What Smart Military Home Buyers Do VR SAM®


By Captain Joe Gladden, (USN, Retired), Realtor
Veteran Realty Serving America’s Military, Inc.

In most areas of the country, the housing market is very favorable for purchasers. Thus, this article will highlight some of the “Do’s and Don’ts” for Military Families as they plan their home purchaser.

Step one in successfully purchasing your new home is building your team which should consist of your lender / broker and Realtor®. You should consider ONLY professionals with a track record of excellent service through referrals, testimonials, and interviews. The mortgage brokers / lender’s institution should be credible and stable. We strongly encourage selection of a lender / broker who attends settlements and discourage internet lenders where no one person is accountable for your transaction. Your Realtor® should be a dedicated buyers broker / agent familiar with the area, available during your house hunting timeframe, and experienced with Military Family issues. We discourage working direct with a listing agent and / or builders’ representative as they will be “dual representatives” and have divided loyalties. We encourage working with retired or former Military members or spouses, or others who “get” the Military culture and specific concerns and unique challenges of Military Families.

The loan pre-approval process, which generally takes a few minutes, will determine an approximate maximum loan amount for which you qualify. This should be followed by a review of your overall financial status and monthly budget to determine the maximum monthly payment with which you are comfortable. Armed with these two numbers, choose the lesser of two and then “mobilize” your team.

There are a number of things you can do to make your preparation and house hunting more effective and at the end of this article, we will offer a link to VR SAM®’s Buyers’ Resources that has a number of articles and checklists developed especially for our Military Families.

Selecting Your Home


Prioritize the key requirements for your new home. For most Military Families they are:

• Schools (An excellent web site to evaluate schools nationwide is given at the end of this article.)
• Commute
• Affordability
• Resale (value and sellability)

Consider any special needs you may have and make your requirements known to your Realtor®, who in most cases, can establish automated listings to be sent to your email account. This greatly simplifies the cyber shopping process.

During the Home Tours It’s All About the Footprint

Good listing Realtors® and smart sellers stage homes so that when you walk through the front door, your primary senses, sight, sound, and smell, are all heightened in a pleasant way. You may be greeted by classical music, perfect lighting, and smell the brownies baking in the oven. You won’t see clutter or dishes in the sink. They get one chance to make a great first impression by appealing to all of your senses and make you want it! They know that home buying is an emotional decision and our experience and would prefer that you overlook “footprint deficiencies.”

Good purchasers’ Realtors®, and astute buyers, ignore all that stuff! Furthermore, they look past the carpet, paint, music, décor, furniture, wallpaper, paneling, kitchen appliances and other items that can be changed with reasonable cost and effort and focus on the house’s footprint. So, what do we mean by footprint? Basically, characteristics of the house that would require major, expensive renovations, or ones that simply can’t be changed. Generally, these items are key issues for resale and value. For instance:

• Overall square footage
• Garage bays (2 is better than 1)
• Bedrooms – a 3 bedroom in an area where 4 bedrooms is the standard will likely be at a resale disadvantage when 4 bedrooms is the community standard.
• Closet size – likely to remain the same even if the kitchen has spectacular granite counters.
• Bathrooms – number and location.
• Floor plan – for instance, some floor plans unfortunately have the dining area at a considerable distance from the kitchen (what were they thinking?)
• Basement exits – basements without legal exits or windows reduce light. In many areas of the country, building codes now prohibit finishing a basement without a legal exit.
• The size and cut of the lot, and location of the house on the lot.
• Home Style – a contemporary style home where colonials are the norm may also be at a resale disadvantage.
• Fireplace – (although in many cases, gas or electric fireplaces can be installed at a reasonable cost).
• Location issues – unlikely the power company will move the transmission line that cuts through the back yard and the freeway that is 10 feet on the other side of the privacy fence will probably stay as well.
• Access to public water / sewer – septic systems and wells can be expensive to maintain or replace. In many areas, you have no options, but this should be considered when public alternatives are available.

Fast Forward to the Negotiation Process


Smart Buyers carefully consider the comparables before making an offer. Your Realtor should provide comparables of recently sold, similar properties. If sufficient comparables are available, and presented in a suitable spreadsheet format, the approximate market value will be evident. Likewise, buyers should also consider the “comparable active (not under contract) listings” as this will paint a picture of the competition the seller is facing. Both can be presented to the listing agent to support the offer.

At this point, your Realtor’s experience becomes critical to the process. They should recommend to you the lowest offer price that will still elicit a serious counter offer. Note I did not say “lowball” offer. Lowballs are offers dramatically below market value and generally will receive a counter offer with a clear message that the seller will not budge, or no counter at all. At this point, further successful negotiations are unlikely and a second offer attempt places the buyer in a very bad negotiating position.

Remember that the settlement and occupancy dates are a key part of the offer. A seller who has a need to either leave quickly or remain for an extra month may be more willing to negotiate a favorable price if offered that flexibility.

If a reasonable counteroffer is returned, there is an excellent chance of achieving a win / win for both the buyer and seller.

We hope this helps and as always we invite your comments, concerns and questions at homesformilitary@vrsam.com


Join us at the New VR SAM® Military Community Forum where you can discuss any number of issues impacting Military Families at http://vrsam.conforums.com/.

Moving to Northern Virginia? Visit VR SAM® at www.vrsam.com or call us at: 877 878-7726.

As a COMPLETELY FREE service for our Military Families, we invite you to find your new home or list your home (sale or rent) at: www.moresam.net

Check out schools on: http://www.greatschools.net/

VR SAM®’s Home Buyer’s Resources http://www.moresam.net/Resources/BuyersRentersResources/tabid/100/Default.aspx


This is VR SAM® proprietary and intellectual property. Unauthorized use and distribution is prohibited by law. Reproduced with the expressed permission of Military.com, Inc.
Copyright 2008