Joint VA loan with non-veteran, non-occupant partner

[Ken Bohnert]

Hello BP Hive Mind.  I don't often post, but certainly find a lot of value in all the discussions.  Now I have a question that I am hoping maybe someone out there has already worked through. 

I am trying to partner with a veteran to purchase a house. He approached me to rent one of my properties, but I don't really have a property that would be suitable for them, so I suggested that they should look at using his VA loan to buy a property. Problem is that their credit score isn't high enough at the moment. So I suggested that perhaps we could partner and find a positive outcome for everyone; they get a suitable place to live and start building some equity and net worth, and I get in to a new property with less money out of pocket. We are still working out exactly what the exit strategy for me will be, and we are working with a Real Estate attorney to make sure everyone is protected as best as possible.

Where I could use some support is finding a lender that will do a joint VA loan with a non-veteran, non-occupant. Has anyone out there done this before and perhaps have a list of lenders they could share that do this type of loan program, or are there any lenders reading this right now that do this? Would appreciate any advice or guidance you can provide. We have a couple of target properties, and a back-up lending strategy will be that I purchase it through my Self-Directed IRA, but I actually have my eye on a campground that I wanted to possibly use the SD IRA to purchase, so trying to avoid that route if possible.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

[Elias Halvorson]

Ken - I specialize in VA loans definitely look at chapter 7 of VA. Pamphlet 26-7. One thing, is if you partner the veteran will still need to qualify for at least 1/2 the payments of whatever property you buy. Also, it will require a 12.5% down payment if you and the veteran are on the loan. I've done a lot of joint loans but none where the non-veteran isn't residing in the house. I would go with a broker and ask them to check with Freedom Mortgage, cardinal financial, or NewRez. For the record there is no minimum credit score for a VA loan. Plenty of lenders lend at 550 or even below. The problem is lenders typically requite 12 months history of on time payments and people don't usually get scores 550 or lower without lates. Hope this helps.