Downpayment on house and Rank increase?

Question

two questions here that do not relate but any answer on either one will be helpful:

1) i heard somewhere long time ago that if you are in military and want to buy a house you dont have to put a downpayment? is that right or BS?

2) how long does it take for a serviceman to move up the ranks? example from E-3 to E-4 or E-5 to E-6? is it based on performance/skill or just after certain months you move up?


PS. sorry for these questions am not in military; just trying to learn more before i go in :-)

Answer 1

If you are in the military and you don't have bad credit you can use your GI Bill VA eligibility to buy a house. In doing so you do NOT have to put a down payment down. IF your credit sucks though, don't count on using the VA until your credit is in good shape again.

As far as advancement go, it is ALL up to you and YOUR performance for those paygrade. It is only a guaranteed time thing from E1 to E2 and E2 to E3. It also depends on the branch you choose. If you choose the AF or Coast Guard you can wait forever and never make it because advancement is slow. The AF has too many people at the top that never get out so there is no room for the junior people to advance to. The Coast Guard is just small. The Navy is set up well because it is all based on testing and if you study and test well combined with evaluations and awards you can make it pretty quickly if you stay out of trouble. The Army is going to or has already changed their system to make it more functional.

Answer 2

The down payment depends on the type of loan you are using - many lenders have 100% ffinancing available weather you are in the military or not. This is based on your credit - even a VA can't be used without good credit. With the VA you may not have to pay any down but there is a 2.5% funding/guarantee fee tacked onto the loan the first time you use it - then you can use it again but the fee is higher. You should add $3000 to $5000 dollars onto the cost of your loan/what you are financing to get a truer picture of what you will owe (fees, taxes, insurance, etc).


In the Army E-1 thru E-4 are automatic promotions as long as you don't screw up! However if there are a large number of people vying for these spots then there will be mini "boards" held by the unit to determine who's the best of the promotable ones . E-5 thru E-6 are point based you must qualify on the range and pass pt tests before you are eligible for a board of peers and have enough to = 350 points after completing the board to go or have been recommended by your superiors - the board is usually made up of 1Sgt's, Platoon Sgt's, The SGM. You will answer questions about your MOS, the unit's history, the Army in General, CTT tasks, - If you have enough points and pass the board you will get promoted eventually( the board is worth up to another 150 points) - it's not automatic then. With no gumption / problems you can usually go from Pvt to Spec. in 2 years. After that it slows remarkably - and is really up to the soldier to pursue - combat arms specialties get promoted faster.

E-7 thru E-9 is Department of the Army selection. You must submit a packet with specific information including pt cards, NCO evaluation reports, etc.

Progression in other services is not necessarily the same.

Answer 3

you can apply for a va loan and when we bought our house the only thing we had to pay out was $386.00 and this seemed to be more of the mortgage thingy than the va..least wise I KNOW I did not write the check to the VA......so it does vary........I would not worry too much about the Va mortgage IMO as we moved far to much to even think about buying a house till a couple of years prior to him retiring.

As for rank etc and promotions well that is SO fluid that it would almost be a guess BUT my son entered the air force, signed for 6 years and left trade school as an E3 and now 18 months later is an E4..and is only 19 yrs old, the pay for HIM is good but he has no bills and no family to support. for him to move up to the next rank he has to get good evals and all that good stuff, plus he has to hold that rank for a certain amount of time.........BUT this really is not the same for everyone, and like I told a lady on here the other day my hubby made board EVERY time [this was exam based] and submitted a package...........some rates have a better chance like one year I looked at the results a handful got it in his rate and yet they promoted over 300 cooks.

BEST advice I would give you is think about what you want out of it WHAT you have to offer them and find some middle ground ALSO ensure that the MOS you pick is a good job in the real world...........not much call for a sniper in the real world so make sure you get one that transposes into civvy street

And I would think hard about the branch you pick.......ALL of them are good and have different thins to offer but personally think the Air Force is better all round and the Navy is good but you are away a LOT.

Regards and take care

Answer 4

I have no idea about question 1.

The time it takes to move up the ranks depends on a lot of things. In the marine corps (not sure about other branches) there is a point system until you reach Sergeant. You must meet the number of points to get promoted (unless you get meritoriously promoted- which means you're damn good.) It also depends on pros and cons. If you get in a lot of trouble it'll be harder to get promoted. Also, theres a specific amount of time you have to be each rank before you can move up, for example, you must be a corporal for 1 year to be eligible to become a sergeant. Getting up to E-4 is relatively easy and most people accomplish it within their first four years. E-5 is generally reserved for people on their second term. Also, depending on which branch, if you have taken JROTC in high school for so many years it might increase your rank. I don't believe the marine corps allows that but the army does. I think you have to complete four years if I remember correctly.

Hope this helped :) I know its a lot of information but you'll learn it as you go.

Answer 5

They are referring to a VA loan. Which is a benefit all veterans get. Some states, like Texas have even better rates for those thatentered the military from that state. (So that's true).

From E-1 to E-4 it's based on time in rank and time in sevice. After that they use Time in rank, Time in service, awards, and test results to give you a total score. If your total is above the"cut off" score for your military specialty, you get promoted. If not, you will have to try again next year.

Answer 6

There are banks out there that offer up to 100 percent financing, that changes with condo's. There are also banks that wave the pmi with less than 20 percent, but there has to be other compensating factors, immaculate credit, liquid assets and reserves. The standard is twenty percent down, but it's possible to do it without that. You could do an 80/10/10 if you have the 10 percent down, that way you don't have to pay pmi. There are a lot of options, find a broker and shope around, than pick the one that best suits you.

Answer 7

1: with a VA loan, you do not need to have a down payment for a house, but you must still meet all the credit requirements.

2: generally speaking, to go from e1-e4 you just need time in grade(say six months as an E1 before you make E2, six months as an E2, 12 as an E3) but after that, you will need to take tests or otherwise garner promotion points to be advanced.

Answer 8

Promotions, I won't touch because its so fluid and changes all the time. The house, after you have done 180 consecutive days of service you can apply for a VA home loan certificate which most mortgage lenders waive initial fees. Hope that helps.

PS. I paid 1% of nothing, which is nothing, nadda, zip!

Answer 9

They are a lot of Prerequisites but the do require a 1% down payment. Check www.VA.org And you pick rank by both performance an time in grade.