Finding VA Home Loan Lenders

by Diana K.
(Texas, USA)

Ask Kate about finding VA Home Loan Lenders in Houston, Texas: Hello there Kate! I am Diana, wife of a veteran husband. Do you know of a good VA lending source that is flexible in forgiving not-so-good credit?

Diana continues... We are moving back to Houston, Texas permanently and will be in the market for buying a small home. I wanted so much to have financing in place so that we could buy the home of our choosing within our budget.

Ten or more years ago, my husband and I wanted to build a home on a piece of acreage that we bought in the Houston area. We sort of lost steam trying to buy through the VA, (or any lender for that matter) because the paperwork was long but more so because every time we came up against the credit history, my husband's past would seem to stand in the way.

We have had a rocky past though most of our obligations from the past have been met. We never intended on skirting our responsibilities, causing intentional harm to our credit nor to our creditors. It's just that sometimes bad things happen to good people.

Our current business takes us on travels for work out of state for 8 months out of the year. The economy has effected the profit potential of our income but ultimately the family working relationship and business endeavor that we entered into has started to deteriorate as a result.

As far as current creditors go, we have perfect payment histories and we are sticklers about keeping our credit standing in as good a condition as we possibly can. My credit score is 745 and my husband's is 640, the last we checked. There are a few medical bills that are owed but we do plan on paying those rightfully so.

It is unfortunate that the FTC does not police unscrupulous debt buyers who constantly keep very old debt alive and current through what I believe should be a fraudulent process, keeping people from moving forward in their lives. And although there are criminal-minded people who do indeed make a living defrauding creditors, I am certain there is a clear difference in credit histories which will categorically prove those instances to be separable.

With that said, we would just like to finally be able to use my husband's VA home loan benefits which we have not been able to do all these years. If you have any information that can help, we'd sure appreciate it.

Very warmly, Diana K.

Kate Answers: Finding VA Home Loan Lenders

Dear Diana, Sounds to me like you are determined to buy a house. Congratulations!

First, a couple of facts regarding home loans for Veterans and Active Military Personnel...

1. The 2011 VA home loan limit, without a down payment and outside of high cost areas, is $417,000.

2. Veteran's Administration (VA) does not lend the money but guarantees about 25% of the mortgage to the lender, in the event a homeowner should default on the obligation. The good news is that this VA guarantee substitutes for the traditional down payment required by non-VA home loans.

VA Home Loan Eligibility and Credit Scores

The older a collection gets on a credit report, in general, the less affect it has on credit scores. But that does not mean VA loan guidelines will allow the lender to look the other way.

If you suspect paid collections will be popping up as unpaid debts, I recommend informing your mortgage professional. This gives your lender a head's up in case extra time is needed to verify the debts are paid but just being shuffled along the debt-collector-circuit.

Also ask if it seems likely any unpaid collections will need to be addressed.

Tip: Paper trails to verify paid debts are much easier to create as you go rather than scraping together after the fact when you can't remember the details. Here is one way to create a paper trail to verify you paid off a collection.

VA Home Mortgage Loan Paperwork

You mentioned the extra paperwork with VA loans. Yes, so true and especially burdensome in the case of VA construction loans, as you discovered. I suppose we can assume it is the price to pay for a zero down loan!

Keeping that in mind, start getting your loan ducks (personal paperwork) in line, using my mortgage checklist. I always found as a lender that tidy, upfront, and complete paperwork was especially helpful in overcoming lingering credit obstacles.

Finding and Comparing VA Home Loan Lenders

Finding and comparing VA lenders is similar to shopping for other mortgage companies. I have a tutorial on this and to save time, will direct you to that page. Go here to Compare Mortgage Rates And Lenders In Six Steps.

You can also consult our mortgage directory, List of Mortgage Companies in Texas.

Comment and Link To This Page

Diana, one more thing. Is this page is helpful to you? I'd like to hear back from you.

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Best wishes,

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