The Veterans Growing America Podcast
Welcome to "The Veterans Growing America Podcast," hosted by the insightful duo, Donnell Johns and R.L. Simmons. This engaging podcast is dedicated to showcasing the entrepreneurial journeys of veterans, active service members, and their dependents who have bravely ventured into the world of business.
In collaboration with Veterans Growing America (VGA), an organization committed to fostering the growth of veteran-owned businesses, our hosts bring to life the stories of those who have served their country and are now serving their communities through entrepreneurship. Each episode invites a new guest to share not only the unique proposition of their business but also their personal narrative as a veteran or a family member of a veteran.
The Veterans Growing America Podcast
John Y. Ford | Real Estate | Veterans Growing America
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In this episode of the Veterans Growing America Podcast, hosts Coach RL Simmons and Donnell Johns sit down with John Y. Ford, a U.S. Army veteran and seasoned logistics, security, and real estate professional with over 30 years of global experience.
From coordinating military operations across four continents to becoming a trusted Keller Williams real estate agent, John shares his powerful journey of service, strategy, and transition. With a wealth of experience spanning international logistics, law enforcement, and defense contracting, John now helps families—especially veterans—navigate the complex world of home buying.
In this episode, we dive into the truth about today’s housing market, uncover underutilized VA housing benefits, and explore how military discipline translates into real estate excellence.
Key Takeaways:
- He has 20+ years of experience in military and civilian security operations.
- John now helps veterans and government professionals make smarter real estate decisions.
- Many veterans still don’t know how to fully use their VA loan benefits.
- Strategic negotiation and market analysis are part of John’s signature real estate approach.
- There is a growing need for military-friendly and veteran-informed real estate services.
“I don’t just help people buy homes—I help them understand the mission behind their investment.” – John Y. Ford Connect with John Y. Ford]: @JohnYFordRealty Join the Movement: Veterans Growing America A network for veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs Shop. Connect. Grow. @VeteransGrowingAmerica | www.veteransgrowingamerica.com
#VeteranRealEstate #VAHomeLoans #MilitaryHomeBuying #VeteranBenefits #JohnYFord #VeteransGrowingAmerica #ShopVeteran #RealEstateStrategy #VAEntitlement #VeteranRealtor #LogisticsToLuxury
Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Veterans Grown America podcast. I am your co-host, Coach RL Simmons. I am here with my illustrious co-host, Donnell Johns, and we have another special guest for you today. We have Mr. John Y. Ford. He is a realtor with Keller Williams. He is a realtor in the Manassas area. Let me not forget the most important thing. He is an Army veteran. Welcome to the show, sir. Thank you very much. Delighted to be here.
SPEAKER_01No, we're happy to have you, John. Thank you for being on the on the podcast. I know you. I know you very well, but our audience wants to get connected with you. Let them know how you're connected to the military and give a little bit about your background and experience.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm connected to the military personally and professionally. Personally, I grew up army and went into the army with no break and service. So from the moment I was born until you know till I retired in 2015, it's always been my service to the country. I met uh my link to VGA, I met Donnell at uh at a at a seminar or another mini convention uh somewhere, I don't even remember where. And uh I heard I heard about the VGA, and it was a great, great idea. A great idea. And and I knew I'd never seen anything like it. So the moment I stepped into the store, I'm like, this is for me. This is family. And uh been with uh VGA ever since.
SPEAKER_01Nice, nice. And you said you were you were with the military since you were born, so your parents served in the military as well, or what?
SPEAKER_02My father, yeah, my father was career army.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_02He was sitting he was sitting right next to me when I signed up.
SPEAKER_01He walked a recruiter into your living room, or was he a recruiter?
SPEAKER_02No, no, no, no. He didn't want to do that job, but but he uh he definitely was sitting right beside me when I when I signed the paper. Nice.
SPEAKER_00So retiring in two 2015 and uh essentially transitioning into entrepreneurship. What about your military training and experience led you into entrepreneurship?
SPEAKER_02Well, most of most of my career I was actually in the reserve. I had many jobs, quite a few jobs uh while in the reserves. To include uh business financial specialist with Merrill Lynch, so I was series six and series seven licensed. I knew the nuts and bolts about business and how money transacted. I worked as a uh as a logistical sales representative for a large company. Then I did uh more transportation and logistics when I was uh in Afghanistan from 2013 to 2015. And I always loved the business side of the the army. And then one day the company I was working with in Afghanistan went bankrupt. So I had to shift and lift fire. Yeah. And wife said, well, you know, you're you're good at you're good at sales, and you'd always been interested in real estate. And I'd always liked it too. I really did. And uh and thanks, I guess, thanks to a Reeves Across America event in Manassas. Um I was talking to a group of folks and uh the lady there, Robin's Y Band, she was uh an agent with Keller Williams, also career army, said, Hey, we're hiring. If you're looking to get your license, come see me. And this was uh almost almost two years ago. So she led me, she led me by the hand initially and uh you know, guided me in the on the right steps, got licensed and got right to work. I've loved it ever since. Again, just about a couple of years, but been busy ever since.
SPEAKER_01Wow, so two years, two years into entrepreneurship. So let me let me ask this question. You just told us about your experience and enjoying this, but has entrepreneurship always been in your spirit, or is that just something that you decided to do after attending that event?
SPEAKER_02It always it always been with me.
SPEAKER_01Like where did it start? Were you a kid? Uh in high school? What did what did entrepreneur how did you get interested in? What inspired you to start your own business?
SPEAKER_02When I was in the right position, again, being being a real estate agent, because we're we're 1099 contractors, so we we really do work for ourselves. We promote ourselves, even though you know I work for with a large company. But I guess my first taste of entrepreneurship was, you know, when my dad was stationed at Fort Hood and I'm, you know, trying trying to jump up some business, cutting cutting grass on posts, going going from door to door. Hey, do you need your moat, your lawnmower? Hey, you know, I live just down the street. Let me cut your grass.
SPEAKER_01No, that yeah. Not not very many people had the heart to do that. So growing up and knocking on doors door to door saying, Hey, let me cut your grass, is is a real start to entrepreneurship. So did you did you make lots of money doing that?
SPEAKER_02I made it I I made enough to uh you know put gas in the car.
SPEAKER_00No, that's good. So let me ask you a little bit about being a realtor in Manassas. What are some of the the biggest things that people should know about as they're looking to purchase a new home? What are some of the things that let's talk a little bit about processes. What what are some of the processes that they should be aware of?
SPEAKER_02Well, uh the times I've been to to BGA and networking events, I'm still surprised to this day on how little our fellow veterans know about their VA benefits. I mean, the last the last time I was VGA, I talked to a lady who didn't know that when you're 100% disabled, you don't have to pay a funding fee for your loan and that you most of the fees are waived because you're 100%. And, you know, I had thought by this time when you're going through the transition process, you're given that information. But you know, the more the more I speak to most folks, the more I realize, hey, we need more people out there to tell our veterans these these benefits are for you. Use them. So we go through the, you know, we go through the home buying process step by step. We go through the home funding process step by step. Uh providing information is the key to, you know, key to success and using that information.
SPEAKER_00So I got another good question, and I I kind of hear cart before the horse type of deal. So I would like for you to kind of elaborate on it. So a lot of times people will go out and they'll get a realtor without having, and they want to look at houses without having understanding of how much they would be funded for the mortgage. So what what does that look like? Should I go to my mortgage to should I go to my realtor and have my realtor take me to a loan officer? Should I find a loan officer first? How does that process work?
SPEAKER_02You know, it depends from some from realtor to realtor. But, you know, I s I see it, I see it this way. It's better to look, you know, to work with a realtor already knowing what you're qualified to. So nine times out of ten when I'm you know, speaking to to first-time home buyers that are completely fresh to buying their own home, and again, this this includes not knowing what their what their worth is. Like, hey, let me pair you up with a preferred lender to get you not only pre-qualified, but pre-approved, getting that letter to say this is how much you you know you can you purchase. It's the worst thing to do is to go you know, go looking at a at a house, you see that you see the price, and then going back to a lender and knowing that you can't afford it, that kills that kills your motivation. But if you have that pre-approval letter saying, hey, that you are pre-approved for like$850,000, and you go to you know, you look at a home and it's you know$820,$830, and you know you can afford it, because again, our the lenders go through each and every you know line item and in your pre-approval process. How much you can afford, like, yeah, I can afford this house. So I'm gonna look at it with the eye of a real potential owner as opposed to maybe I can get this house. Education again, education is key.
SPEAKER_00That's good. Now I have a question more specific to active duty service members. A lot of times we initially at our first duty station we become first-time home buyers, and then we use that VA loan, and then we essentially end up PCS and some of us sell our houses, and some of us will rent our houses out. Now, for the ones that actually rent their houses out and it's time to PCS, can they use their VA loan again?
SPEAKER_02This is another this is another time where we're where education is key. You can actually use your VA loan more than once, and it's like every every year, three years. People say, you know, people think, and again, I run across people like this all the time. Yeah, I can only use my VA loan once and you know, and and you know, and that's it. No.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, in my work, I get that question a lot. Not even a question, it's more of a a halt to a process. Uh you they would basically say, I already use my VA loan. I say it's not a one and done thing, right? Gotta learn how to rinse and repeat. That's how you build generational wealth while you're in the service.
SPEAKER_02There are active duty members and veterans who have become millionaires because they've been able to reallocate their VA loan and then transfer, transfer the profits they've made on previous homes into purchase up another another investment property. A VA loan is a is a you know is is only a stepping stone. Absolutely. Knowing that you can use it and you can use it more than once, that's you know, that's Yeah, it's power.
SPEAKER_00It's power right there. It's a very underutilized benefit. Very, very.
SPEAKER_01And so what would you say is your superpower as a realtor that can definitely help out someone, especially in the military, buying a house?
SPEAKER_02I know the I know the system well, but I, you know, I always like to bring in this bring in the story. I've been there. I've been been that soldier getting you know getting out and and purchasing the first home. So I know the process can can be tough. But the more you're educated, the more you work with people who who have been there and done that, that makes that makes the home buying process a lot easier and a lot less painful. You know, one thing I love to do when, you know, when veterans like bring in their bring in their their children. And uh, you know, you could you can tell that they've PCS probably you know a couple of times or so. It's like, ooh, yay, another another house. But make it exciting for them. It's like I always I talk to the child after I introduce myself to the parents, I introduce myself to the children, especially if they're older children. I say, hey, go ahead and go ahead and pick out your your and really sometimes most of the time they actually pick out the parents' room as their own room. But you know, I tell the tell the kids, I've I have been that been that kid, you know, every three years or so. Oh, time to you know, time to pack up pack up in the mood. When you should when you have that connection, when you have when you show empathy and sympathy, is you've been there and done that, that uh that tells them, hey, I'm working I'm working with someone that knows what they're doing and and they know who I am because they've been there and done it.
SPEAKER_01Nice, nice. What advice uh would you give an individual, you know, that they've never bought a house before and they're looking at you know getting into the market? What advice would you give them?
SPEAKER_02Well, now is actually a good time because rates have eased quite a bit. Uh we're talking conventional, maybe at 6.2, and then federal loans just under just under six, actually between 5.6 and 5.8. I mean, that's not to say because the people uh this is first time. We've got veterans who've had VA loans when they were, you know, twos and you know, three percent. We're not we're not there yet, don't know when we're gonna go back there. But considering the last several years, now is now is a great time to buy. And you got people, you know, people that ham and haw about about purchasing a home, trying to wait, trying to wait, trying to wait. You know, if you're waiting, you're you know, if you're the waiting to for the market to you know to do better or for interest rate to drop any you know anymore, you're gonna wind up, you know, losing losing that moment. So look now, get with the lender now to lock you within rates. We're actually recommending people that uh first-time homeowners to go ahead and and get in it. The percentage right now is almost the trigger point for many people. Additionally, if you're looking to refi a home that you've maybe you you purchased a home within the last three to five years, now again is a good time to refi. No.
SPEAKER_01I I think people when it comes to buying a house, it's either you're gonna get a great price or a great interest rate, but you can't have both, you know?
SPEAKER_00And in a different area, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I've never seen I've never well, I take that live back. I've seen prices go down, but the entire market crashed. That probably happens, you know, once every 20 years. And so if they're waiting 20 years for that to happen, it's gonna be a long time.
SPEAKER_02And so thousand, yeah, 2008 was the the last one. It was a rough period.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But look where we are right now. I don't think that uh we're 2008, so they got they got a long time to wait.
SPEAKER_02But now we're we're sort of we're sort of balanced between a buyer's market and the and a seller's market. The seller's market because people are starting sellers are are kind of like reducing their prices just to get just to sell what they've what they've got um at a set at a semi-decent price. And then on the flip side you have a buyer's market because interest rates are are easing now. We'll we'll probably see maybe another another reduction. I think with the next uh I think three or four months. It's not but it's not getting Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I was thinking maybe towards the like uh the offseason, you know, like spring and summer is really the the the big pushes because that's when everybody is is moving and that's when the houses look prettier and everybody's out for in the off season you start to see prices go down because people are not as much as, but we don't know what the not just the price, but the actual interest rate, we don't know what that is gonna look like. So I mean I would look to purchase if I'm looking at prices, but the the interest rate that's something that you can't bank on. Um I do have some some questions that would that hopefully kind of will help enlighten the audience. So a lot of um challenges that and uh and again maybe it's not challenges, it's just um uninformed or um just ignorant to the fact they just don't know. For VA loans, what does it look like as far as your credit score and debt to income ratio in order to get in a and for a home? And we can just throw out some soft numbers for examples if we need to.
SPEAKER_02One of the I guess one of the great the greatest benefits for VA loans and that you know it's it's it's you uh it's it's easier to it's easier to get a loan if your credit score is is lower. There's there've been people that have gotten a VA loan with you know with a 580 or a 6 you know 620 credit score. You don't have to have perfect credit. Now technically, technically the way it's the way it's worded, it really doesn't matter how low your credit score is, you can still be guaranteed low. But but for a lender to be comfortable, 620, 680 is is is good. But again, technically, you can have a 520 credit score and still get a BA loan.
SPEAKER_00And that's so that's a that's a really good point. And uh again, the I think the debt to ratio uh plays a little bit of factor on what that loan um looks like. But my uh my other question would be does that credit score affect your interest rate?
SPEAKER_02No, because just because of the of the the how should I put it? Just because the the intent of the VA loans is meant to have a lower interest rate than than any other type of loan. Right? Especially conventional.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And so that that is uh I think number one, John, I really appreciate you for kind of debunking a lot of things because a lot of times uh service members and veterans, they don't have this level of education. And then some of the education that they will have, they may not be asking a veteran or a current service member, being that you are all of that wrapped in one, hey, I'm a realtor and a former service member, and I can outline what that is supposed to look like for you. I think you help out anybody that's listening and watching this. Hopefully that conversation has made you become more hopeful because a lot of the rebuttal that I get is hey, why don't you just go purchase a home? This is like from soldiers who's like PCS, like my sister, my brother, for example. I'm like, hey, just go buy a home. And they're moving to Kansas where you can get a home for like$170. And they're like, hey, well, our credit, our credit's sticks something. And I'm like, it's perfect. Let's just go for it. Um, but they don't because they hear the need to have this much down, and like, go get the answers from your realtor before you doubt all of the YouTube and TikTok you've been watching. Go get a real answer from an expert, and I appreciate you for sharing that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, one of the other things is you do not have to have 20% down on a half. That's like the that's like the biggest myth. Everybody is all locked in about having you gotta have 20% down in order to buy home. No.
SPEAKER_01What do you have to have down for a VA home loan? How much?
SPEAKER_00And it's amazing because that is definitely when you're dealing with specific realtors, as you can tell, I work with a couple of realtors. Specific realtors, they are able to really, and that their job, which is why you get a good realtor, is to work out that piece because you may have uh a selling realtor and then you have the buyer's realtor, and they're gonna negotiate how that money goes, especially because there's so many fees in between, you know again, unless you're 100%. Uh but again, you have sellers' fees and things like that, but the that good realtor is gonna negotiate negotiate all of those prices. Yeah, that may be on my end, this uh Fort Me connection.
SPEAKER_02I've been up there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I I think he makes a good point is you know, people really don't know or even understand the benefit, the extra benefit of having a VA home loan, that zero percent down, that guaranteed percentage rate, the fees, if you're 100% permanent total, you may not have any fees to go along with it. I think, you know, some great advice, or you can, you know, share the great advice, you know, with individuals if if they fall within the category of being a veteran or uh a current active service member, um I highly recommend going to see a realtor like John and finding out the answers first before disqualifying yourself. 100%.
SPEAKER_02And one one thing that uh most most veterans will find when they work with a veteran who's a realtor is that because of our mutual service, I know for me, you know, I'll speak for myself, that I give I give discounts. Not only for my services, but I also provide one year of home warranty that comes out of that pocket. Because again, it's almost like with any comp with any company that provides the service, especially the veterans, they provide it, provide a discount that take. We have done a a lot for our country. You know, it's just it's just it's just a good handshake that uh you know that we provide, provide that, that that, I guess, that added benefit to our fellow veterans.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I concur. In my first house, uh, we worked with a veteran uh realtor, and that dude was so good. We had, and I say take care of us, and again, me and him actually became friends after and hung out, and he was actually trying to get me to become a realtor, but he did so good that uh not only did we buy the home, had zero down, but I think we received like$2,500 back. That's correct. I was like, hi, I just bought something, but he took care of us. No regrets.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, with all that, all the with all the benefits, with all the the provided closing costs that some that many veterans actually wind up at closing getting money back instead of instead of having money deducted from from the closing costs or having to pay something.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, completely took care of us. I was just like, I don't know. That was again first time I was like, I don't know if it's gonna be like this every time. People got it, they got a high standard to meet next time.
SPEAKER_02That was amazing. And in this, in this, I guess, in this local market or regional market, we've got many people, quite a few people are actually looking for. Do we stop?
SPEAKER_01No, you're good. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_02Okay. We've got we've got folks that uh they're looking looking for resale homes, but it's starting to pick up where people are looking for brand new homes. When, you know, when when you look at someone else's house and you're looking at a brand new, you know, new construction home, when those when all things being equal, the s you know, the size of the house, the yard, and and the number of rooms, if those numbers are starting to equal, they're gonna people are more often than not that opting for for new construction. We've got a we've got a handful of great new builders or new construction uh builders in the in this area that uh that's what's happening. That's beautiful.
SPEAKER_00I I got one more question. Uh I actually just learned this not too long ago. But uh, and it's another thing that a lot of veterans may not know about, but I'll just ask the question is there a what is there a way that if you have a veteran who owns a home that they can not necessarily sell the home to them, but just allow the other veteran to assume the loan of the home?
SPEAKER_02VA assumption. Can we talk about that a little bit? Well, it's just it's just as you said, selling from one veteran to another veteran, if you you know, if you both have your certificate of eligibility, then that purchas purchasing veteran can assume the loan either either at the same price, I mean at the same interest rate, or if it's refinanced, it might it might be better depending, you know, depending upon the mark.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And they uh the one piece about that. Is I learned about it, but then when I started like because that's my little pastime is I'll look through Zillow or homes.com and then it says uh assumable loan like in the home description. And I saw I was wondering, hey, what is that? Somebody broke it down to me. I thought it was a very neat aspect that people should be or know or be educated about.
SPEAKER_01Do you need a do you need a realtor to go through the assumable home process?
SPEAKER_02Not not really. Technically, you you if you want to s if you own your home and want to sell it and you have and you have an assumable VA loan, you don't have to go through don't have to go through a realtor. However, on the back end, if that lender is working with that VA loan, nine times out of ten, they're going they're going to require you to have a realtor because of the pay because of the paperwork itself, it's you know that's that's involved. We've got we've got folks on uh like mil the website military buy owner, people selling their their own home. Some of them have you know VA assumption loans. But you have to really do your work in order to you know to get that through. To understand, you know, to understand the understand the the the paperwork involved. Yeah. So sometimes, you know, sometimes we'll get clients saying, I'm tired of the work, I don't want to sell my own home anymore. Please help me out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sometimes it's just better to have a a a realtor.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's nothing like a professional.
SPEAKER_00I understand.
SPEAKER_02Especially to take all that paperwork, you know, weight away away uh from you.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So, John, let me ask you this about VGA. So let's uh let's focus on VGA a little bit. Can you tell uh our members or the people that are watching the audience about your experience with Veterans Growing America?
SPEAKER_02Other than the fact that I love it and my wife loves it, who's a veteran too. Just the just the networking events, the the people that that show up to tell us about our ourselves, how we can take care of others to make a bigger and better impact on our you know our community, not just not just Woodbridge and NASA's, you know, but beyond because you know we know as veterans our world is not where we sit, it's everywhere else or you know, around us. But it's it's still carrying on that sense of family that many of us have been used to. Well, for me, pretty much my entire life, and for others, you know, their entire adult life. So carrying on that sense of family, I think, is is probably the the best description I can tell of.
SPEAKER_01I love that. We we are happy to have you as a member of Veterans Growing America. It's an honor to have you be a part of us. So, you know, thank you for being a part of the team.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for having me. Hey, so before we get out of here, I want to know if you have any parting words for the the guest listeners and and viewers.
SPEAKER_02If you don't know something, ask. If you're unsure about your VA benefits, if you're unsure about how to sell your home or you know how to go, even if you want to rent, if you're unsure, ask. That's all we're here for. You know, we're here to ask answer your questions. We're we're here to take it a guide, we're here to you know provide mentorship if necessary.
SPEAKER_00And so how can people get a hold of you if they're looking to purchase a home or sell their home? How can they find you?
SPEAKER_02Almost everywhere. Um I'm at VGA. Um I'm on the VGA's directory. Um you can find me at JY.kw.com. My email address is JYthenumber4 properties at KW.com. My number is 703-232-0773. You can you can just you can just Google John Y Ford anywhere and you'll you'll you'll find all my connections. I love it. I love it.
SPEAKER_00Hey Donnell, how can people continue to support Veterans Growing America?
SPEAKER_01I want to turn the question back to you and uh and and have them have you tell us a little bit about you and how they can get in touch with you and the work that you do, and then we could talk a little bit about VGA.
SPEAKER_00I love it, I love it. It's perfect timing. As you can see, uh, I am a uh full spectrum uh financial coach. I thoroughly enjoy teaching people about each and every aspect, especially marginalized families and veteran families. We need this education. And essentially, when we talked about, you know, becoming a generational millionaire as a as an active service member by simply taking a benefit that you already have and something that you're gonna do anyways, and buy a home and then just continue renting the process. What I like to do is educate. I think education is the most important thing, but the the the fine balancing between what I do and what everybody else does is everybody understands that people need education, but they want entertainment. So I supply entertainment and education at the same time. So you can find me at Calm where we can sit down and do a financial audit. And what we can do is look at what it is that you want to do financially, and we help you walk through each step and get there. Whether it is buying a home or uh making your credit better to buy a home or um I have everything investments, um, estate planning. We put all of those things together because I want you to be able to walk through that full process and and really say that you're financially free because of the education. Now let's talk about VGA.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So y'all heard y'all heard them over there. Everything financed. I don't know if you guys uh when you watch this, we may be outside of the government shutdown, but this is a time that you would wish, I said it right, wish, that you had your finances together, especially during the government shutdown, and you have to figure out, you know, how you're gonna make it through these this month or so. I hope it, I hope the shutdown closes down by the end of this week, but what if it doesn't? You got to make sure that your finances are in order. So I highly recommend uh my brother RL Simmons, coach over there.
SPEAKER_00But let's get back to VGA. Hey, before we before we take that step, I think this is a great opportunity for just for a point of education, right? So we talk about having a maintenance fund and an emergency fund and ensuring that as you're stacking that emergency fund that you have a six-month buffer. So whatever it is to take to pay off your bills within six months, that's what your emergency fund should look like. Now, should you just like dump a whole bunch of money in that? No. But you should be, you know, putting when we talk about creating a savings, you should be saving a little bit and a little bit putting into that fund because you're building that nest egg. And then let me give you just another step of that education. That fund essentially goes into a high yield savings account. So you're putting that money into a high yield savings account, and now if the emergency ever happens, is there and you can borrow from it. If the emergency never happens, you're still getting three or four percent gaining off of that money. So this I think this is a really good, and I'm glad you brought that up, a really good point. So if you're in a tough spot, you know, definitely you're in my thoughts and prayers. If you have some, a little bit of a buffer, then you're you're doing good. But at the end of the day, this piece of education is just to know that stuff does happen and you need to plan accordingly. Absolutely. And y'all know how to find them. Do they know how to find you? Your moneygo.com. I o r g O A T. I can't even spell money go.com.
SPEAKER_01So findyourmoneygo.com. He could also be found on the veteran business directory, the VGA directory. And then speaking of Veterans Growing America, the first place that you you should probably go uh and find us is our website, veteransgrowingamerica.com, where we have both of these two gentlemen listed on our directory, as well as the events that we have that showcase veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs, or you can meet us at our many locations. One being the Woodbridge Virginia store, where you can support veteran entrepreneurship. We have several different businesses in there and several events that will uplift and educate you on what you need in order to succeed. Y'all come back now, you're here.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna blow your minds right now. In addition to your veterans' benefits for housing, did you know that you could also stack or layer other programs? As if there's like a an if you're if you're qualifying for an FHA loan or you know any other type of federal loan, even if you qualify for another, if you if you wherever you bank, if they provide some type of funding for you, you can stack that in addition to.
SPEAKER_00I didn't know that. That's a new one. That's a new one. I might need to pick up that off camera.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that is, that is. I didn't know that. Yeah. So if you guys are watching this, contact my brother John down there, John Y Ford. You can go to the veteran business directory and find him. You could actually message him through that directory and get more information on that.
SPEAKER_00Ladies and gentlemen, we are over in out.