How Soon Can I Use Another VA Loan Again?

The VA home loan program offers features and advantages that require work to beat. It enables eligible borrowers to buy a house without money down and has some of the most flexible qualification criteria of any mortgage program.  

Because of this, many homeowners who use the VA loan program want to use it again after selling their current home. And a lot of them have the same questions: How soon can you use a VA loan again? Is there a required waiting period after selling the house and paying off the loan?  

We’ll start with the short answer and dive deeper into this subject. 

The good news is the Department of Veterans Affairs does not require any kind of waiting period for a person who wants to use the VA loan program again. If you restore your entitlement by selling your home and paying off the loan (and still meet the essential eligibility criteria), you can apply for another VA loan anytime.  

You Can Use a VA Loan More Than Once

One of the great things about the VA loan second home program is that you can use this benefit more than once. If you meet the basic eligibility requirements, including military service, you can use VA loans repeatedly for many years. 

This program is built around a concept known as “entitlement.” The Department of Veterans Affairs defines entitlement as “the amount available for use on a loan.”  

Entitlement is the amount of money that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) promises to repay to a lender in the event that you default on your mortgage. Entitlement helps determine how much a person can borrow before needing a down payment.  

However, it’s important to note that VA entitlement is not the same as the maximum loan amount a person can borrow. That’s up to the mortgage lender to decide, and it will largely depend on your current income and debt situation.  

When you take out a VA-guaranteed mortgage loan to purchase a home, you use up some of your entitlement. The amount used depends on the size of the loan and other factors. If you sell your home and refinance VA loan in full, you can get your entitlement back.  

This means you can use the program again in the future to buy another house.  

And that brings us back to the question we started with. How soon can you again use the VA loan program after a previous home purchase?  

There Is No Specific Time Requirement

As mentioned in this article’s introduction, there is no specific time requirement or waiting period when using another VA loan.  

If you use a VA-backed mortgage to buy a house, and then later pay it off through the sale of your home, you will restore all of your entitlements in the program. This means you can use another VA loan just as you did the first time, and no specified period of time has to elapse before you can do so.  

Here is a relevant quote from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website. This quote comes from an FAQ page, where they are answering a question about getting another VA loan:   

“Yes, your eligibility is reusable depending on the circumstances. Normally, if you have paid off your prior VA loan and disposed of the property, your used eligibility can be restored for additional use. Also, on a one-time-only basis, you may have your eligibility restored if your prior VA loan has been paid in full, but you still own the property.”  

However, the question of how quickly you can cash out refinance VA loan is determined by various circumstances, including whether you have paid off your prior VA loan, your remaining VA loan entitlement, and the current condition of your military service. Let’s examine these variables in more detail:  

• Loan Repayment: If you have completely paid back your loan “VA” recently, you are also entitled to apply for another productive loan “VA” immediately. Unlike other loan types with waiting periods, there is no such thing as a waiting period attached to a VA loan, and they can be applied immediately after one loan is paid off.  
• Remaining Entitlement: VA loan entitlement or VA guaranteed amount determines how many times can you use a VA loan. Granted access usually equals $548,250, which is enough to cover no down payment for that sum. However, entitlement can vary from place to place; it also depends on whether you have used all of it in the past. Sometimes, the portion of your received entitlement can be used to finance a VA loan again. The amount you didn’t use on the previous loan might be restored for new home financing.  
• Occupancy Requirements: The VA loans require you, the applicant, to occupy the given property the primary or principal residence. In addition to the fact that many of you hold your homes as loans from the VA, perhaps you may need to sell it or move on to another VA loan refinance scheme if you are going to reapply for it. The exception might be if you deploy on active duty.  
• Military Service Status: If you’re a current active-duty service member, you can refinance to a VA loan again even before refinancing your previous one, provided you meet the eligibility criteria. The VA considers that military personnel are sometimes required to relocate due to the constantly changing commands of their duty, so it has provisions for these contingencies in place.  

How to Restore Your Eligibility

In order to have the eligibility and entitlement restored, a service member or veteran must complete VA Form 26-1880. This is the “Request for a Certificate of Eligibility.”  

If you have used a VA home loan in the past, you probably had to complete this form the first time. You’ll have to complete it again when using another VA-guaranteed mortgage loan. The lender needs the COE document to process your application.   

Section III of this form requests information related to previous VA loan usage. After you provide this information and submit the form, the Department of Veterans Affairs will review it and (if warranted) restore your program eligibility. They will then send you a new Certificate of Eligibility that you can utilize to apply for another VA loan.  

How to Expedite the Process

This is an administrative process that has to take place before you can use the program again. The time will vary depending on processing backlogs and other factors beyond your control.  

But there are some things you can do to help expedite the process. For starters, make sure you complete and accurately fill out the VA Form 26-1880 to avoid having to redo it.  

The VA also encourages borrowers to provide solid evidence that the prior loan has been fully paid and, if applicable, that the property has been sold. You can do this by obtaining a paid-in-full statement from your former lender or loan servicer of the HUD-1 settlement statement associated with the home sale.  

It’s prevalent for military members and veterans to use the VA loan program more than once. How many times can I use my VA loan depends on your entitlement status and the above paperwork process. Just know that it’s a very common scenario.  

For example, an active-duty military member might use this mortgage program to buy a house near their current duty station. They might sell the home a few years later before transferring to their next duty station through a PCS move.  

By selling the home and paying off the original loan, the service member could restore their entitlement and use another VA loan at their assigned location.  

Additional Considerations 

While there are no legally established waiting periods for VA loans, assessing your financial condition and long-term perspective is crucial before asking for another loan.  

Indiscriminate borrowing that is not backed by due diligence and proper planning can cause problems that you may need help to handle with other objectives.    

Prior to obtaining the VA loan, make sure to check VA loan credit score requirements and budget assessment and take stable employment and future housing priorities into consideration.  

Furthermore, put yourself on different lenders’ credit lines and look at the features carefully, making sure that they have the most appropriate VA loan refinance rates to match your profits.  

Conclusion 

There is no mandatory waiting time for recycling another VA loan, but you have to meet the requirements, such as repaying previous loan debt and occupying the property. Nonetheless, paying attention to your financial readiness and observing your long-term goals should be done before borrowing money for a car.  

Through knowledge of VA loan rules and regulations, you will be able to carefully consider your options and decide whether and at what time to use your benefits to attain your house ownership dreams.