My buyer lost a multiple offer bid today because he is eligible for a VA loan. The listing agent/owner told me when I asked why he didn’t win, “The AV loan (yes, that’s what he said) is going to be difficult so we chose a Conventional loan”. I asked if the offer, itself, was competitive. He responded that it was, otherwise, a great offer.
The offer was over list price but not high enough to where it wouldn’t appraise. We wrote for the transaction to close on a date the seller mentioned they'd like to close, the office that he wanted the EM to be held and asked what title company the seller wanted to use so that the offer didn’t need to be countered just to fill in blanks. I’ve contacted the lender to ask if my buyer has any other options because I predict (due to my market) that every home my buyer likes will be in a multiple offer situation. There isn’t another option for this buyer. Using his VA benefits, he can purchase a home without a down payment and no MI. I feel terrible because he lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw this house and requested to cancel the rest of the viewings in order to get started with the offer.
Don’t get me wrong…I’m glad this agent was honest with me because I may not ever have known the reason why my buyer didn’t get the home like the couple in this article who thought that every offer just fell short. I understand that we advise our sellers (or ourselves) to accept the offer we think is best but we should consider that our Veterans do not get nearly enough perks or resources for having served our country. These people deserve more respect than not being able to purchase a home because an agent assumes and advises that a VA Loan is more “difficult”. Instead, agents and sellers are freezing out VA (and FHA) buyers.
The plan: the lender will call the next listing agent we send an offer to, to present the program and answer any questions.
To learn more about how a VA loan benefits our country’s Veterans, click here.
Update 4/15. I used this situation to educate the next listing agent, brought a competetive offer and we won! My buyer is under contract!
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