VA Buyers…. Making offers to buy condominiums in this market.

Its not quite right, but in today’s market its more difficult to get your offer considered if you’re a VA buyer.  If you’re looking to take advantage of the VA program (great program…. the only 100% financing currently available!!), then you need to be aware of the basics AND you need to know how to make your offer stronger.  Having an experienced agent that will write clean offers, communicate effectively with the listing agents and create some humanism around your offer definitely helps.  Here are some basics:

1. You need to get your VA eligibility certificate from the Office of Veterans Affairs to submit to your lender.  First things first…  make sure your eligible. 
2. Provide all income/asset/liability information to your lender and understand how your offers need to be structured.  Put your agent in direct contact with your loan officer… that’s the easiest route.  You will need to ask for a seller credit to cover certain items that are required under the VA loan guidelines.
3. Know the property requirements for VA….  the VA loan program was developed to protect the veteran buyer.  So it is required that the property is “immediately inhabitable” prior to funding of the loan.  This means that everything must be up to code and all appliances must be present (i.e. no missing stoves!! … which isn’t uncommon with foreclosure sales).
4. On a condo purchase, it is best to limit your search to properties within VA approved developments.  You can search the list of approved condo developments at VA Condo/PUD/Builder System.
5. Be ready to get pre-approved with other “preferred” lenders.  On many REO/Foreclosed property listings, the selling bank is requiring pre-approval through a trusted lender so they can weed out the buyers that may not quite be able to close.  Typically it’s a matter of re-submitting your income/asset/liability information without the need of them running your credit again.
6. Have your agent put together a clean and precise offer, allowing seller to choose all services and your willingness to close as soon as possible if that is desireable to the seller.
7. Lastly….  in this market, there’s a ton of multiple offer situations.  As with any buyer (not just VA eligible), your agent should be “humanizing” your offer as much as possible.  They should include a cover letter / email detailing your personal situation, why you’re buying (first-time home buyer, growing family, etc), information about your family… anything to make your offer stand out from the droves of buyers out there.

If you are thinking about a Real Estate purchase in San Diego feel free to contact me with questions or for a fantastic lender referral.  I do have a VA specialist that really knows his stuff!

Tara

2 Responses to “VA Buyers…. Making offers to buy condominiums in this market.”

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   February 24, 2010 at 7:14 pm

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