For those who qualify for a VA loan, it can be one of the best options around for a mortgage. It allows those who have served in the military to own a home with low interest rates, easy lending standards, and no down payment. This makes it easier for veterans to get the home of their dreams rather than having to deal with a conventional loan.
Many veterans will miss out on this type of mortgage because they don’t understand how it works and they worry that it will take too long to get all the work done. The good news is there are a few steps that you can take to help speed up this loan process and get yourself in the home you desire in no time. Some of the ways you can get this done include:
How to Speed Up the VA Loan Process
When you take a look at the VA loan compared to a conventional loan, you may notice that the paperwork is going to be slightly different. With conventional loans, a lot of the work has been automated, which is part of what makes it so fast. The VA loan process may not be automated as much with the lender, which is going to slow it all down.
Once you are more aware of some of these differences, you will be able to speed things up by avoiding the areas where things tend to slow down. Some of the easy steps that you can use to help speed up the process includes:
Get the Certificate of Eligibility
One of the first steps that you can take is to get your Certificate of Eligibility or COE ahead of time. When you apply for the VA loan, you will be able to get an online portal and then the lender can work with you to apply for the COE, often doing the work for you.
In many situations, the VA is going to give you the COE instantly and there will be no problems along the way. However, there are a few times when the loan officer will not be able to do the work for you and you may have to go through the VA and do the work manually. This can slow things down.
A better option is to go through and get the COE ahead of time so it doesn’t slow anything down. You will need to provide the DD-214 to get this done. The portal for the VA will be able to accept a scanned copy of this document as part of the application. Then it can take about a week to get the new COE over to you or the loan officer.
Fill Out Information on Closest Living Relative
You will need to fill out information on your closest living relative, no matter who that person is for you. The loan officer will hand this over to you early on in the process and you need to fill it out as quickly as possible. This will help in case anything goes wrong in the process.
Look Over the Credit Report
It is a good idea to take a look at your credit report before you apply for a VA loan. If there are some problem areas on the report, then it is a good idea to get them sorted out and fixed before they harm your chances at getting a loan. There are a few things that you can check as you get the work done including:
- Check your credit utilization. It needs to be under 30%, though keeping it under 10% will help your score even more.
- Look for any wrong items on the report. If something is reported wrong, then it could harm your chances of having a good score
- Keep accounts in place: Having accounts on the credit score for longer will help improve the score. Having accounts open for a shorter amount of time can harm the score.
- Never miss payments: One missed payment is going to really harm your credit score and can make it hard to get a loan.
Try to clean up the credit score as much as possible before you talk to a lender. Having a good credit score can help you get the loan that you need and can ensure that you will be able to get the best rates and the most affordable mortgage possible.
Hand In Paperwork Quickly
There will be a lot of paperwork that you need to fill out to get a VA loan. The faster you can get it back to the loan officer, the faster the process can go. If you wait several days or even longer to get it back, then it can slow down the process.
Often your loan officer will not be able to move on with the process of your loan without having the necessary paperwork in place. This means that if you procrastinate and don’t get it back as soon as possible, then you may find that the whole loan process is going to take longer than before.
This does not mean that you need to sit by your computer 24/7 waiting for the paperwork. But it does mean that when the loan officer asks for a bunch of paperwork, you make it a priority to get it done as soon as it can fit into your schedule. This will keep everything organized and will help the loan officer process your information through as quickly as possible.
Speeding Up Your Home VA Loan Process
The VA loan process can be confusing for some who may not have had a chance to research and see which options are best for them. And many worry that it will be too slow and will not get them into a home fast enough. Follow some of the steps above and you will be able to speed up the VA loan process and get the paperwork done in no time.
