Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes! On average in the United States, people of all ages change jobs every 4.2 years. Active duty servicemembers move assignments frequently. However, those job changes won’t interrupt their VA loan process, because they are consistently employed by the U.S. government. Yet, military personnel on the verge of retirement or other Veterans may experience job changes while they are trying to utilize their VA loan benefits to buy a home.

That leads us to the following questions:

  • How can you qualify for a VA loan if you’re experiencing a job change during the VA loan process? 
  • Secondly, how do we (your lender) approve your VA loan if your new job starts after the closing date?

Learn more about qualifying for a VA home loan during a job change below and contact a VA Loan Specialist for more information.

Qualifying for a VA Loan with a Job Change

If you leave your current employment for a new job, we will need to use your new income to qualify you. However, we can only use this income if there is continuity between jobs and you have a minimum of a two year history in that particular line of work. Otherwise, a deeper look must be taken if your career field changes.

Verifying the New Job’s Income

To verify your new income, we will need a signed offer letter from your new employer that states the following:

  1. Job Title
  2. Start Date
  3. Salary of new income

This letter must be on the company letterhead and signed by both parties. We can only use guaranteed income, so if the offer letter is based on hourly income, and they can’t guarantee a certain amount of hours, we will not be able to use it. The same goes with commission and bonus income.  

New Job Start Date After Loan Closing

If your new job starts after your loan closing, then we will need to verify that you have sufficient assets to cover all expenses (housing, housing related expenses, all debt, etc.) to bridge the income gap between closing and the first paycheck at your new job.

The determination of “sufficient assets” will include:

  • One month’s worth of mortgage payments set aside for up to 30 days between closing and new job start date, and
  • Two months’ mortgage payments set aside for start date between 30 and 60 days after loan closing.

The most important thing you can do as a VA loan buyer is talk with your VA Loan Specialist about any upcoming changes to your employment. At Hawaii VA Loans, we’ll work with you every step of the way to homeownership. Get pre-approved for a VA loan purchase or VA refinance today.