Here is where the Veteran Home loan program excels over competing loan products. VA mortgages allow for a home to be financed in one loan up to 100% of the acquired home’s value. In addition, the seller is allowed to pay most-if not all-of the closing costs and prepaid items. This means little to no cash out of pocket. Most housing types are eligible: residential homes, condominiums, townhouses, manufactured homes, new construction and even 1-4 unit rentals (additional conditions apply). If lack of available funds is the issue preventing home ownership, VA Loans offer the solution.

Still, very few veterans take advantage this type of mortgage. It is a shame that more veterans don’t familiarize themselves with this benefit. The interest rate is the same or lower than most conventional financing. The mortgage products offered range from 10-30 year fixed rate mortgages, ARM’s (adjustable rate mortgages), and even temporary buy-downs are allowed. The eligible loan amount is the same as a conforming conventional loan-currently at 417K. In addition, VA financing can be used for refinancing existing homes. As you can see, the product isn’t the problem. The product is as competitive as most that is available. The lack of awareness is the problem. Ask your mortgage broker or lender to explain your options. If they don’t offer the VA mortgage, then find someone who does. We at Venture Development offer VA loans. In the end, you may end up with a conventional or FHA loan if these products are better suited for your situation. Until you compare mortgage options you won’t know what is right for you.

Another advantage of a Veteran mortgage is the flexibility found within the underwriting process. Employment history is very flexible. Credit for all types of mortgages is more stringent today than in the past. That being said, the focus is going to be on the last 12 months of payment history. Underwriting can use alternative sources of credit such as utility bills and cancelled checks if the credit depth is weak. A prior BK or foreclosure is also forgivable. Depending on the type of bankruptcy, you would be eligible one to two years following your discharge date if you’ve reestablished positive credit.

Who is eligible to obtain this loan? Many veterans and even some of their spouses can obtain a veteran mortgage. Here is a very short list of who is eligible: Veterans who served during WWII, Korean Conflict, Vietnam War, or Persian Gulf Conflict AND who have served 90 days of active duty, or have been honorably discharged, or were National Guard/Reservists activated. Veterans with service during Peacetime periods and active duty military personnel must have had more than 181 days of consecutive active service before becoming eligible. Reservists and National Guardsmen are eligible after 6 years of enrollment in a selected service. There is even a program for non active duty spouses. Consider this: an un-married spouse of a veteran who died while in service or from a service connected disability or a spouse of a service person who is considered MIA/POW for at least 90 days are also eligible.

Veterans have spent a part of their live defending our way of life. Freedom isn’t free. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to participate in the very same American Dream that they selflessly protected for you and me. The VA loan was created to help those that have helped all of us. Collectively we can spread the word about the benefits of this unique type of loan.

Minnesota Mortgage Broker-Venture Development 952-285-4319 MN mortgage broker at my website at ventureloanapp.com John Mazzara sells Minnesota real estate in the Twin Cities(Minneapolis/St Paul), MN with RE/MAX 952-887-1290 MN real estate at my website at selling.mn We offer mortgage loans programs for First time buyers, investment property, refinancing & consolidation of debt

A couple of years ago, when the nation’s housing market was booming, so was the nation’s mortgage industry. People were buying and financing homes at a frantic pace, reaping the rewards of seemingly endless increases in home values. Owner builder construction loans were booming, as well.

This specialty product was a big hit, because the boom in the housing market meant that general contractors were going to charge a pretty premium for their services. Owner builder construction offered a nice alternative. A person could eliminate the costs of a builder by opting to manage the process without hiring a general contractor. The borrower would hire and manage the sub-contractors, and therefore save anywhere from 15% to 40% in equity in the new home.

This process worked great during the golden years of recent past. Whereas the average person who hired a licensed builder had to make a large down payment out of his own pocket if he wanted instant equity in his new home, an owner builder achieved the instant equity through the sweat that he or she put into managing the construction of the home.

However, what about today? Nowadays the housing market is pulling back, and values have dropped substantially. The nation’s economy has entered a recession. But, does owner builder construction still make sense? Are owner builder construction loans recession-proof?

To answer that question, we have to look back a couple of years one more time. When the market was booming and house prices were shooting upward, there was one drawback to construction – whether you hired a builder or managed the process yourself. The drawback was supply and demand. Contractors were not only expensive, but also difficult to work with due to an extremely high demand for their services. It was common for owner builders to find sub-contractors unresponsive to their requests for project estimates. In some areas around the nation, sub-contractors had a twelve month waiting list.

Let’s fast forward to today. The beauty of owner builder construction loans today is that there is an over supply of sub-contractor labor available to the borrower. As an owner builder, you can easily find sub-contractors who are willing to work for a fraction of their past costs. Why? Because sub-contractors are feeling the crunch just like the rest of us. The housing boom has ended, and there are many sub-contractors who are badly in need of work.

Therefore, today, an owner builder will find great labor rates when building his own home. The smart owner builder will request multiple bids from various sub-contractors. For example, you should get plumbing estimates from at least three plumbers in your area. In this way, you’ll find the best sub-contractor at the best rate. In fact, you may find that the sub-contractor will provide you with a bid to perform the labor only to reduce it as time goes by. It’s just a simple matter of supply and demand. The sub-contractors know they are competing for work, and therefore they are offering the best prices that have been seen in many years.

With the decreased labor costs, the good news is that owner builder construction still provides a great opportunity to earn instant equity in your home. You are still cutting out the fees of a licensed general contractor. And, you can still move into your new home with 15% to 40% equity. The key today is to smartly shop for the right sub-contractors to do the labor.

This does not mean than an owner builder should always hire the cheapest labor. Indeed, quality of work and professionalism are as important as ever. However, in today’s economy, the overall labor costs will be much lower, and an owner builder should take advantage.

Today, owner builder construction loans are especially useful if you want to limit the amount of cash that you put into your new home. Most mortgage products across the country are requiring larger down payments. Gone are the days of the ubiquitous 100% loan. But, owner builder loans still provide options for you to build with little to no cash out of your pocket. A good owner builder loan will be able to provide financing to cover all of your costs based on a strong spread between project costs and value.

Remember, an owner builder will build a home for costs that are well under the fair market value of the property. Even in today’s economy of dropping home prices, there will still be the same spread in cost versus value, because the sub-contractor labor costs are reduced.

Therefore, an owner builder loan that will end money up to 80% of your home’s value will typically be enough to cover 100% of your project costs. In other words, you can build your new home without spending a lot of cash out of your pocket. And, you’ll still move into it with a lot of instant equity due to the fact that you eliminated the general contractor costs that typically come with average construction projects.

So, even though the country’s economy has entered a period of recession as the housing market has pulled back significantly, an owner builder construction project will still offer some great benefits to the borrower. In the recent past, an owner builder would earn lots of sweat equity as house values were skyrocketing. Today, an owner builder will earn lots of sweat equity as sub-contractor labor costs are falling just as fast, or faster, than house prices.

Chris Esposito and Owner Builder 101 provide construction loans for people who wish to be owner builders and cut out the costs of a general contractor when building their own homes. Call (877) 876-3688 to speak with a representative or visit OwnerBuilder101.com.

It’s a similar concept to having a credit card but much larger in credit limit. A Home Equity Loan is a credit facility secured with a first mortgage on a residential property. It allows you to withdraw funds up to a set limit (the equity you have in your home) at any time.

A Home Equity Loan allows you maximum flexibility with your finances.

You can use the line of credit to carry out renovations, invest in shares, purchase another investment property or pay the bills.

Consider the following pros and cons before you decide on a Home Equity Loan:

Pros of a Home Equity Loan

* A home equity line of credit offers a much lower rate of interest than credit cards
* Interest paid on your home equity line of credit is tax deductible, a benefit not available with credit cards
* Flexible payment options – Some lenders offer interest only equity lines of credit which gives you the option to pay only the interest for a pre-determined amount of time or pay interest plus as much or as little principal as you want
* Accessibility – Money is easily accessed by cheque or ATM card linked to this loan
* Repayments can be made in full or on a monthly basis
* Extra repayments are allowed at any time
* Cheque book facilities are available if needed

Cons of a Home Equity Loan

* The interest rate of a home equity line of credit changes with the prime rate. There is also a margin that is added to the interest rate, which is fixed and is determined at the time of application
* Typically attracts higher interest rates than your standard variable rate loans

Low Doc Home Loan: If you are self employed and don’t have your financials in order, don’t scratch your head wondering if you can obtain finance or not.

One option most lenders offer is a simple and quick loan called a Low Doc Home Loan. Low Doc Home Loans cater mainly for self-employed borrowers who are unable to provide full financial statements and other evidence of their income.

More and more lenders are adopting the growing trend of low doc home loan products on the market with many lenders offering standard and premium ‘low-doc loans’, with the choice of fixed or variable interest rates.

With access to hundreds of lenders and the leading home loans on the market, you can be sure with DirectMoney HomeLoans, we will find the best rate and featured home loan for you.

Depending on the lender, some require you to pay for Lender Mortgage Insurance (LMI) if your loan reaches 80% loan to value ratio (LVR). Due to the risk associated with self employed customers some lenders also charge a higher interest rate for these products. After a period of time, or when customers are able to show their tax assessments, then the lender may reduce the interest rate for you.

Consider the following pros and cons before you decide on a low doc home loan:

Pros of Low Doc Home Loans

* Proof of financials is not needed
* Simple statement of financials required instead of a tax return
* Non-traditional and irregular income sources are considered

Cons of Low Doc Home Loans

* You pay higher interest rates and fees
* Your cash flows might suffer due to higher repayments

Are you a First Home Loan Buyer or Refinancing for your next home loan or Looking to consolidate your debt? Just log on to the website Australia Loan to get access to leading lenders and grab this golden opportunity to obtain best Australia home loans by saving time, effort and money.

What You Should Know

They Differ Depending on the State and Area You’re In.

If you thought that all home equity loan rates were created equally, then you’re wrong. Home equity loan rates vary greatly from state to state, and what’s more, they’re even different from city to city. These rates are set both by banks and by the federal government, based on things like inflation. While Michigan may have a home equity loan rate of 8%, New York might have a home equity loan rate of 7.55%.

They Depend on the Length and Principal of the Loan.

You might not think that home equity loan rates are based on the length and principal of the loan, but in reality, they are. Lenders want to make sure they get enough money out of the deal, so they look at the length of the loan and the principal of the loan when determining the rate.

They Depend on Your Credit.

Anytime a lender extends a loan to a borrower, they are taking a chance. They can tell how much of a chance they’re taking by looking at your credit worthiness. If you have a credit score that is low, then the lender is taking a huge risk in giving your a home equity loan, which means that the rate for the loan will be higher. Or if you have an excellent credit score, the lender will know they’re not taking a very big risk in extending the loan to you, and will be more inclined to offer you a better rate.

You Can Negotiate It.

With how tough the economy is right now, many lenders are willing to negotiate with borrowers if it means they’ll get more business. This means that no matter what your credit is, you can generally negotiate for a lower home equity loan rate than what they may initially offer you. How do you negotiate? By following the simple rule of making them think they’ll only garner your business if they offer a lower rate to you. Tell them you’re considering another company as that company will give you a lower rate, and the lender you’re talking may decide to meet the lower rate.

Home Equity Loan Rates Are Lower Than Other Loans.

Because the loan is secured to the house, home equity loan rates are generally significantly lower than other loan rates out there. This is one reason why so many homeowners decide to get a home equity loan as opposed to a traditional loan. It’s a lot less expensive in the long run.

More about debt consolidationDee Power is the co-author of several nonfiction books. Learn more about home equity loan rates. Read her blog on finance.

Over the last couple of years, as liquid capital has been evaporating from the pool of mortgage financing around the nation, owner builder construction loans have been morphed and altered dramatically. If you built your own home a few years ago, you probably wouldn’t even recognize the form and structure of the owner builder loan today. Simply put, there’s a new reality for owner builder construction. If you want to build your own home, then you need to understand the options currently available for financing and assess the advantages and disadvantages to determine if being an owner builder is right for you.

The latest change in owner builder financing occurred when MidCountry Bank decided to indefinitely suspend the origination of any new construction loans. MidCountry was one of the last bastions of nationwide lending for owner builders, and this recent shake-up means that you must now look upon this specialized financing in a whole new light.

When nationwide financing was available, guidelines and rates and terms for owner builder loans were more or less uniform from state to state. If you were building your home in Maine, your cousin in Arizona could basically expect to receive the same guidelines to build his house. In addition, nationwide lending meant owner builder programs were much easier to find. In other words, it was much simpler to find a bank that provided loans nationwide than it was to deal with a multitude of local banks that may or may not provide construction lending at all.

The good news, however, is that there are still owner builder loans available around the country. With tightening capital, lenders have been forced to scale back guidelines and increase costs of specialized products.

Nowadays, you may find that the lender requires a small down payment, as opposed to financing every penny of the costs to build, including closing costs in the past. Or, you may find that the requirements to qualify for an owner builder loan have grown stricter. For example, guidelines nowadays will most surely address specific details, such as the sale of the borrower’s current residence or the review of actual bids and estimates.

Despite the tightening of the guidelines, owner builder construction will still provide the same basic benefits that should make the program well worth your time and effort. You will still be able to manage the construction of your new home without having to hire a general contractor. This means you will still earn a large amount of instant sweat equity by cutting out the costs of a GC, and you will still be able to manage the process yourself to ensure the home is built exactly to your own specifications.

Most owner builders will save anywhere from 20% to 35% during construction. If you look at the big picture, these overall savings make owner builder construction still worth your time and effort, despite the increase in financing costs around the country for these specialized loan programs.

So, as much as things have changed, the basics are still the same. If you want to be an owner builder, take a deep breath and always look at the big picture. It helps if you work with someone who knows the financing options and has been through many projects before. Even in today’s financing market, an owner builder construction loan doesn’t have to be overly complicated. But, you will need to understand the current options available.

Chris Esposito specializes in owner builder construction loans, providing financing through the Owner Builder 101 program. If you would like to learn more about building your own home without the costs of a GC, visit OwnerBuilder101.com, or call (877) 876-3688.