Ask a VA Loan Officer

Yes, if VA has accepted the condo project. You can check any project yourself on VA's condo report: pick Florida and search the association name. If the project isn't listed, someone has to submit it to VA for review before closing, and that adds time.

Florida's 2022 condo safety law added two rules that often lead to special assessments. Section 553.899 requires milestone structural inspections for condo buildings three stories or taller, and section 718.112 requires structural integrity reserve studies. Ask the association for the assessment amount, the payment schedule and whether the seller will pay it off at closing. VA's underwriting rules (Lenders Handbook, Chapter 4) count an expected special assessment in your monthly housing costs.

Answered by FLO Mortgage. Related guide: VA condos and property types

You need flood insurance if the home sits in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, the zones that start with A or V on the flood map. VA's rule, 38 CFR 36.4329, requires that coverage for the life of the loan, at least equal to the loan balance or the most the National Flood Insurance Program offers, whichever is lower. Homes in zones B, C and X don't trigger the rule, though you can still buy a policy.

The same VA rule requires hazard insurance against the risks customary where you live, and in Florida that includes windstorm. Some Florida carriers exclude wind, so you may need a separate wind policy. Florida law (section 627.0629) requires insurers to give discounts for wind mitigation features, so order a wind mitigation inspection. Get quotes before your inspection period ends.

Answered by FLO Mortgage. Related guide: VA appraisals and property requirements

Yes. Some Florida veteran exemptions only apply to a homestead, so you file for homestead and the veteran exemption together. A veteran with a 100% permanent and total service-connected disability can get a full exemption on the homestead under section 196.081. A veteran rated 10% or more can get a $5,000 reduction in assessed value under section 196.24, on top of the regular homestead exemption.

File with your county property appraiser by March 1, and bring your VA disability letter. You must own the home and live in it on January 1 of that tax year. A surviving spouse can keep the 196.081 exemption while they hold title, live there and stay unmarried. Lower property taxes mean a smaller escrow amount in your monthly payment.

Answered by FLO Mortgage. Related guide: Disabled veteran property tax exemptions

VA lets you buy a home with up to four units as long as you live in one of them. Counting the rent from the other units is harder.

Chapter 4 of the VA Lenders Handbook lets an underwriter add the expected rent to your income only when you meet two tests. You need a reasonable chance of success as a landlord, shown by past experience managing rentals or a property management company you'll hire. You also need cash reserves equal to at least six months of mortgage payments, including taxes and insurance. If you can't meet both tests, your own income has to cover the payment without the rent. Each unit also has to meet VA's minimum property requirements.

Answered by FLO Mortgage. Related guide: VA occupancy rules

Yes, if you have enough remaining entitlement. Entitlement is the part of the loan VA guarantees. When you keep a home you bought with a VA loan, some of your entitlement stays tied to it.

VA's loan limits page shows the math: take 25% of the one-unit conforming loan limit for the county where you're buying, then subtract the entitlement you already used. If what's left doesn't cover 25% of the new loan, plan on a down payment for the gap. You still have to move into the new home as your primary residence. A common case: you get PCS orders, rent out your first home and buy near the new duty station. Your Certificate of Eligibility shows how much entitlement you have used and what remains.

Answered by FLO Mortgage. Related guide: VA entitlement and second VA loans

Only if the buyer is an eligible veteran who substitutes their entitlement for yours. That buyer needs at least as much entitlement as you used, must plan to live in the home and files VA Form 26-8106. Once VA approves the substitution and releases you from liability, VA restores your entitlement.

If a non-veteran assumes the loan, or a veteran who doesn't substitute, your entitlement stays tied to that loan until someone pays it off. A release of liability alone doesn't restore it. VA lists the ways to restore entitlement on its eligibility page. If you plan to buy again with a VA loan, write the substitution requirement into your sales contract.

Answered by FLO Mortgage. Related guide: Assumable VA loans

It's possible. Chapter 4 of the VA Lenders Handbook lets the underwriter disregard a Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharged more than two years before closing. Between one and two years, you need new credit paid on time and a cause outside your control, such as job loss or medical bills. In a Chapter 13, the underwriter can consider you after 12 months of on-time plan payments if the trustee or judge approves. A foreclosure, short sale or deed in lieu finalized more than two years before closing can also be disregarded.

If a VA loan ended in foreclosure, short sale or deed in lieu, VA says you repay its loss to restore that entitlement. Keep your discharge papers and any letters that explain the hardship.

Answered by FLO Mortgage. Related guide: VA loans after bankruptcy or foreclosure