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Overview of the VA Home Loan Program by Security America Mortgage of California, Texas, and Florida
Posted on December 23rd, 2011 No comments
Overview of the VA Home Loan Program by Security America Mortgage of California, Texas, and FloridaAustin, San Antonio, Dallas, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles (PRWEB) November 04, 2011
Houston, Orlando, Miami, Overview of the VA Home Loan Program
Who’s Eligible
Veterans Active duty personnel Certain reservists and National Guard members Surviving spouses of persons who die on active duty or die as a result of service-connected disabilities Certain spouses of active duty personnel who are (a) missing in action, (b) captured in line of duty by a hostile force, or (c) forcibly detained by a foreign government or power
How It Works
You get your loan from a private lender, and VA “stands behind” the loan with that lender. If something go wrong and you can’t make the payments anymore, the lending institution can come to us to cover any losses they might incur. The VA loan guaranty is this “insurance” that we furnish the lender.
Most loans are handled entirely by lenders. VA rarely gets involved in the loan approval care.
What It Can Do for You
Here are some advantages of the VA program:
You can buy a home without a down payment – as long as the sales price doesn’t exceed the valuate value. (Of course, you have to qualify in terms of income and credit.) You won’t need to buy private mortgage insurance. VA rules limit the amount you can be charged for closing am. Closing costs may be paid by the seller. (You should keep this in objecting when negotiating the sales price.) The lender can’t charge you a penalty fee if you pay the loan off early. VA may be able to provide you some assistance if you run into difficulty making payments. You should also know that:
You don’t have to be a first-time homebuyer. You tin reuse the benefit. VA-backed loans are assumable, as long as the person assuming the loan qualifies.Size of the Loan
VA doesn’t specify a maximum loan amount. But the law does set limits on the amount of liability we can assume. This usually affects the amount of money an institution will lend you.
The lender may be able to increase the size of the loan if you can make a down payment.When the lending institution is deciding how big a loan you can afford, it uses either of two methods:
One Method is the “residual income calculation.” The lender adds up your routine housing expenses, taxes, and additional debt payments such as your car and credit cards. He or she subtracts this total from your income. Then the lender decides whether you’ll have enough money left over for everyday living. The second method is the debt-to-income ratio. Under VA’s rules, this is the ratio of your total debt (both housing and other debt) to your income. For more information on how lenders use these tools to complete a Loan Analysis, visit the VA Lender’s Handbook, Chapter 4, Topic 9. This is just a thumbnail sketch. A VA-approved lender is the best resource to see how large a loan you qualify for. In making a decision, the lender must look at income (amount and stability), credit, and “compensating factors.” Lenders may use certain automated systems to help with their decisions.
Your Costs
The VA Funding Fee. Although we don’t require private mortgage insurance we do charge a fund fee. (This can be folded into the loan.) If you receive service-connected disability payments each month, you’re exempt from the fee. For more information on the VA Funding Fee and who is free, visit the Lender’s Handbook, Chapter 8, Topic 8.
Other Costs of the Loan. Other costs will be involved. Of course, the lender charges interest. And some other fees and charges have to be paid at closing.
Here are some general rules:
The lender, not VA, sets the interest rate, the “discount points,” and closing costs. These rates may vary from lender to lender. The seller can pay for some closing costs. (Under our rules a seller’s “concessions” can’t exceed 4% of the loan. But only some types of costs fall under this 4% rule. Examples are: payment of pre-paid closing costs, VA funding fee, payoff of credit balances or judgments for the veteran, and funds for temporary “buydowns.” Payment of discount points is not subject to the 4% limit.) You’re not allowed to pay for the termite report, unless the loan is a refinance. That fee is usually paid by the seller.
Basic Requirements
You must live in the home as your primary residence. You must qualify in terms of income and credit. You could be turned down if you’ve had problems with credit or your income is not considered stable.
Visit Security America Mortgage for more information on VA Loans in Texas, California, and Florida.
Taken from the Veterans’ Administration website for Veterans’ Benefits:
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs – 810 Vermont Avenue, NW – Washington, DC 20420
Reviewed/Updated Date: April 2, 2010
http://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/lp.asp###
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Accept Credit Cards Online the Easy Way
Posted on April 22nd, 2010 No comments
Richard Adams asked:
If you have a new website and need to accept credit cards online then the process can actually be surprisingly complicated. In order to accept credit cards online you will need what is known as a “merchant account” – a facility that will allow you to charge a customer’s credit or debit card and then deposit that money into your own account.
There are hundreds of different merchant account providers out there who are competing for your business and so getting approved for such an account is generally reasonably easy. This is particularly so if you are based in the USA. Outside of north America there are still options available to you but it’s only fair to mention that approvals can take a little longer.
So if merchant accounts are easy to find and get approved for, why did I just say that the process can be complicated? It’s because merchant accounts to accept credit cards online are like anyo ther financial service such as a mortgage or a loan – that is to say there are lots of different options available to you and choosing the best for your business may be something of a challenge.
There are accounts for US businesses, for non-US businesses, high volume accounts, special accounts for high risk ventures like online gambling sites, MLM, pharmacy sites and so on. There are accounts that charge monthly fees but low transaction rates and also the reverse. Different accounts work with different shopping carts and so on.
The first thing then in accepting online credit cards at your website is a thorough investigation of your business. Are you an established business now setting up online? Do you have an existing website and you’re considering changing your merchant account provider? If so, then you have statistics to go on. You can make a reasonable guess as to how much money you’ll be processing, how many orders and what products you’ll be selling and so finding the ideal merchant account for you will be a little bit easier.
The job is slightly harder if you are setting up a new business. In this case, use your market research (or your business plan if you have written one) to try and estimate these very factors. What will you be selling? What is your average transaction size? How many of these per month do you think you’ll be making?
If you are uncertain as to some of these answers then an excellent starting point is to sign up with one of the online credit card processing companies that offer a free set up. In this way you can easily have your processing account set up in a matter of a few hours (days at worst) then get it all linked up to your site.
The experiment will have cost you nothing but a little time but now you have a “baseline” to compare future deals against. It is entirely possible to switch merchant accounts at a future date if you find a better deal elsewhere but you’ll only know it’s a better deal when you have 3-6 months worth of processing history behind you so you can see what your monthly fees are working out to and hence if you can save money with a different merchant account provider.
Even better, many merchant account providers will actually be willing to recalculate the fees they charge you as you start to develop some history with them so you can even save money without all the hassle of changing to a new online credit card processing company.
Jackie