My VA Loan experience - Patience is Required

Our veteran's love our country and have served to defend it. They should not only receive certain benefits from our government for their service, but also the gratitude from all American citizens. I feel that anyone can place a bumber sticker on the back of their car that says "Support Our Troops." However, not everyone goes out of their way to help a veteran. My seller did.

This blog is meant to share my personal experience with VA loans. My situation is not meant to be negative or positive but simply as my opinion. Every situation is different, so please don't place your decision squarely based on my experience to either accept/not accept getting a VA loan (as a buyer); or accepting/denying a buyer with a VA loan (listing agent); or working/not working with someone who has been qualified with a VA loan (buyer agent).

My story

I recently listing a home for sale in San Jose, CA and we had an offer within 5 days of listing on the mls. My seller accepted the offer because she liked the idea of a Veteran who served in the arm's forces buying her home. It was a feeling of national pride and a sense of patriotism. Of course, my seller understood that it was not going to be as easy as accepting a 20% down conventional buyer, however, my seller was willing to go forward.

One of the things that make a VA loan different from a conventional loan is that with a VA loan the seller agrees to pay for all Section 1 and provide a Section 1 clearance. This is not optional as with most other loans. Section 1 clearance is basically ensuring that the property is free and clear of termites or other wood destroying pests and is free of any structural problems (ie, dry rot, fungus damage, etc).

The second thing that my seller was aware of was that VA loans take a bit longer than conventional loans. One of the reasons that they do take longer is because as I was told, there are fewer appraisers who specialize in VA appraisals.

Unfortunately, in our situation, the appraiser took almost a month to complete his appraisal. This was totally unexpected and delayed the close of escrow by more than two weeks. However, my seller was patient because it was a veteran and it was the right thing to do. Any other seller might have just kicked the buyer out of the transaction and put the property back on the market.

I was told that the primary reason the appraiser took so long to get out to the property was due to the fact that all signatures on the agreement were doc-u-sign electronic signatures and that the VA needed "wet" signatures. Apparently, the Veteran's Administration does not accept electronic signatures in lieu of actual "wet" signatures. This was strange to me, but who is going to argue with the federal government. This would have been good to know at the start of the loan process. It seems everyone was in the dark about this.

The bottomline is that my seller provided Section 1 clearance and the VA funded the loan. Escrow closed and our veteran is now in the home with his family.

I feel proud that my seller helped a veteran purchase a home for his family. The process needs to be improved from the Veteran's Administration to the actual lender to the loan broker and to the buyer's agent. In real estate we often say "time is of the essence."

I am glad that the seller was patient throughout this transaction. Anyone can put up a "Support Our Troops" bumber sticker, but the seller actually did support a veteran. Way to go!

If you know anyone who has served in the military, please tell them how much you appreciate their service. Just say, "Thank you for your service."

Please call me at (408) 460-8401 if you have any questions about the VA loan process or if you are thinking about buying a home.