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A VA loan is often used for a home purchase, but it can also be used as a construction loan when building or renovating a home. Not all VA lenders offer construction loans, though, and if you find one that does, the process of getting a VA construction loan involves a good deal of paperwork. Here’s what to expect.
If you’re a veteran or military service member eligible for a VA loan, you can use that loan as a construction loan to purchase land and build a new home from the ground up. You can alternatively use the loan to purchase an existing home and modify it to fit your vision.
VA construction loans have many advantages, including:
Veterans and service members can qualify for a VA construction loan with a credit score as low as 640 and a higher debt level than allowed for a conventional construction loan.
Many are also exempt from paying the VA funding fee, a typical requirement for VA loans, according to Jerry Thomas, a construction loan officer specializing in VA and FHA loans at Cranbrook Loans in Clinton Township, Michigan.
Unlike a VA loan for a home purchase, a VA construction loan is paid out in installments as various milestones in the project are met. The funds are put into a draw account to be paid out to the builder during the construction process. Requirements can vary from lender to lender, but typically, the lender gets the borrower’s approval as construction phases are completed, after which the next payment is released to the builder.
The first step to securing a VA construction loan is to obtain your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) that proves that you’ve met the minimum service requirements to be eligible for a VA loan.
You can apply for your COE online through the VA eBenefits portal. If you’re a veteran, you’ll need your DD214 discharge papers. If you’re an active-duty service member, you’ll need a statement of service signed by your personnel officer.
The VA doesn’t lend money directly; instead, you’ll apply through a bank, credit union or other kind of lender that offers VA loans. Keep in mind that it can be difficult to find a lender that’ll extend a VA construction loan, even if it does provide VA purchase loans.
“Start by having a conversation with the loan officer about your construction project and your qualifications,” Thomas suggests. “Have that loan officer review your income, assets and credit. Then, connect your mortgage loan officer with your builder to discuss the program.”
If you’ve been fortunate to find a lender, be sure to get preapproved for the loan. Here are the documents you should have on hand:
To qualify for a VA construction loan, you must work with a VA-registered licensed and insured builder. (Usually, you can’t be considered the builder.) Your lender may have a list of approved builders, or may require your builder to go through the VA registration process.
“This program holds the builder responsible for completing the project on time and on budget,” says Thomas. “Not every builder will work with the VA terms.”
You can search for a VA-registered builder through the Veterans Information Portal. If you’re working with a builder that isn’t registered with the VA, ask the builder to submit the following items to the local VA Regional Loan Center in order to obtain a VA Builder ID number:
Once your builder is registered, you’ll need to submit the plans for construction to your lender. Your builder should provide paperwork describing the building materials, lot and the future home site.
“Before you can apply for a VA construction loan, you have to have your land info — the purchase agreement, or the deed, if you already own the land,” Thomas says. “A survey is also very helpful, and the contract, plans and specs for the home.”
You’ll also be required to get a VA home appraisal, which will be based on the plans for the project. To ensure that the home meets the requirements for a zero-down payment loan, stick with designs and plans that are in line with standards for the area, recommends Thomas.
For example, a house plan that is grand and excessive compared to neighboring houses, or one that has an unusual design, might cause your appraisal to come in lower than what is needed to obtain the loan.
With all the extra paperwork required to get approval, it can take 45 to 60 days or longer to process a VA construction loan. (If you’re purchasing land, you may want to make the seller aware of the expected time frame.)
If you’re obligated to pay the funding fee, note that it must be paid within 15 days of the loan closing.
After the loan closes, the funds will be disbursed based on the timeline of the project. For example, at closing you might receive only the amount needed to complete the lot purchase and your builder might receive a 10 percent advance. The balance of the loan goes into a draw or escrow account to be drawn down in installments during construction.
After construction is finished, you’ll need a final VA inspection to certify that the home was built according to the plans that were originally submitted. After the final inspection, the project is considered completed. The loan will then be modified into a permanent VA loan.
Locating a bank or credit union that offers VA construction loans can be challenging. Few lenders do construction loans, and of those that do, only a small percentage provide FHA or VA construction loans. Until 2018, there was limited guidance from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on construction loans, so the few lenders permitted to do these loans had little to go on.
Your best bet is to find a lender in your area that offers VA loans and go from there. (You can quickly get estimated VA loan offers through Bankrate.) Since not all VA lenders offer construction loans, ask to speak to a loan officer about the project you have in mind. When you find a lender, be sure to prepare the necessary paperwork in advance of getting preapproved.
If you can’t find a VA construction loan lender near you, an alternative strategy is to get a conventional construction loan. After you’re finished building the home, you might choose to refinance it into a VA loan with a more competitive rate.
When Jonathan Harrington, a civil affairs officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, built a home, he considered a VA construction loan, but couldn’t find a lender willing to fund one.
“Also, the builder that I was using was not registered with the VA and I didn’t want to put the additional burden on him for getting vetted by the VA,” explains Harrington, a certified financial planner at Milestone Financial Planning in New Hampshire.
Harrington ended up getting a regular construction loan at a local bank. After the project was finished, he rolled the construction loan into a conventional 30-year mortgage.
“I later refinanced into a VA loan when rates dropped, and that was a seamless process,” Harrington says.
VA loans, including VA construction loans, offer some unique benefits compared to their conventional counterparts. A VA construction loan can be more challenging to obtain, however, but if you’re looking to build a home from the ground up or modify your existing home, this type of loan can be worth the extra logistics.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. Bankrate is compensated in exchange for featured placement of sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. This compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear. Bankrate.com does not include all companies or all available products.
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