Come To Find Out
Welcome to Come To Find Out- your resource for all things real estate. You can come here to find out about the current market, terms that you see and hear during a transaction, things to do and not to do when you're in contract. The show will also feature interviews with industry partners and leading experts to help you choose who you want on your home buying journey with you. The home buying, selling and investing process can be so overwhelming, so this guide is meant to make it just "whelming."
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Come To Find Out
Veterans' Guide to Homeownership Through VA Loans
Unlock the door to homeownership with Brendon Bland, our go-to VA loans expert, who returns to enlighten us on an often-overlooked benefit for veterans: the VA loan. Gain insights into the transformative potential of these loans, including a 0% down payment option that could be a life-changer for veterans and their families. Brendon helps us navigate the sometimes murky waters of VA loans, ensuring that veterans can maximize their benefits and explore programs tailored to their needs.
Bust through the myths and misconceptions surrounding VA loan appraisals and processes. Brendon demystifies fears around VA and FHA loans, revealing how these options are not just beneficial but protective for both veterans and taxpayers. He also introduces the innovative VA renovation product, a tool for veterans to modernize their homes without the burden of mortgage insurance, offering practical tips to smooth out the appraisal process from a seller's standpoint.
Strategically explore your home-buying options with VA loans, FHA, or conventional loans as Brendon walks us through making informed decisions. Consider the dynamic landscape of financial scenarios, and discover how house hunting parallels dating in finding your perfect match. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be ready to make informed choices, and we're here to support you every step of the way—just reach out, and don't forget to follow us for more invaluable insights. Share this episode with someone who could benefit, and let us know what you think through your ratings and reviews.
To connect with Brendon:
Brendon Bland
614-747-3530
bbland@neighborhoodloans.com
https://www.instagram.com/mortgagemademodern/
https://www.facebook.com/brendon.bland
Sarah Thress
614-893-5885
First Time Home Buyer course: https://sarahthress.graphy.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sarah_thress_realtor/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SarahThressRealtor/
https://www.youtube.com/@LIFEINCOLUMBUS
Hi and welcome to this week's episode of Come to Find Out. This week we are talking with Brendn Bland, which, if you have listened in at all, you will know that he is a reoccurring guest and is always so amazing to come on here and share his knowledge, and I literally can reach out and ask him about anything and he's always willing to come on and talk about it. So thank you so much, brendan, I really appreciate it.
Brendon :I am always happy to be here. I appreciate you having me.
Sarah:Of course, of course. So last time that we recorded, obviously you know, we just had Veterans Day, and the last time that we recorded we talked about, you know, the other thing that happened recently, which was the election. But in that episode, you know, for anyone that listened, you'll know what we're talking about. But if you didn't, no big deal. We were talking about VA loans, so benefits that veterans get, and Brendan shared a very alarming statistic about the lack of knowledge that some of the veterans have about their benefits.
Sarah:So I really just wanted to have Brendon come back on talk about the VA loan, because it is like if you're able to get it, it is the best loan to have. You're going to have the best terms, all of that. So I wanted you to come on and just kind of explain everything. And then I also just learned that Neighborhood Loans which is you know, obviously, who you work with or work for has an amazing program that is just for neighborhood loans clients. So we'd love for you to kind of talk about that and that way we can make sure that everyone kind of knows what their benefits are.
Brendon :Yeah, absolutely Well, I appreciate you dedicating an episode of this because you know, while I don't exclusively work with veterans who are buying homes, it's probably my favorite population of folks to work with. You know, my wife and I just went to Washington DC about a week or so ago and you know, working with this population has been something I've been passionate about for a long time. But when you go to somewhere like DC and you realize just the the enormity of the sacrifice that you know people, the men and women who serve in our military, um, at any capacity, over any amount of time, um, what they give up, it's, it's, it's like it's amazing Um, and we're all very fortunate to um, you know kind of live under the protection they provide. So, um, you know, in the real estate world, um, you know kind of live under the protection they provide. So you know, in the real estate world, you know we have the opportunity to help that those folks when it comes time for them to want to take the next step in their home ownership journey.
Brendon :I know Sarah is really passionate about working with veteran clients as well and there's a whole side of you know kind of the home buying side that she can help with. But on the loan of, you know kind of the home buying side that she can help with. But on the loan side, you know there are specific benefits that veterans have that can make home ownership more accessible, easier and ultimately just better terms in a lot of ways than other types of loans. Because you know, as a veteran, you've earned that. So you know, kind of you know there's like I said, we could talk about this for a long time, but you know, as a veteran, you've earned that. So you know, kind of you know there's, like I said, we could talk about this for a long time, but you know, I think, just taking a couple of minutes to familiarize ourselves with what those options are and those opportunities are. And if you're someone who's served our country or serving our country in the military, in any of the branches, you know, and you have questions about this, we could always, you know, connect offline. But, yeah, I'll stay a couple minutes here to chat about what a VA loan looks like, what the benefits are and kind of some of the basic qualifications, and then, yeah, I'll also kind of talk about this other program.
Brendon :I think it's a really good option for folks, whether they currently own a home right now or they're looking to buy their next home but a VA loan. So obviously, first and foremost need to be a veteran or someone who's currently serving our country. These loans are, once again, great for not just a veteran but also the family. So I think a lot of times some folks will say, well, hey, does my spouse have to be a veteran for us to get the loan? And the answer is no, if you are, you know, if you're married to someone who is not a veteran, they can be on the loan with you and help you qualify, kind of. The only caveat there where it gets tricky is if you know I've had some folks say, hey, you know, we're engaged to get married. You know, can that work? You do have to be married to be on a VA loan. You have to be married to a veteran to be on a VA loan, unless you are also a veteran. But yeah, married spouses can help qualify, but that's, of course, first and foremost. There's a couple other things that most veterans are going to kind of meet the requirements for, and one-off situations we can talk about those. But yeah, if you're a veteran, you honorably served our country, you very likely are going to qualify to use a VA loan.
Brendon :The benefits of a VA loan? There's quite a few, I think. First and foremost, the thing that people most commonly think about is the low down payment. You can do as little as 0% down on a VA loan and, realistically speaking, there's no other loan product out there that allows you to do that. There's a couple onesy-twosy ones out there, but for all intents and purposes, this is the most accessible zero percent down program that's out there and it's available to veterans exclusively in their families. So that's a huge benefit and can really allow you to take steps into homeownership a little bit sooner versus, like I said, having to save the traditional 3.5%, 3%, 5%, 10%, 20% down, whatever it is. The other nice thing with that is, let's say you're doing a non-VA loan and you're putting the minimum down let's say a 3% you're going to have something called mortgage insurance and VA loans don't have mortgage insurance, no matter what. So you know, if you're putting down um 0%, you're not going to have an additional 50, a hundred, a hundred, $1,200 worth of uh kind of built into your monthly payment. It just doesn't exist. The monthly, you know, mi does not exist. So that's another huge benefit for VA loans.
Brendon :Um, I think really you know when we when I think really as a lender, when I'm looking at different rate options for people comparing VA to FHA, to conventional loans VA loans, consistently, are just better at any given time. So you're going to save more money, both from not having the mortgage insurance and having better rate offerings, dollar for dollar, just a better, better loan, and so there's a lot of cost savings that you can see early on and over time, which I think is really, really great. You don't have to do the 0% down too. I've had some folks ask me that do I have to do 0% down on a VA loan? Most definitely not. If you've saved money and you wanna put 20% down or 10% down, you can. You. Just you have the ability to do that.
Brendon :I think one of the other really nice things you know, just for me, that's unique about VA loans is, from a qualification standpoint, there's a little bit more flexibility with what we call debt versus income ratios. At your scenario and trying to help you figure out what monthly payment you're going to qualify for and ultimately what purchase price you're going to qualify for, one of the things that we're tasked to do is figure out, okay, how much debt do you currently have, how much income do you have, and then that's a ratio and there's a max number that you can hit. With VA loans they use a different calculation. It's called residual income. I won't really get into that on this call, just in terms of how that works. But the nice thing about it is it's a lot more flexible than that debt-to-income ratio and so really it allows us to work with our veteran clients to figure out okay, hey, here's the monthly payment that you're comfortable with, and maybe in a traditional conventional loan that monthly payment doesn't work, but in a VA loan it might work, and so there's some flexibility there. This especially, I think, is beneficial, for, you know, we have some clients who go off and start their own business right and just with how they file their taxes or maybe they're early on in their you know ownership, on in their ownership journey.
Brendon :Sometimes, when you're looking at other types of loans, like how we calculate that income, can be a little bit challenging. But once again, with a VA loan, because there's that flexibility, that can open up some opportunities a little bit earlier. So I think that's another really big benefit, especially if you own a business and you're trying to qualify. So I think that's another really really nice thing. But by and large, va loans just like I said, when we just look at all those different factors, it's just a really really good loan. There's all those benefits and, yeah, I think if you're someone who's served our country, you should look into leveraging that, this type of financing to help you take take next steps, and that's kind of like the baseline of of a VA loan. Any anything else. You want to be a cover on that, sarah, before I kind of transition into the kind of the next component of what you know what neighborhood loans is to offer.
Sarah:No, not other than you know. I know we kind of touched on this, you know, in our last few podcasts that we've done together. But you know I have clients that will come to me. That you know. Of course everyone wants to know is now the right time to buy? And you know, especially if you're a VA, you know and you have that VA benefit, right now is honestly the best time to buy because right now sellers that are sellers that have listed are motivated.
Sarah:They, you know, if you're listing your house near a holiday, so in the fourth quarter or even the first quarter, you know, right after the first of the year, especially in Ohio, if you're doing that, no one goes wow, I really want to move in the winter. I hope it snows too, because that's going to be awesome, you know, because I mean it's like 30 degrees right now, I would hate moving right now. But if someone is listing their house right now, they are serious. But that also means that right now we have less buyers in the market than we will in, say, like a springtime. So right now you actually could ask the seller to pay your closing costs and so then you've got your VA benefit that's covering your down payment and you've got the sellers covering the closing costs. Ultimately, you could come to the table to sign and get a brand new house with putting $0 down 100%.
Brendon :Yeah, 100%, that's exactly correct. I'm glad you brought that up because, yeah, I think you know, once again, you know a lot of people, I think, hold off because of various degrees of fears, concerns around monthly payment or around upfront investment. And certainly we want to make sure that when you walk into the door of this new home, that you're really comfortable with everything. You know, even if you have the money for closing costs and down payment, you know, you know we'll look at, I'll look at scenarios with people where we're like, okay, hey, brendan, we have enough money for down payment, for closing costs, but you know, once we pay those things, we're going to be kind of, you know, tapped out.
Brendon :You know, so for the first few months we live in the house, we're not going to have a lot of money saved, and so what we'll look at is well, hey, what if we do the 0% down? What if we have the seller's cover, the closing costs? Instead of negotiating for a lower price, you keep that $10,000, $15,000 in the bank. One, you're going to feel just more comfortable in your home and two, maybe some of the things that you were thinking about doing like, hey, great, we have this new house, we have this new house, we have this extra bedroom, but we don't have any money to put anything in it.
Brendon :Well, now you do right. So I think there's a lot of things to think about and right now, with the market we're currently in, where sellers are more motivated, you can really leverage the power of the VA loan, your power as a buyer, in a market where sellers are more motivated.
Sarah:So I think it's a great point in a market where sellers are more motivated. So I think it's a great point. Yeah, the other thing I wanted to ask you about, though, so I know again that we've touched on this before, but, like back in 2020 and 2021, a lot of people there was a lot of chatter about agents not wanting to take VA loans. All they wanted was conventional, they wanted no FHA, they wanted no VA, and to me that was dumb, because you know, like we've already said, the VA loan is the best loan, but when it comes to appraisals, you know, a lot of times people will hear that the appraisal is a little bit more strict when it comes to an FHA loan versus a conventional.
Sarah:How does the VA appraisal look like? Is it as strict as an FHA where there can't be any peeling paint, there has to be handrails in certain points? You know no rotten wood, you know all of those things that if it was going through a conventional appraisal, obviously they want you to have a functioning house, but if they're peeling paint, it's not a big deal. So just wondered if you could kind of touch on. You know, obviously appraisal is not what you do day in and day out. You at least see the lending side. What kind of comes up?
Brendon :Yeah, I mean, I think it's important to look at this with the context of like okay, how, how often are there actual appraisal issues in reality? And when it comes to the things you're talking about, and I think the answer is very few, very few times. So I think, regardless if it's a conventional loan, a VA loan, an FHA loan, a lot of those fears are overblown regardless. But I certainly understand where they come from. From a seller's perspective, Listen, the VA wants to protect their veterans and it wants to protect their investment, which, by the way, is a good thing, because let's think about this for a second the VA and the FHA are federally backed programs, which means, as taxpayers, we're helping to support. And if the government's going to invest in real estate, we want to make sure that they're making sound investments and obviously we want them to protect our veterans right. So that's all good stuff. So I don't think, in reality, the VA having requirements to make sure that the appraisers, you know the home's in good shape is a bad thing. I think it's a good thing for everybody. I think it's a good thing for our veterans, I think it's a good thing for, you know, the investment the taxpayers are making.
Brendon :All that to say, I also recognize that, you know. You know, as people we tend to be like that's great, but here we are in my I'm in my bubble and I don't care about everybody else, Right about everybody else, right. So I get that side of it too To answer your question. I mean, yeah, it's going to be similar to the FHA profile, but once again, I don't really see that many issues regardless. Listen, if you're a seller listening to this and you're concerned about someone coming with an FHA or VA loan, I would ask myself a few questions Is my house unsafe to live in If the answer is yes then one maybe you shouldn't be living there.
Brendon :And then two yeah, there's probably going to be some problems when you go to try and sell it and someone wants to get a loan. Then if the answer to that is no, it's not unsafe, it's like okay, now there's some common sense things that we need to have. Right, Okay, we have a flight of stairs. There's no handrail here. You probably need a handrail, right? Okay, that's not going to be that expensive and it's something you need to have. Right? Okay, do we have broken glass in the house?
Brendon :Once again, I would assume, sarah, you could tell me, as a listing agent, you would probably recommend someone fix broken glass before they try and sell their house, right? Regardless, because it's going to help them get more top dollar for that home. Right? Similarly, for you know, really bad shipping and peeling paint. That's the same thing. Right? Once again, we want to get top dollar for this house, especially in a market where buyers have more leverage. So all that to say is like these are things that most of the time, most sellers are addressing anyway. So it's just not really that common of an issue, but certainly I think it is something to think about, you know, and but I really just don't see it being as a big of a deal or a challenge as people perceived during COVID. You know, I don't know if that answers your question, but that's my opinions on it.
Sarah:Yeah, no, it does, and I agree, I don't think it's that big of a deal at all. In fact, I love whenever you know, like even during COVID, you know, during 2020, 2021, all of those years where it was so crazy I still would, you know, submit offers for FHA or VA or whatever, and I still was able to get people at them. Because you know, once you explain to the listing agent, like hey, calm your body, like there's anything in this house that's even going to remotely red flag this, so we'll be fine, you know, and I tend to like kind of flip it back on them too, like, well, is there something that you're concerned about that's not going to pass an appraisal? Because, from what I see, everything you know should be fine.
Brendon :So, yeah, I think there's also a misconception that that maybe VA loans take a long time to get done. We can do them the same amount of time we do conventional loans, Certainly depending on the lender. You know, if they're unfamiliar with a VA loan they don't have a good relationship with. You know the VA regional servicing center. Then like, yeah, that's going to be potentially a hurdle, but any reputable lender who's done VA business at any regularity, they should be able to get VA loans done, If not as quick, just about as quick as conventional loans. So I think that's the other thing too. They're not that complicated. Complicated for and really for the seller it's nothing additional at all. So, yeah, yeah, Now to kind of, I guess that is available within the VA that can maybe address some of those concerns is a renovation product. So the VA and neighborhood loans. We have a renovation product that allows folks who are looking to buy a home and want to do some modernization of that home through the purchase process they can actually do that utilizing a VA loan, Still doing the 0% down, still no mortgage insurance, still with better rates than what they would get on a conventional renovation loan, and so it's a really, really nice way.
Brendon :If you're looking at a home and you're thinking, hey, this home would be great if we could just do a couple things to it, you can leverage this VA renovation product to do that, and you know, high level. What that looks like is there's kind of two sides of it. Some of the renovation projects you can do. You can do structural renovation projects which are like hey, we got to do some things to make this house more structurally sound and you know to do what we need to do there. And then you can also do modernization, right. So like, hey, we really want to rip the carpets out, we want to paint the walls, we want to put in new appliances, that kind of stuff, right, to make the home bring it to 2024.
Brendon :You know there's a lot. There was a big housing boom here in Columbus, Ohio, in the 70s, right, and you know, if someone lived in that house in the 70s and hasn't sold it, you want to bring it into 2024. Well, you can use this VA renovation product to do that, and so it's a really nice way to find like, hey, this home, maybe we're going to get a little bit better of a deal on it, right, Because hey, it's not 2024, moving ready. That's okay. We can do some things to it. We can use the loan, Because a lot of times people ask me hey, Brendan, can I take out a little bit more money to do, you know to, to do some work on the house? And the answer is generally no. But when you use a renovation products, and especially this VA product, the answer is yes, you can do that. That's kind of the way it's the way that it's built and the why that it's built that way.
Sarah:So it's a really great product to do that.
Brendon :You can also do it if you're a veteran and you own your home and you want to do some projects as well and you have equity in the home. You can also use this to do that, and so you can do a refinance with a VA loan to basically do some of this renovation work. So it's both ways Great option, and it can help you identify maybe some homes that you're going to be able to get a little bit better of a deal on by doing some of the work yourself Well, not yourself, but by financing some of that work and having it done, instead of buying maybe that move-in ready home that's going to be 15% to 20% to 30% more expensive. So, great, great option as well, yeah, yeah, and I think that's probably what.
Brendon :I'm going to talk about yeah.
Sarah:Yeah, no, I love that and in fact, um, you brought up a really good point. Uh, I will have people that will ask me all the time like, can't I, you know, just take out more money on my loan, and then I can, you know, get the new flooring, or I can, you know, renovate the kitchen or renovate the bathrooms or whatever? And, um, you know, again, I'm, I'm not a lender, you are, um, so I will tend to just tell them like, I don't think that's an option, but please feel free to talk to your lender about that. You know, that's not really how this works, but it's great to know that. You know. And and I do know that there are renovation loans, so it's great to know that there is one that VA specific. But you brought up a really great point.
Sarah:A lot of times, people want the money to buy the materials, but they're going to do the work, you know, themselves instead of hiring someone. And I'd love for you to just kind of address that, because it's my understanding that if you're taking out a renovation loan, you know, like not just a home equity line of credit, but a renovation loan, you have to use contractors that are licensed, bonded. You know all of that and you know, and to my understanding, it's because that you know the bank wants to make sure that they're protecting their asset, because until you made your final, the bank, yeah, actually wants you. You know, they actually own it. So I'd love for you to kind of touch on that. I just want to make sure that I was correct in what I've been telling people.
Brendon :That's yeah, that's 100% correct. So, yeah, I mean, let's, let's kind of just step out once again, remind ourselves, you know, once again, this is really any any loan, but it's definitely a VA loan. Once again is is is guaranteed by the government. The government wants to make sure that the investment they're making is a sound investment. And listen, I get it. You know, I know a lot of us feel like we're super handy people and you know like, hey, I can change a mean light bulb. I could probably put in backsplash you know what I mean. I can probably, you know, put in this flooring. But yeah, this is not that type of program. So the way that this program works is that you know we're getting a, you know a professional who does this full time to come in and complete the work.
Brendon :And so you know you know, and you know, once again, the bank knows and the VA knows that, hey, the work that's being done is being done properly, safely, and ultimately it's going to be done the right way. So, yeah, the way that it works is, you know, when you've identified a potential opportunity or a home, what you're going to do is you're going to get a contractor and you know you can have someone that you know who does a great job, as long as, once again, as you mentioned, they're licensed and bonded. They do have to get approved with a lender if it's not someone the lenders work with already, but that's a process that can be done. But basically, what happens is they go out, they work with you to basically say, like, hey, here's the work that we want to do. They go out, they make a bid and then that bid gets submitted to your lender, who? Then what happens is you go into contract on that home.
Brendon :Let's say the home is $200,000 and you want to do $50,000 worth of work. So what ends up happening is we submit that contract and that bid to the appraiser. The appraiser comes out to the home and says, yeah, based on all the work that you want to do here, the value of this home, would you know, match the work that's being done right, so you're. So you're not. You're buying a $200,000 home right now, but now it's going to be a $250,000 home when all this work is done right. So that's kind of how that process works. In the beginning, um, you close the loan, um, and then at that point, that's when the that's really when the work begins, um, then the contractor gets paid by the lender over time as work's being completed once you close on that loan.
Brendon :But yeah, it is a professional doing professional work in the home. This is not a loan where we're taking money and we're going to Lowe's and doing that ourself. Now, there is a way you could do that. I mean, if you own the home already and you want to do a VA cash out refinance, that's something you could certainly do and, you know, take those funds and say, hey, you know what? I've watched a lot of YouTube videos, I feel really good about installing this shower. Then you could do it that way.
Brendon :But if we're going through the renovation process, which makes sense for a lot of reasons, then yeah, it is a professional doing the work, there's a bid involved and that's how that goes. I think the other thing you know, not to great program, great product for the right situation I will put a little bit of a caveat on this is that this does have to fit the right scenario, and what I mean by that is, even though right now in the wintertime we or heading into the wintertime there is a little bit less, you know, activity from the buyer side, right, so we have leveraged buyers, we still have to have a seller who's kind of, who's willing, to go through this process, because this does take a little bit of time Because, remember, you know, we have to get a bid, go into contract, we have to get that bid approved. The appraiser has to come out and say this is good. And so usually I would say that a normal loan process takes anywhere from three weeks to a month, and this is anywhere going to be from 45 to 60 days, potentially for all that work that needs to get done. And so we have to have a seller who is willing to kind of go through that process. There's plenty of scenarios where that's the case, but that's where we kind of have to identify if that is the kind of home that we want to buy, we got to find opportunities that match that.
Brendon :If we're trying to do this with a home that just hit the market and has 10 offers, I don't think we're going to win that offer. But you know that's just being honest. But once again, if we're like, hey, this is the route we want to go, then we need to identify and that's what Sarah can help you do is identify opportunities where it's like, hey, these sellers, you know they're looking for an offer, right, and they'll be willing to kind of go through this process. It's not a hard process. It's just, you know, it can take a little bit.
Sarah:Yeah, no, and I think that's so good to know too, because you know, especially like right now, like we've said, it's less competitive, not in every situation. You know some areas still are seeing multiple offers and you know things time right now historically is a slower time and it is much easier for us to do that. So, going into spring, I guess I would love people to just kind of keep in mind that if you're wanting to take advantage of this VA product, I would recommend doing it before spring, because in the spring market it is going to be a little bit more difficult. It's not impossible. I always tell people whatever's meant to be is going to be yours. So if the house was meant for you, it's always going to work out for you. Whether we're buying now or in the spring or whatever, it really doesn't matter. But to set yourself up for the best possible outcome when going into this, you know just definitely kind of keep that in mind that you know the less competitive times of the year are going to be much easier.
Sarah:To try and use a renovation style loan that is going to take longer, because most of the time people are like, hey, let's do a quick close. If you can do three awesome. So A hundred percent Right. And you know, and let's do a quick close If you can do three awesome, so 100 percent Right.
Brendon :And there are situations, I think too, where you know you know folks are like, hey, if we find the right house, that doesn't need any work. Great, you know, we'd like to know how the renovation product works in case we find an opportunity to do that Right and so you can kind of go into it, I think, with both ideas in mind.
Brendon :Um, it's just, you know, once again it's like one of those scenarios where it's like, you know, if you're, if you're dead set on doing a renovation project, um, and making a house in the way you want to make it, um it's just, once again, knowing that, hey, we got to find those opportunities. Um, not every opportunity, not every, not every home is going to match that. So, yeah, it's great opportunity.
Sarah:I love that and I love that you mentioned, you know, just kind of knowing your options, because I think that's something too that a lot of especially first-time home buyers whether it's VA or not just any first-time home buyer is always. You know, I get feedback all the time Like, oh, my gosh, like I, you know, I don't want to bother my lender, I don't want to ask them because I'm like, oh, have you called Brendan or have you called your lender to ask them to run those numbers? So that you know, you know, are you going to be comfortable in that? Because I know you and I are super passionate about making sure that people are in a monthly payment that they feel comfortable with, and you know. So I always ask them. You know, have you talked to your lender? You should, you should contact Brendan, you should ask him to run the numbers and things like that. And so I love that you brought that up because you know I, they always feel like they're going to be bothering you and I'm like you're not, like he wants to help you, just like I do, to make sure that you're comfortable in it.
Sarah:So if you're trying to see, you know, does it make sense for me to use my VA benefit. Or, for some strange reason, does it make sense for me to not even use my VA benefit because I'm going to get a better deal FHA or conventional or whatever, or maybe it's a rehab loan or maybe whatever. All of those things you know. Obviously correct me if I'm wrong, but all of those things are things that are scenarios that you can run and you can give, you know, exact numbers based off of like, if they're like hey, we saw this house and this is what we'd want to do, you could tell them well, if you did this, this is how much money you'd need to bring to the table If you did this, you know. Or like this would be a longer timeline, a longer process, you know. But at least then they're making an educated decision with all the facts.
Brendon :Yeah, 100%, I think. Yeah, usually for most people, you know, in the beginning, because I don't want this to be overwhelming, but usually we're honed in on a couple different ideas pretty early on and then we can kind of just build plans and ideas and strategies around those ideas. And then we can kind of just build plans and ideas and strategies around those ideas and then, yeah, we can always run. You know, hey, we're looking at this house Based on the plans we've set up. How does this look?
Brendon :Right, a common one when we're talking about VA, you know, once again, let's say, we have one person who's a veteran, we have a non-married spouse, so if we do the VA loan, we only have one income and that works up to a certain price point. So then we run the numbers for a house up to that price point. But then, hey, after that house, we're going to look at another one that's, let's say, $50,000 more. Well, hey, now we need to maybe pivot to a conventional loan with both of us on the loan to qualify, and so what do those numbers look like? And so, yeah, we can, you know, we can do that pretty seamlessly and easily.
Brendon :And then you know, even take it a step further and say, hey, listen, you know we're going to get, you know we're going to buy this house now. We're getting married in six months. So then you know, six months to a year from now, when it comes time to refinance, we'll do that on a VA loan. And here's what that looks like, right, so we can we'll kind of, you know, move the chess pieces around the board, um, at any given time to just game it out. But yeah, that's what we're here to do is to help you walk through the different scenarios, um, kind of hone in on a couple that are going to make the most sense, so you're not overwhelmed. And then, um, yeah, just do that over and over again until we find the right one.
Sarah:I love it. I love it. Yeah, well, and exactly, I didn't want to get in too much into the weeds, but.
Sarah:I just, you know, wanted to kind of plant that seed because a lot of people worry that they're you know that they're bothering their lender, that they're bothering their agent. You know I get all the time like, oh, I don't want to, I don't want to make you go look at all these houses, and I'm like that. I actually love doing that because you know you're either going to figure out that you like something about this house you love this house or you hate this house, or you hate certain things about it. So, like, either way, it's helping you to figure out what it is that you want and what it is that you don't want. It's a lot like dating.
Brendon :Yeah, that's, that is true. It is a lot like that, yeah, so?
Sarah:I love it. I love it Well. So, for anyone that's listening, that has listened before, you know that I always tell you to go to Brendan's social media, uh, because he does post lots of great videos, great content, uh, you know, and he's always trying to kind of like answer questions and things like that. So all of that information will be in the show notes. So definitely make sure I will have his phone number which you can call or text, I'll have his email and I'll have links to his social media so that that way you can, you know, start to follow him.
Brendon :Thank you, would love to. I would love to connect with anybody, yeah.
Sarah:Perfect. Yeah, sorry, I just kind of stopped there. I was waiting to see if you had anything else you wanted to add. I'm sorry.
Brendon :Oh, that's great. No, I, I, yeah, I think that's that's the best way to do it. You know, I, I know that you have a um given outreach with this, uh, with this podcast. That's certainly goes beyond the, goes beyond the borders of I-270 here in Columbus, Ohio. So if you're not familiar with Columbus but you still want to get in touch with us, yeah, I think social media is a great way to do it, so feel free.
Sarah:Perfect. I love it. Well. Thank you so much again, brendan, for taking time out of your day to hop on and give such great information. I always love having you on.
Brendon :I love being on. Thanks for having me.
Sarah:Yeah, absolutely so. Please make sure that you are going to the page, not only to look at the show notes to find how to get ahold of Brendan, but also so that you can rate and review, because leaving feedback is the greatest gift that you can give, and please make sure that you are sharing this with anyone that you think would benefit from hearing about the VA loan. That is the greatest compliment that you can give Brendan and myself. And also make sure that you are following along. Make sure that you follow the show so that you never miss another episode. Thanks so much, and we'll see you next time on Come to Find Out.