CalVet Home Loans is run by the California Department of Veterans Affairs, and the program dates from 1921. An eligible veteran buying in San Luis Obispo County can use it on an owner-occupied home in California. It is a state benefit, separate from a VA loan, and it is built differently: CalVet finances the home as a contract of purchase, an installment contract under which the fund holds title to the property until the contract is satisfied. You live in the home, and title comes to you when the contract is paid off.
What a lender weighs before this program is on the table. A lender can add rules of its own, and those rules can differ from one lender to the next.
At least 90 days of active duty, wartime or peacetime, with training time excluded. National Guard members and reservists who were ordered to federal active duty qualify on the same basis.
A discharge under honorable conditions. If your character of service is anything other than that, the eligibility question gets specific, and it is worth asking before you plan a purchase around it.
CalVet lends to a veteran who does not currently have a CalVet loan. A loan you have already paid off is a different question from one that is still open, so tell us which it is.
There is no California residency requirement for CalVet. A veteran who enlisted in another state can apply. The home itself does have to be in California, and you have to live in it.
The steps in order, so you can see what is coming. Nothing here is underwritten until a lender underwrites it.
Your service, where you are looking, and whether you have used a VA benefit before. A lender can request your Certificate of Eligibility for the VA side online.
CalVet and a VA loan: how each is structured, what each asks for up front, what each charges, and what the contract of purchase changes about who holds title while you live there.
CalVet or a VA loan, whichever fits your file, and the application goes on from there.
Your loan officer is the person to call with the questions that come up in escrow, whichever route you took.
If yours is not here, call us. The useful answer depends on your file.
The CalVet fund does, until the contract is satisfied. CalVet finances a home as a contract of purchase, which is an installment contract: the fund holds legal title while you live in the home and make your payments, and title transfers to you once the contract is paid off.
No. CalVet Home Loans is a California state program run by the California Department of Veterans Affairs, and a VA loan is a federal benefit administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The eligibility rules, the structure and the fees are different, and in some situations the two benefits can be combined. Which one suits a file is worth settling before you apply to either.
There is no California residency requirement to apply for a CalVet home loan. A veteran who enlisted in another state can use the program. The home itself does have to be in California, and you have to occupy it as your own.
At least 90 days of active duty, wartime or peacetime, with training time excluded, and a discharge under honorable conditions. National Guard members and reservists who were ordered to federal active duty are eligible. A veteran who already has a CalVet loan is not.
Yes. We do CalVet loans as well as VA loans, so we can set the two side by side for your file and take the application for whichever one fits.
An earned benefit
For veterans, service members and some surviving spouses. It begins with a Certificate of Eligibility.
Not government-insured
A loan for solid credit and income, with private mortgage insurance that does not have to be permanent.
Government-insured
Government-insured, with credit score tiers HUD publishes.
Where this program fits:Buying a homeRefinancingThe county's loan limitsThe Central CoastServices
Side by side:VA vs CalVet
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This page is general information about a loan program, not an offer of credit or a commitment to lend. What a lender will do with your file depends on the file.
Answer a few questions and your loan officer can talk you through which programs could fit your file, including when this one does not.
No credit pull to get started. This is not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.
