The Great Military Family
By Joe Gladden, Managing Partner
Veteran Realty Serving America’s Military, Inc.
VR SAM®
This is about a real Navy Family and their recent experience with a home purchase in the DC region. There is a dual purpose to this story. First to recognize the special challenges that Military Families face when buying and selling homes incident to PCS orders, and to applaud how these amazing Military Families rise to meet these challenges. They truly deserve a virtual standing ovation! They would likely think it curious that we recognize them in this manner since meeting daunting challenges is almost routine for them. My second purpose is to highlight just a few of the landmines in a home purchase that are more common now than five years ago and to offer a very simple suggestions on how to mitigate some of the “uncontrollable factors.”
Tom and Patricia (names modified) are the quintessential, “Great Military Family.” Tom is the Commanding Officer of a Naval Ship in Norfolk with orders to the Navy Yard (DC). Patricia not only manages the household of three active boys but is also a teacher. This of course includes all of the additional responsibilities required when Tom is underway…which is rather frequently. During his time at sea, he is 24/7 with his Skipper responsibilities with minimal time to catch up on family matters and business. Neither are strangers to this PCS adventure that requires house hunting, cleaning, packing, moving, buying, selling, new schools, new friends, just to name a few of the challenges they meet in just three months.
As soon as they received verbal orders Tom and Patricia connected with VR SAM® and immediately went to work. Their search was narrowed by Tom’s commute to the Navy Yard, Patricia’s new school, and schools for their boys. They committed just about every weekend for two months to travel the four hours (one way) to Northern Virginia, tour homes (54 total), negotiate contracts, settle, receive the shipment, and move in. And when Tom was underway, Patricia did it all. There was a lot of ground to cover in just three months.
To complicate things just a bit, the Northern Virginia housing market is chugging right along. Fueled by the low interest rates and relatively strong economy, good listings were selling very quickly with multiple offers. In fact, they were outbid on the first two homes which was frustrating enough but precious time was lost in the process of two contract negotiations. Undaunted, the pressed on and even on their third home, which they have now settled, they were in a competitive bid situation.
Can it be more stressful? Yes it can. Every home buyer and seller should be acutely aware of the pressure and scrutiny that appraisers and underwriters face since the market crash because it can impact them in a big way! Tom and Patricia’s appraisal came in on the last day allowed by law, within one week of settlement…under the contract price. Virtually every contract has a clause that triggers a “renegotiation protocol” when the appraisal is less than the contract price. And as you can imagine, the ante is upped dramatically for both buyer and seller as the clock ticks towards the settlement date. To say that this is nerve racking for all parties is an understatement as the stakes for both are very high. And to add yet another curve ball, certain changes in a contract (such as price, loan, etc.) trigger a mandatory three day right of rescission which can further delay settlement. In the finest of Navy traditions, Tom was back at sea and Patricia was at the helm of the household and house purchase effort.
The significant consequences of a delayed settlement should be very obvious. The seller needs the funds to settle on another property, and the buyer could have their PCS shipment in the driveway without the keys to the house.
Here’s the first takeaway for both Buyers and Sellers in the new environment:
Plan for the worst case and assume a three to four delay in settlement from the outset. For the buyer this will prevent the PCS shipment on your doorstep with no key to the house. For sellers, this will avoid the very substantial financial consequences of missing a follow on settlement. It can be very painful!
Although Tom and Patricia’s settlement was delayed by three days, they had followed our advice and allowed for such unforeseen issues. The stress on the seller was certainly greater as they had to reschedule the follow on settlement, but not without immense angst.
Here’s the second takeaway, and cause for the Virtual Standing Ovation for Tom, Patricia and all Military Families
The resilience of the Military Family is nothing short of inspirational. The day after settlement we stopped by to see how things were going and how we could help. With only the weekend to get things done before Tom had to be back to his command and Tricia to her many “closeout commitments” in Norfolk, the house was a highly organized flurry of activity, or “All Hands on Deck” to use “Sailor Speak.” By noon, the entire yard had been cleaned up and the finishing touches were being applied to a very personalized painting of the youngest son’s room (purple and green!). Parents and Grandparents of Military Families are often overlooked in this unique culture. It is most noteworthy that Patricia’s Mom was in the middle of all the effort. Throughout the entire process, this amazing Military / Navy Family made the very difficult look easy. Much like ducks effortlessly gliding around on the water, you hardly noticed that they were paddling hard underneath the surface. So, how about a virtual standing ovation for all of the Military Families out there that make the difficult look easy! Thanks to all of you for your service! Thanks Tom and Patricia for allowing me to share your story.
What Makes VR SAM® Different?
“VR SAM® has been there” and experienced more Military moves than we care to remember. But we do “remember” the “Good and Not so Good “Realtor experiences and we believe our Military Family clients deserve the Very Best!
We believe in the mission our Military Families support and are grateful for the opportunity to do our part with top quality relocation Realtor services.
VR SAM® offers our purchaser clients an industry leading credit from our commission at settlement.
VR SAM® offers our seller clients extremely competitive listing rates, and listing options to save them even more money.
Contact VR SAM® today and experience the difference! homesformilitary@vrsam.com 877 878-7726
Veteran Realty Serving America’s Military, Inc., VR SAM®, is a partnership of retired Military Officers and Spouses, all Military Realtors, serving Military Families purchasing or selling homes in the Northern Virginia region including Fairfax County, Prince William County, Loudoun County, Fauquier County, Stafford County, Arlington, and Alexandria, Many of our purchaser clients are PCSing to the Pentagon, NRO, Fort Belvoir, Fort Meyer, Anacostia, Bolling AFB, Andrews AFB, Navy Yard, Quantico, Coast Guard Headquarters, and other NOVA military installations. VR SAM also serves a large number of defense contractor employees and Federal Employees from the FBI, NCIS, CIA and other agencies. VR SAM is a leading advocate for the improvement of home owner benefits for Military Families. Call VR SAM today to learn about our industry leading purchaser client credit and competitive listing programs and rates.
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