Source
r/MilitaryFinance•
AztecMatt

Question regarding second VA loan

I currently have a mortgage with a VA loan (originally $375k loan, now owe $350k) in San Diego county. The VA Home Loan site states, “Lenders will generally loan up to 4 times a veteran’s available entitlement without a down payment”. (Benefits.va.gov)

VA loan limits are the same as Federal Housing Finance Agency’s limits. San Diego’s limit is $701,500 (according fhfa.gov)

If I am looking to get a second VA loan in Alameda, CA (loan limit $765,600) would my remaining entitlement be based off of San Diego or Alameda? My remaining entitlement would be around $300k - $400k in either case. If lenders do in fact loan up to 4x that remaining entitlement, I should be fine to qualify for a VA loan up to $1.2-$1.6m (definitely NOT spending that much).

Is there something I am missing or does this sound correct? My wife and I have been putting away money and are deciding to save it for a down payment on a home if we aren’t eligible for a second VA loan or to invest it. I will probably not use cash to buy points, unless interest rates spike between now and when we are ready to buy.

Thanks.

Posted Dec 14, 2019, 10:58 PM UTC

138
ruikang•

A couple of things, the max loan value is already calculated based on the 25% rule so your guarantee for $700,000 is actually ~$175k. It’s not 4x the loan limit. Also the easiest way to know if you have remaining entitlement is to go the the VA website and check your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) here.

3
AztecMattOP•

Thank you

1
tritipnbeer•

My understanding is it's based off the location of the property. So in your case Alameda. we currently live in CA but just bought a hose in Colorado. out VA limit was based of the 2019 Colorado limits. Alss, anything over the current VA limits is considered a jumbo VA loan so you will have to put down at least 25% of the difference in addition to the VA funding fee. Starting in 2020 supposedly the law is changing and the limit is up to $1M but I've also heard the limit is going away entirely.

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AztecMattOP•

Thank you

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Hooligan8403•

Not sure what your rank is but it is expensive as hell out here as I'm sure you are aware. Alameda is probably not a good investment price wise. San Leandro can be cheaper but it is hit or miss. We grabbed a place in Vallejo. It's a bit of a drive but we are pocketing a lot of money at the end of the month.

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AztecMattOP•

Thanks, I just used Alameda as an example, but we’d look throughout the Bay Area. One of the big draws of me trying to get stationed there is the opportunity to find a good investment property.

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Hooligan8403•

You would want to look further from the bay for that and honestly I'd not rent when you get stationed somewhere else. We did the math and currently we wouldn't make much over our mortgage if we rented out our place. We are up about $75k since we bought the place though. Vallejo is considered the "last affordable" city on the bay.

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Zstegall•

Shoot me an email. I do only VA loans and can let you know pretty quickly if it’s something that can get done. There’s more that goes into it depending on which state / county you live in. [email protected]

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