Empowering Homeownership: Jennifer Beeston on Unlocking the Full Potential of VA Loans for Veterans

Discover how VA loans can be a powerful asset for veterans and active duty service members with insights from the nation's top VA loan officer, Jennifer Beeston. In our conversation, Jennifer unravels the intricacies of VA loans, from eligibility criteria to the standout benefits like zero down payment and exemption from monthly mortgage insurance. Her mission is to advocate for fair pricing and educate veterans on avoiding overcharges, emphasizing the value of working alongside knowledgeable loan officers. Whether you're a veteran looking to buy your first home or on active duty and frequently relocates, this episode is packed with information designed to maximize the unique advantages of VA loans.

Jennifer also clears up common misconceptions surrounding VA loan lender fees, providing essential advice on shopping for the best rates. She clarifies that while the VA sets a cap on origination fees, it does not have preferred lenders, urging veterans to explore their options wisely. With her extensive experience as a licensed lender in 48 states, Jennifer introduces valuable resources like her YouTube channel and free course designed to empower veterans with the knowledge they need. Listen in to gain strategies on ensuring you're getting the best possible deal on your VA loan and make informed decisions that safeguard your financial future. If you have questions or are not sure you're getting the best deal, reach out to her team at 786-933-2077, and they will be more than happy to help.

Chapters

• 0:00 Understanding VA Loans for Veterans
• 11:58 Navigating VA Loan Lender Fees

Transcript

Larry Zilliox: 0:15

Good morning. I'm Larry Zilliak, director of Culinary Services here at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run, and this week our guest is Jennifer Beeson. She is the number one VA loan officer in the country and I'm really excited to have her on because this is one of the things that I think is really important for veterans, because every veteran knows about VA loans. Very few veterans know what a VA loan is really, and I actually was looking at some of her videos and recognized the one that said only about 26% of veterans out there take advantage of this awesome service from the VA, and it's great to have somebody on who can help us understand the process and kind of get our listeners pointed in the right direction. So either use her services or find a loan officer who's familiar with VA loans and take advantage of this service, because you guys have earned it. So, jennifer, welcome to the podcast.

Jennifer Beeston: 1:23

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to fill you in as much as I can about VA loans and what people should be looking out for.

Larry Zilliox: 1:30

Yeah, so tell us a little bit about your background and how one becomes the number one VA mortgage officer in the country.

Jennifer Beeston: 1:40

So I've been a mortgage loan officer for 17 years. I didn't really start focusing on VA until about six years ago. So I was, I did VA. It just wasn't my passion. And what happened is and look, my dad served in the Navy. I didn't serve, my husband didn't. But what happened is I basically noticed huge pricing discrepancies.

Jennifer Beeston: 2:09

At the time I was a local lender in California and I came up against another lender on VA because I still did a little bit not as much as I do now and the rate the veteran was being charged was over a percent higher. They were being charged thousands of fees more and it was the exact same day that they had gotten quoted. I was outraged. You don't see levels of difference in rate and fee in conventional loans or jumbo loans, but in VA, the more research I did, the more I saw how common it was and I wanted to change it.

Jennifer Beeston: 2:49

So my journey has been a journey of education A, making sure veterans understand their benefit, but B I mean to be totally blunt my goal is to make veteran borrowers the most aggressive rate shoppers, because these people who have been ripping them off, they need to leave the industry. So that's you know, and look whenever you're passionate about something, people feel it Like. They know my team and I are there to make a difference, that we're going to walk them through every step, but they also know that we're going to make sure that they're taken care of. And you know we have a lot of people that come to us going, hey, am I getting a good deal? And if they are cool, great. And if they're not, we're going to save them some money.

Larry Zilliox: 3:32

Awesome. So who is eligible for a VA loan?

Jennifer Beeston: 3:41

So the eligibility varies based on when you serve and I would generally say the best reference is going to be. Vagov has a breakdown. Now it's pretty quick. Now it's within 90 days of service, but prior war periods it was a little bit more convoluted. But I'll tell you, I'm more surprised when someone isn't eligible than when they are. Like, most people seem to be eligible and we can figure it out really quickly.

Larry Zilliox: 4:06

Does the veteran have to be signed up with the VA for services like medical services or be registered with the VA in any way before they try to apply for a loan? No, so basically.

Jennifer Beeston: 4:19

I mean, look, they try to apply for a loan. No. So basically, I mean, look, they have to be a veteran or currently serving right. You would fill out an online application and we literally have a bot that pulls your certificate of eligibility from the VA site. That's how most lenders get your certificate of eligibility. There are some lenders that don't have that capacity, so they'll ask the veteran to get the certificate of eligibility, at which point you would have to go on to the VA Gov site and grab it from there.

Larry Zilliox: 4:51

Now, you mentioned a veteran or currently serving, so are these loans available to active duty service members?

Jennifer Beeston: 4:59

Oh yeah, yes, of course, and look, that's a great question. That's why I really wanted to do this. There's so many questions about VA that people just you know they make assumptions. Yeah, you can get a VA loan while you're serving. I've actually seen people build up some pretty incredible real estate portfolios by buying a house every time they PCS.

Larry Zilliox: 5:21

Yeah, so instead of selling the old house they keep it, rent it out and then PCS and use a. Va loan again to purchase a second.

Jennifer Beeston: 5:31

Yeah, wow, yeah. And look, it depends on where they are in the country. Like there's some portions of the country where people get stationed where it's not affordable. You know, starting off, if you're in San Diego, best of luck to everyone. But you know, if you're in parts of Texas, ohio, the Dakotas, yeah, so we'll have. Like, I have a couple buyers who they're on their third house. You know they got all three of those with zero down. The next one you know we've used most of their entitlement, so the next one, we're going to need to do some level of down payment. But no, there's so many opportunities with a VA loan. It's like it's really unbelievable.

Larry Zilliox: 6:15

And so I think that's one of the things that makes the loan most attractive to veterans is that it's zeroed down, and so they really do mean zeroed down right.

Jennifer Beeston: 6:26

Yeah, yeah. And look there's, it's zero down. But there's also no mortgage insurance monthly. So if, for instance, you were doing a conventional loan with like three, five, 10 percent down, you would also be paying a monthly fee, known as mortgage insurance. It just benefits the bank. It doesn't do anything for you. Also, va rates are lower than conventional mortgages. If you're ever talking to a lender and they go oh, va rates are higher, bs, they're ripping you off, walk away. And it can be significant. I mean we can see at least when I'm quoting, I can see rate differences where VA is half a percent to 0.75 lower than conventional. It's a federally insured loan, very low risk.

Larry Zilliox: 7:12

And is that why there's no need for the mortgage insurance?

Jennifer Beeston: 7:15

Yeah, it's a federally insured loan. That's why there's no mortgage insurance. You know there's no credit score requirement in the actual VA guidebook. You know, of course credit history comes into play, but like literally, so many people have heard things about VA loans like, oh, they're hard to get or they don't close on time, it's all nonsense, it's literally. Yeah, I could go on and on and on, but you, you ask questions, so I don't go on a 20-minute rant.

Larry Zilliox: 7:47

Well, that's fine, because I'm sure we'll learn from it. But one of the things that I had an experience with but it was some time ago, right before the collapse, real estate collapse in 2008, we purchased a townhome and at the time the market was really, really hot and the lender told us look, va loan. It's great, but the sellers are just passing up those loans they don't want to sell to them because there's a stronger appraisal requirements, there's a lot, a little bit more paperwork and a little bit more for the, for the, the seller, to do. And do you still find that's an issue? Or?

Jennifer Beeston: 8:33

I mean, look so 2007,. You know, I came in the business in 2007,. Mortgages weren't digitalized like they are now. So doing a VA loan would take a little bit more time because, yes, there is more paperwork, right, but technology has come along. So now does it take longer to do VA than conventional? No, is the app process harder? No, you know, everything's digitalized so they can move fast. The next portion of that is are VA appraisals more difficult? No, but that's a myth that persists.

Jennifer Beeston: 9:15

We still will hear from time to time agents, real estate agents and loan officers trying to talk people out of VA. It's out of ignorance. They don't know what they're doing. If you talk to someone that knows VA, the real estate agent and the lender will fight to the desk to try to get that benefit used. And here's the thing too. Sometimes people go well, sellers don't like VA. Well, guess what, if a seller has 10 offers and one of them's cash, they're going to take that over a conventional loan or an FHA loan or any loan you know. And also, like, I think there's a hidden strengths in VA that most people don't focus on because they just focus on the negative. I have seen people accept a veteran's offer. Give them help with closing costs. I had one seller who put on a new roof for a veteran because he wanted him to get the house. He was a patriot and he respected the service that the veteran had done. So there is some magic as well.

Larry Zilliox: 10:24

Yeah, sure, there are a lot of people out there that will go out of their way to help veterans. Sure, and that's just, that's great Fees. Let's talk a little bit about fees, because all loans come with a lot of fees. But where do the VA loans kind of rank? Are there fewer fees? Are they lower?

Jennifer Beeston: 10:47

So it depends on the lender. So, okay, there have a VA funding fee. Okay, that is, if you do not receive VA disability compensation. If you receive any monetary amount for VA disability, the VA funding fee is waived. Oh, okay, nice, yep. If yeah and you know we're seeing more and more veterans, you know, go to DAV and go to VFW and get the benefits that they really rightly deserve. So if you have VA disability, no funding fee. Otherwise, there is a funding fee 2.15% for first-time use. That gets financed into the loan, okay. Okay, if you're doing a cash out refi, it's 3.3% that gets financed into the loan. I'm not a huge fan of cash out refis in general, regardless of the loan type, unless it's an emergency, just because we saw so many people strip the equity out of their houses in 2005 through 8. Right, oh yeah.

Larry Zilliox: 11:57

It got really jammed up.

Jennifer Beeston: 11:59

Now, in terms of lender fees. This is where there's a lot of confusion, because VA does not set what the lender can charge you. So, for instance, we waive our lender fee, which is usually $1640 for a VA loan.

Jennifer Beeston: 12:16

Okay, however, 40 for VA loan Okay. However, va allows lenders to charge up to 1% origination. We do not, but there are some very large lenders that do, and they word it as well we charge the 1% VA origination. They make it sound official. It's not. It's a cap, not a suggestion. They make it sound official. It's not. It's a cap, not a suggestion. But look, when you buy a house, there's other fees as well.

Larry Zilliox: 12:46

Title, escrow, third parties. You know that's regardless of the loan type. Right yeah, those are standard. You're going to, no matter what you get. You're going to have to pay those fees. Yep, when are you located?

Jennifer Beeston: 12:53

Good question. Right now I'm in New York. I live in Florida. I moved from California to Florida a couple of years ago, so I live in Florida, but I'm licensed in 48 states, so I do loans everywhere except for Utah and Rhode Island.

Larry Zilliox: 13:08

Okay, so our listeners can reach out directly to you to get assistance.

Jennifer Beeston: 13:14

Oh yeah, totally, I actually have and I can give that number it's 7, 8, 6, 9, 3, 3, 2 0, 7, 7. That you can call text. It's me and my team, my team's great people, who really care. Sandy, Alyssa, Linda, Christina, you know they're nine to five, seven days a week. I have someone who can answer a question, any question planning to buy a house in a year, two years, and we don't charge for that.

Larry Zilliox: 13:51

So use our expertise for sure. You in thinking about buying a house. Maybe they're going to separate in a couple of years, or should it? When should they be reaching out for you for that kind of help?

Jennifer Beeston: 14:04

I think as soon as they have the thought that they want to explore home ownership.

Larry Zilliox: 14:08

Okay.

Jennifer Beeston: 14:08

And the reason I say that is because, you know, a lot of times, especially in the transition period, people wait until, like you know, six months before they transition, which is problematic in many cases because we can't use active military pay if you have less than one year left. That's all lenders for VA. So you know, it's definitely something that gets planned out. Now look, if the veteran has a job lined up, we can get a job offer letter and qualify off of that which we've done If they're retiring, you know, and we can calculate out the pension, which, of course, is public information. We can, we can do that Disability we can't use until it's official. So you know, I think that's why it's good to, just the minute they start thinking about it, let's just call talk it through. We help people plan two, three years in advance.

Larry Zilliox: 15:07

I really think that this is so underused resource for veterans. What's the best way to get the word out about this? Well, let's say this Listeners, you want to go to Jennifer's YouTube page? Let me tell you about a YouTube page that's just chock full of information. There's hundreds of videos on there. I mean, some are less than a minute, yeah, but many of them are seven, eight, nine, ten minutes long, and I guarantee you're gonna learn all about the VA loan and loan process, and I think the most important thing is that you'll come away feeling comfortable about Jennifer and dealing with her and her team. The YouTube page is real simple it's at Jennifer Beeston. Youtube forward slash at Jennifer Beeston. So be sure to check that out for sure. And then, what's the best way for listeners to reach out to you? Is it just to call that number?

Jennifer Beeston: 16:13

Calling that number, the 786-933-2077, is great and YouTube's great, and I also put together a free course. It's nostressvacom, it's totally free, it's videos in order in little bite sizes and it's all the stuff. So that you know, like hey, did you know you can buy a multi-unit with VA with zero down, like that's pretty cool, you know. Did you know you can ask the seller to pay for your closing costs and pay off some of your debt? That's kind of wild. So I put together the course as well, just because, look, I agree with you, this is underused and what we really need is we need people sharing information, sharing intel, and really that will be the trick to people using it more.

Larry Zilliox: 17:09

Well, there it is, nostressvacom. You want to check that out, and I'm going to have all the contact information in the show notes. Jennifer, what's the one thing you the most important thing you think our listeners should know about VA loans?

Jennifer Beeston: 17:26

Shop your rate and fee. I can't say it enough. So, like a lot of the lenders that veterans assume are, like a lot of people assume that VA has the preferred lender or, because something has veterans or a military type name, that they're going to get better service, better rates, better fees. I am telling you right now shop the rate and fee. I cannot stress it enough. And, like you can literally call us and be like, hey, is this a good deal? We'll look at it and if it's a good deal, we'll be like hug your lender, and if it's not, we're going to tell you because, seriously, with VA, I see veterans getting ripped off every day and it needs to stop. And the only way we can stop it is if people start shopping the rate and the fee.

Larry Zilliox: 18:11

Competition, be an informed customer for sure. Well, listen, jennifer, I really appreciate you taking the time to educate us about this and help us get the word out so that more veterans take advantage of this program, which is just an amazing program, and it's just too bad that the VA doesn't really get much information out there. I don't see much originating from the VA about this, so I really appreciate the work that you do in educating our veterans and helping them, you and your staff. That's wonderful, so really, thank you so much for joining us.

Jennifer Beeston: 18:53

Well, thank you for having me. I greatly, greatly appreciate it and I hope that this helps at least one person get into a house and have a good experience.

Larry Zilliox: 19:01

Well, I am sure it will. So, listeners, we'll have another episode next Monday morning at 0500. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can reach us at podcast at willingwarriorsorg. Until then, thanks for listening.