Veterans United Lender Review | 2024

Heather Larson Military VA Loan contributor

Posted on: June 27, 2023

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The bottom line

4.5/5 stars

Veterans United ranks as a top performer for VA mortgages because of its competitive rates, highly regarded customer service, and the extra ways this lender assists military personnel who want to buy a home.

If you’re considering Veterans United for your mortgage, read our review to learn more about what it’s like to work with this lender.

Pros & cons of Veterans United

Pros of Veterans United

Specializes in veteran’s mortgages
Customer service rated excellent
Call centers open 24/7
Works with borrowers who have low credit scores
Lends directly, no middle-men involved
No down payment required
No monthly mortgage insurance required
Allows online mortgage applications
Contributes significantly to the Veteran community

Cons of Veterans United

Only operates 25 branches in 19 states
Doesn’t pay closing costs
Not available to non-military homebuyers or some military family members
Doesn’t offer home equity loans or lines of credit
Doesn’t loan for new construction or mobile homes

Working with Veterans United

To get a mortgage loan from Veterans United, start by checking your eligibility on their website. When you’ve qualified, you can make an offer on the home you want, and your real estate agent or loan officer will help you through that process.

Although the VA doesn’t require a home inspection, Veterans United suggests you get one. When you’ve locked down a purchase, you can start the loan application online with their easy process:

With Veterans United, you can complete some of the application, save it, and return later to complete it.

You can fill out the application on a desktop, notebook, or smartphone.
Rest assured, any personal documents you upload are secure and safe.
Veterans United gives you the ability to track your application’s progress through closing.

If you have a question or need technical assistance, Veteran’s United’s call centers remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition, this lender employs Client Advocates who can also help you.

Anyone who prefers the person-to-person touch or is technology-averse should know that Veterans United only has 25 brick-and-mortar branches nationwide. These are associated with and located in states that have active-military bases.

Even though you can get a VA loan with zero cash down, you will have to pay a VA funding fee upfront. Most applicants choose to roll that fee into the loan so they don’t have to come up with it in cash.

Depending on the size of the down payment (if you plan to make one) and whether or not you’ve used a VA loan before, this fee runs between 2.4% and 3.6% for a home purchase.

Buying a home with Veterans United

Perusing Veterans United’s website and social channels, you discover quickly that they take great pride in putting Veterans in homes.

Numerous testimonials from real customers praise VU’s attention to Veteran-specific needs during the home-buying process.

Just one example is Veterans United Realty, an independent affiliate partner, which has a nationwide network of agents who specialize in working with veterans.

Veterans United will link you to a licensed agent in your community. These people are familiar not only with the VA loan process but also with military buyers. To become a part of this network, these agents have been pre-screened for their high degree of customer service, buyer satisfaction, and experience with home buyers.

Before thinking about building the home of your dreams, you should know that Veterans United doesn’t work with VA construction loans. Most lenders don’t. However, what you can do is get a construction loan either from a builder or another lender. When the home is completed, qualified veterans can then change that short-term construction loan into a VA mortgage with Veterans United.

Veterans United also lends for new modular homes, which are usually built on a site using prefabricated sections. They treat an existing modular home like a stick-built home. But Veterans United doesn’t finance mobile homes.

How to get a mortgage with Veterans United

To get a mortgage loan from Veterans United, first check your eligibility on their website. When you’ve qualified, you can make an offer on the home you want, and your real estate agent or loan officer will help you through that process.

Although the VA doesn’t require a home inspection, Veterans United suggests you get one. When you’ve locked down a purchase, you can start the loan application online with their easy process:

With Veterans United, you can complete some of the application, save it, and return later to complete it.

You can fill out the application on a desktop, notebook, or smartphone.
Rest assured, any personal documents you upload are secure and safe.
Veterans United gives you the ability to track your application’s progress through closing.

Even though you can get a VA loan with zero cash down, you will have to pay a VA funding fee up front. Most applicants choose to roll that fee into the loan so they don’t have to come up with it in cash.

Depending on the size of the down payment (if you plan to make one) and whether or not you’ve used a VA loan before, this fee runs between 2.4% and 3.6% for a home purchase.

Refinance with Veterans United

Qualified homeowners can refinance their homes in two different ways with Veterans United: either a VA Cash-Out Refinance or a VA Streamline (IRRRL) Refinance. With a Cash-out refinance you can take advantage of your home’s equity and access cash for any number of things. Use the money for home improvements, emergencies, to pay off debt, or any other purpose.

Strange as this may sound, you don’t have to take the cash when you refinance with a VA Cash-Out Refinance. Instead, qualified Veterans with a loan type other than a VA can use this benefit to get a lower mortgage rate, escape an adjustable-rate loan, or get rid of expensive mortgage insurance.

Veterans United also offers a VA Streamline Refinance, also called an Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan or IRRRL, with no income or asset verification and without an appraisal on the home you wish to buy. For Veterans who currently have a VA loan, this option lets you lower your interest rate and decrease your monthly payments. Some homeowners can get this type of refinance without an appraisal.

Check your VA refinance eligibility. Start here (Apr 25th, 2024)

More benefits for Veterans

Veterans United offers qualified Veterans savings in the form of a Homebuyer Select Discount. This discount equals one percent of your total loan or an average savings of $2,150.

On their website, Veterans United posts a fairly comprehensive list, by category of where military members receive discounts for products and services. Those categories include apparel, automotive, hardware, insurance, restaurants, sporting goods, storage, and more.

Education, in the form of calculators, guides, videos, and more, is showcased on the Veterans United website. If you don’t find the answer you’re looking for there, you can reach out to customer support 24/7.

Veterans United also offers other loan products besides the traditional VA loan:

USDA loans: Also doesn’t need a down payment but requires a credit score of at least 660 and you must pay mortgage insurance as long as you have this loan.
FHA loans: Down payment can be as low as 3.5 percent, credit score must be 640 or above and it necessitates mortgage insurance.
Conventional loans: Down payments begin at 5 percent, but if you put 20 percent down, you escape paying mortgage insurance.
VA Jumbo loans: This works best for those who need to borrow more than the VA allows on regular VA loans. A jumbo loan requires a down payment and a minimum credit score of 660 if you’re borrowing more than $1 million.

Lighthouse Program

Even though VA loans have more flexibility and lower credit score requirements than other types of loans, the road to obtaining a mortgage can be rough for those with low credit scores. Veterans United wants to help veterans overcome any obstacles encountered on the path to homeownership including those associated with their credit scores.

For borrowers with a credit score that might otherwise prevent them from securing a loan, Veterans United has its Lighthouse Program. This free service provides borrowers with a personal credit consultant to assist in identifying and correcting any errors on their credit report. It also offers tools to strengthen their overall credit profile and assist them in setting the goals needed to reduce their debt.

Lighthouse has worked with thousands of veterans and service members and got them to the point where they can close on the home of their dreams.

Veterans United gives back to the community

Veterans United does more than lend money to veterans who want to buy a home. Their non-profit charity, Veterans United Foundation, was created to enhance the lives of veterans and military families. In conjunction with its partners, the foundation provides a transitional community for homeless veterans, prosthetic limbs, cancer treatment, and travel costs, doing whatever it can to give back to veterans. It also exists to help the communities Veterans United serves.

Money raised for the foundation comes from employee contributions which are matched dollar-for-dollar by Veterans United Home Loans.

When it comes to helping Veterans, it’s not just a matter of the company writing a check. More than 90 percent of the employees donate one percent of their salaries. Sometimes they become the ones helped by the foundation.

Veterans United Foundation also gives away a scholarship biannually so military members and their families can get the education they want and deserve. Since 2012 the foundation has given more than $450,000 to 100 students.

Besides assisting veterans, and getting them into homes, Veterans United is a Military Friendly Employer and has earned that designation every year for the past six years. Employers must fill out a survey that gauges their commitment, determination, and accomplishments in creating sustainable and meaningful opportunities for military personnel. The completed survey, public data sources, and information from veterans themselves affect which companies are deemed Military Friendly.

Veterans United is a much sought-after employer as indicated by its showing in Fortune Magazine’s list of “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2020. It came in at No. 17 and has ranked on this list for the past five years.

The bottom line

Veterans United is a consistent top performer for borrowers seeking a VA loan.

Our Score

Lending flexibility: 4/5 stars
Customer service: 4/5 stars
Ease of application: 4.5/5 stars
Online experience: 4.5/5 stars
Veteran support: 5/5 stars
Overall: 4.5/5 stars