How to Find VA Loan Specialist
Finding a VA Loan Specialist needs careful assessment to make sure the lender is well versed in VA Home loans. A lender may affirm it is approved to issue VA loans. However, that doesn’t mean the loan officer managing your application will be a VA Loan expert.
That being the case, we have documented the important aspects to check out before obtaining a VA loan.
Types of VA Loan Lenders:
When you are searching for a VA approved lenders you are likely to come across these three types:
Supervised Lenders:
Supervised Lenders are banks and credit unions and are members of the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). These lenders have the power to close VA Home loans without seeking the approval of the VA. To tell the truth, supervised lenders may or may not have VA lending experience. This happens because there are no strict requirements to become a Supervised Lender. With this in mind, it would be your responsibility to check out whether your supervised lender is a VA expert.
Non-supervised Lenders:
Non -supervised lenders have been granted the authority by VA to close loans on an automatic basis. These lenders have the power to underwrite the loan and order a VA-approved appraisal. Moreover, having a Non-supervised Automatic Authority designation means that the lender has a minimum amount of experience in VA loans.
So, you must check out with your non-supervised lender if he/she has the following qualifications:
- Active VA origination experience of 2 or more years
- Has originated or closed 10 or more VA loans within the last 2 years
- Has originated and closed more than 25 VA loans
Agents
Agents are excellent to work with if your loan scenario is complicated and not straightforward. Agents are independent loan officers or mortgage brokers who are approved to work with VA Loans by the Veterans Affairs. Agents cannot work alone. Instead, they will work alongside a sponsoring lender who will handle the back-office tasks necessary to close a mortgage.
However, you must ensure that the agent and the sponsoring lender are both experienced with VA Home loans.
Does your VA Loan Specialist qualify for the LAPP?
Lender Appraisal Processing Program or LAPP has been set up to ensure that VA loans can be closed faster. LAPP allows the VA loan officer the ability to receive and process appraisal reports directly from an appraiser. As a result, the lender doesn’t need to involve the VA and can avoid bureaucratic hassles.
Lenders can only take advantage of the LAPP if they meet the following criteria:
- Must be full-time appraisal reviewer on staff
- Must have a minimum of three years of qualifying experience to perform administrative appraisal reviews when underwriting VA loans
- Must show it has an effective quality control system in place to ensure the accuracy of the appraisal or staff reviews.
Therefore, LAPP qualification is the most compelling evidence of your lender, agent, or Loan Company being well versed in VA Home Loans.
VA Loan requirements and documents:
Any expert VA Home Loan lender will know the rules and regulations like the back of their hands. The lender must be able to explain to you clearly:
- Requirements and exceptions of the VA loans
- Entitlement and Appraisals of the VA loans
- How VA loans compare with other loan options
- VA Home Loans benefits and shortcomings
An experienced VA loan officer must have the ability to guide you through the military documents and other paperwork:
- 4 copies of DD-124
- Statement of Service
- VA disability paperwork
- Income Documents
- VA Certificate of Eligibility (COE)
It must be remembered that you don’t need the COE to start the process of VA loan application. Your lender can get the COE on your behalf. However, the process would speed up if you obtain the COE beforehand from the Veterans Affairs portal online.
Will you be assigned a dedicated loan team to manage your application?
Before working with a lender make sure that you will be assigned a single point of contact. This means you will work with the same team of VA-approved lenders from start to finish. We’ve heard consumers complaining about lenders assigning them new VA experts to move from one level of application to the other. With this in mind, gets a single point contact to save time and avoid unnecessary stress of the home buying process.
Identify the inexperienced lender:
It is important to realize that the VA Home Loans is a specialized loan product. You must watch out for lenders who try to stop you from exploring the VA Home Loans benefits. This happens because many loan officers or real estate agents don’t work with VA loans every day. So, they don’t have the knowledge or experience to guide you throughout the VA loan process.
Conclusion:
Buying a home is a complex process. You must work with lenders who can deal with the hassles on their own while you enjoy the hard-earned military benefits.
Buying a home is your lifetime investment. So, choose a VA Loan Specialist to safeguard your finance and property.