the things your Loan Officer will need to review are your credit profile, income, assets, expenses, and budget you have set for yourself. Reviewing your credit profile annually is a great way to stay on top of your credit score, which can help you secure better interest rates when it comes to financing your new home. Most lenders have their guidelines or ‘overlay’, to determine what is an acceptable credit score. At Aligned Mortgage, we understand the challenges that our military veterans can face building up their FICO score and that ‘life happens’. If you’ve been told no in the past due to a low credit rating, give one of our Loan Officers a call and find out what’s possible. We can work with you to determine how much house you can afford and/or can assist with guidance in improving your credit.

WHY CHOOSE ALIGNED MORTGAGE

Choosing a lender is the first step in the process. A ‘lender’ can be a private bank, credit union, or a mortgage company like Aligned Mortgage. Each lender will offer different interest rates and terms. The Department of Veterans Affairs allows each lender to charge lender fees or loan origination fees, which are typically 1% of the purchase price. These fees are used to get the process going, are paid by the borrower, and may vary by lender. In addition to the lender’s fees, there are also closing costs, associated with the loan that is paid during the closing, or the final stage of the loan. At Aligned Mortgage, we do not charge any origination fee, underwriting or processing fees, application fee, tax service fee, flood certification fee, or credit report fee – helping the Veteran save thousands of dollars on the purchase of their home! VA Loans is what Aligned does – We are the VA Loan Experts! There is a fee charged by the VA which is called the funding fee.

This fee is based on a percentage of the borrower’s purchase price and can be rolled into the loan amount. For the first time use the funding fee is 2.3% and for any subsequent use, the funding fee is 3.6%. However, if the buyer were to bring in a down payment of at least 5% then the funding fee is reduced to 1.65% or a 10% down payment reduces the funding fee to 1.4%. For Buyers who have a disability rating of 10% or more – the veteran is EXEMPT from the VA funding fee no matter the number of times they utilize their VA Home Loan benefit.

FREE ONLINE VA HOME LOAN SEMINAR

Aligned Mortgage is Hawaii’s #1 VA Purchase Lender* and in 2020 helped more than 1460 families purchase and refinance here in the Islands. To learn all there is to know about your VA Home Loan benefit from the comforts of your home, please register to attend our next FREE seminar on Thurs, Feb., 24th at 6PM. To register, please visit us at alignedmortgageseminars.com/hawaii or call 808-207-3455 and a zoom link will be emailed to you.

*#1 VA PURCHASE LENDER as of January 2020 – December 2020: Market Share Report by CBMI. A Division of American Pacific Mortgage NMLS #1850. 94-539 Puahi St. Waipahu, HI 96797 | NMLS #1696573.  2021 American Pacific Mortgage Corporation. For informational purposes only. No guarantee of accuracy is expressed or implied. Programs shown may not include all options pricing structures. Rates, terms, programs and underwriting policies subject to change without notice. This is not an offer to extend credit or a commitment to lend. All loans subject to underwriting approval. Some products may not be available in all states and restrictions may apply.