Closed on VA assumption: a success story, and why you shouldn’t settle for anything else (if you have the cash)

I ran some numbers for those interested, and am sharing my success story. I was sitting on a large downpayment due to flipping a live in property, and was looking for a new house due to a PCS. With BAH in the area of about 2200, I knew I’d be in trouble purchasing at interest rates of 6.5%. Heck with properties running about 400k, with 100k down, I’d still be insanely close to BAH. That’s when I began my assumable loan journey. Here are my tips. Exhaust all leads possible. Your real estate agent may fight you, but have them reach out to all assumable loans and ask if they would be interested in an assumption ( you can find assumable loans using real estate.com). It doesn’t matter how many no’s you get it’s the yes’s that will matter. I was able to find multiple in my area, some with too much equity, some with too high of a monthly payment, but about 6 that fit the budget. I settled on one with about 125k in equity, and a 2.8% interest. The process took longer than usual, but the buyer and I worked out a rental agreement for any overlap of time. Here’s why it matters. If I were to put 125k down on the exact same property, my monthly payment would have been 2251 a month, paying a whopping 337k in INTEREST, and held the loan for 30 years. By assuming the loan at 2.8% interest, same down payment, my monthly rent is 1550, with total interest paid of 99k. That’s a total savings of 238k over 26 years.
If you can swing the cash it’s worth it.