Closing Time

October 7, 2007 By CJ
Posted in Life in the Military, Top Posts, Veteran Benefits

We are homeowners! The closing table is always an interesting hodgepodge of emotion. On one level, you’re happy to have it all over with. On another, you realize that you just made a HUGE purchase and along with it comes all the headaches of owning a home. Thankfully, this isn’t the first house we ever bought.

When I approached VAMC about the possibility of using their services to get a VA loan to purchase a new home, I was a little apprehensive. The VA loan process isn’t the easiest way to get a home loan by any means. However, it does save a veteran a lot money. Of all the benefits of military service, I’m most thankful for the VA loan. Without it, purchasing a home on the kind of income we earn would be difficult. Or better yet, purchasing a home that I would be proud to live in would be difficult. Finding one that fits my family would be difficult.

On the way here, we stopped to stay with some very good friends over the weekend. They are stationed at Fort Knox, KY. We had an opportunity to attend church with them. It was a great experience because I saw other people that I’ve known throughout my years in the military. I saw friends from my time at Fort Irwin, at Fort Stewart, and from Iraq. All in one little town. I also got to see where the nation’s gold reserves are located. We must have come at a bad time because they weren’t giving away any free samples while I was there. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants and probably the best restaurant in the WORLD – The Texas Roadhouse. Speaking of which, I left my prime rib leftovers in Hilary’s fridge!!

Generally, those of us in the military (or living on a military retirement) are almost forced to live paycheck to paycheck. Sometimes, it’s our own fault for failing to properly manage our finances. For example, at my pay grade, if I’m living paycheck to paycheck it is my fault. I think I make pretty good money, but it’s taken more than 13 years of service and seven very difficult promotions to get. We just have to watch that with each pay increase we don’t also increase our lifestyle. That happens all too often in the military. We are so accustomed to doing without that when we get promoted and earn a few extra dollars we tend to get those things we’ve always wanted. We don’t really think about how we were able to live without them. So, we increase our bills and/or debt along with our increase in pay. But, I digress.

It was very important for me to be able to find a home and get moved in before I had to leave again. I’m only going to be here for a few weeks before I have another school I need to be at. I’d hate it if my wife had to do all the unpacking herself while I was blissfully sitting on my butt eight hours a day listening to lectures and learning how to be a more effective senior NCO. I’m sure I’d get over it, but I doubt Emily would.

I cannot say enough about the VAMC process. Our agent, Nathan Long, has been tremendously helpful (in spite of having a little baby at home to deal with) from point A to point B. Reading some of the comments of my previous posts on this topic, I know that this isn’t the case for everyone. To those individuals, I would say that it hasn’t been a one way conversation. I’ve called Nathan just about as much as he called me – probably more! If I didn’t get him, I left a message for him. Then I still called back. It’s probably no secret that there are people in every organization, even VAMC, that are not 100% dedicated to their profession. Unfortunately, customers suffer with those people. If you don’t feel like you’re being kept informed on the loan process, call and speak with someone else. Don’t be afraid to dime that person out. That goes for any business you enter into.

The other side of the coin is that it is incumbent upon the loan applicant to also be speedy on their end. There were a few instances where I was asked for a particular document or letter and didn’t think I was going to be able to get it. Since I’m in the middle of move, I don’t have access to everything I need right away. But, I searched long and hard and made a lot of phone calls and scoured the internet until I found what I was looking for (thank goodness for TurboTax online software). I was generally able to provide whatever document the mortgage company needed within a few days. Having our stuff together initially definitely helps the loan process go much quicker. Nathan was telling me that some people take as long as a month to respond to a request for more information. I really wanted needed this loan quickly, so I went out of my way to get everything done in a timely fashion. I think that Nathan responded to that and did the same thing on his end.

We are now living in a wonderful four bedroom home in a quiet neighborhood. We have wonderful neighbors with children about the same age as mine. Our little cul-de-sac is full of great people. Not only that, but good Christian people. That’s important since I don’t want my kids hanging out with people who are going to try and get them in trouble. We were able to close on the house four days earlier than I had scheduled. We arrived in town on Monday and closed on the house on Tuesday.

For the first time ever, I bought a house almost entirely sight unseen. We found an agent, Ron Tyra, online. We searched for homes online. Ron sent us digital photos. Then he sent more digital photos. He traveled all over the area checking out homes we were interested in. The loan application process was done through email and the post office. I didn’t even meet Ron until the day before closing. It was a very nerve-wracking thing to spend $144,000 on something you’ve never seen. But, when we finally arrived and had the opportunity to walk through the home, we were more pleased than we expected. All the repairs we required were made. The only thing we hated about it were the colors, but we knew that before even arriving. We’ve spent the past three days painting. Thanks to the vaulted ceilings, I decided to go out and purchase a spray gun, which greatly sped up and simplified the process. It also saved us a bunch of paint. Six gallons later of primer and paint, the major painting is over.

It’s been fun working with VAMC on something other than a blog. I’m gonna miss the phone calls and emails. I’m gonna miss hearing Nathan’s little girl in background of some of our phone calls. I’m also gonna miss the regular conversations with Ron (though I’m sure he won’t miss being asked to drive all over the region taking photos of homes we’re interested in). For the record, I don’t encourage anyone to purchase a home they haven’t personally seen with their own eyes, especially if it’s a first home. I got lucky in that I had good friends in the area that I trusted to look at the house for me. I got lucky with a Realtor who told me like it was – good or bad. I spoke at length with my wife and other members of my family about this decision. I’d be lying if they agreed with what I was doing buying a home this way. I went against some pretty good advice. Things just happened to work out for me.

If you ever find yourself coming to the Huntsville, AL area, I highly recommend that you call Ron and Kathy Tyra. They were the best Realtors a buyer could ask for. They were very professional and responsive to my every request. They gave good advice and ensured that I had everything I needed throughout the process. We also got a pleasant surprise at closing, which I won’t reveal. You’ll just have to buy a home through them to find out for yourself. Once we get all our household goods (tomorrow), I’ll post some pictures of the new digs for all to see.

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