Stephanie Arnold ⋅ Lake Odessa , MI Cargill ⋅ 10 years experience

Hi Vincent,

Thank you for your service! I agree with Cedric's advice, and would also offer one point of advice that I wish I would have known when my husband and I were purchasing our first home with a VA Loan: the process can be lengthy, so start early! Don't wait to request your certificate of eligibility until you find the perfect home, or else you may lose the home to another buyer while waiting for your Certificate of Eligibility to get approved.

Good luck house hunting!

Stephanie

Cedric Cook ⋅ Richmond , TX IBM ⋅ 19 years experience

Vincent-

Have done this one a couple times..

1. If you haven't done so already, pull your Credit report. There are various websites to do this.. I use freecredit report .com (it's free 1 time annually). Once you get your credit report, review it thoroughly to ensure that there are no surprises e.g. unexpected delinquencies, late payments, etc.. Also, review it to know your score because banks/credit unions use it to decide if you're eligible for a loan.

2. Review VA website and request your "Certificate of Eligibility" for VA loan program.. You can call to speak with counselor for quick feedback.

3. Go to your Credit Union (or Bank) that you have a good history built-up with and find out what's required to apply for a loan (and how much you pre-qualify for).. if you follow items 2 and 3, you should be in a pretty good situation.

4. Search and Go shopping for your new home.

There are some other nuisances that you could encounter but these items will get you off to a good start.

Regards,

Cedric