A personal account of our VA financing nightmare and dream.
Several years ago, before my wife and I were married, we moved to the midlands area from another part of South Carolina. She and I were fresh out of college and excited to start our lives together. We were young and foolish and didn't have anyone to direct us when we decided to buy a house rather than rent. Becuase I was in the military, I knew that a VA loan was my best option. We didn't talk to a lot of family and friends about our decision to buy a home, just incase it didn't go through....
We told our close family of our plans, but they did not think that local lenders were able to provide VA financing. Social media wasn't as popular as it is today and we were new to the area, so we really were not exposed to the local lender's advertising. Just as I assume most young people do when they don't have a clue - I got online and started searching the search engines. I knew enough that I needed to get a pre-approval before I sought out a real estate agent. Immediately, I was bombarded with advertisements on these national level lenders that only work with VA financing. I clicked on one of the first one that I saw and had a pre-approval with in a matter of minutes.
I printed off my pre-approval letter and headed to the real estate office. I was excited that I was approved and once I had that approval, I stopped worrying about my lender. My real estate agent was happy that a potential homebuyer was approved and never said anything to me about local lenders offering VA loans. I even reached out to my attorney who I knew personally. My attorney didn't say a thing when I said I was financing with this "national" VA lender....
My real estate agent found me a house well within my affordability range the first day that we went out. I was excited and my future wife was inlove. We negotiated a contract and got started with the mortgage loan and my nightmares began. My loan officer was out of California - so the time difference had a bit to do with the communication issues but the biggest problem was getting him to return my phone calls and emails. Sure, the home that I was purchasing wasn't pricey, but it was a big deal to me and noone would tell me what was going on. I recruited my real estate agent to harrass him also and we closed 6 weeks after our 30 day contract.
I wanted to write this letter because I recently purchased my second home. Now that my wife and I have been working our jobs for a number of years and have worked hard to save some money, we were excited to upgrade to a new home. Thankfully, I was smart enough to not go through the lender that first popped up on GOOGLE. I also knew through internet advertising that Kwest Mortgage Group right here in Orangeburg offers VA financing. Why didn't anyone tell me a few years ago that I didn't have to go with a "VA Mortgage Lender?" Why did I feel that I had to use a lender that only offered VA loans? Back then, I had no idea that local lenders were able to offer VA financing. These national VA lenders advertise that they are comitted to providing financing to Veterans, but in actuality, they sucker the Veteran's in with a $500 initial deposit and then take advantage of them with their high fees and points. If you read their fine print - they are not affiliated directly with any government agencies included the VA. They have no more authority to make a VA home loan than your local lender that offers VA financing.
My VA purchase with Kwest Mortgage Group was cleared-to-close 9 days before our 30 day contract ended and we closed right on time. I was well informed of the process throughout each step. It frustrates me that none of the professionals that I was working with on the purchase of my first home offered any advice against financing with a national lender. I realize that they may not have wanted to "rock the boat" with my approval but I would have appreciated the information and would have changed my financing path on spot. It is always easier to work with someone that you can get infront of personally. It is also important to work with someone that returns your calls and emails in a timely manner. This time around, I was able to save about $3,000 in fees and secured an interest rate that was .375% lower than what I would have locked in at with the national mortgage lender.
This time around, I kept expressing to my mortgage lender how easy the process was and how much I appreciated it when I was informed on the status of my appraisal, title work, insurance, etc.... My loan officer was thankful that I was showing appreciation, but couldn't understand my gratitude as that was their JOB. I told them of the nightmare that I had experienced and how glad I was to be working with them this time around. All local veterans should help support the local businesses that are working for their communities instead of getting sucked into the scam that these national VA lenders present in their advertising. Veterans should be appreciative of the local individuals who work for them - not the national folks with no ties to their community. It is up to the professionals in the real estate field to educate their clients on the options that Veterans have! I, myself, will be recommending Kwest Mortgage to every veteran that I know.
--- SGT. J.K. United States Army
