2012 California VA Loan Limits for VA Borrowers

2012 California VA Loan Limits for VA Borrowers



The Veterans Administration has released the 2012 VA Loan Limits for California. While they stated that Congress may increase these limits, they will not go down. The formula for generating the VA Loan Limits was altered by Congress in 2008, and has now been altered again. The VA Jumbo Loan allows Veterans and Active Duty Military Personnel to purchase homes in higher cost areas such as California and Washington at loan amounts much higher than the old VA limits. 


Some examples in California are veterans in Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura, Brea, Pasadena, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, and Long Beach may qualify for a 100% VA Jumbo loan up to $625,500. San Diego County cities including San Diego, Oceanside, Chula Vista, El Cajon, Encinitas, Carlsbad, San Marcos, Escondido, Rancho Bernardo, la Mesa and National City a Vet can borrow up to $477,000 with no money down when buying a house. San Jose vets can go up to $625,500 with no money down VA Purchase Loan. Bay Area Vets buying a home in San Francisco, Alameda, Oakland, Fremont, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Daly City, etc can qualify up to $625,500 for a 100% VA Loan as well. 


We also offer VA Loans that exceed these limits with the appropriate amount of Down payment on purchases, or equity on Refinances.  VanDyk Mortgage is a proud VA Lender serving many states including California, Washington, Texas, Florida, and more.

VanDyk Mortgage offers FHA, VA, & Conventional loans in addition to FHA Jumbo, VA Jumbo, and Conforming Jumbo loans (aka FHA High Balance, VA High Balance, and Conforming High Balance).


We have compiled the California VA Loan limits for 2012 by county below.


State County 2012 VA Loan Limit


CA ALAMEDA   $625,500
CA ALPINE  $417,000
CA AMADOR   $417,000
CA BUTTE   $417,000
CA CALAVERAS   $417,000
CA COLUSA   $417,000
CA CONTRA COSTA   $625,500
CA DEL NORTE   $417,000
CA EL DORADO   $417,000
CA FRESNO   $417,000
CA GLENN   $417,000
CA HUMBOLDT   $417,000
CA IMPERIAL   $417,000
CA INYO   $417,000
CA KERN   $417,000
CA KINGS   $417,000
CA LAKE   $417,000
CA LASSEN   $417,000
CA LOS ANGELES   $625,500
CA MADERA   417,000
CA MARIN   $625,500
\CA MARIPOSA   $417,000
CA MENDOCINO   $417,000
CA MERCED   $417,000
CA MODOC   $417,000
CA MONO   $417,000
CA MONTEREY   $417,000
CA MONO   $417,000
CA NAPA   $460,000
CA NEVADA   $417,000
CA ORANGE   $625,500
CA PLACER   $417,000
CA PLUMAS   $417,000
CA RIVERSIDE   417,000
CA SACRAMENTO   $417,000
CA SAN BENITO   $625,500
CA SAN BERNARDINO  $417,000
CA SAN DIEGO  $477,000
CA SAN FRANCISCO   $625,500
CA SAN JOAQUIN   $417,000
CA SAN LUIS OBISPO   $457,000
CA SAN MATEO   $625,500
CA SANTA BARBARA   $598,000
CA SANTA CLARA   $625,500
CA SANTA CRUZ   $610,650
CA SHASTA   $417,000
CA SIERRA   $417,000
CA SISKIYOU   $417,000
CA SOLANO   $417,000
CA SONOMA   $419,750
CA STANISLAUS   $417,000
CA SUTTER   $417,000
CA TEHAMA   $417,000
CA TRINITY   $417,000
CA TULARE  $417,000
CA TUOLUMNE   $417,000
CA VENTURA   $518,000
CA YOLO   $417,000
CA YUBA   $417,000


If you need a VA loan for a higher amount than your county loan limit, please call us. We do offer VA loans over the county loan limits for Purchase, Refinance, and VA IRRRL Streamline Refinance (aka VA Streamline). Call Brian Skaar at 760-752-4480 to get started.

VA Jumbo Purchase Loans - Solutions for Veterans that Conventional loan don't offer

VA Jumbo Purchase Loans - Solutions for Veterans that Conventional loan don't offer.


This sounds a little backwards from what you may have thought, seen or heard in the past about VA Loans, specifically VA Purchase Loans. VA now allows higher loan amounts up to $1,500,000, and VanDyk Mortgage offers these throughout California and Washington.

Conventional Loans require more equity for Jumbo loan amounts over $417,000 for purchase of a home or condo than typical VA requirements.  True Jumbo Conventional Loans require at least 20% down payment to purchase a home, and more if you exceed $1m.

The VA Jumbo loan allows Veteran purchasers many options for reduced downpayments vs conventional options.

VA Jumbo rates are typically lower than True Jumbo Rates and Fannie Mae Jumbo or High Balance Rates on 30 year fixed rate loans. Call for an updated quote today - 760-752-4480.

There are a couple scenarios below of how VA Jumbo Loans can help Jumbo Borrowers who are Veterans or Active Duty Military Personnel in the purchase of a home:

Scenario 1. You want to buy a home for $825K in San Francisco. A conventional loan will require at least 20% downpayment, You have the money, but would prefer to keep it in the market to recapture what you have lost in the last couple years.  In comes the VA Jumbo loan to the rescue. Since the county limit is $625,500 in San Francisco, we can offer a VA Jumbo loan up to $775K with just $50k down payment (yes, under 6.1% down).   Our VA jumbo loans are typically a 30 year fixed rate, and never a prepayment penalty. Problem Solved! How about putting $50k vs $163K down. and getting a better rate sound?


Scenario 2. You want to buy a home in Long Beach for $900K. Since the county limit is $625,500 for a Los Angeles VA Loan, and VanDyk allows VA loans over the county limit, Our VA Jumbo Purchase loan for Long Beach would only require a $68,625 downpayment (7.625%). Problem solved.

Scenario 3. You want to buy a home in Oakland for $600K. Since the county limit is $625,500 for an Oakland or Alameda county VA Loan, your VA Jumbo Purchase loan for Oaklandwould only require zero downpayment. Conventional loans would require 10% down in Oakland, and FHA loans have Mortgage Insurance, which increases your payment.   Problem solved for our Veteran.

Scenario 4. You want to buy a home for $1m in San Francisco. A conventional loan will require at least 20% downpayment (if not more),  In comes the VA Jumbo loan to the rescue. Since the county limit is $625,500 in San Francisco, we can offer a VA Jumbo loan with a $94K down payment (yes, under 10% down). Our VA jumbo loans are typically a 30 year fixed rate, and never a prepayment penalty. Problem Solved!

As you can see, working a VA Loan pro can really make a difference. Veterans have never had more options or ways to utilize their VA benefit to Purchase or Refinance their homes in California.

There are many more situations and scenarios that VA Loans can help whereas conventional loans may not. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you think your VA Benefit could help you a Refinance or Purchase your home.

Here is a recent post regarding the new VA Loan Limits 2012.

These examples show some of the ways that a VA Jumbo Loan can help, and in ways that many lenders don't offer. VanDyk Mortgage offers VA Jumbo Loans up to $1,500,000 in all areas that we service. Many VA Lenders limit VA Loans to the county limit for your area, or a max of $650K, VanDyk is not contained to these limits. Even in areas with a lower VA Loan Limit, we still offer the VA Loan up to $1,500,000, as long as there is a sufficient combination of entitlement and equity to meet the guideline of 25%.

You do need good credit for VA jumbo loans, and must be able to fully document your income, but that should come as no surprise in today's lending world.

VanDyk Mortgage is a Proud VA Direct Lender. VanDyk Mortgage has been making FHA & VA loans since 1987. We are a HUD recognized Full Eagle FHA DE underwriter and FHA Direct Lender. Go with the Government Loan Pros, go with VanDyk. Visit us at http://www.vandykfunding.com/ or call Brian Skaar direct at 760-752-4480 for help with your VA or FHA loan.

We are your VA Jumbo Direct Lender and FHA Jumbo Direct Lender and we offer FHA, FHA Jumbo, FHA Manual Underwrite, FHA Jumbo Streamline refinance, FHA Jumbo Purchase, FHA Streamline, VA, VA Streamline, VA Jumbo purchase, VA Jumbo Refinance, VA Cashout refinance, FHA Rehab 203K, VA, Conforming &Jumbo Loans.

VA Flip Rules for California and Washington VA Loans

We recently posted an article on our other VA Blog that covers our Owner Seasoning Rules AKA VA Flip Rule.  VanDyk Mortgage only requires sellers to be on Title (owner of record) for one day prior to selling the home again. This is important, as many homes are bought direct from the big banks in bulk by Investors who fix up the homes and put them on the market for resale.

Many VA Lenders require a waiting period before the Home Can Qualify for a new VA Loan in this scenario. VanDyk Mortgage has no waiting period for a VA Loan after the prior sale.  We do require that the seller is the owner of record on Title as of the day the new purchase contract is signed.

We offer these on VA Condo's as well as using VA Loans and VA Jumbo Loans to purchase a single family home. We serve California, Washington, San Diego, Riverside, Temecula, Murrieta, Irvine, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, bellevue, redmond, and all parts in between for VA Loans.

VA Condo Loans -VA Loans to buy or refinance Condominiums

VanDyk Mortgage VA Condo Loans -VA Loans to buy or refinance Condominiums / Condo's.

VanDyk Mortgage is a VA Lender offering VA Loans to purchase or refinance Condominiums. The tightening credit market of the past couple years has wrought havoc on Condominiums as Conventional Agencies Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac have added many restrictions on Condos, both in the way of reduced eligibility and also increased rates for Condo's. FHA also recently changed it's rules for Condominium eligibility as well, making it even harder for Sellers and Listing Agents to sell Condo's.

In comes the VA to the rescue. To qualify for a VanDyk VA Condo Loan, the condo must be on the VA Approved Condo list, which includes many existing complexes. You can search for VA Approved Condos yourself or rely on us. The hard part is the Condo Association name may not appear in the VA Site, forcing us to use the homes Legal description to determine the VA Condo Eligibility. Simply call us so we can help research the Condo's Eligibility for a VA Loan.

VanDyk Mortgage offers VA financing on Condos with VA Loans up to $417,000 and we also offer VA Jumbo Loans for Condo's (up to the County VA Loan Limits). This includes Purchase, Refinance, and the popular VA IRRRL, or VA Streamline Refinance.

VanDyk does not require the seller to hold the property for 90 days like many other lenders. If the seller of record on the day of the purchase agreement matches, that fits within our rules. Another name for this is the Flip Rule, where many banks require a seller to be on Title for 90 days minimum, we only require 1 day.

We offer VA Loans for Condo's in California & Washington state. Condo's in cities like San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, Bellevue, Ventura, and Irvine can qualify for VA Condo Loans.

Direct lender offers VA Jumbo loans up to full county loan limit

VanDyk Mortgage is a VA Direct lender offering VA Jumbo loans up to your full county loan limit.
(and beyond!)

VanDyk Mortgage allows you to borrow up to your full County Loan Limits and beyond. Our VA Jumbo loans are not capped at $417,000, $625,500, or $650K. This may sound strange, but many VA lenders do not offer VA loans above 417K, 625,500, or 650k.

Why $650K you ask?  It doesn't correspond with any VA County Limit .  This has to do with the lender's investors and warehouse financing.  Warehouse financing is basically the Lender's line of credit that is used to extend mortgage loans. Many lenders are constricted by their warehouse lender's guidelines to the $650K limit or $417K, without regard to actual VA Loan Limits or VA Loan Options available to Veteran Buyers and Refinancers.  VanDyk Mortgage allows you to borrow up to your full County VA Loan Limits for 2012 and also in some cases we can make a VA Jumbo Loan up to $1.5 million. (these do require equity or down payment). Please call for details on the VA Jumbo Program, it allows Veterans to purchase and refinance properties in higher cost areas in California and Washington such as Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, and more.

VA Loans not just for First Time Homebuyers

VA Home Loans are not just for First Time Homebuyers anymore. With increased VA Loan limits compared to years past and enhanced VA refinance options, VA Home Loans offer current Veteran Homeowners two opportunities.

Veterans looking to purchase a new home (ie move up VA buyer) can now take advantage of much higher VA Loan limits to purchase their primary home. We will discuss VA Loan limits further in this article.

Refinance your Non-VA Loan into a safe, fixed rate VA loan (with no mortgage insurance, and up to 90% of your homes value, and this amount can include cash out).

Veteran Homebuyers in the greater Seattle-Tacoma-Everett area can borrow up to $458,850 with our VA Jumbo Loans. Vets in Los Angeles and Orange Counties can qualify for 100% VA Financing up to $625,500. San Diego Vets can go up to $477,000 with no money down, while much of the Bay Area has a much higher VA Loan limit of $626,500 (San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Fremont, Santa Clara, Pleasanton, Sunnyvale, etc). We are a Direct VA Lender offering VA Home Loans and VA Jumbo Home Loans in every state we service. Check your counties VA Loan limits on our main site, www.vandykfunding.com. We have been making VA Loans since 1987, go with the VA Loan Pros at VanDyk Mortgage.

Check out some of our other articles on VA Loans.