I am active duty and do not have an approved retirement date at this time. Setting up for retirement, I want to purchase a home this summer and move my family between school years while I stay in San Diego to finish my career.

We have an approved offer on the house we want to purchase with an expected closing date of May (new build). However, the lender we are trying to use said we cannot get approved due to the fact I stated I was expecting to retire early 2025 and that isn't a year after closing.

Question I have for any lenders on the board. I have a statement of service from my command that states "Service member does not have an approved retirement earlier than July 2025."

Should I just shop another lender or accept I will have to rent until I am living in TX as well and have an established job? How are military families expected to purchase a home if it is well before you can reasonably be expected to put in applications for a follow-on job?

This is a tough one. I'm not sure if I can definitely answer without a lot more info and numbers. What I would do is to see if you qualify using retirement pay only. But that means you would might have to qualify paying both housing expenses on that reduced retirement pay.

I would need to interview you and set up a good loan application and present to an actual underwriter. That's where the rubber hits the road. Contact info in my profile.

Steve

What if your retirement date is greater than 12 months from closing ,Could he use his active pay?

Thanks, email sent.

Here is the requirement direct from the source the VA underwriting guide:

https://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/docs/admin26/pamphlet/pam26_7/ch04.pdf It starts on the bottom of page 15 of the PDF.

So, you would need to be able to close after12 months from July of 25 unless you meet one of the requirements listed in the guide. These requirements are NOT lender to lender but rather laid out by the VA.

Jay,

I have read through that. Specifically:
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In addition, identify servicemembers who are within 12 months of release from active duty or end of contract term. Find the date of expiration of the applicant's current contract for active service on the LES (for an enlisted servicemember). For a National Guard or Reserve member, find the expiration date of the applicant's current contract.

- I am an Officer and I do not have an approved retirement date, so my LES does not reflect an EAOS.
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If the date is within 12 months of the anticipated date that the loan will close, the loan package must also include one of the following four items, or combinations of items, to be acceptable:

documentation that the servicemember has already re-enlisted or extended his/her period of active duty to a date beyond the 12-month period following the projected closing of the loan, or
verification of a valid offer of local civilian employment following the release from active duty. All data pertinent to sound underwriting procedures (date employment will begin, earnings, and so on) must be included, or
a statement from the servicemember that he/she intends to reenlist or extend his/her period of active duty to a date beyond the 12 month period, plus
a statement from the servicemember's commanding officer confirming that: - the servicemember is eligible to reenlist or extend his/her active duty as indicated, and - the commanding officer has no reason to believe that such reenlistment or extension of active duty will not be granted, or
documentation of other unusually strong positive underwriting factors, such as: - a downpayment of at least 10 percent, - significant cash reserves, and - clear evidence of strong ties to the community coupled with a nonmilitary spouse's income so high that only minimal income from the active duty servicemember is needed to qualify.

-These don't apply because I do not have an approved retirement date. Regardless, I have a letter from my command stating I do not have an approved retirement prior to July 2025.

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Our expected closing date is May 2024.

With that being said, if we get approved for the loan and then I decide to shift my retirement to earlier in 2025 and my retirement gets approved prior to closing, does it affect the already approved loan? Would the VA be notified if my retirement is approved?

I really do not understand why you are being told you cannot use your income in your case if you do not have a retirement date. Should not be an issue assuming everything else is in line of course.

and as far as after the fact there would not be communication between the loan servicer and your retirement date. That being said, you never want to say anything on a loan application that you know to be untrue under penalty of law.

I told them when we were looking for the house initially that I would like to retire in January. It isn't currently approved, but that is what I would prefer so I don't have to spend a year away from my family.

We decided to just rent for a year when we move the family to TX. I don't want to be deceptive, although not a lie, about my current retirement situation. Thanks for the feedback from everyone.

prob the best as if you are going to get a VA Disability rating it would hopefully be in place by then and the FF would be waived

I used to be VA architect examiner for Brazos Co in-the-day but certainly not a banking & loan guru.

My 2-cents gleaned from watching others over 40+ years would be
for you to look into getting whatever loan possible now, then
refinancing later via VA.

If too much of a house to buy w/o VA now, then again
buy small that has financing on the table now
then flip/sell it later to buy larger w/VA