Lane County Real Estate

VA Home Loan Eligibility in Eugene/Springfield Oregon can be confusing, by Fred Chamberlin, Myfhamortgageblog.com

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VA Guaranteed Home Loan eligibility in Eugene/Springfield Oregon can be very confusing. Who is and who is not eligible may be a surprise to those that are eligible that may not realize it. As a Vietnam Era U.S. Air Force veteran with 10 years of service, my eligibility is pretty easy to see.

Some are obvious (like mine), others are more obscure:

Veterans with active duty service (who were not dishonorably discharged) during World War II and later periods are eligible for VA loan benefits. World War II (September 16, 1940 to July 25, 1947), Korean conflict (June 27, 1950 to January 31, 1955), and Vietnam era (August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975) veterans must have at least 90 days of service.
Veterans and active duty military personnel who served during peacetime must have had more than 180 days of active service. Veterans of enlisted service starting after September 7, 1980, or officers with service beginning after October 16,1981, must in most cases have served at least 2 years.
Veterans who have served after August 2, 1990 (Gulf War period) must have completed 24 months of service or at least 90 days of active duty for which you were called or ordered to active duty. Most of this is written in “militaryeze” so the easiest way is to submit for a certificate of eligibility or COE. Reservists and National Guardsmen will often qualify for the 90 days of active duty provision if they had been called up for duty.
Active duty personnel with at least 181 days of service or 90 days during the Gulf War.
The VA does not require that you have a certain credit score in order for approval. The actual mortgage lenders, however, are allowed to set their own standards for VA loan requirements and that is normally either 620 or 640 mid score.

Changing economic conditions and increased losses due to loan defaults have motivated lenders to limit who they will lend to.

Since early 2010, most VA lenders in the U.S. have tightened their lending and credit score requirements, making home financing harder to come by for those with credit issues or other criteria that makes their loan more risky.

As a result, getting a loan without a down payment is more difficult, though one of the few remaining options for 100% financing is a VA loan. Major lending groups have generally resolved to set the minimum credit score requirement at 620.

To learn more about this, our article Credit Score Requirements For VA Mortgages (in a later post) is a great place to start.

There are several specific pieces of documentation a lender will need to determine your eligibility:

A DD214 for discharged veterans.
A NGB Form 22 for Army or Air National Guard
A statement of service for active military personnel.
A certificate of eligibility (COE) to determine you have VA entitlement.
Widows/widowers of service personnel that died while on active duty.

Because each lender has different qualifying guidelines, the next step is to contact me to find out if you meet their VA loan requirements such as minimum FICO/credit scores, debt-to-income (DTI) ratios, and find out about maximum loan amounts with and without a down payment.

I can help you attain your certificate of eligibility on your behalf.

Lastly, if you have either had a divorce, filed bankruptcy, or had a previous home go into foreclosure, you are not immediately disqualified from a VA loan, although there are some additional restrictions.

You can find more information regarding these future topics in our articles titled Divorce And VA Loan Eligibility, Does A Bankruptcy Mean I Can’t Get A VA Loan? and Can I Get A VA Loan If I’ve Had A Recent Foreclosure?

Contact me

Navigating the mortgage approval process doesn’t have to be daunting. With me on your side those hurdles can be overcome. I am available right now to help you with the loan process and know the ins and outs of FHA, VA, USDA and conventional financing. If you want to buy a home using an FHA loan or refinance using VA, I am here to help. Contact me at Alpine Mortgage Planning, 1200 Executive Pkwy., Ste. 100, Eugene OR 97401, 541-342-7576/541-221-3455 cell or by e-mail. Only you can make the choice it is time to get the process started.

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Multnomahforeclosures.com: Updated Notice Of Default Lists

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Multnomah County Courthouse in Portland, Orego...

Image via Wikipedia

Multnomahforeclosures.com was updated with the largest list of Notice Defaults to date. With Notice of Default records dating back nearly 3 years. Multnomahforeclosures.com idocuments the fall of the great real estate bust of the 21st century. Over 50,000 Notice of default Listings

All listings are in PDF and Excel Spread Sheet format.

Multnomah County Foreclosures

http://multnomahforeclosures.com

Stewart Group Realty Inc.

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After outcry, Springfield lowering development permit fees, by Susan Palmer The Register Guard

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SPRINGFIELD, OREGON – The cost of doing development business in Springfield just got cheaper, thanks to a fee change passed by the City Council.

Beginning this month, the “impervious surface fee” associated with commercial, industrial or multifamily projects will drop by 80 percent.

The change comes in response to an outcry by developers, who have complained that the city’s fees are significantly higher than those of other Oregon communities and belie Springfield’s unofficial “open for business” slogan.

The city charges developers to recoup its staffing costs to make sure projects comply with local, state and federal regulations.

In overseeing what’s known as site plan reviews, the city scales costs so that small developments pay less and large developments pay more.

Under the old fee structure, a project with an overall footprint of more than 100,000 square feet (including both the building and parking areas) would have paid $108,341.

By far the largest part of the total was driven by the impervious surface fee: $93,198.

But after a couple of informal meetings with developers, the city staff recommended not only that the fee be reduced, but that the staff take a closer look at other fees as well as its overall development review process, which some argue is cumbersome and burdened with last-minute surprises.

The council voted in July to change the fee, and expects to hear recommendations for more changes in the fall, after additional meetings between city employees and local developers.

Since the new lower fee went into effect, just one project has come down the city’s development pipeline, urban planning supervisor Jim Donovan said.

The Eastside Baptist Church plans a 44,000-square-foot remodel. The difference between the old and new fee for this project: $14,300 vs. $1,700, Donovan said.

While the change is welcome, the city needs to do more, said Terry McDonald, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County. The nonprofit agency has built several low-income housing projects in Eugene and Springfield.

“It’s not just in one fee area, it’s multiple and it’s surprise driven,” McDonald said. “You never find out what your fees are going to be until you’re committed, and that is a disaster for developers.”

McDonald said he has been hit with additional fees well after receiving a certificate of occupancy on new construction or signing a lease on a remodel project.

“The city staff in many ways have always been very supportive of the development community, nonprofit and for-profit. I believe they want to make it better, but at this point, the system is broken,” he said.

That’s about what other developers are telling Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken.

“Overall, the response has been positive, but clearly the development community wants more,” Leiken said. “I think of it (the reduced fee) as a confidence builder between the city and developers.”

The city’s development services budget will take a hit from the reduction.

A city report on the issue calculated that the $41,888 it received in impervious surface fees for three development projects in the 2008-2009 fiscal year, would be just $7,700 under the new calculation.

But while the 80 percent reduction seems large on its face, its just one of approximately 100 different fees that get assessed during development and permitting, and represents just 8 percent of the total fees the city charges, Donavan said.

While the reduced revenue might hurt in the short term, Leiken thinks it will benefit the city over the long haul.

“I’m trying to look at this from the 30,000 foot level,” he said. “To make adjustments now to encourage developers to want to do business here, we’re going to reap those benefits in the future.”

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/25178710-41/fee-developers-development-springfield-fees.csp