There are plenty of different home loan products that home buyers can choose from, with popular products including FHA and VA loans. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are both government-backed programs, but they have their own set of benefits and drawbacks.
When looking to buy a house, which is best: VA or FHA? The answer depends entirely on what the buyer is looking for.
Hereâs a breakdown of some of the big differences between the two mortgage products:
Click to check todayâs VA rates.
For home buyers looking to avoid a downpayment, itâs tough to beat VA loans. VA loans donât require any type of downpayment â part of the programâs guarantee.
FHA loans will require a downpayment of at least 3.5%, but thatâs still well below that traditional 20 percent that many home buyers assume they need.
In terms of getting the lowest downpayment possible, VA loans have FHA loans beat.
If you make a downpayment of less than 20 percent on an FHA loan, you can expect to be paying a mortgage insurance premium, or MIP. This will be paid either upfront at the closing of the FHA loan or monthly, with the annual fee being spread over all 12 months.
Unlike other types of mortgage insurance, MIP will also last the life of the FHA loan. That means an FHA buyer with less than 20 percent down will be required to refinance their loan after theyâve established enough equity in their home.
VA loans, on the other hand, require no type of insurance regardless of how much the buyer puts down. This is another part of the VAâs guarantee â the VA insures the loan, so any type of insurance is moved away from the home buyer.
Itâs difficult to peg mortgage rates since theyâre always changing, but one thing is clear: VA loans typically come with a lower mortgage rate than FHA loans.
Mortgage software giant Ellie Mae demonstrates this. Each month, they compile a report of all the loans that go through their software. That report is then released, giving home buyers valuable information to work with.
In October, the average mortgage rate for a VA loan was 26 basis points (0.26%) lower than the average rate for an FHA loan. October wasnât a fluke, either; VA loans routinely have lower mortgage rates than FHA loans.
Check todayâs VA loan rates.
While VA loans have an edge with downpayment, mortgage rates and insurance, home buyers will still need to qualify for the loans. Hereâs how different qualification requirements compare for both products:
Technically, VA loans have no minimum credit score and FHA loans can be approved with scores as low as 520. But in the real world, lenders will want to see a credit score of at least 580 for FHA loans, and usually around 620 for VA loans.
According to Ellie Mae’s October 2020 Origination Report, the average credit score for closed VA loans in October 2020 was 725, compared to 683 for FHA loans. Granted, this does not show what the minimum requirement is for either product. However, generally speaking, FHA loans are usually more flexible with credit scores than VA loans.
With the debt-to-income ratio (DTI), both VA and FHA home buyers will want to keep their total debt to income below 45 percent. This means that the total monthly amount spent on debt (including the mortgage youâre trying to get) needs to be below 45 percent of monthly income.
Neither product has an edge here, but itâs still an important part of qualifying to pay attention to.
Anyone can be eligible for an FHA loan, but only specific veterans and military members can get a VA loan. Usually, most veterans are eligible, so long as theyâve served for 2 years or more. Requirements for eligibility do change, though, depending on when the individual served, how they served and why they retired from the military.
For a more in-depth look at VA loan eligibility, click here.
VA loans have a reputation for going slower than other loan products, but thatâs not entirely the case. According to Ellie Mae, the average VA loan closed in 51 days â just one day slower than the average FHA loan.
The longest part of the VA home buying process can be the VA appraisal. With some preparation, this process can go smoothly, as with all the other steps of buying a home with a VA loan. Click here to find out how to make the VA appraisal process go smoothly.
On paper, VA loans have more benefits than FHA loans. Each situation is different, though, so itâs impossible to say whether or not one product is definitively better than the other.
That being said, VA eligible home buyers will likely want to take advantage of the VAâs mortgage product.
Click here to check your VA loan eligibility.
Source: militaryvaloan.com