I live in chicago and am using a VA loan to buy a townhouse in river forest. We are closing next week and everything has been very smooth. I am using Neena at A and N mortgage in chicago and have been very happy with them. They are a mortgage broker and got me a very good rate (locked in today at 4.625% - I bought a point).

The cons of the VA loan (for me) are the funding fee (around 2%) and I've heard not all condos qualify for VA loans (depending on the homeowner association). I've heard bad things about the appraisal, but ours went very smooth.

The pros of the VA loan (for me) is no money down (we're putting around 2% down), No PMI (the best part), and the flexibility of qualification - I read all this stuff about 41% debt to income ratio, but they're flexible as long as your residual income (what's leftover at the end of the month) is enough.

hope this helps,

jeff b.

Sirena,
I have two lenders who are experienced and service your area.
William Chu- American Chartered Bank - 630-579-7936
Gino Buonamici- Countrywide Home Loans- 815-577-8225

Either one can help you with VA and answer the pros and cons.

If you need a realtor to help you find your dream home, give me a call
Mark Karambelas
Baird and Warner

Sirena,
I have two lenders who are experienced and service your area.
William Chu- American Chartered Bank - 630-579-7936
Gino Buonamici- Countrywide Home Loans- 815-577-8225

Either one can help you with VA and answer the pros and cons.

If you need a realtor to help you find your dream home, give me a call
Mark Karambelas
Baird and Warner

Here is the deal: A VA loan allows 100% financing and up to 4% concessions from the seller to pay for closing costs. This means that 4% of the purchase price can be given to you by the seller to pay for the fees (i.e If the house is 100K then you can get up to 4K to pay for closing costs, pre-paids and get a lower rate by buying it down with this money). Concessions will applied only if the seller agrees and is in the contract.

There is a funding fee which varies depending on whether you are/were regular military or reserves. The funding fee will decrease as you increase the amount that you put down. The funding fee can be added to the end of the loan and paid in the mortgage payment or you can bring it to closing or take it out of seller concessions if you get it. Included in the reference section is a link to the VA funding fee matrix table embedded in a wikipedia article that describes what the fee would be for various situations.

The broker/lender need a copy of a certificate of eligibility (easily obtained from the VA online, by phone or mail) and discharge papers to prove that you can obtain the loan. Unlike FHA or conventional loans if you put down less than 20% there is no monthly PMI to pay.

That said I have dealt with numerous VA loans and would be happy to help you obtain the financing you need. Please contact me if you need assistance

David Cruickshank
Ardain Mortgage Corp.
847-354-5455
davidc@ardain.com

Sirena:

Dan is right - VA is an excellent option to purchase a new home. Some of the main advantages to the buyer with a VA loan include 100% financing and no monthly mortgage insurance payment. With VA, the home also needs to be up to code and while it doesn't have to be in 'tip top' shape, it has to be pretty close. The only disadvantage with a VA loan is at times it can take a little longer in underwriting. While your typical loan will take 4 weeks, a VA loan can take up to 6 weeks for approval. Other than that, there are really no disadvantages to a VA loan. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to contact me directly. My contact information is listed below.

Kurt Clements
Senior Vice President
GSF Mortgage Corp
3933 75th St
Aurora, IL 60504

Office: 630.806.7016
Cell: 630.430.1091

kclements@gsf-mortgage.com http://www.gsfgovernmentloans.com

I'll be glad to help you out. As I explained on an earlier post, a VA loan is not much different than a USDA Rural Housing loan and is much better than an FHA loan (FHA loans are great to begin with, so use your imagination).

With a VA loan, you receive 100% financing on the sales price of the home. A VA loan does require a 2.15% up front fee, but that is added to the loan amount and does not come out of pocket. Also, the VA loan requires no monthly mortgage insurance payment, which FHA does.

If you are eligible for a VA loan, I would strongly suggest that you go with it. The only downside vs. FHA is that you can only receive 4% in seller concessions for closing costs vs. 6% for FHA.

If you have any other questions or need to get prequalified, please don't hesistate to call.
Thanks so much.
Luke Allison
Bank of America Home Loans
828-777-8828
luke.allison@bankofamerica.com

Va right know has some of the best programs. They even have 100% financing. If you would like to call my main lender Chai at 630.430.4481 he works for 1st Centennial Bank- been in the biz over a decade. He would be able to answer all your VA financing questions. We can also get the seller to pay your closing costs.

To vew all homes for sale go to http://www.danfirks.com and veiw all home listed in the MLS My dir # is 630.637.9009

Hope to hear from you.

Make it a great day!

Dan