CalVet vs VA Loan : What is the Difference?
What is the difference between the CalVet home loan program and a standard VA loan? Is one program better for California Veterans? Is it easier to qualify for VA or CalVet? These are all common questions from Veterans living in California. Many Veterans are not...
VA Loan Closing Costs in California: What to Expect
Veterans are sometimes caught off guard when they learn about the closing costs associated with a home purchase. While it is true that VA does not require a down payment, closing costs are still a thing when buying a home no matter what type of loan the buyer is...
What is the Debt to Income Ratio on a California VA Loan?
The Debt-to-Income ratio is an important factor used when qualifying for a VA loan in California. But what is the Debt-To-Income ratio and how is it calculated? Lenders use the Debt-To-Income ratio, or DTI, to determine whether a borrower can afford their...
Are Homes in Southern California too Expensive?
Housing affordability in southern California has been a problem for quite some time now. California Veterans have an advantage of other home buyers since the VA loan program does not require a down payment. The high home appreciation rates in southern California can...
How a California Veteran Can Qualify for a VA Loan
10 Benefits of the VA loan program for California Veterans
The VA home loan is a mortgage loan offered to eligible military veterans by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA home loan is great because it provides a number of benefits to military veterans. First, the down payment...
Refinance Your CalVet Loan; 3 Options
CalVet Loan to a VA Loan The CalVet home loan program is a great way for a Veteran in California to buy a home. However, the VA loan program beats out the CalVet loan program in a lot of ways. A California Veteran looking to buy a home using their VA entitlement...
Destroying 3 Myths about the VA Loan Program in California
There are many myths about the VA loan in California. Here, we discuss three of those myths and tell why they are not true.
California VA Cashout Refinance in 2020
VA cash out refinances in 2020 are a little different that they were at the beginning of 2019. As the result of a Circular issued by VA in 2019, and then a Memorandum issued by Ginnie Mae on August 1, 2019, there are restrictions in the guidelines that must be met for...
How will a Recession Affect California Home Prices
The biggest question on every California home buyer's mind right now is how will the impending recession affect home prices. Before we really get into it, let's first look at the definition of a Recession.re·ces·sion/rəˈseSH(ə)nA...
7 Steps to Buying California Home with VA Loan
7 steps to guide you through purchasing a California home with a VA loan.
75 Years of VA Loan Program in California
The VA loan program is celebrating 75 years in California in 2019. In 1944, the year of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, or GI Bill, the VA Home Loan Benefit was born. While the GI Bill created many programs and opportunities for returning WWII Veterans, the 100%...
California Veterans use VA Loan Program Multiple Times
Why Use the VA Loan Program? Multiple usages of the VA Loan Program Not many California Veterans realize they can use their VA Entitlement to purchase a home more than one time. There is no limit to how many times the VA loan program can be used for a home purchase....
No More VA Loan Limits in 2020 for California
VA Cashout Refinance Changes for 2019
VA continues to allow "Cashout refinances" to 100% of the property value. However, with the latest VA Circular 26-19-05, some fairly significant changes have been made which could affect the amount of cash a Veteran receives at closing. New Guideline for VA Cash-Out...
VA Approved Condo | What you Need to Know for VA Financing
What is a VA Approved Condo? And why do you need to know what a VA approved condo is? If you are a Veteran planning to purchase a condo using your eligibility for a VA loan, then you need to know what a VA approved condo is and how to distinguish what is VA approved...
How to get a VA loan in California
How do you get a VA loan? Not every eligible Veteran takes the same path to homeownership, but those that follow a roadmap will have an easier time than those that go about buying a home in willy-nilly fashion. Knowing the steps and following them before you begin...
5 Financial Reasons for California Veterans to Buy a Home
There are many reasons a California Veteran should by a home. Property values in California have fully recovered in most counties compared to values in 2008 after the "mortgage meltdown". Mortgage underwriting standards are now much stricter than they were prior to...
Example of a $450,000 Home Purchase using VA Financing in California
Buying a home in California can be a challenge. The biggest hurdle preventing most potential homebuyers is the down payment. While there are loan programs, like FHA, that allow for down payments as little as 3.5% down, it can still take time to save that much money....
Is an Impound Account Required on VA Loans in California?
Is an impound account required with a VA loan in California? That is a fairly common question once we get past the initial question, "What is an Impound Account?" There are only a few loan programs available to borrowers that require little to no down payment for a...