How to Refinance Your VA Home Loan

How to Refinance Your VA Home Loan

VA loan is an alternative for men and woman who have served in the military. Qualifying spouses of military personnel can also use these loans. Refinancing can help those who have fallen on hard times. Refinancing is where you can rewrite your loan and throw out the other. It usually lowers the interest term and rate, which lowers the monthly amount you need to pay. If you or your spouse was military personnel, you have three options to refinance your home loan.

Each of them can help you based on your individual needs.

Streamline Refinance Program This program will benefit a veteran who already has a loan with the VA. The Streamline Refinance program allows you to reduce your monthly payment or lower the terms of your original loan. The advantages of this program include limited amounts of documentation, no credit checks and no appraisal. However, some lenders may still need you to verify all of these things before refinancing your loan. Another great advantage to this program is the fact that you will be paying a lower funding fee. For this loan, it is usually around five percent.

The Streamline Refinance program is the lowest stress refinancing program available.

VA Cash-Out Financing This program is mostly for veterans who have equity in their property. Using this method to refinance could mean that you could get money back from refinancing your loan. Again, this depends on your lender; some do not allow you to do this. This program will still allow you to have lower payments or lower the terms of your original loan document. With the equity already in your property, this could substantially change the amount you have to pay or the duration in which you have to pay for your home loan.

Refinance Your Conventional Loan This program is best for people who do not have VA loans. The VA considers this a ‘Cash-Out refinance’ but you are unlikely to get any money back when you refinance. However, your money will not go to waste. The equity in your house will make your payments or term of payments that much shorter. One of the biggest advantages is that lenders are more than likely to cover the entire cost of your home loan. Another advantage would be that they would decide the amount of your funding fee based on your eligibility. The fee for this loan is generally between 2.5 and 3.3 percent. You do not have to pay this out-of-pocket. Many lenders will add this to the back of your loan.

Once you have chosen your program, you then need to submit your documentation in order to apply for that particular program. Choosing a program is half of the challenge of refinancing your home loan. While some of the advantages of the program are lender specific, refinancing can help you save money and lower the term of your interest. It is very advantageous to look at all your loan options before deciding on a certain program to use. To ensure that you are getting the best program, it is best to discuss all of your options with your lender.