Pick your Home Options Carefully

As a Veteran, you have quite a few opportunities in the form of benefits for buying a home and refinancing a home. The VA has a comprehensive website explaining the VA loan process. http://www.homeloans.va.gov/factsheet.htm

If you don't mind moving around you can build a really nice nest egg with real
estate. One of the ways I get a good idea of where to look for great deals on homes is through my window to the world- Craigslist.com

Craigslist has a page for all major cities, in every state in America and every country in the world. Some of these pages have very little information for certain cities, but the major US cities that have a plethora of homes, jobs, items for sales, personal adds, etc-are listed under major cities.

It's free to look at, respond to, and post ads. http://phoenix.craigslist.org/

This a great relocation tool.

Now to pick where you want to live. I live in Phoenix Valley, Arizona, in a town called Queen Creek, it's a growing town and supposedely the Phoenix Valley is one of the fastest growing areas in America. The problem is a bunch of investors from California bought homes in growing developments and drove the prices through the roof. Imagine a place where cost of living is high but salaries, even for degreed professionals are low...I mean really low.
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So the Phoenix market is seeing a decline that causes some homes to be on the market for as long as 1 year. People are asking for $350,000 and up for a 3 bed. 1700 sq. ft house. But you can rent that same house for about $950.00 a month. Greed causes them to listen to appraiser and sell a house for aprice noone can pay or is willing to pay.

I rent a 4 bedroom 2400 sq ft house- but I could never afford to buy it- that tells me I need to move.
Some of the best places to live right now- Houston, Texas; Atlanta Georgia; Tennessee, South Carolina, Dallas. It's great to look at homes that I can buy when I move. For just $180,000 i can buy a minitature mansion.

I'm planning to move to Houston, the pay level is higher than the Phoenix area and the homes are more affordable. Rent is high though, so it is actually easier to buy. Houston is the corporate home for more Fortune 500 companies than any other city in America besides New York City. There is no shortage of jobs. Most of the gas companies make their home there.

Take a look at the salaries for jobs and then at the real estate for sale. http://houston.craigslist.org/


Now there are other, more comprehensive sites for Houston real estate http://www.har.com/indexc.htm

So when it is time to buy a home- looking around for financing is very beneficial. Some of the worst companies to work with, in my experience are the ones who are willing to finance you regardless of your credit- chances are they will take advantage of you. Capital One, Countrywide, and Wells Fargo are great sources of financing. The most important thing is to never sign anything you don't read or get an interest only loan. They can backfire on you.
Especially when the interest kicks in. If any of you look at yahoo.com frequently- you will see the ad for $1698 a month for a S500,000 house. That is unreal. This is based on the stats for Lending Tree, an online loan, mortgage and financing broker. They can get you up to for loan offers with one application. Their services can be useful if you know what you're doing.

Now as a veteran , the most immediate benefit to using a veterans guaranty loan is this....no down payment. But there are other programs that will help you make the downpayment by rolling it into your loan or using a second mortgage, which will be closed at the same time your
actual home loan will close. Some eager sellers will even offer to pay your downpayment.

Secondly, the amount of home you can buy has been increased to $417,000- which means you can finance one $417, 000 home or two homes each for $208,000 dollars or four homes each costing somewhere in the $100,000 range, or any combination of that. Your first home is bought, it leaves you with a remaining entitlement. So this is probably the best kept secret in VA home lending. I just found out myself a month ago.

So now this opens up a whole new world for me. No more refinancing or taking home equity loans out to buy second and third homes. Now the catch is you have to have good credit for the past year at the time of your loan application/closing. And another blurb, for those potential investors- present company included, you must live in the home, use it as your primary residence in order to qualify for VA lending. Later you can move out and rent it out.
A great source for information on home lending is bankrate.com
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/green/loan/basics1-1a.asp

I encourage you to look into the best places to live and get more home for your money. It makes no sense to keep paying rent and it certainly doesn't make sense to buy a home because you don't want to move because you don't know anywhere else. My motto is- have language will travel- We all speak in English, I can move anywhere and settle down. And I encourage you all to do the same.