To help service members purchase their dream house during the pandemic era, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has made certain adjustments to the VA home loan program to streamline the application procedure and eligibility criteria.

Home loans through the VA are mortgage services backed by the VA and are available to veterans, active military members, reservists and family members. These mortgages are available without a downpayment and come with additional benefits like lower interest rates and easy eligibility criteria.

But one thing that stops borrowers from getting the house of their dreams is the VA loan appraisal. Given the circumstances in today's hot seller market, there are several cases where the appraised value falls short of the home's selling price. The problem can either be eliminated by making a downpayment or asking the VA to reconsider the value. But, because both can sometimes be impossible, VA loan appraisals can kill the deal and stop the buyers from purchasing their dream home.

"It's been difficult to get a VA loan through, especially if it's a multiple offer situation,” according to veteran and real estate agent with Lifetime Real Estate Services, Norris Boyd. ”With so much change in pricing, the VA has seen how hard it is for veterans to get homes. They've been keeping in line, and it's gotten easier in some cases."

Keeping this in mind, the VA has made certain amendments to VA loans amidst the COVID-19 pandemic era. According to the Deputy Director of the Veterans Affairs Loan Guaranty Service, John Bell, VA appraisers can now take into consideration the price trajectory of pending sales but cannot use it to compare prices.

Moreover, rather than researching manually, appraisers can now compare rates through automatically generated prices. To make the process speedier and more streamlined, the VA appraiser can conduct the appraisal outside the house instead of going inside.

In addition to these changes, buyers and VA lenders have noticed that the process of qualifying and applying for the loan has become easier and faster. The VA has also shown some leniency in cases where the appraised value fell short of the actual selling cost.

As the pandemic has made people confined to their homes and decreased mortgage rates, more veterans and active-duty members have opted for VA loans because of its no downpayment requirements and flexible guidelines.