Can you get your earnest money back at closing when using a VA loan to purchase a house, read on to find out…
The housing downturn can make purchasing a home in Central 
Oregon difficult. Using a Federal VA loan to make your home purchase can make a difficult situation even more challenging if you don’t have a strong resource to help guide you through the process.
If you plan on using a Federal VA loan there are multiple varibles you will want to be aware of. VA loans provide 100% financing, meaning the buyer or borrower will not need to place a down payment on the home they intend to purchase. 100% financing really sets a VA loan apart from a conventional or conforming home loan. In comparison to conventional home loans, there is extra documentation to sign and provide to your lender of choice. Also, the appraisal process will likely take longer than with most loans. The appraisal itsself is completed with more varibles taken into account, some of which could slow down the escrow process. A major componet of the VA loan product to keep in mind is seller contribution towards buyers closing cost… A VA loan actually permits a buyer to receive up to 6% of the sales price towards buyers closing cost. Wow! Just be careful when requesting the full 6%… Have your realtor speak with a title company before submitting an offer to estimate how much closing cost assistance you actually may need. Requesting more closing cost assistance from the seller than is actually needed can put your offer at a serious disadvantage to other offers not requesting seller contributions etc… Be careful! To answer the question raised at the beggining of this blog post… Yes, you can recoup earnest money at closing. It is not always easy to accheive, your realtor must work closely with a title company to help ensure you are able to recoup earnest money.
Want to know more about using a federal VA loan to purchase real estate in Central Oregon… email khoak@prunw.com or call me at (541) 639-7760