5 VA Loan Myths Busted

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Latest posts by Matt Murphy (see all)

So you’ve decided it’s time to buy a house! Taking the plunge into homeownership is a major life step, and you’ll want to have all the facts in front of you before you commit to a mortgage. Caution is always a good watchword — the last thing you want is to get locked into a house payment that over-extends your budget — but it’s important too that you make your decisions based on facts. 

For military veterans, a VA loan can be a great way to finance your home. With that in mind, Hero Loans has taken a look at some of the common misconceptions surrounding these loans. Here are 5 VA home loan myths — busted. 

1. I Don’t Have Time for a VA Loan

Once you’ve found the perfect home, the last thing you want to do is wait. We get it. Whether you’re tired of your stopgap solution or just thrilled by the prospect of your dream home, waiting for the loan to come through can be frustrating. That said, waiting is just part of the process in any sort of home buying experience, whether you’re building or buying, and being impatient — we know, it happens — doesn’t change that. 

Whatever kind of loan you pursue, you can expect to wait several weeks for the financing to come through. The paperwork alone takes plenty of time to complete before you can even be approved. The good news is, a VA loan won’t take any longer than any other loan! On average, when you apply for a VA loan you’re looking at a 40–50 day process, which is pretty standard. 

When you work with Hero Home Loans, that wait time can drop significantly. We take care of filing all the paperwork for you so that your turnaround can be as little as two weeks!

2. This Is Too Good to Be True 

Anytime something is easy, especially something as major as buying a home, it’s easy to be suspicious, and we don’t blame you. The last thing you want is to get suckered. A loan with terms as favorable as a VA loan can sound too good to be true, especially when it’s so easy to qualify. 

There are a handful of reasons behind this, but the long story short is that this deal is exactly as good as it seems because the government guarantees the loan. Qualifications aren’t lower than average because lenders are trying to get you into a bad deal, they’re lower because this is a government-sponsored benefit to your service — a way to say thanks for all you’ve done for your country. 

3. I Haven’t Served Enough

Given the major benefits associated with a VA loan, it can be easy to assume that the threshold to qualify would be high. Luckily for you, that’s not the case! We aren’t talking about a pension requirement, where you need to be a certain age and have a certain amount of service time. With a VA loan, the requirements to qualify are fairly straightforward.

To qualify for a VA loan, you must meet one of the following criteria: 

  1. 90 consecutive days of military service during wartime 
  2. 181 cumulative days of service during peacetime
  3. 6 years of service in the National Guard or Reserves

You can also qualify if you are the spouse of a member of the military who died during service or as a result of injuries sustained during service. 

4. I’ll Need Mortgage Insurance

So the terms of a VA loan are great, sure, but how great is the payment after you throw in the mortgage insurance? We can see how you’d go down this line of thought. After all, mortgage insurance isn’t always required, but when it is, that’s usually because the lenders want protection from a potential default.

Since one of the biggest selling points of a VA loan is how easy it is to qualify for — the credit and income requirements are far lower than those of most loans — it makes sense that you would expect mortgage insurance to be part of the deal. Fortunately, when you get a VA loan, unlike an FHA loan, there is no mortgage insurance attached! 

5. Sellers Hate VA Loans

When it comes time for an appraisal, a VA loan will ensure that the house meets certain requirements before the purchase goes through, which sometimes forces the seller to make repairs. While some unscrupulous sellers may balk at this ask, ultimately you don’t want a home that will require you to take care of a lot of repair work, so if the seller shies away from a VA loan because of this, it’s probably not a great fit for you either. 

How Can Hero Loan Help You?

At Hero Loan, we’re dedicated to making the lending process easy, which is why we stick to VA loan facts, not VA myths. We aren’t content with just a great loan, and you shouldn’t be either. With our team on the job, you can get the loan you need, and you can get it fast, so you don’t have to waste time getting into your dream home.  

Collaborating with our experts will ensure the right lender who understands your individual needs moving forward. Unlike many lenders, who default towards a blanket approach of simply jumping on the lowest interest rate — a competitive loan process that is hard to get approval for and can draw out your home buying journey — we seek to get to know you and match you with the loan rate that is best for you. To find out more, check out our mortgage calculator and then contact us to talk to a loan expert and start your five-minute loan approval today!