Today the Texas Veteran’s Land Board announced that the new Texas Vet Housing Assistance Program loan limit is $417,000, up from $325,000.   They also increased the land-only program to $100,000, up from $80,000.  That’s how Texas takes care of our military veterans!

For more information, see www.texasveterans.com.

Austin Title is hosting another “VA Home Loans” MCE class next Wednesday, January 25th.  Click here for more information and to register for our class.  We hope you can join us!

Realtors, are you looking for a great class to get a solid understanding of VA loans and working with veterans?  If so, join us on December 9th at the Williamson County Association of Realtors (WCAOR) in Round Rock for Chad’s VA Home Loans MCE class.  Simply click here to read about this class and to register online.  Email me if you have any questions at all!

To be eligible for Texas Veteran Housing Assistance financing, new-construction homes must meet the federal government standards for energy efficiency in the Energy Star™ program.  The following link has more information about the requirements:  http://www.glo.texas.gov/vlb/veterans-benefits/veteran-loans/home-loans/energy-star.html

If the veteran buyer signs the sales contract with the builder AFTER the home is 100% completed, then these requirements may not be necessary.  Typically a Certificate of Occupancy or final inspection by the city or county will be necessary to confirm the home was completed prior to the contract. ...

Quite often I hear military veterans trying to decide between a VA loan and a Texas Vet loan when purchasing a house.  The funny thing is, there is no such thing as a stand-alone Texas Vet purchase loan.  The Texas Veteran Housing Assistance Program must be used in conjunction with a VA, FHA, or Conventional loan.  Over roughly 85% of the time, veterans use it with VA financing since typically no down payment is required and there is no mortgage insurance.

The real decision to be made is if the veteran ...

One of the great benefits of VA loans is that the veteran is allowed to receive gift money from family members to help cover closing costs. All that is typically needed is a completed gift letter signed by the veteran and the donor, as well as documentation that the transfer has taken place. There are no limits on the gift money when it is coming from a family member.  Just remember, this is for gift money from family members, not for loans from family members.

I was running early this morning and as usual, thinking about my mortgage business.  Why do people do business with me, my team, and my company?  I think I finally have it down to three key reasons.

The first is EXPERTISE.  Most lenders basically do everything, but don’t build up a solid niche for which they can consider themselves true Specialists.  I have focused on VA and Texas Vet financing since 2004, ensuring my clients get the correct information the first time and benefit from the programs for which they are ...

How cool would it be if you could tell a client serving in the military that when he deploys he does NOT have to pay interest on his home home? Can you imagine how much money that would save a veteran and how much peace of mind that would give his or her family about paying the bills while they are away?

All you have to do is recommend they get pre-approved for a Texas Vet loan and close on their loan BEFORE they are given orders for deployment. Here’s how it works…

Reservists and Guardsmen called to ...

Is it safe to assume major “military lenders” such as USAA and Navy Federal can offer you all of the programs you are eligible for? Actually, maybe not. USAA and Navy Federal are two of the big banks that do NOT offer the Texas Veterans Housing Assistance program to their Texas members. When we called to ask about it, they could not tell us why, but we would have to assume it is because they are a national company focused on loans in all 50 states and the Texas Vet program is just available in Texas. Bottom ...

We get this question just about every day:  What credit score do I need to buy a house?  Minimum credit scores can and do vary by lender, but here’s our current minimum credit score requirements for all of our major loan programs:

Conventional Purchase = 620
Conventional Refinance = 620
FHA Purchase = 620
FHA Refinance = 640
FHA Reverse Mortgage = None
Texas Vet Purchase = 620
USDA Purchase = 620
VA Purchase = 620
VA Refinance = 640