Not just no, but Hell no!
VA limits your negotiation position. In this market you are not without options. No VA.

VA loans used to have a bad rap and apparently, they deserved it. But there have been changes. Fortunately, I had a mortgage lender who knew the ins and outs of VA loans and he talked to the sellers agent and calmed her down. If you are using a VA loan to buy, you need someone in your corner who can explain what is true TODAY about VA loans. A lot of realtors will discourage their clients (the sellers) from accepting them. Get the facts.

FWIW, our VA loan was 2.875APR on a 15 year fixed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VA loans aren't often the best deal but good for no money down. We looked into one and they had a much higher interest rate plus all the hassles.

You must have a huge house if a roof is that price. I'd shop around and get the roof fixed.

I call BS on this. For years, the VA rates have been significantly lower. Even today=lower.

I think it would be hard to do a VA loan for an 'as is' place unless the 'as is' is mainly cosmetic. The VA inspector is not going to care about shag carpet and a kitchen from the 70s but will care about electrical and structural issues.

Someone bought our townhouse with no money down and a VA loan. No issues. Nothing out of the ordinary or more strict for an inspection.

We're hoping to use a VA loan to buy. We've been getting VA rates and comparing them to conventional loans for the last 4 months. The VA rates are consistently much better and it will save us a ton over the life of a loan (tens of thousands). We're planning on putting 20% down, so I'm hoping a seller doesn't discriminate against us because we're using the VA.

Our home is under contract with a VA Buyer. VA Appraisal hasn't happened yet, but the buyers selected a home inspector who looks for things that the VA Appraisal may ding. I expect the transaction to be smooth overall though.

There are minimum property requirements that a VA appraiser/inspector is supposed to look for. This document had some good information: https://www.benefits.va.gov/roanoke/rlc/forms/ci_guide_2005.pdf

Anonymous wrote:VA loans aren't often the best deal but good for no money down. We looked into one and they had a much higher interest rate plus all the hassles.

You must have a huge house if a roof is that price. I'd shop around and get the roof fixed.

I call BS on this. For years, the VA rates have been significantly lower. Even today=lower.

I think it would be hard to do a VA loan for an 'as is' place unless the 'as is' is mainly cosmetic. The VA inspector is not going to care about shag carpet and a kitchen from the 70s but will care about electrical and structural issues.

Skip the VA.
You want the buyer that will go to settlement, and not just the higher bid.

Anonymous wrote:We just got an above full price offer with 0 dollars down in a VA loan. My home is being sold "as is" and needs repairs. In fact, we thought it'd be torn down but it is livable. My realtor is insistent that we do NOT accept. She said that the VA will hold our house off the market for an extended period and then will force us to make repair after repair at OUR cost because the VA has strict requirements.

Your realtor is using outdated knowledge. My DH and I bought our house in 2013 with a VA loan, also with zero down, in Arlington. The owner had no other offers. It used to be that the VA was really strict about the property appraisal, but we had literally zero issues with the appraisal. The appraiser ran some comps, and we were well within the limits. I think your realtor is being dumb. People like her stopped good buyers like us from winning many a bid.

BTW. We also bought an "as is" house that would've been torn down by a builder if not for our purchase. Zero problems with the financing.

People make a big deal about FHA loans as well but when I sold my TH, the process wasn't any different than with a conventional loan. The inspection wasn't any more rigorous and he didn't even bring a ladder to check out the roof (it's flat and can't be seen from the ground).

That said, my brother sold his house to someone with a VA loan. They too came in above asking and my brother was excited to get such a good price. But the house couldn't appraise for that much so they ended up negotiating down rather than looking for another buyer. The original offer was crazy IMO and the price they finally landed on was much more appropriate for the neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:We had 2 offers on our house and the VA offer was slightly higher. We went with the lower offer because we have also been told that the VA loans are a pain to deal with.. if your house is being sold "as is", I would not deal with a VA loan.

x1000

Anonymous wrote:My parents had a home sale fall through because the VA loan requited that the town repave the street in front of the home prior to closing because it had a pothole. It wasn't enough to fill the pothole; they wanted the whole street repaved. It was nuts.

Nuts

Anonymous wrote:We bought with a va loan. Great interest rate and no cost refi forever on that house (we have done it twice already as the rates kept falling).
We put a lot of money down and waived the appraisal contingency though. We did have to paint he outside windows (old house) for the inspection. Paid $300 out of pocket and a handyman came and painted and it passed no issue.

Yes, great for buyer but horrible for seller. You'll be on pins and needles the whole month.

Anonymous wrote:VA loans aren't often the best deal but good for no money down. We looked into one and they had a much higher interest rate plus all the hassles.

You must have a huge house if a roof is that price. I'd shop around and get the roof fixed.

Well, yes, house is big.

We had 2 offers on our house and the VA offer was slightly higher. We went with the lower offer because we have also been told that the VA loans are a pain to deal with.. if your house is being sold "as is", I would not deal with a VA loan.

We bought with a va loan. Great interest rate and no cost refi forever on that house (we have done it twice already as the rates kept falling).
We put a lot of money down and waived the appraisal contingency though. We did have to paint he outside windows (old house) for the inspection. Paid $300 out of pocket and a handyman came and painted and it passed no issue.

VA loans aren't often the best deal but good for no money down. We looked into one and they had a much higher interest rate plus all the hassles.

You must have a huge house if a roof is that price. I'd shop around and get the roof fixed.