VA Loans Westminster, CO

Getting to a point in life where you can buy a home is a significant achievement, and it calls for a lot of hard work. For veterans or anyone serving in the military could be harder than it is for people who are not. Remember, if you are in the military, you do not get the time to engage in other income-generating activities that would enable you to realize your homeownership dream. So what options do you have as a veteran and planning on buying a home? Well, there is a mortgage package for military service veterans called the VA loan Westminster.

What Is a VA Loan?

A VA loan is a home loan given by private lenders and secured by the U.S department of veterans affairs. It enables U.S veterans, the active duty service members, and widowed service members spouses to home buying. VA loans were introduced as part of the GI Bill in 1944 to help the veterans, and they have become popular over time. In early 2019, 8% of homes were acquired using a VA loan. This loan type has become increasingly popular because it is easy to qualify and does not need a down payment.

How Does a VA home Loan Work in Westminster, CO?

VA home loans are non-conventional home loans. They do not work like the conventional mortgage you get from banks and other lenders since VA loans are government-insured. This means that the U.S department of veterans affairs undertakes to repay a part of the loan to the lender if you are unable to make payments or if you face foreclosure. The non-conventional home loans are easy to get since the banks assume less risk than conventional loans.

What are the VA Home Loan Requirements?

To get a VA loan in Westminster, you must be military personnel and meet the VA’s specific service needs. For you to be eligible, you must fall in any of the following three categories:

  • You are an active duty service member or an honourably discharged veteran who has 90 consecutive days of active service during wartime or 181 days of active service during peacetime.
  • You have served more than six years in the National Guard or the Selected Reserve.
  • You are the spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty.

When applying for a VA loan, you need to get a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to prove to lenders that you are qualified for a VA loan.

Types of VA Mortgage Loans

Various types of VA home loans are available for veterans to select from, and are classified into:

1. VA Purchase Loans

Purchase loans enable veterans to buy homes at a competitive interest rate, and they include; Fixed Rate Mortgage, Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM), and VA Jumbo Loan

Fixed-Rate VA Loan Westminster, CO:

  • The interest rate is fixed for the loan’s life, and it is not affected by the market interest rates, whether it increases or decreases.
  • Monthly payments remain the same each month.
  • No down payment is needed, except the purchase price is higher than the assessed value of the home.
  • Don’t require private mortgage insurance.
  • The closing costs are limited.
  • It has competitive interest rates due to government backing.

Adjustable-Rate VA Loan:

  • The interest rate adjusts periodically by adding a margin to an index specified by the mortgage.
  • Monthly payments change with changes in interest.
  • ARM’s have limits on the amount of interest adjustment that can be made in given periods and across the loan’s life.
  • No down payment is required unless the buying price is more than the assessed value of the home.
  • Does not need private mortgage insurance.
  • Closing costs are limited.
  • Competitive interest rates.

VA Jumbo Loan

  • Suitable if over the standard loan limit of $417,000 is needed
  • Depends on the loan limit for the county.
  • Requires a small down payment.

2. VA Refinance Loans

If you are already a homeowner and have built up equity in your home, you have options such as Refinance Loan or Streamline Refinance Loan

VA Refinance Loan

This is a cash-out refinance that allows you to get cash for home improvements or other cash needs such as college fees, paying off debts, etc.

VA Streamline Refinance Loan

  • It is also known as an interest rate reduction loan (IRRRL).
  • It helps lower the interest rate on your loan without incurring any out-of-pocket fees.
  • You can use your original document of eligibility.
  • Available only for existing VA Loans.

3. Native American Direct Loan (NADL) Program

If you’re an eligible U.S. Native American Veteran and your current or desired house is on Federal Trust Land, and this loan program can help you finance the purchase, construction, or improvement of your home.

4. Adapted Housing Grants

This VA home loan program is designed to help veterans who may have a permanent or total service-connected disability to build or purchase an adapted home or modify an existing house to accommodate their disability.

Advantages of VA Loans

Here are some of the benefits of VA loans:

  • No down payment required

VA loans are among the last 0% home loans available on the market today for qualified veterans.

  • No PMI required

Since VA loans are government-backed, banks do not require you to buy Private Mortgage Insurance.

  • Competitive Interest Rates

The VA guaranty gives lenders a higher degree of safety and flexibility, which typically means a borrower gets a more competitive rate than non-VA loans.

  • Easier to Qualify

Since the department of veterans affairs insures the mortgage, banks assume less risk and have less stringent qualification standards for VA loans, making them easier to obtain for those who are eligible.

  • No minimum credit score requirement

Typically, lenders look for borrowers who have a credit score of 620 or more. However, the ideal credit record would be zero, meaning that you have no debt.

  • No prepayment penalty

You will not be fined for paying off your loan early, before the loan term expiry.

  • You do not have to be a first-time homebuyer to qualify for a VA loan

So long as each time you borrow a VA loan, you pay it off you can get it over and over.

 

Other local areas we help with VA loan eligibility in Colorado

 

 

What Are the Drawbacks of A VA Loan?

Everything sounds fair up to this point, although some problems come with the loan.

  • The zero down payment leaves you vulnerable

A small shift in the real estate market can leave you owing more on your home than its market value. That means you could get stuck with the home until the market recovers or take a financial loss if you have to sell the house quickly.

  • VA loan funding fee

As a borrower, you are supposed to pay a funding fee between 1.25% and 3.3% of the loan amount. The funding fee is usually included in the loan, so it increases your monthly payment and adds to the interest you pay over the loan’s life.

  • Limited to primary residences or refinancing

A VA loan can only be used to buy or build a primary residence or to refinance an existing loan. So you cannot buy an investment property or vacation home with the mortgage.

VA Loan Limits

Qualified veterans with a full VA loan entitlement can borrow as much as a lender is willing to lend, all without a down payment. The VA loan limits are only applicable to borrowers with less than their full entitlement, either because they have other active VA loans or because they lost the previous one to foreclosure.

Eligibility Requirements for A Spouse of a Veteran

If you are a service member’s spouse, you can qualify for a VA home if you meet any of the following descriptions:

  • You are a spouse of a prisoner of war or a military member missing in action.
  • You are an un-remarried spouse of a veteran who passed away in service or from a service-related injury.
  • You are a surviving spouse of a disabled veteran.
  • You are a spouse of a deceased veteran who remarries at or after turning 57 years of age, on or after December 16, 2003.

 

Local information about Westminster in Colorado

 

Westminster is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located 9 miles (14 km) north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. As of the 2010 census the population of Westminster was 106,114,[7] and as of 2019 the estimated population was 113,166.[8] Westminster is the seventh most populous city in Colorado and the 237th most populous city in the United States. Westminster is a part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area.

Gold discovered in the South Platte River Valley in 1858 brought national attention to the area that would become Westminster, Colorado. The promise of fortune and The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged many pioneers from the east to settle in Colorado rather than continue on to California.[9] Before the settlements came, wildlife like antelope and buffalo made their homes in the area. There is also evidence of Arapaho Indians near the Crown Point (Gregory Hill) area.[10] Westminsters’ first permanent settler was Kentucky farmer Pleasant DeSpain, who built his home in 1870 on 160 acres (near what is now West 76th Avenue and Lowell Street).[11] The area became known as DeSpain Junction and attracted other settlers including Edward Bruce Bowles, who in 1881 constructed a brick Italianate house now known as the Bowles House. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The village of DeSpain Junction grew into a small farming community and continued to attract new settlers despite the difficulty of farming in Colorado’s arid climate.[9] Connecticut real estate developer C.J. Harris arrived in DeSpain Junction in 1885 and purchased the DeSpain farm, among others. Harris combined the separate homesteads and divided it into smaller tracts of land, which he sold to fruit farmers. Harris renamed DeSpain Junction with his own and the area was referred to as Harris, Colorado.[9] In 1890, New Yorker Henry T. Mayham convinced the Denver Presbytery to build a university on land that he owned in Harris. After delays caused by the depression of 1893, the school was built from red sandstone quarried in Colorado’s Red Rocks region. The curriculum was patterned after Princeton University and was referred to as the “Princeton of the West”. The school was incorporated as Westminster University of Colorado, and classes began in 1908 with one year’s tuition costing $50 ($1,411 in 2018).[12] The school ceased operating in 1917, when all students in attendance left to fight in World War I.[13] In the following decade it operated as a church and school. In 1911, Harris voted to incorporate as a city and changed its name to Westminster, in honor of the university which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Translate »