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What Is A Certificate of Eligibility, or COE?

What Is A Certificate of Eligibility, or COE? The COE is the key document that verifies to lenders that someone is eligible for a VA-backed loan. Servicemembers, Veterans and National Guard and Reserve members may apply online or through their lender; most lenders...

What Are The Major Types Of VA Loans?

What Are The Major Types Of VA Loans? Major Veterans Affairs loan programs described in this video include: 1) Purchase Loans. These help eligible parties buy a home at competitive interest rates with little to no down payment...

What Are VA Home Loans?

What Are VA Loans? As the video says, the name is misleading – they’re not loans FROM the VA. The VA – short for “US Department of Veterans Affairs” – is the Federal military veteran benefit system. ...

What Is The Debt-To-Income Ratio (DTI)?

Measuring your existing debts against your existing income is one part of a lender’s required assessment of your ability to repay a loan. Like the video says:  debts are existing financial commitments; a car payment is a debt a...

What Does Ability To Repay Mean?

What are the “Ability to repay” rules about? In a nutshell, as this video shows, new laws require lenders to make a good-faith assessment of a borrower’s capacity to pay back their loan over time. It’s a longer-term view that goes...

What Is A Qualified Mortgage?

As this video explains,  Federal laws put into effect in 2014 and  supervised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau define lending practices and loan terms for a new category called “Qualified Mortgages.” They provide stable loan...

What Is A Rate Lock?

Mortgage rates change constantly through an unpredictable combination of government policies and economic conditions. This video explains the common term ‘rate lock.’ A “Rate Lock” is a guarantee that a lender will honor a specific combination...

Understanding Your Loan: Additional Information Can Be Important

Page 4 of your Closing Disclosure is important. It is NOT just standardized form information that is identical for every loan. Review these terms: Assumption: can this loan be transferred to another person if you sell or transfer the property? Demand: can the lender...

Understanding Your Loan: Closing Disclosure Page 1

The first page of your Closing Disclosure documents: The Loan Amount – the total you will actually borrow The Interest Rate – which does NOT include the fees factored into the APR on Page 5 If this loan has a penalty for pre-payment or includes a balloon...

When Do I Get My Loan Closing Disclosure?

If an eligible loan proceeds from Estimate to closing, creditors must provide a Closing Disclosure form documenting the actual transaction terms and costs THREE business days before consummation. It must be in writing, whether paper or digital, and disclose ONLY the...