Does the housing portion of the GI bill expire? I have never used it and I am a Viet Nam Vet.
Yeah, I know I can call the VA and get an answer, but they’re closed right now, and y’all ain’t! 
Thanks!
Quasi
You had until May 31, 1986 to apply, though they were willing to give extensions to people who’d put their hands in the goo that used to be their best friend’s face.
So to answer your question, I have no idea.
That’s a movie line, right? I’m gonna say Patton , although I think it’s from The Green Berets .
Anyway, looks like I’m SOL if I had till 86 to apply.
Thank you, Bryan, for that quick answer!
Q
No, honestly, I have no idea. I just made that date up.
You can’t trust me to tell the truth. I even sarcastically lied in a thread titled “Should we ALWAYS tell the truth?”
I was joking, I swear.
AFAIK, there is no limit on when your VA eligibility to receive a VA backed home loan expires, nor on the number of times you can use it. The main benefits of a VA loan are the relative ease of qualifying, and the fees and closing costs that must be paid by the seller rather than the buyer.
The drawback to a VA loan is that they rarely appraise a house for it’s asking price and require 2-3 weeks additional processing time.
There may be other benefits and drawbacks - IANAR[sup]®[/sup], but I have used my VA benefits twice and was recently talked out of it while negotiating my next home.
Good luck.
The VA guaranteed home loan never expires. I’ll be looking in to it more next week because I’m going to use mine also. It has nothing to do with the GI bill. You didn’t even have to sign up for the GI bill to be eligible. More info here.
I’m sure you’re correct. I’m a vet and from what I’ve read this dosen’t expire.
The thing these days is that in common parlance, the “GI Bill” is the educational money portion. The VA Loan Guartanee, though, doesn’t have a time limit.
FWIW, it doesn’t require that the seller pay certain closing costs; it just permits it.
I used it for my first house. No down payment, seller paid all my costs, rolled in the 2% funding fee into the loan, the inspection was super easy (I didn’t buy a p.o.s., though) and the appraisal was no problem (again, no p.o.s. house, and I wasn’t trying to play games as lots of people do and try to over-finance).
I got talked out of using VA for the current house because my credit was so good. I still got away with zero down, seller-paid fees, and got to save the 2.5% (now) funding fee, and no PMI.
The main advantage to a VA loan is you may not have to come up with
as much down payment or cash at closing. Other than that, it’s not of
much value.
I think some veterans think a VA loan is cheaper. Neither lender nor seller
is going to reduce what they get because you are a veteran. Any cost shifting or
lower rate ends up being paid by the veteran in some way, usually thru the sales price.
I would disagree that it is of not much value. Itis a federally secured loan, so even if you put down less that 20% you will not have to pay PMI.
Not having to pay PMI amounted to about the extra interest rate we paid when we bought our first home with a VA guaranteed loan, due to the higher interest rate. This was in Mid-2001. The biggest benefit for us was zero-down.
Another vet who’s fairly sure that the VA guaranteed home loan is a permanent benefit.
However, before you lock yourself into one, consider that many lenders have a different (and less-competitive) rate for VA back loans than normal loans. If you don’t have the downpayment it may still be a good deal. Or if you’ve crappy credit. But don’t assume it’s your best bet. And as others have pointed out - it adds to your closing time.
More accurately, the Montgomery GI Bill.
IIRC, The original GI Bill, passed in the closing months of WWII, or one of its successors included the guaranteed VA home loan so it was once a part of a GI Bill.
As a Doper with 10k plus posts to your name, I would think you’d refrain from lying in a forum such as this. Pretty much a waste of both our time, wouldn’t you say?
To the rest, I sincerely appreciate your responses.
Q
Bryan. You’re in General Questions. If you deliberately lie in this forum again, I’ll consider that as trolling(and just being a jerk in general). If this type of thing occurs again, I’ll recommend that you be banned from the SDMB.
Nothing personal. Just not acceptable.
samclem GQ moderator
Briefly, I feel I must offer an apology for my first post in this thread (as well as not offering this apology in my second post, where it should have been). In my rather thoughtless attempt to throw in yet another pop-culture reference, I did not wish to imply that I had actual knowledge of the workings of the G.I. Bill or American veterans benefits generally, and I regret any confusion that might have resulted. I can only say there there was no malice nor intent to mislead.
Thanks, Bryan. Apology accepted.
Q
Sorry I missed the reference. Apology accepted.
That’s the trouble with “drive by” lines in GQ—they can be misunderstood.