so, my fiance' and i were approved for a VA loan, and approved for lending from standard pacific mortgage.

our loan officer told us she is waiting on the VA to report back on how long it will take to close our file out. she is "hoping" we will close by the 17th or so of dec.

my question is..what exactly is the VA doing in this process..my LO explained she has sent the request for an apprasal in and they have 21days to complete this and once they get that it should be smooth sailing...

i guess i just have some jitters...since like NOTHING ever goes the way i would like lol..

so can someone explain to me what the process is (barney style please lol) so i can better understand where we are in the process and how long this should all take. i REALLY REALLY want to close!!!

Let me break this down Barney style for you.

An appraisal for a VA loan is ordered through VA. The appraiser has 7 days to get the report back to the lender once he has seen the property. Assuming that the lender has done everything else needed to process the loan in the meantime, closing by the 17th is very feasible.

VA is doing absolutely nothing during this process. VA does not process or underwrite the loan. A final sign off by VA is required on only a very few types of loans and yours shouldn't be one of those types. During this time, the title work, homeowners insurance, employment verifications, etc are being done by the lender. The vast majority of lenders will not accept a file into underwriting without an appraisal, particularly on government oans.

You are right to have the jitters and the reality is that the loan process won't go your way. Relax, that's ok and it's to be expected. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that you have no control over. There are a lot of people doing uniquely different jobs in the loan process. Each one relies on the others to have their ducks in a row. If a duck gets out of line someone says something and the issue is addressed. Often times underwriters get backed up and can't get to a file for several days. That's always to be expected. The cleaner the file that is sent in the better. If you've given the loan officer everything they requested then relax and don't worry. If they ask you for more stuff (which is typical on anout 90% of loans out there then get it sent in as soon as possible.

Paul
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thanks paul!

according to our LO they have everything the underwriter needs. we kind of did everything a little backwards...we had such a hard time cleaning up our credit reports (which we finally did and are now both in the mid 600's) that she said there really isn't much paperwork to do,it's just now waiting on the VA (oh joy lol) but that we have already been aproved by the underwriters for the loan.

i do have another question though...for the homeowners insurance we'd like to use USAA but are not sure since they don't actually have an "office" how to go about showing proof we have the insurance. do we just go about it the same way as auto insurance? we use them now for our renters/auto insurance so we know we'd get a good deal to bank/insure with them...just wondered if anyone knew how all that works..

new home buying is so fun and STRESSFULL!!!

Just call USAA and once you have the policy worked out with them give your loan officer the policy # and USAA's phone number and they will call and get the correct mortgagee clause added and USAA will fax it over to them.

Paul
See my profile for contact information

just wanted to update on our situation.

we recieved the appraisal back from the VA last week, and everything looks good! the lender says we should be good to close hopefully by the end of the week or early next week.

i am hoping to get it all done before x-mas, cause my mom bought us a new washer/dryer set and it was scheduled to be delivered the 27th to the new place lol, and i REALLY don't want to move it from my old place to the new one if i dont have too lol.

so everything so far is looking good. the title company has all the paperwork, and we are just waiting for the VA to come back with everything ok..ugh..this will be the 1st and last house i buy hopefully for a LONG time

thanks again paul for your help!