How a California VA Loan Went From Contract to Clear-to-Close in 3 Days
Last reviewed: September 2026
VA loans have a reputation — deserved, in a lot of cases — for taking longer than conventional financing because of the appraisal process and property requirements. That's not always true. Two recent examples show what's actually possible when the file is handled correctly from day one.
Petaluma, CA — $1,000,000 Purchase, Clear-to-Close in 3 Days
On a $1 million VA purchase in Petaluma, the appraisal came back in 24 hours. The property also needed a full termite inspection, which surfaced an issue requiring an NPMA-33 — the official wood-destroying-organism inspection report VA loans require before clearing that condition.
Getting the NPMA-33 back, confirming the corrective work, and clearing underwriting all happened fast enough that the file went clear-to-close in 3 days from contract.
Oakland, CA — $642,000 Purchase, Inspection Issues, Clear-to-Close in 5 Days
The second file was actually a takeover — the borrower had started the loan with Rocket Mortgage before switching. This one also hit an inspection issue requiring an NPMA-33, and still cleared to close in 5 days despite starting mid-process with another lender's paperwork to untangle.
Why VA Loans Get a Slow Reputation — and Why It's Not Always Deserved
Two things actually drive VA timelines, and neither one is the VA guaranty process itself:
1. The appraisal. VA appraisals go through a VA-assigned appraiser rather than the lender's choice, which is often blamed for delays. In both examples above, the appraisal wasn't the bottleneck — one came back in 24 hours.
2. Termite/pest clearance. VA loans require a clear termite report (or, when an issue is found, a corrective NPMA-33 following treatment) before the loan can close. This is where both of these files actually had something to resolve — and where a lender who knows how to move that process quickly, rather than letting it sit in a queue, makes the real difference in total timeline.
What Actually Made the 3-Day and 5-Day Timelines Possible
Neither of these was a "clean" file with nothing to solve — both had a genuine inspection issue that needed a corrective NPMA-33 before clearing. The speed came from not letting that step become a bottleneck: coordinating the re-inspection quickly, getting the corrective documentation back to underwriting without delay, and not treating a termite condition as a reason to slow the whole file down.
The Real Lesson
A VA loan with an inspection issue doesn't have to mean a slow close. The appraisal and the pest clearance are the two places VA transactions typically lose time — and both are manageable with the right process, even on a file taken over mid-transaction from another lender.
Have a VA purchase with an inspection issue holding things up? That's a solvable problem, not a reason to expect a slow close.
Mike Belfor, Branch Manager and Mortgage Loan Originator, American Pacific Mortgage, NMLS #264700. 23+ years of mortgage lending experience.
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