Will A VA Loan Kill the Deal?
As I enter my 12th year in Real Estate I continued to be amazed at seller perceptions, or maybe it is just me! I currently have a seller that will not accept a VA loan for the purchase of a home. This seller has "researched" VA loans and "knows" that VA loans take 45 - 60 days to close and that VA appraisers always lowballs the appraisal. Now I understand that a seller has a choice of the terms of a sale and whether the buyer is using cash or a loan for the purchase.
Obviously a cash buyer can close the sale quicker than a buyer obtaining a loan. The buyer could have a loan denied at the end of the day for many reasons. We all know that no purchase is bullet proof. A cash buyer can cancel during their inspection period or could spend the funds for something else and be short money to close. Now they may forfeit their earnest money and be open to legal recourse (depending on the state, contract, etc.) but a cash deal isn't bullet proof until it closes.
Now this has not been my experience. I currently have another seller under contract with a VA loan and the appraisal was not a lowball, in fact I believe it was spot on. The loan will be done in 30 days. The buyer did not ask for any repairs. In talking to 3 lenders all have indicated a 30 - 45 day close for VA loans. Like all loans, the buyers need to provide all documentation in a timely manner, the inspection and any repairs negotiated need to be timely and the appraisal needs to be scheduled in a timely manner.
This seller does not want to accept a VA loan, and that is a seller choice. When sellers eliminate a particular form of payment, they are reducing the opportunity to sell their home. This is like a seller who elects to only show their home on the weekend or only certain times of day. It is always a seller’s choice as it is their home. They just need to understand their home will not have the full exposure to the most buyers.
The internet is a wonderful thing to research any number of topics. We have to be sure we are researching current information. It is easy to find an article written years earlier on the same subject. Some folks aren’t carefully looking at dates an article was posted. We also need to be mindful of who wrote the article and for what purpose? Is it a current article written by a Realtor or lender with current experience on recent loans? Is it a disgruntled buyer who was slow to provide documentation or otherwise slowed the process?
What is your experience RECENTLY with VA loans?
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