Three Creeks Media | By Erik J. Martin
With no down payment required, flexible credit guidelines and limits on closing costs and fees, the VA home loan is a popular financing option for veterans and active-duty service members, including National Guard members.
But in the past, Guard troops were only eligible for the VA loan after six years of honorable service, following 90 consecutive days of service or after being discharged from active duty for a service-related disability.
New legislation signed into law in January the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act expands eligibility for Guard members and cuts the required days of service. That means tens of thousands more Guard members, including many who performed COVID-19 emergency-related duties, will qualify for the VA-backed mortgages, according to John Goheen, director of communications for the Nation
A sign shows Fort Bragg information May 13, 2004 in Fayettville, North Carolina. (Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images)
23 Apr 2021 Business Insider | By Natasha Dailey
Real-estate agent Melissa McHarney was told to make an offer on a house in Durham, North Carolina, for $60,000 over the asking price.
She told her client, who was using a government-backed home loan provided by Veterans Affairs, that it wasn t a smart idea financially. The client told her to do it anyway. We didn t win, McHarney said. In the end, the seller took the conventional offer over the VA offer.
Amid the hot real-estate market, veterans and military families have struggled to find homes as the country faces a shortage of 4 million houses, skyrocketing prices, and a lack of building materials. The shortage has pitted civilians with cash or conventional loans against military personnel seeking to use the VA s home loan a government