There are many other benefits to a VA streamline loan, too. You can get started on this loan, commonly referred to as an interest rate reduction loan, by filling out a quick online application to see if you approve. Once approved, you will lock into a very low, fixed rate mortgage so that you have the ability to save hundreds of dollars every single month.

Depending on how much you owe on your house and what your current interest rate is, you can look at saving as much as $600 every month for every percentage point that your interest rate is reduced by. This could add up to thousands of dollars every year.

When millions of people are losing their house to foreclosure because they can’t make the mortgage payment anymore, this is a great opportunity for anyone who currently has a VA loan for their mortgage. Since you are a veteran, you can take advantage of this opportunity and worry about what you owe on your home, not what your house is worth.

Many people aren’t taking advantage of refinancing opportunities because they all require a home appraisal, which in most cases will show that you are upside down in the house and you won’t qualify. When you don’t have a home appraisal to worry about, it’s one big thing out of the way that was in between you and qualifying for a VA streamline.

The low VA rates are lower than anywhere in the country because the government is offering a special deal to the veterans of the country. If you have served your country proudly, then you need to take advantage of this opportunity. Rates are extremely low and the more you save on your current rate, the more you save each and every month.

Best of all, you are locked in to a fixed rate, so you get to benefit from these low rates for the entire duration of your mortgage just because you decided to go for a VA streamline loan today. The process is simple, so you have no excuses.

Since the housing market is coming back a little, the rules on obtaining a va streamline without an appraisal are changing as well. They aren’t as strict as they were before when you had to have almost perfect credit to afford even the most run down of houses. I personally feel it is the Fed’s fault for allowing it to happen but there again, the borrowers could have backed out at any point

Recently, I worked with a borrower who questioned the reasoning behind paying discount points because it increased his closing costs by almost $4,000. This was in comparison to a higher rate offer with less closing costs he had gotten from a different lender. The focus of his concern was his loan amount being increased by almost $4,000 more than our competitor. To address his concern, I spent a few minutes with him doing some simple calculations. These few minutes were well worth his time because I was able to show him that spending the additional money in closing costs; he actually saved in excess of $25,000!

The calculations are very easy and can be done by any borrower. First, take the new principal and interest payments of both loan scenarios and multiply it by the number of payments for the new loan (360 for 30 years). Each principal and interest total will give very different amounts a borrower will pay over the life of the loan. Then take the lower interest total and subtract it from the higher interest rate total. This remaining total will be the savings a veteran will enjoy of the life of the loan.

My borrower was so focused on the increase in his new loan balance that he forgot to factor in the additional savings each month the paying discount points scenario would give him. After having him set aside his concern for the total loan and performing some simple calculations, he saw that paying the discount points for a lower interest rate was well worth it. This veteran would save over $25,000 by spending only $4,000 in discount points.

Each borrower’s savings will vary and will depend on several factors. Is it good for every veteran to pay discount points? Not necessarily. If a veteran plans on being in their home for the life of the VA loan or an extended period; then paying discount points is a good idea. For those veterans who are still active duty or will not be living in their home for several years, they may not want to pay discount points on a refinance. Paying discount points on a loan will have a longer breakeven period, but offer more savings over the life of the loan and each situation should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.