VA Seminar

Aloha Roy,

Thank you for your comment. I have Fielded many calls from Vets that were talked into 80 20 conventional loans by " Professionals" telling them to stay away from VA lending to avoid the funding fee. Ttruthfully they were told to stay away because the " professionals" didn't know how to structure their VA Loan. Lets see how that adversely affected them.

1. They now cant lower their rate as our market out here has been hit hard. Especially in the areas where many of these vets reside. They are stuck with their high rate.

2. Had they gone VA they could have taken advantage of their VA IRRRL Streamline that does not require an appraisal. In addition as long as the client has made on time payments the loan is a slam dunk. This loan not only has a reduced funding fee but many clients could have taken their 6.5% interest rate and down to 4.5%. That's two full points. on $350,000 that is a monthly savings of $439.00. Better yet if they planned on keeping the home, took the rate down to 4.5% and kept paying the exact payment, they would have paid off their home 8 years faster. A savings to the tune of $212,350.

These " professionals" cost their clients a college tuition just so they could get a commission. If a person has the capability to go VA it is by far the best vehicle for them out there. Mahalo and best of success to you.

Aloha Sally and David,

 Thank You for your comment. Your going to be sorry you asked but I'm now going to share my long winded story that is somewhat remarkable at least in my mind. By the way I will never be this long winded again and If you don't finish Reading I wont blame you. Why would I leave the windy city for Hawaii after building a successful pipeline in Chicago?  I have asked myself this for the last for the last three years. Truth be told I had a failed engagement to the most wonderful gal. Since I knew I could only go down on the food chain I thought " why not go fro broke" and see if I can make it in Hawaii as we had fantasized about getting out of the cold, but I really wanted to get out of sight and mind. I went from Consistent $200,000 yrs in Chicago, to living out of a bag of change in my car at times, and showering in the gym, but life wasn't all that bad after-all I was in Hawaii. I then had the good fortune of being introduced to Rob Arneson. He was ggentlemen that was 100% mentally disabled from serving his Country in the Vietnam war.  Upon our first meeting at his house he was very agitated, angry and his audible was near a level of yelling at me. I had to keep reminding myself that his actions were not his fault. The second thing that invaded my senses was that he had a new liter of kittens that were climbing up my body, and digging their little razor sharp claws into my skin. That was the good part. The bad part was they had gone to the bathroom all over his paperwork that he had kept in a garbage bag. The smell of cat urine was asphyxiating. My mind drifted back to my days in Chicago when I would meet with my clients and sit across from them. Our bodies sseparated by their beautiful mahogany desks. Their paperwork was neatly organized and most had 50% Ltvs with perfect track records. It was then that i asked the lord to give me some kind of sign letting me know I had made the right decision to move. After digging through Bob's cat urine covered paperwork I noticed something very wrong. He was living on a fixed income of no more then $2000 yet his monthly outlay was near $6000. The second thing wrong was he was in an adjustable loan. Why would he not have a VA loan i asked myself. I discovered he had refinanced his house twice in the previous year and pulled out $25,000 each time. I was disgusted that a loan officer had put him in such a horrible loan and used the cash coming back to Bob as the enticement to do the loan. When I asked Bob where the monies was going he defensively said " Dave you know I have to pay for cat food and cat liter." I chuckled inside and kept on with my interrogation. It quickly came to service that his uncle and nephew would stop by every month and funnel out $4000. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to gain Bobs trust. After i thought I had gained it I gently explained to him that although an honorable act to help family member's he needed to stop as the money was soon to dry up. It was then that the good lord gave me my sign as to why I had gone to Hawaii as Bob reached across put his hand on my leg and said the two words that we all Love to hear" Thank You." It chocked my up a little as I think I was thanked twice in all on my Chicago years. I quickly left and told Bob I would be in touch. About two weeks into the loan the appraiser called and said his house needed to be gutted and would not appraise out. Bobs rate was soon to adjust and if so there would be no way for him to make the payment. After interviewng many contractors and handy men I found a man at the Waianae church that was willing to do the work on Bobs house for a very nominal charge. I even helped with ripping out the carpet and the demo of the cabinets. The $4,000 that was invested Gave bob an extra $75,000 of value and we were now in business. This meant I would soon be able to eat on a regular basis. Then A week later to my horror I found out Bob had a prepayment penalty and we would have to delay the process or it would cost him an extra $10,000. I investigated the loan and the reason the prepayment was sold to him was because it put extra commission in the loan offers pocket on what was already the wrong loan for Bob. My sale was not an easy one to Bob as he was upset that he couldnt cash out and that he would now have to wait until the prepayment period was up. In addition I was so broke and  admittealdy really counting on the comission. I explained over and over that there was simply not enough equity left. The main goal was to fix the rate so he would not become a statistic and loose his home. He begrudgingly complied and 6 months later we closed. Recently I celebrated his 58th birthday with him at his favorite Chinese restaurant. In addition I have now made somewhat of a name for myself out here. I have a commercial that runs on the Country station, and i have started to give Free  Seminars  with as many service members and real estate professionals as possible about the huge advantage of home ownership through the VA loan. Its a crazy profession we have picked, but if we keep our thoughts positive, are convictions strong and are motives pure we will all make it through the rough times. Mahalo and I promise to never be as long winded again and thank you kindly for putting up with my spelling and grammar.

Aloha Lenn,

I couldn't agree more. You are sweet for the acknowledgment. Thank You

Aloha Kris,

I agree. In addition I believe that if a service member has spent one second in combat they should be free of the funding fee all together. I believe the reason the funding fee is higher for second time use is because the VA feels they should have done alright the first time around a made a little money to put down. If the Vet puts down as little as 5% there is a reduced funding fee. Its almost like paying for Mortgage insurance however it does entitle 100% financing and home ownership. Thank you for your comment and your beliefs :)

Kris sorry I forgot to give your Props for asking your clients about prior or current service. It is something every Realtor should do. Good for you!!!!!

Aloha Michael

You da man!!! A big mahalo