Fort Belvoir, VA

This information was originally posted on my Word Press Blog VaRealEstatetalk.com however it's important to get DoD Homeowners Assistance Program changes in front of as many eyeballs as possible.

Over the past few years the DoD Homeowners Assistance Program has helped thousands of service members sell their underwater homes. The program has morphed and changed a number of times since it was first implemented. The latest change is a big one and service members who own homes in Northern Virginia need to be aware of the impact.

Previously the DoD HAP program offered 3 options for home sellers. The most widely used is the Government Acquisition option where the government flips the home from the seller to the new buyer paying off the old mortgage at settlement. That’s a simplified version but covers the basic idea.

The second option is known as a Private Sale. In this case the service member sells the home directly to a buyer and then is reimbursed by HAP for the benefits due after the sale is completed. These sales have worked for service members who made a significant down payment and the current market value was above the amount owed on the mortgage.

The third option which has been eliminated, was known as either the Private Sale Augmentation (PSA) or Government Assisted Private Sale (GAPS). With this option HAP would provide a check at settlement to cover the difference upfront. After deductions for closing costs, commission and mortgage payoff, the service member would get a check back from the settlement company based on the HAP benefits formula usually within a few days after the transaction had been completed.

What does this mean if you are considering a DoD HAP sale?

It means you may have a difficult decision to make. Even though you may have made a down payment or qualified improvements to your home you are going to front the money to get to closing under the Private Sale option. If you do not have those funds available then you will need to sell your home under the Government Acquisition option or keep your home as a rental property until the housing market recovers.

If you qualify for the Department of Defense Homeowners Assistance Program and left behind a home in the Northern Virginia are give me a call at 703-346-2213 or drop me an email at cindy@cjrealtygroup.com. Let’s talk about how the change in the program may impact the sale of your home in Northern Virginia.

You should also contact the HAP Savannah Regional Office to discuss your options directly with a HAP Realty Specialist.

The Fisher House Foundation was established in to provide a "comfort home" for military families who need a place to stay while a loved one is being treated for injury or illness at a military hosptial. Started as a public-private partnership in 1990, Fisher Houses around the country provided a home away from home for over 12,000 families.

Now Fort Belvoir will be the site of the newest Fisher House in Virginia. The other two Virginia properties are located at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, VA and the Hunter Holmes McGuire house in Richmond Virginia. The new home at Fort Belvoir will feature 12 family suites, a kitchen, dining sitting rooms and den. The house is being built across the street from the new Fort Belvoir Community Hospital which opened in Fal 2011.

The 10,000 square foot home is scheduled to be completed in April 2012. It is a compliment to not only the new Fort Belvoir hospital but the Wounded Warrior Transition Unit on post as well. Fisher House is supported by not only the Department of Defense but also by a private foundation. It is a cause that I've personally been involved in, touched by and contributed to for years.

If you are interested in learning more about Fisher House you can check out their website. In addtion to the Fisher House the foundation also supports Hero Miles and Scholarships for Military Children.

Are PCS orders considered a hardship? It's a question that we are asked frequently by military families stationed at Ft. Belvoir, Quantico MCB, the Pentagon and other installations part of the Military District of Washington. Last fall the Fannie Mae issued guidelines to include Permanent Change of Station (PSC) orders as a hardship. A hot line was (877-MIL-4566) created for service members to be able to discuss foreclosure prevention options available.

In addition Fannie Mae also announced a six month military forbearance program where the death or injury of a service member on active duty causes a hardship for military families with a mortgage obligation. Don't know whether you have a Fannie Mae backed loan? Check to see if you have a Fannie Mae Loan.

The Treasury Department has also announced military families may be eligible for Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) approved short sale without showing a drop in income. You can read the official guidelines for HAFA on their website.

Last year both Chase and USAA approved short sales for two of my military clients with PCS orders. USAA also approved a VA Compromise Sale for a military family who qualified under the Fannie Mae guidelines. Just as with any short sale a military service member does have to provide a complete packet of documentation.

If you are Ft Belvoir service member faced with a short sale decision check with your lender to see what options they have to offer. If you are looking for an agent who has experienced guiding service members through short sales, DoD HAP or VA Compromise Sales give Cindy Jones and CJ Realty Group a call at 703-346-2213.

As an agent who has had the privilege of successfully completing 35 Northern Virginia Department of Defense HAP sales, keeping up with all of the latest information is a daily challenge. Talking with other agents across the country who also have been working with the HAP program we shared our concerns about the program and some of the inconsistencies we've experienced between each of the offices processing DoD HAP files. Files for our area are processed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in Savannah GA.

In case you were wondering how the HAP program originally got funding here is the history: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocated $555 million and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010 authorized an additional $300 million for the Expanded Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP).

The IG report on DoD HAP provides details on the issues that were found with the program and is open for comments until January 23, 2012. If you are military service member eligible for DoD HAP benefits or has been denied benefits you should read the report and make comments on your experience with the program.

Per the report released by the IG office, as of February 23, 2011 the program had paid 4,825 applicants a total of $725.5 million, but had a backlog of 4,897 eligible applicants.It doesn't take much to do the math and see that the program will run out of money before all eligible service members will be able to settle on their homes unless additional funding is provided. In fact in the last few months it appears that processing of files has slowed as "recovered funds" are required in order to settle on sales.

This week Holly Petraeus, head of the Office of Servicemember Affairs in the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), suggested in an article in the Stars and Stripes that "the extra $550 million Congress appropriated to expand HAP has been used and no more military families are getting that special help."

If you are eligible for DoD HAP benefits and own a home in the Northern Virginia you should contact the Savannah Regional Office of HAP to discuss your specific situation. If you own a home in the Northern Virginia area and are looking for a Realtor® who is familar with the HAP program give Cindy Jones and CJ Realty Group a call at 703-346-2213.

Originally posted on www.varealestatetalk.com

There aren't to many words that can convey the emotions looking at this view of Arlington National Cemetery after the placing of 85,000 wreaths on the grave sites of those who have served our country.

Thank you to all that serve and to the families who support them.