Karen Luke - Henry County Real Estate

Let's honor their service of our veterans with ours. Here's a website to visit to see what you can do--www.iparticipate.org. Even if you don't have the dollars to donate, there are many different things you can do. This website outlines those things.

According to a Clayton County Chamber of Commerce survey, Fort Gillem in the south Atlanta area is the county's third largest employer. Many of those who serve at Fort Gillem live here in Henry County.

To all of them, I say thank you, thank you, thank you.

Last week I wrote the first in a three part series to share what I learned about the VA Vendee loan program from the Veterans Administration. I decided to write these posts because I found so little on the loan program when I did my research. It was a long and lonely road.

To back up a bit let me first explain that my buyer insisted on using this loan program in the purchase of her home in a nearby county. She was very insistent on getting this loan.

If you are an investor, and you want to explore this loan program, below are a few points to consider when shopping for loans so that you can snap up the bargains that are waiting for you out there.

• You don’t have to be veteran to qualify for the VA Vendee program.
• It is available only through Bank of America.
• You do have to purchase a VA Vendee approved property
• Can be financed for as little as 5% down Investors must have experience managing rental properties to include anticipated rent on subject property in underwriting—you will need to call to see what qualifies as enough experience
• There is an appraisal unlike the owner-occupant VA Vendee loan which does not require an appraisal.

Click here for the pdf document that the VA has posted regarding this loan program. It also includes a toll free number for help.

Am I promoting this loan program? Not really. Just sharing the information that I found. Going through this loan program with my buyer was not all roses as I said in the first post. There were definitely some frustrations along the way. They said she was approved and then later said no she wasn't approved. And finally, she was approved. She got a very competitive rate minus a few strands of hair. In the end good things come to those who are patient.

For a list of VA properties in the Atlanta area, email me at karenluke@kw.com.

Well, there's no shortage of something new to learn in this business of real estate. When my buyer informed me that she had already pre-qualified with the VA Vendee program and that she was absolutely certain that was the loan she wanted, I was very leary. What you will read below is what I wish someone had told me straight from the beginning. It was a long and lonely road.

And of course I did what any other agent would do. I googled "VA Vendee." Then, I did what Margaret Woda recommends. I searched AR (or activerained) the term VA Vendee. I found more questions than I did answers. It seems there is little experience with this program. Below are my conclusions--short, sweet and to the point.

• This program existed in the 70s and 80s, went away and is back again.
• You must get pre-qualified through Bank of America.
• You must be purchasing a VA-owned property that is eligible for the VA Vendee program. (I'll talk more about finding those properties in Part 3)
• Any purchaser can apply for Vendee financing. You do not have to be a veteran.
• Vendee Financing is available for owner-occupant and non-owner occupant. (I'll talk about the investor side of the loan in Part 2)
• The rates are extremely competitive. My buyer's rate was below 5%. I can't quote exact rates here.
• There is a 2.25% funding fee you must pay.
• Here is the kicker--NO APPRAISAL is required for underwriting.

That's right. You don't have to worry about an appraisal ruining your deal. And these days, appraisals are of the devil (so to speak). I've heard some very sad stories about how appraisals are ruining deals recently and I'm sure you have, too.

A few more interesting points are listed below:

• No down payment is required.
• The loan amount may be increased up to 2% to finance closing costs, prepaids or other expenses.
• The VA (the seller ) may contribute up to 6% of the contract sales price to pay for the funding fee, closing costs, and pre-paids.
• Vendee mortgages are available in 15-year and 30-year terms.
• Vendee mortgages are assumable.
• Vendee closing was extremely unique. (I'll talk about that in the upcoming Service Link post.)
• Vendee financing is not a credit score driven product. What????

Yeah, that 's right. It's not credit-score driven either. I'm sure there are many factors taken in to consideration, but I didn't find those requirements in my research.

It is a great loan product. However, it is only available through Bank of America.

Click here for the link straight to the VA to verify all that I've written. Call me if you need a little advice. This deal wasn't all roses as you can imagine. Yes, it closed and hindsight is 20/20.

Are we headed to a buyer's market in Henry County, GA? I think so.

Are we there yet? NO. But we will be at this time next year if buyers continue buying at the same pace they are buying now and listing inventory continues to shrink.

Housing inventory in Henry County has fallen almost 40% since a year ago. About a year ago, there were roughly 3300 single-family homes for sale in Henry County, GA. Today, October 14th, 2009, there are only 1993 single family home listings. We went from about 3300 to 1993.

Are you going to kick yourself later for not buying? Good question.

Look at this chart showing the number of new listings from 2008 to 2009, month over month.

It's a bit blury. But, you get the idea.

Again, are you going to kick yourself a year from now if the market completely shifts the other way?

Every Saturday before Mother's Day our little town hosts a community event called Ole Stockbridge Days. This year marks the 17th anniversary for this little event. There's all kinds of hand-made crafts, one of a kind sort of things, hand-made candles, personalized crafts. I love to get jewelry at these events because you usually won't see other ladies walking around wearing the same accessories.

If you would like information on a booth, contact Bill Reiller at 770-474-9757.

For even more information click here.