We learned some potentially upsetting news yesterday: We may not be able to get a VA mortgage for The Prince. We don’t know if this is a permanent removal from the VA’s list, or just a temporary situation. Whatever it is, The Prince’s condominium complex is no longer on the approved list.
The VA has very strict requirements for approving a condominium purchase, and while they might have approved a particular condominium in the past, things like as a percentage of residents in the community falling behind on HOA payments, or the percentage of owner occupancy dropping, can change whether the VA will currently approve a mortgage on a condo.
We definitely want to get a VA mortgage; it’s one of the best benefits we earned from our time in the service. VA mortgages have lower interest rates, require no money down and require no PMI with the loan. The VA also has a higher debt-to-income ratio, meaning you can get more house than you might be able to with a conventional mortgage.
We are going to do some more research this week and see if we can find out what is going on. On Saturday our agent told us that another agent from their office sold a unit with a VA mortgage just last year, so who knows? The complex is currently finishing a capital project (connecting to sewer), so maybe approval will be reinstated once that is done. We’re confident it’s not a problem with vacation rentals versus owner occupancy vacation rentals are not allowed.
Brett and I crunched numbers this weekend just to make ourselves sure again of what we can afford because we just may have to expand our search and start looking at houses as well. If it turns out that we can’t purchase The Prince we’ll be genuinely very sad because it’s exactly what we were hoping to buy. Nothing else currently available has such a good location as well the amenities we are looking for.
The Occasional Nomads 
I am sorry- but I have found that the VA usually has good reasons for such things. My kids backed off on a “perfect” house when the VA turned it down without looking. To me- the prince may be a frog in disguise. A swan is out there for you!
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We just moved my MIL out of her condo at a $50,000 loss because people would not pay their HOA fees which in turn meant you could get almost no lender to write a mortgage. If the VA won’t write it – run from that complex. You would be surprised that in a condo HOA what others do affects you too.
I know the right place will come along.
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That’s what we’re thinking too, that if it’s off the approved list then something is not right.
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Hoping everything works out.
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We qualify for a LOT more house than we do a condo because of the HOA fees, so on Thursday we are going to start looking at houses. And, the savings would be enough that we can hire a yard service and put away $$$ for routine maintenance. There aren’t a lot of houses in our price range unfortunately, but we have time on our side and hope that something suitable will come along.
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I agree with Janette. If you buy into a condo that has issues you could lose a lot of money. I hope you find one. Maybe you can advertise that you are looking for one to buy.
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We’re rethinking the whole condo thing – we’d do much better financially to buy a house so that’s the direction we’re heading now.
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I believe everything for a reason. The Prince is not in the cards. You will find a home that is perfect for you and will give you the ability to rent it out when you are away traveling.
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