VA Streamline Loans Made Simple with PBT Bancorp

The whole point of a VA streamline is that it stays simple

If you already have a VA loan and your rate is higher than what is available today, the VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan (IRRRL), sometimes known as a VA streamline, is the easiest way to lower your payment. We built our process around keeping it that way, because a streamline refinance should feel nothing like the loan you did when you first bought the home. To get started we typically only need your current mortgage statement and a copy of your driver’s license, and from there we do almost all of the heavy lifting on our end.

That short document list is not us cutting corners, it is how the IRRRL was designed. There is no appraisal, no income verification, and no asset verification on a VA streamline, so there are no pay stubs to dig up, no tax returns to track down, and no waiting on an appraiser to walk through your house. We pull your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) for you, confirm your existing VA loan, and move you forward.

We can usually tell you where you stand in about 15 minutes

Most people are surprised by how fast the first step goes. When you call us or fill out the online pre-qualification form, we can usually qualify you for the program in about 15 minutes, because we are not waiting on a stack of paperwork to even start the conversation. We look at your current rate, the rate available to you now, and the savings, and we tell you plainly whether it makes sense to move forward or whether you are better off waiting.

As an example, refinancing a $300,000 VA loan from 6.5% to 6.0% could lower your payment by roughly $100 per month. That is real breathing room in the monthly budget, and on a streamline you usually do not have to bring any money to the table to get it, since the closing costs can typically be rolled right into the new loan.

The No Score program helps when other lenders cannot

Something a lot of Veterans do not realize is that you can refinance even if your credit has taken a hit since you bought the home. Our No Score VA IRRRL does not ask for a credit score in the first place. The only real requirement is that you have been no more than 1x 30 days late on your mortgage in the past 12 months. That means we can often close streamline loans that most other lenders are not able to, and you are not penalized with worse pricing just because your score dropped after a rough stretch.

Of course, if you do have a strong credit score we will use it when it helps your pricing, but the door is not closed on you if you do not. This is one of the biggest differences between working with us and walking into a large national lender that runs every file through the same rigid box.

Why working with PBT Bancorp keeps it easy

We are an FDIC member bank and a wholesale broker with access to over 35 wholesale lenders, so when we shop your streamline we are looking across a lot of options to find the best deal for you instead of being stuck with one set of rates. Many lenders take 30 days or longer to close a refinance, but we are typically able to close your VA streamline in 2 to 3 weeks from start to finish, sometimes faster if your timeline calls for it.

Our team has decades of experience working with Veterans and active-duty service members, and we have helped over 3,000 families find a home or refinance and save money. We have streamlined our own process to match the loan, so once you finish your online application we work to move you through as quickly as possible. Our goal is for this to be the easiest loan you have ever completed.

A few simple things to know before you start

There are only a couple of basic requirements on a streamline. You need an existing VA-backed mortgage, and you generally need to have made at least six consecutive payments on it. The new loan also has to lower your rate enough to give you a real benefit, which the VA refers to as a net tangible benefit, meaning the refinance actually has to save you money rather than just shuffle the loan around. We check all of that for you up front, so there are no surprises later.

One nice perk that catches people off guard, you can often defer up to two monthly payments during the process and receive an escrow refund from your current lender, which can ease the transition even further. A VA streamline does not offer a cash-out option, so if you need to pull equity out of the home we would point you toward a VA cash-out refinance instead and walk you through the difference.

Ready when you are

If your current VA rate is higher than today’s rates, it is worth a quick look. Give us a call at 800-697-4371 or complete our online pre-qualification form, send over your mortgage statement and driver’s license, and we can usually tell you in about 15 minutes whether a streamline makes sense for you. We would be glad to help you put your VA benefit back to work.

Common streamline loan questions