VA Loans.... good loans, I have never had one not close..... However, there are several thousand dollars of non allowables in which seller pays on behalf of buyer so you really have to know or understand the seller and his or her situation. Not a real competitive loan in this market in this area. If you want to buy in Temecula, stay away from bank owned properties, You will be wasting your time. I closed a VA deal earlier this year and it was with a traditional sale.

Get with your agent/broker and they will know which homes have the best opportunity for you to obtain a great purchase, be patient, it will happen!

Best of luck to you.
Tom Sicard
Broker DRE #01228604
Tom@TemeculaTom.com
951-440-8212

Padres the lenders also look at the ease in which a closing is going to happen. Cash no contingencies may buy a 5% lower price! Conventional loan is next. 203k is a close third but a longer closing time. FHA,VA, USDA come in last because there may be habitability issues that your lender will require as a condition of the loan The REO bank not normally make repairs to the property so it is a catch 22. You can not do the repairs as you do not own it and the seller will refuse to do repairs because you had to sign an addendum to purchase the property as is.

Pardres,
Both Jane and Greg's answers are right on the money.

I will add one additional comment. If in fact you are also IF you are asking for part of the closing cost in your offer, change the wording a little to incorporate that the amount that you are asking for is to also include the non-allowables that are required by VA. This way, they will not have to pay additional monies compared to a FHA, Conventional who may be asking for some of the closing cost.

Keep in mind Jane's point on the standard and short sales. Our last short sale we accepted a VA, for a couple of reasons. The first of course is that we support VA's and the 2nd reason was that they agreed to wait it out and we knew would have a little harder time getting a bank owned. When the agent came to the house with her clients, I told her that I had my VA couple write a letter and asked for it to be presented to the seller. I personally had not seen the results from the sellers end.They did write a letter. I will tell you that it did have an impact on the sellers and it humanized them to the sellers. There were 2 offers that were the highest, equal in value. One conventional and 1 VA. They choose the VA and I do think the letter was a factor in that decision.

Everything you do to give you an edge will put you that much closer. VA are being accepted so do not get too discourged.

Kindest Regards,
Dianne Hicks
Tarbell, Realtors

Padres, as you're aware the local market is very competitive with the banks receiving multiple offers on almost every property.
As Jane stated if the bank receives a conventional or cash offer that nets them more, those offers will most likely be the winning bid. There are certain closing costs that you as a veteran are not allowed to pay on a VA loan and as a result the banks net will be lower.
Another reason banks shy away from VA offers is the appraisal process. The perception is VA appraisals "never" come in at value, this is probably more perception than reality. The bigger problem is probably the bidding over true market value and then all parties involved expect the appraiser to "bring in the value" even though it is not supported by comparable sales.
Yes, it does seem unfair that you should have to over bid for a home but the banks are listing the properties substantially below actual market value to "promote a feeding frenzy" of multiple offers. I'm sure it makes the banks feel good but it only adds to the frustration that you and other home buyers are experiencing.
Hang in there!

Padres: Banks are looking at their bottom line and when they are looking at multiple offers they will choose conventional offers or cash offers over FHA and VA offers due to the fact that they don't want to have to pay closing costs that are required for FHA and VA loans.

Also, the time that VA loans require is more than conventional, FHA or obviously cash. Cash offers can close in 10 days.

There is more to price when submitting a VA loan. Every VA buyer has a different credit score and different pre-approval amount. The stronger your pre-approval and the better your credit scores the better chance you will get your offer accepted.

Also, it will be better for you to make offers on short sales and standard sales than bank owned homes.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance!

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