Bruce Reichstein's (brucereichstein) Blog

When the FHA announced mortgage insurance premium cuts in the annual, mortgage insurance premium (MIP), there was a preliminary announcement on Thursday January 8th, with details promised to follow. Now the FHA has issued a Mortgagee Letter announcing specifics of those MIP cuts. FHA Mortgagee L...

A reader asks, "My husband and I were just approved for a FHA loan or a RD loan, but we are being told the house doesn’t qualify because the basement only has small windows (no step outs and no door leading outside). The basement contains two bedrooms, a living room and a laundry room. Is there a...

A reader asks, "I filed bk 25 months ago, and then short saled by home which was included in my bk 13 months ago. I now have a mortgage for 13 months under a second chance mortgage with an interest rate of 8.9 is there any way i can use my va loan to refinance now or do i still have to wait anoth...

The VA Loan Funding Fee is one of the expenses of getting a VA loan. All VA loan applicants pay this fee unless they are exempt because the receive or are eligible to receive VA compensation for service-connected medical conditions. For new purchase home loans, there is a VA loan funding fee tabl...

In recent weeks we've fielded several questions from readers about VA loan refinancing with the VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan, also known as a VA Streamline Refinance or IRRRL. There are many situations where a borrower might need to apply for a VA IRRRL and initiate a change from t...

A reader asks, "My wife has moved out, but will not agree to remove her name off deed. What need to know is what can I do in refinancing the VA loan since her name is not signed for the loan, in which the payment statements only come in my name? I do not want to walk away from my loan agreement, ...

We've received a great deal of questions lately about VA loan occupancy requirements. There are plenty of myths, rumors, and half-truths floating around about the nature of VA loans and the occupancy requirement. What do VA loan rules actually say about the law on occupancy and what does a future...

In our last blog post we examined the acceptable purposes for a VA loan as described in VA Pamphlet 26-7, the VA Lender's Handbook. The VA has a detailed list of acceptable purposes for a VA loan. But in the same way that the VA has described what it allows a VA loan to be used for, it also has a...

For those who have never used a VA loan before, there can be some misunderstanding about the VA loan program in general. Some of our most commonly asked questions involve what kinds of loans the VA is willing to guarantee. Some want to know if the VA will insure a personal loan, a cash-out or hom...

A reader asks, "I feel like the home I’ve purchased with my VA loan is too big for us right now and I’d like to consider getting into something more our size. I don't want to sell it because when we start having kids it will be perfect. I’ve lived in the house for over a year and under one year a...