6 Articles That Helped Me Understand VA Home Loan Process Better

First step in the home buying process is to get financing. You can't buy a house unless you qualify for a home loan.

Since we are going to apply for "VA Joint Loan", I needed to start reading up on the loan process, pre-approval vs qualifications and debt-to-income ratios.

In addition to reading the mortgage section in the books I bought, I started to read through some articles online. I found Veterans United website and their articles to be easy to understand for a complete beginner like me.

Here are 6 articles I just read and recommend:

Article #1: 5 Things to Know About Loan Pre-Qualification

"You can think about loan prequalification as a "first interview" of sorts. Prequalification helps lenders achieve three main goals: (1) Assess a borrower's service and credit eliibility; (2) Estimate the loan amount a borrower may obtain; (3) Begin gathering documentation needed for preapproval and loan underwriting."

Read the full article on VeteransUnited.com here...

Article #2: The VA Loan Process

"Getting preapproved for a VA loan is a foundational first step. Loan preapproval is important on a couple major fronts. One, preapproval gives veterans and military buyers a clear sense of their purchasing power. Two, it shows home sellers and their real estate agents that you're a serious buyer who can make a strong offer and get to the closing table."

Read the full article on VeteransUnited.com here...

Article #3: How to Get Your VA Loan Pre-Approval

"Preapproval is a more detailed process than prequalification. Other than pulling your credit reports, lenders basically rely on your word and your best estimates during the prequalification conversation. During the preapproval process, lenders want to verify information. You'll typically need to provide financial documents like pay stubs and bank statements and sign non-binding forms and paperwork. Lenders will be looking at cold, hard numbers and creating the most realistic picture possible of your purchasing power."

Read the full article on VeteransUnited.com here...

Article #4: Loan Preapproval is Not a Guarantee

"Loan preapproval is not a guarantee. Preapproval means that your loan officer is ready to initiate your mortgage, based on the information and documentation you provided at the time you requested the preapproval. In layman's terms, it is the equivalent of your lender saying, We'll give you a loan, up to a certain amount, provided these conditions are met. This is a step in the right direction for prospective homebuyers, but it is usually weighed down with conditions and contingencies."

Read the full article on VeteransUnited.com here...

Article #5: Getting A VA Loan Using Self-Employment Income

"Self-employment income can be less consistent than income from a salaried position. That inconsistency will often trigger additional scrutiny from a lender. In most cases, self-employed applicants will need two years of tax returns and other key business documents to verify their income and contend for a VA loan."

Read the full article on VeteransUnited.com here...

Article #6: Debt-to-Income (DTI) Ratio Guidelines for VA Loans

"When it comes to getting a VA home loan, one of the key financial metrics for lenders is debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. The debt-to-income ratio is an underwriting guideline that looks at the relationship between your gross monthly income and your major monthly debts, giving lenders insight into your purchasing power and your ability to repay debt."