Military Personnel Not Utilizing VA Financing

There are over 14m Vets and active duty military personnel who have not taken advantage of VA financing. VA notes changes on the horizon that could change that.  In an effort to overcome hesitancies by Realtors, Builders and Mortgage Originators to promote/accept the VA product on their transactions, the Veterans Administration is responding by:

1) Stepping up Appraiser approval processes to overcome appraisal time delays.  More VA appraisers are being approved every month.

2) The VA will soon offer guidelines clarifying negotiable fees to the seller, an area long criticized by the real estate community as non- competitive, by making sellers bear a substantial list of closing costs that are normally negotiable.

3) Increased communication to the real estate and mortgage industries allowing input from the marketplace in an effort to increase utilization of the product. VA is pledging much more back and forth dialogue.

The VA insured a record 629,300 mortgages in 2013.  $20m VA guarantees were issued in the first quarter of 2014.  As the consumer costs rise at Fannie, Freddie and FHA, there is an opportunity for the VA product to become more competitive and more utilized.