Does a Condo in Orange County Need to Be VA Approved for a VA Loan?

Does a condo in Orange County need to be VA approved for a VA loan?

This is a question that comes up quite a bit for eligible California Veterans looking for a home to purchase. While detached Single Family Homes don’t need to be “approved”, the purchase of condo does need to be within a condo project that has been approved by VA.

The Veterans Administration wants to make sure that a condo being purchased by a Veteran is within a project that has solid financials, no lawsuits, and no unexpected assessments in store for the unsuspecting buyer. So while it may seem frustrating that not all projects are VA approved, it is nowhere near as frustrating as it would be if the condo you buy ended up costing much more monthly because of suddenly increased Home Owners Association Dues.

How Do I Find VA Approved Condos in California?

Depending on the county you live in, it may not be easy to find VA approved condos. But with a little knowledge and some work, you will find that there are a lot of VA approved condo projects in California. VA has a condo lookup site which is used to verify if a particular condo project is approved or not. It ends up being a tedious process since you are first finding condos that meet your requirements only to find out that many are not approved.

To make it even more tricky, many condo projects are not listed by name. Rather, they are listed by Tract number. But Tract number is not something most home buyers will be able to find for the condo they are looking at. For this reason it is important to work with a California VA loan specialist who can help with the condo search. Even better, the VA loan specialist can work with your real estate agent to narrow the search to just VA approved condo projects, saving time and frustration.

Shortcut to Finding VA Approved Condos in California

Some counties within California may have local VA specialists who have put together websites helping to quickly narrow down the search for VA approved condos. In Orange County, www.OrangeCountyVACondos.com provides links for VA approved condos for sales within each city. A Veteran looking for a VA approved condo in Irvine or a VA approved condo in Mission Viejo can quickly find homes by just clicking on the appropriate link.

Your local California VA Loan Officer will be able to provide custom VA loan scenarios based on your financial goals and qualifications.

Authored by Tim Storm, an Orange County VA Loan Officer specializing in VA Loan. MLO 223456. – Please contact my office at the Home Point Financial. My direct line is 949-640-3102. www.OrangeCountyVALoans.com. I will prepare custom VA loan scenarios which will be matched up to your financial goals, both long and short term. I also prepare a Video Explanation of the your scenarios so that you are able to fully understand the numbers BEFORE you have started the loan process.