We are currently licensed to do VA Home Loans in Washington State only!
cornerstone-logo Cornerstone Home Mortgage/West Coast Veterans

VA Loan Blog

PCS To Camp Murray

Posted on by Post by cshm_admin

If you are anticipating a permanent change of station (PCS) to Camp Murray, you may be wondering what to expect amidst making plans to view properties and settle your financing options. This may also be a major milestone in your life and career, especially if you are moving with family. In this guide, we share with you some information that will come in useful for your move.

Location and Basic Information

Camp Murray is located next to the Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) base in Washington. It is home to the Washington State Guard, Washington Army National Guard as well as the Washington Air National Guard. You will also find the Emergency Operations Center for the Washington Military Department located here. This serves as the headquarters for emergency responses statewide.

History

The base was first opened in 1855 during the Indian War. Shortly after, it was commissioned as a National Guard Base in 1889. At Camp Murray, you will find the Old Arsenal Museum, and it is here you can find out more about the history of the Washington National Guard.

Housing

Whether you choose to rent or to buy, you will find many housing options in and around Camp Murray. If you choose to buy, you will need to understand your options regarding the VA home loan. From determining your eligibility to checking your remaining entitlement, there are a number of things you need to do in preparation for purchasing your property, which you may require professional help with. Here is where our team at West Coast Veterans can step in to assist you.

Things to Do

There are many things you can do in and around Camp Murray. In fact, it’s a popular destination for camping, with the Camp Murray campground situated on the shore of American Lake. Here, you can hook up an RV or set up a tent. As the campground is only open to active and retired military personnel, Washington Military department employees, and authorized civilians, your family can enjoy a relatively peaceful getaway without jostling shoulders with the general public.

You can also visit Camp Murray Beach during your downtime or while you are on your camping trip. Some of the onsite facilities you can find here include a picnic area, boat rentals, showers, fishing spots, and more. It’s the perfect spot to enjoy some quality time with your family, keeping in mind that the maximum stay for a reservation is 30 days.

Let Our Team at West Coast Veterans Take Over PCS Planning for You

If you have an upcoming move to Camp Murray, you will have enough to worry about without stressing over how you are going to finance your new property. When that’s the case, let our professional team at West Coast Veterans step in and take charge of PCS planning on your behalf. For more than 20 years, we have successfully helped many military families and veterans make the move to Washington, and we can take care of the process for you too!

Since 2001, we've been assisting active-duty service members and veterans all over the state of Washington and in Puget Sound. Feel free to read all about us at www.PCStoJBLM.com.

Your AirBnB Income Can Help You Refinance Your Mortgage

Posted on by Post by cshm_admin

Did you know that your AirBnB rental income can help you qualify for a refinance loan? In the past using any rental revenue from your “primary residence” was not acceptable on mortgage applications. However, starting in 2018 mortgage government-sponsored entity (GSE) Fannie Mae partnered with lenders to allow borrowers to both claim a property as a primary residence and use AirBnB rental income to qualify for refinance loans. If you’d love to refinance your loan, here’s what you need to know:

Why Refinance?

As a homeowner and a vacation rental host, you may want to make your earnings stretch even farther by refinancing into a lower interest rate. The savings could free up cash to make improvements to your AirBnB or allow you to work on other financial projects.

You might also want to refinance if you want to have more financial freedom sooner. You could refinance from a 30-year loan into a 20-, 15-, or 10- to pay less interest and own the property outright in a shorter time frame.

Maybe you need a large chunk of cash to do some serious repairs or renovations on the property. Or perhaps business is going so well that you would like to acquire another AirBnB rental. You could choose a cash-out refinance to pull equity out of the house and put it toward your goals.

Huge Benefit

In order to qualify for a refinance mortgage, you will need to have sufficient income and assets, as well as a low enough debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. That’s where your AirBnB rental income can be a huge help now. That consistent revenue stream can count as income and can reduce your DTI, making it easier to meet the loan requirements. With traditional investment properties, refinancing often comes with tougher restrictions and the interest rates are usually slightly higher than on primary mortgages. By allowing you to count your AirBnB as primary residence (assuming you do live there some of the time) and still accounting from the rental income in your overall financial positives, lenders are making refinancing much more affordable and achievable.

Proof Required

Once you apply for a refinance on your AirBnB property, you will need to provide certain documents proving your AirBnB. The lender will want to see your mortgage documents showing you have owned the property for at least 12 months. You will also need to provide your contract with AirBnB, as well as your “Proof of Income” statement from the company. The lender will use that record to verify that you have been renting part or all of your primary residence for at least 12 months, and it will average your earned rental income during that time to determine how much extra income to add to your mortgage application. (If you’ve been renting for longer than a year, many lenders will want to average your income from the past 24 months, rather than 12.)

This documentation is important for the mortgage industry because if borrowers were allowed to simply state that they may have extra income from rents, or if they just showed income from one or two months, they might be qualified for loans larger than they could afford, putting them at risk for foreclosure down the road.

So if you participate in AirBnB hosting, refinancing for better rates and terms or some extra cash may be easier than you thought!

Useful Links: