As military members and their families get orders to move to a new location, many are also looking at purchasing a new home near their duty station. 

When selecting a realtor, here are some questions a military member should ask their real estate professional. 

Realtors should know how to navigate VA appraisals and work with VA-approved lenders.  They should also understand zero-down financing available through the VA. 

Here too are some questions to ask a realtor. 

For example, “Have you worked with other military members or veterans before?” would be one question.  As well, “Do you understand the VA loans process?” 

While knowledge about the VA loan process takes an important priority, it’s essential for a realtor to listen to one’s goals.  They should respect their client’s time and budget. 

Some online resources can help a military member find the realtors who could help them. These include: 

• VAREP (Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals) 

• Homes for Heroes 

• MilitaryByOwner.com 

Every veteran who has served for more than 90 days on active duty is eligible to obtain a VA home loan. 

One of the key elements to the application?  The veteran’s DD Form 214. 

When a military professional gets a discharge, they should visit their county courthouse and ask them to provide a digital record of this important form.  

RELATED:  Don’t Get fooled into paying for a copy of your DD Form 214. 

This provides a backup to having this form stored in a veteran’s home. If a home is damaged due to a flood, major hailstorm or fire occurs, having this digital form stored at a county courthouse can serve as a backup. 

When the VA needs this form for a home loan application, it will make it easier for veterans to provide their lender this key document. 

RELATED:  How military professionals can help their personnel departments prepare their DD Form 214 

Every veteran who wants to get a VA loan should request a VA home loan certificate of eligibility (COE). 

The VA today provides an online application process.  First, a veteran needs to create an online VA account, a process which takes five minutes. 

This allows the vet to complete the COE process.  In turn, this required loan application document makes it easy for a homeowner to provide this to their bank or mortgage professional. 

In this VA government website link, a future homeowner can learn more about the steps needed to get their COE. 

RELATED:  Do military widows and widowers qualify for a VA loan? 

Ready to look at your home purchase options?  Please click this link.

When a lending organization begins to review a veteran’s financial background, the credit score plays an important role, especially in setting up mortgage payment options. 

Some veterans turn to unscrupulous firms that will raise their credit score for a major fee. 

The team at Texas Heartland can advise a military professional on how to improve their credit score options and the steps needed to improve their credit score. 

Veterans and their families should understand the credit score requirements as they begin to work with us to lo review their loan options. 

This VAloans.com graphic can help a veteran understand the funding requirements needed to work with a conventional, an FHA, a USDA and the VA loans. 

For most first-time home buyers, one of the most misunderstood acronyms is the debt-to-income ratio or “DTI.” 

The DTI is focused on two proportional aspects. 

A veteran’s front-end ratio is based on a future mortgage payment, property taxes, homeowners’ insurance and mortgage insurance. 

The back-end ratio factors in a loan applicant’s credit card payments, student loan payments, child support or alimony and personal loan payments. 

Veterans with a DTI rating of 36-percent or lower will get favorable loan terms.  Some lenders will work those who have a DTI between 36-percent to 49-percent.  Veterans with a 50-percent DTI have limited options. 

Have questions about your DTI score and how it could impact your mortgage?  Please fill out this form.

When a military veteran decides to purchase a home, it’s important for them to “opt out” of the credit bureau’s campaign to resell their personal data. 

As part of their qualifying application, their mortgage lender will ask for a credit rating from the three credit bureaus to provide personal financial worthiness input. The credit bureaus will sell your personal info such as your telephone number and email to other businesses.   

This will cause an increase in phone calls from online telephone marketing firms.  For older veterans, this means they can get a lot of calls for Medicare Advantage plans, while younger veterans could get solicitations for new credit cards or car repair insurance policies. 

To avoid those undesired phone calls, veterans can either call 888-567-8688 and select option 1.  They can also go to www.optoutprescreen.com to complete this effort. 

These processesv take five to 10 minutes.   From the time an applicant completes this, it takes the credit bureaus two to three days to stop selling someone’s data. 

When it comes to purchasing a new home, what is the difference between a tract home or custom –built home? 

One big difference involves the quality of the building materials.  It’s our experience at Texas Heartland that tract home builders typically use lower grades of wood and construction materials.   The construction teams employ lower workmanship than those who work for custom home builders. 

Tract builders buy a plot of land, then construct homes that locate homes located very similar to each other.  Construction crews are often outsourced to builders from outside a community. 

As veterans purchase a home from another homeowner due to a change in orders, it’s important to factor in those hidden costs resulting from tract home construction policies. 

Meanwhile, custom home builders don’t employ a cookie cutter approach to their materials.  These homes will last longer without defects because the builders are using better construction materials such as flooring and dry walls. 

As a mortgage lender and realtor for 20 years, the team at Texas Heartland find that the resell value of custom homes proves to be a better investment for our veteran customers.   In terms of long-term maintenance costs, a custom home typically will not need its owner to pay for these unexpected costs.