VA Loans & Building a Future with Army Combat Veteran Robert Tolan

Transcript

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This episode is powered by ActNow Education.

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Go to wwwactnoweducationcom for free, comprehensive educational resources and opportunities for active duty veterans, military spouses and children.

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Warriors fall in.

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It's time for formation.

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So today I'm going to be talking about VA loans and the importance behind VA loans.

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And I've got an expert with me today, mr Robert Tolan, who is an Afghanistan war veteran stationed down at Fort Hood as a Cav Scout and had deployed to Afghanistan.

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So he's a combat war veteran, but today he now focuses his entire energy on helping veterans utilize the VA home loan.

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So, robert, I really appreciate you joining me on the morning formation today.

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Well, thank you no.

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I'm super happy to be here.

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Listen, man, it's, it's, it's the honors all on this end of the mic and camera.

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You know, I just want to start out by talking about your transition to the civilian life, which.

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I think for some folk can be the most challenging part.

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But in your, in your opinion, in your opinion and in your experiences, what was the most challenging part of transitioning out of the military to the civilian life and how did you overcome that?

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Yeah, I think you know my transition was probably a little bit different than most, and what I mean by that is it was probably a little bit easier, because I started a nonprofit when I was 16, a veteran nonprofit and so when I was transitioning out I had the support of that nonprofit but we still had the struggle or I still had the struggles of going from that very disciplined waking up doingt in the morning and you know people just following orders properly, and you're going to the civilian world and having a job where people you know just don't really respect higher-ups, um, you know, like managers and stuff like that.

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So I feel like that's kind of my transition.

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I also refused to think that anything was ever wrong with me.

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I I was just like oh, I have plenty of support, I don't need help, I'm going to focus on helping others.

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And you know that's a whole different story.

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But we had, when the whole Afghanistan withdrawal happened, I had a major episode take place and I finally had to seek help.

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But we're talking years and years later of finally going to do that.

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I think one of my big issues with my transitioning out is everyone kind of saw me as the leader of a venture non-profit, and so everyone, when they had issues, was coming to me and asking for help and I was sending them to get the help, but then I was refusing to go because I had that mindset that I'm not going to take someone else's spot.

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I wouldn't get that filled with another veteran, and it took me until 2023.

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I got out of active duty in 2015.

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So it took till 2023 for me to finally go.

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You know what I need to finally get to these programs, get to this retreat.

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That was one of the best retreats I've ever been on and actually focus on myself for a little bit.

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And so there was this like that long transition period where I thought everything was fine and then, boom, it just struck pretty hard.

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Yeah, man, I think we all go through that process.

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At least most of us do.

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I know I did.

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When I got out, I took all my gear, anything that reminded me of the military, and I just like shoved it in a tote and shoved it as far back in the attic as I could.

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As a matter of fact, when I went through a divorce, I took my class A's and my deserts and everything and just literally threw them in a dumpster because I just wanted to move on, man and you know, and I wanted not to be looked at differently than everybody else.

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But at the end of the day, here I am, you know, back at the table again looking to help others, you know, and I think it helps me cope.

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Do you feel like that's kind of your case too?

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Like helping, reaching back and helping veterans sort of gives you a little bit of soul fulfillment, a little bit of coping mechanism.

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Yes, I tell people that the reason I do so much because I'm I think I'm I'm now running for non-profits right now and they're always like asking me, like, why do you do all this plus your day job, and I'm always like, well, it's because I'm the most selfless person in the world.

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It helps me.

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It really does, and it's it's something that I'm going to always continue to do, even if I scale back on the amount of work I want to do.

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I'm never going to give it up all the way if that makes sense.

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And it's because it does help me.

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It helps me cope when I see the emotions of these veterans or I see them get to the other side Like we just had our big Veteran Angel Tree program and seeing those veterans' faces who are not doing well program and seeing those veterans faces who are not doing well but we're able to go in there and and give them, you know, grocery gift cards for so they can buy christmas dinner or we bought gifts for their kids and that's going to be the only gifts that those kids get like that makes me feel good.

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You know, I love seeing the reactions on their face and it you know it just it helps you know and, with that being said, robert, uh, what, what overall would you say specifically inspired you to start focusing on helping veterans with, specifically, va loans like?

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Can you walk us through your journey into into this space here right now?

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yeah.

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So when I got out of of active duty, I actually was, uh, a winemaker.

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I made, made wine.

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I I operated a vineyard for a local mom pop shop.

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I loved it.

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Uh, it was a very hard-working, laborious job but very rewarding, um, especially when it comes to, you know, on the money side as well.

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And of course it's alcohol.

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So you know when the va always asks like, do you drink?

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And and I'm like, well, yeah, but I get paid to do it.

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So is it really drinking, like you know?

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So what happened was is I went to go purchase my first home and I will name the company, but it's one of the largest VA companies out there that we all probably have heard of.

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They sponsor, you know, a few stadiums on bases and stuff.

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But totally got screwed over and I started to study the VA loan at that point.

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And so I studied and studied, because then people were coming to me asking questions because of the nonprofits, because my first nonprofit it's called Welcome Home, military Heroes.

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So sometimes people think that we're doing stuff to get veterans to purchase homes, which we're't we're not.

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But people were coming to ask me questions.

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So I studied it, studied.

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It was continuing to making wine.

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And then this company learned about me doing this and so they actually started sending someone to really just try to get me.

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And at first I was like, no, you guys are just trying to profit off veterans.

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I can't stand that.

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Like, how dare you make money off vets to profit off veterans?

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I can't stand that.

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How dare you make money off vets.

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It's just a huge scam.

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Well, finally, I just started listening to him, realized that he was an army combat vet and he started showing up to all my nonprofit stuff, and so I finally was like you know what, I'll make the jump because my mom's in title and escrow, so she's kind of in the real estate side of things, and I'm like, well, if I need help, my mom can be there to help guide me in a certain direction.

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And so I just jumped full force into it.

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And April 2021, I am with a different company now but I've realized that there's a major, major lack of education when it comes to, in my opinion, one of the best benefits that we get.

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Yes, getting a disability rating is great.

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Yes, going to healthcare is great, but none of those really set you up for great financial success in the future.

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Yeah, a disability rating, especially if you're 100%, it's going to help.

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But we're talking like building equity over time and starting real estate investing.

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If that's the route you want to take, you can do all of that, and I wish I was taught that while I was in the military so I could take advantage of the VA loan while I was in.

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And so to me, it's about education.

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That's my number one focus.

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Yes, I can do the loan, but my main concern is that you're not getting screwed over by another lender.

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You know someone who's just trying to make money, or they tell you that you're denied when in reality you shouldn't be denied because there's extra rules on top of VA loans.

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So it's like, yeah, they added extra rules, but you actually still qualify.

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You just need to go to someone who actually specializes in VA, because we're going to tell you if you qualify, you know, because of, or if you don't qualify because that's what the VA is telling you or that's what the individual company is telling you.

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So it's just education and that's what it comes down to.

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I teach it once a month and in person, and another one also over Zoom, and I just love it.

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I just love helping and the other reason I got out of the wine side too is because I was like I need to do more with veterans.

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There's not a lot of veterans in the wine community, like very, very little.

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There's a little bit more in the last five years, at least locally.

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Uh, to me, like EOD sellers, you know, I'll say by name without you know that's veteran, but other than that there's really no one one, and so I kind of didn't feel I need to move over to the veteran side is what I want to do.

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I just want to focus on on bets.

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So let me get this straight.

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So someone goes to a lender, they go, uh, and utilize the va loan and then just to check everything off to make sure, um, that there's quality assurance, quality control.

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They would take that information to you and then you would make sure that there's quality assurance, quality control.

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They would take that information to you and then you would make sure that everything is, I guess, optimal and maximized to its fullest.

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Correct.

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I always so, even in my classes.

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I tell veterans and their families I say, even if I can't do this, so I'm only licensed in California right now but my Zoom class I get people from all over the country.

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I tell them I can still be a third party.

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I'm not charging you a dime, nothing.

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I want to make sure that you're not getting screwed over.

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I'll look over your loan estimate.

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I'll make sure there's not junk fees in there.

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If there is, I want to let you know about it.

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If you think it's a junk fee, I could probably tell you no, that's normal.

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That's going to be on every loan application.

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That that's part of the buying process.

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I will still be there for you.

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I'm not going to charge you a dime.

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I don't charge a dime for the classes.

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The only time I ever make money is if the loan closes and the veterans don't pay me at all.

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I broker out loans, so the individual lending company that we end up sending that to will pay me.

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So the actual veterans don't pay me.

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Pay me a dime and, like I said, I don't care if I get paid or not.

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I I'm 100 va, disability, wife's workings, uh, you know, all I care about is that you achieve the american dream of home ownership and doesn't mean I need to get paid for not as long as you get a home, I'm happy that's huge man.

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So the years, would you say?

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Approximately how many folks have you helped out within the community?

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Oh, wow.

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Just estimate.

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Well, on my education side, I'm probably over a thousand veterans that I've taught.

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That doesn't include their family members and stuff that I've done as well.

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My first company I worked for it was a national organization, a newer, up-and-coming national organization, so I was able to do loans in all 50 states at the time.

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I am with a mom and pop shop now and this company is only licensed in California.

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But actual loan-wise I think I've closed probably over 40-ish or something like that, which most of that's come in the last year or two.

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It's really hard to get, but most of my business actually comes from real estate agents and any lender is going to tell you that it's the agents.

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And when I first started on the loan side, I only focused on TikTok.

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And so because I was like, oh, I'm 50 states, I want to do education on TikTok, I blew up.

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So most of my leads were coming through TikTok, but then when I switched companies, it was only available in California.

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Almost none of my leads came from here and no real estate agents really knew me because I would sit literally behind a camera like this and make videos.

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And so the last year really November of 2023 is when I really started hitting it hard locally and I worked with vandenberg space force base, um, with the commander and all that, and a lot of them are starting to send, uh, these, you know, people pcsing to vandenberg to me, which is really cool to build that relationship, you know yeah, I'd say the best part of my job is that I get an opportunity to speak to folks like you, man that are you're an inspiration to me and and I can't think of how much time, energy and sacrifice you've done for our community.

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So I just want to reiterate again, man, I want to thank you for being on the podcast today.

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Your online presence is awesome is awesome.

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Um, thank you.

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Yes, I, you know, and it's to me it's not.

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You know, nowadays people are like, oh, I'm trying to be an influencer because I want as many followers, blah, blah.

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In my mindset I'm like I'm just trying to get the word out about benefits to veterans.

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And the one thing I'm changing in 2025 when it comes to social media is I want to start having, you know, our vso off, you know on or whatever.

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Like I'm gonna start actually having short little clips about how to file for disability claims and I want to start having our VSO on or whatever.

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I want to start actually having short little clips about how to file for disability claims or funeral stuff.

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I get calls about that all the time, because my first nonprofit, my baby nonprofit, I call it is we do funerals, and so it's like all right, how do you get the free American flag?

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How do you contact the military if they have earned that right to have the military come in?

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Or how do I contact a nonprofit to come in and do the honors if the military doesn't come in?

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You know, it's just like little stuff like that that I want to make sure we're getting to worry about, and not just California.

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But you know I'll be mostly focused probably around the Central Coast because that's where I'm at, but a lot of this stuff is also the same across the country.

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So it's just educating veterans on stuff.

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Some of the stuff that veterans don't understand, like as far as how to something as simple as how to get my DD-214, are questions I get asked all the time, Just simple stuff like that.

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I'm like really, Like that's not, that's a piece of cake, Like just call this number and you know, and they'll, they'll send it to you.

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But to go even two or three tiers deep into that and start talking about, like funerals, uh, burial rights, uh, you know, VA loans and things like that, that's, that's a huge asset to our community as far as getting that knowledge and as far as the VA loan stuff, and what would you say over the years that you've encountered as common like misconceptions that veterans have about the VA loans, that you could clear up for us?

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Yeah, so the number one, like just right off the top of my head, is it's the credit score.

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The VA does not have a minimum credit score.

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Now, if you have a 400, you're more likely not going to get a home loan, right, okay, but my record is 517.

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What we look for is, or what the VA is looking for, is the last 12 to 24 months.

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Have you been on time?

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Have you maybe only had one 30 day late, or are you like seven months into not paying something?

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That's what we're looking for, and so I'm actually going to tell the story, because it's a very heartwarming story, and this is a great example of why the VA does not set a minimum credit score.

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We had a veteran came home from deployment Wife.

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He was probably 30 or maybe 29 at the time, and so was his wife.

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She just didn't wake up one day, right next to him.

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I mean, he's only been home for like three or four days and died from natural cause.

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I forget the end of being.

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It wasn't natural cause, it was something.

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Anyways, something happened.

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She passed, he did what, I think, what any of us would do Buried his head in the sands and he stopped making payments, he stopped working, he was grieving and they were high school sweethearts, so all he knew was her, and then to be gone for nine months and come home and she passes in a few days, I can't even imagine.

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Well, he finally started getting back up on his feet and he was a year.

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His old job hired him back and he started making payments.

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He started getting on a plan and a year later his credit score never recovered.

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But he showed a history of making his payments back and then we just documented why he stopped making payments and the underwriters came back and said deal, we're giving him a house like that.

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He went through hell.

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We understand he.

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He's back on his feet.

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He deserves to be in a house and not to be homeless.

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Um, and there's a lot of stories like that right, like you get wounded, oh you, you're not focused on your credit card payment or your card payment or we've all heard the stories about you know, john doe, right, like cheating and and taking all the money and then maxing out the credit cards.

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Like the VA knows.

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Like you know, the VA is run by veterans, the people who do care, especially on the loan side of things.

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It's people who really do care, and so that's why there's no minimum credit score.

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Some of the other misconceptions is that there is no down payment.

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You can make a down payment if you want, but you don't have to, and usually I kind of steer away.

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Even if you have the money from down payment, I usually talk to you about buying your interest rate down instead, because it goes a lot farther.

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But there is closing cost.

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I always get the comment well, my dad, when he bought his home, didn't have to pay closing costs.

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I'm like well, that might be true, that just means the seller covered it.

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Someone paid it.

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So either the seller came in and covered that or like, if you bought a brand new home, sometimes builders, if you're buying directly from the builder, sometimes they cover those fees, or they gave you a lot higher interest rate to cover those fees.

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There's ways around it.

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But no matter what, there's closing costs on a loan.

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You have escrow, title appraisal, company, property taxes.

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You have all of these fees that all these people want paid, so that, no matter what, there's closing costs.

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And so I think that's always.

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My next question is and I try to hit that up front too, when I'm doing my initial phone call like hey, do you have the money for closing costs, and if they don't, it doesn't mean you can't get into a loan.

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I have people all the time who get closing costs covered by sellers or we try to work around it, and so sometimes they're moving into a home without spending a single dime, which is amazing.

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Well, they might pay for a home inspection, which is usually a few hundred dollars, but other than that, there's sometimes veterans getting into a home without spending a dime.

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That's what I did.

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We got a seller to cover closing costs and no down payment.

00:18:26.964 --> 00:18:27.907
We moved in.

00:18:27.907 --> 00:18:32.506
The only expenses I had was putting gas in my truck to move from.

00:18:32.506 --> 00:18:36.601
We were living in a trailer, so we had to move our stuff from that trailer into the home.

00:18:36.601 --> 00:18:37.780
So that's all I spent.

00:18:38.261 --> 00:18:39.182
That was in California.

00:18:39.863 --> 00:18:42.404
That was in California, yes, and that was in 2019.

00:18:42.404 --> 00:18:47.347
And so it was right before the housing market went insanely crazy.

00:18:47.988 --> 00:18:52.490
Right, you know, and speaking of that, the housing market going extremely crazy.

00:18:52.490 --> 00:19:01.738
I'm sure that you hear that question all the time Like, well, now is not the right time, now is not the right time, I'm going to wait until interest rates time.

00:19:01.738 --> 00:19:03.538
I'm going to wait until interest rates fall.

00:19:03.538 --> 00:19:11.710
I'm going to wait until I mean, I've known guys that have that have and and and gals that have sold their houses and have lived in like RVs, just waiting for the right time.

00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:13.961
What do you ever tackle that?

00:19:13.961 --> 00:19:18.050
That question, like well, now is not the right time where I'm going to do this or I'm going to do that.

00:19:18.050 --> 00:19:19.711
Like, do you ever have to encounter that?

00:19:20.593 --> 00:19:27.676
Yeah, all the time, literally every day, comments on my social media when I make a post or in classes or just walking down the street.

00:19:27.676 --> 00:19:36.202
People always tell me especially when they learn I'm in mortgage they always go ah, I went a terrible time to buy, what a crappy time to be a lender, which, honestly, it's not the greatest time to be a lender.

00:19:36.202 --> 00:19:42.775
The market is not the greatest in the housing community, but there's a few ways to look at that.

00:19:42.775 --> 00:19:48.008
If you're trying to be a real estate investor, yeah, it's probably not the greatest time to buy.

00:19:48.008 --> 00:19:49.905
Rates are high, all of that.

00:19:49.905 --> 00:19:54.548
But if you're trying to move into a home, this is going to be your home long-term.

00:19:55.839 --> 00:20:00.767
Yes, it's expensive to get in, but look at a few years ago, when rates are in the 2% range.

00:20:00.767 --> 00:20:05.605
People then were telling me no, home prices are going up too high.

00:20:05.605 --> 00:20:07.210
I'm going to wait till home value come down.

00:20:07.210 --> 00:20:08.442
Well, guess what?

00:20:08.442 --> 00:20:11.911
Home values aren't going down, they're still going up.

00:20:11.911 --> 00:20:13.340
They're just not going up as fast.

00:20:13.340 --> 00:20:16.526
But now rates are 5%, 6%, 7%.

00:20:16.526 --> 00:20:20.531
I mean, some companies on VA were hitting 8% earlier this year.

00:20:20.531 --> 00:20:23.183
Now, you definitely can't afford it because rates are so high.

00:20:23.183 --> 00:20:31.451
So I also tell them I was like you need to go back and look at the history of this country Other than 08 and then one other occasion made in the 80s.

00:20:31.451 --> 00:20:33.605
Home prices are going to continue to go up.

00:20:33.605 --> 00:20:36.672
There's really not a bad time to buy.

00:20:36.672 --> 00:20:39.201
We always have a saying in the mortgage industry date the rate, marry the home.

00:20:39.201 --> 00:20:42.563
We always have a saying in the mortgage industry date the rate, marry the home, get into the home.

00:20:42.942 --> 00:20:51.527
Because, especially here in California, my house from 2019 to 2022 went up $150,000.

00:20:51.527 --> 00:20:56.409
And I bought that home at $395,000.

00:20:56.409 --> 00:21:01.770
So we went and took that money, we cashed it out and I paid off all my debt.

00:21:01.770 --> 00:21:05.252
I paid off all my credit cards my wife's medical, because we were having kids at times.

00:21:05.252 --> 00:21:07.073
We paid, took that money, we cashed it out.

00:21:07.073 --> 00:21:07.834
I paid off all my debt.

00:21:07.834 --> 00:21:10.355
I paid off all my credit cards my wife's medical, because we were having kids at times.

00:21:10.355 --> 00:21:13.256
We paid off that stuff, remodeled this out of our home and then was a little selfish and went on vacation.

00:21:13.276 --> 00:21:14.436
We had that extra equity to do that.

00:21:14.436 --> 00:21:18.397
Yes, I went with a little bit higher rate, but now I don't have any debts.

00:21:18.397 --> 00:21:23.026
We were paying $2,000 a month in credit card debt.

00:21:23.026 --> 00:21:23.728
I had a brand new truck.

00:21:23.728 --> 00:21:25.012
That was like almost $1,000 a month.

00:21:25.012 --> 00:21:28.949
We got rid of all that, so now I'm pocketing that extra money.

00:21:28.949 --> 00:21:36.374
Getting into a home is very important to not throw your money away.

00:21:36.374 --> 00:21:37.803
I mean, especially here in California.

00:21:37.803 --> 00:21:43.566
If you're paying $30,000 a month, you're literally you might as well just burn the money You're paying someone else's mortgage.

00:21:43.566 --> 00:21:53.969
So you might as well go get in a home and start building the equity for yourself, because it's going to help not just you, it's going to help your next generation as well.

00:21:56.281 --> 00:22:07.064
Yeah, it can be kind of a cumbersome event to buy a home, like everything you're talking about, like going through all the process and all the headaches and understanding the ins and outs and everything but the long term.

00:22:07.064 --> 00:22:45.028
I mean even where I live at here in los angeles, there are people in my neighborhood whose parents bought their houses for, you know, around fifty thousand dollars back in like 1960, 1970, and those houses today are are well over a million dollar homes and they're passing it on to their kids and, in a sense, when folks talk about life insurance, like that is your life insurance, like that's your whole term life insurance that you hand off to your next generation, to your kids, and not only that, but you live in it your whole life, like the memories and everything, and so it's yes raise their kids in it.

00:22:45.048 --> 00:22:58.281
yeah, my grandfather lives uh, we're not too far from santa barbara and that's where he's living at, and he bought his home after he got off the air force for sixteen thousand dollars and I bet you if it got a praise we're probably, he's probably sitting at.

00:22:58.281 --> 00:23:04.205
If he's not at at 2 million, he's pretty dang close at that, at $2 million, which is insane.

00:23:04.205 --> 00:23:06.310
I mean, it's Santa Barbara, you know it is.

00:23:06.310 --> 00:23:14.403
I mean, it's just like a lot of places down in LA area, you know Orange County, home prices are through the roof and it is a scary process.

00:23:14.403 --> 00:23:15.364
It doesn't matter where you live.

00:23:15.364 --> 00:23:18.490
More likely it's going to be the most expensive purchase you ever do.

00:23:19.171 --> 00:23:22.296
And you're talking about a 30-year mortgage.

00:23:22.296 --> 00:23:26.451
I mean, yeah, there's other mortgages, but most people are going with 30-year, especially on the VA side.

00:23:26.451 --> 00:23:29.227
It's nerve wracking because you got the set payment.

00:23:29.227 --> 00:23:30.150
You think you're stuck.

00:23:30.150 --> 00:23:38.142
You have the mindset that, well, if the market just tanks and I always have to tell them well, if the market tanks, it doesn't matter.

00:23:38.142 --> 00:23:46.375
I mean, unless you plan on selling right then, and there you're going to be on a fixed rate anyways, because I don't recommend an adjustable rate.

00:23:46.375 --> 00:23:53.553
So I'm like you're on a fixed rate, your mortgage payment's not staying so as long as you don't sell, if the market does go into the trash and the housing market.

00:23:53.613 --> 00:23:55.401
But it's scary and that's what I'm here for.

00:23:55.401 --> 00:24:05.058
I'm helping to guide you all the way through, even if you're not on, even if I'm not your personal lender, even if you're going through a big bank or another big company.

00:24:05.058 --> 00:24:07.729
Instead, I want to make sure I help you, guide you.

00:24:07.729 --> 00:24:10.224
I'm going to tell you the process and that's what I teach in my class.

00:24:10.224 --> 00:24:12.407
I teach you the process, what's going on.

00:24:12.407 --> 00:24:21.365
If you're having issues with your real estate agent, give me a call, I can help with that, and then so, and then just even putting out offers out there is scary as well.

00:24:21.365 --> 00:24:24.087
So I understand, because I did it before I got in this industry.

00:24:24.448 --> 00:24:30.192
But I always like to tell people yes, because, like your question about you know how do you talk to people?

00:24:30.192 --> 00:24:36.876
People I already know will come back and say, well, he's a salesman, of course he's going to say buy a home now.

00:24:36.876 --> 00:24:38.617
No, I'm not a salesman.

00:24:38.617 --> 00:24:40.423
I hate salesmen.

00:24:40.423 --> 00:24:43.351
I think most of us vets hate salesmen as well, like that's all we were.

00:24:43.351 --> 00:24:46.324
We're always just getting sold stuff or the spam.

00:24:46.324 --> 00:24:48.263
You know crap that we're always getting.

00:24:48.263 --> 00:24:49.087
I can't stand it.

00:24:49.087 --> 00:24:54.123
If you tell me you want to wait, I'm going to honor that and I always tell you this is the fact.

00:24:54.123 --> 00:25:04.184
These are the options you, as a family, need to make the decision.

00:25:04.204 --> 00:25:05.813
I'm not going to sit here and try to convince you one way or the other.

00:25:05.813 --> 00:25:07.299
You need to take these facts and make a decision on your own.

00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:11.020
Yeah, definitely.

00:25:11.020 --> 00:25:19.865
And for the folks out there, for your average veteran out there that hasn't utilized their VA loan yet or is too afraid to because of the process, what advice would you give them to get the best possible deal, aside from linking up with you?

00:25:19.865 --> 00:25:22.087
How do they get started in that process?

00:25:23.269 --> 00:25:30.008
Well, the first thing is so, before I got to this company, I would tell you to shop around to different lending companies.

00:25:30.008 --> 00:25:31.173
First off, I would go local.

00:25:31.173 --> 00:25:32.779
I wouldn't go national.

00:25:32.779 --> 00:25:33.983
I love USAA.

00:25:33.983 --> 00:25:41.067
I have a credit card through them, I have a bank through them, my auto loan is through them, my homeowner's insurance is through them.

00:25:41.067 --> 00:25:45.083
I love them Loan side not so much.

00:25:45.083 --> 00:25:46.884
And that goes with all the other big banks.

00:25:46.884 --> 00:25:56.355
And, by the way, when I say when I was talking about big banks earlier, I'm not talking about USA, but they're just not the greatest and I understand the love connection for them.

00:25:56.715 --> 00:25:57.455
I would go local.

00:25:57.455 --> 00:26:10.694
The reason I would go local is because you get to look that lender directly in the face and you get to wheel and deal with them if you can, because you are seeing them.

00:26:10.694 --> 00:26:12.346
It's someone that you're going to see in the community.

00:26:12.346 --> 00:26:18.528
They're going to recommend the best real estate agents to work with or the best home owners insurance to go with, all type of stuff.

00:26:18.528 --> 00:26:20.046
So I would go local.

00:26:20.046 --> 00:26:32.369
I would also try to go to someone that can broker, because if they're going to broker like an insurance broker right, like you contact them they're going to shop for the best rate fees for your current situation.

00:26:32.369 --> 00:26:34.402
It's the same thing in the mortgage side.

00:26:34.402 --> 00:27:03.612
So instead of contacting and applying at five or six different places and providing documents for five or six different places and providing documents for five or six different places and having conversations with five or six different people, I would go to the broker side Plus, if you're in a weird scenario like it could be you just had a bankruptcy last year or just anything weird going on a broker's gonna be good too, because they're able to look at all the companies that they work with and see where you slip in and fill that in.

00:27:03.612 --> 00:27:05.903
So that would be my advice.

00:27:05.903 --> 00:27:11.613
Also, I would ask them a few questions on the lending side.

00:27:11.613 --> 00:27:17.671
First off, if they tell you to go get your own certificate of eligibility, I would run.

00:27:17.671 --> 00:27:23.371
The reason is is because if they can't pull in a certificate of eligibility for you, they don't do enough VA loans.

00:27:23.972 --> 00:27:29.507
You do want to go with someone who specializes in VA, because VA is a whole different animal compared to any other home loan.

00:27:29.507 --> 00:27:33.625
There's lenders that have been in for 20, 25 years that tell me stuff.

00:27:33.625 --> 00:27:35.210
I'm like you know that's not correct, right?

00:27:35.210 --> 00:27:39.525
That's not even true and it's nothing really against them.

00:27:39.525 --> 00:27:41.067
It's the companies that they've worked for.

00:27:41.067 --> 00:27:46.214
They have their own added on rules that have made them think that's the way the VA is.

00:27:46.214 --> 00:27:46.796
But it's not.

00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:50.207
I've had other lenders tell me I'd rather not do VA.

00:27:50.207 --> 00:27:52.030
It's too difficult.

00:27:52.030 --> 00:27:54.042
Of course I'm like it's the easiest one to do.

00:27:54.042 --> 00:28:00.786
I was like I will lie, even though I can do all home loans well, because conventional or some of these other home loan products out there.

00:28:00.786 --> 00:28:03.430
I always tell clients hey, I don't specialize in this.

00:28:03.430 --> 00:28:07.261
My team does, like my boss, they all specialize in this.

00:28:07.261 --> 00:28:12.653
But if you have a question for me, I might have to go seek that information.

00:28:12.653 --> 00:28:15.871
But if it comes to VA, I got you, I got you covered.

00:28:15.871 --> 00:28:16.834
I can handle all of that.

00:28:17.836 --> 00:28:23.103
So you definitely want to go to someone that specializes in VA, especially if they're telling you you don't qualify.

00:28:23.103 --> 00:28:28.603
Contact a VA loan specialist and there's an amazing website Veteran Mortgage Advisors.

00:28:28.603 --> 00:28:33.401
Look them up because they have listed on there veteran.

00:28:33.401 --> 00:28:45.105
These are lenders that have gone through a several hour sorry, it's way more than several hours but it's a course that teaches them everything they need to know about VA.

00:28:45.105 --> 00:28:58.824
They teach, or they have a weekly class together where all the lenders come together and we learn more or we learn about weird scenarios that another lender and how they reacted to it, stuff like that and if there's any changes to the VA because VA is changing it's government right.

00:28:58.824 --> 00:29:04.051
They're changing every day, coming out with new regulations, so you definitely want to go with a VA specialist.

00:29:04.051 --> 00:29:13.998
It's like if you're doing a 10, you know, if you're trying to reverse mortgage or get a HELOC, you probably want to go to someone who specializes in that to make sure you're getting the best deal.

00:29:14.018 --> 00:29:15.701
Yeah, definitely, that definitely matters for sure.

00:29:15.701 --> 00:29:22.872
I mean, hell, even getting a contractor and making sure that contractor understands how this, how city hall expects things.

00:29:22.872 --> 00:29:28.025
You want someone that understands city hall, right, so it's the same thing with with the va loans.

00:29:28.025 --> 00:29:30.049
I mean, you want someone that specializes in that.

00:29:30.151 --> 00:29:32.768
No doubt about it yes I've heard and make sure you look at reviews.

00:29:32.768 --> 00:29:34.575
You know like reviews are big.

00:29:34.575 --> 00:29:35.560
I mean I know there's.

00:29:35.560 --> 00:29:38.127
I guess people are able to buy reviews and stuff.

00:29:38.127 --> 00:29:41.404
I know locally here we don't really deal with that, that issue.

00:29:41.404 --> 00:29:46.724
I'm sure probably on LA you guys probably deal with that a little bit more because you're competing with tens of thousands of lenders.

00:29:46.724 --> 00:30:00.770
But look at reviews and then, like I said, if they're questioning someone or have questions, contact me anyways because I can look up other stuff, because I can actually look up if they do do a lot of VA, because they're always going to tell you yes, Do you do VA?

00:30:00.770 --> 00:30:01.372
Yes, I do.

00:30:01.372 --> 00:30:09.506
All right, what's the percentage of the business of VA?

00:30:09.506 --> 00:30:11.615
I saw a stat the other day that said most lenders are only closing one or two VA loans a year.

00:30:11.615 --> 00:30:22.942
You might want to go with someone who are 90% or maybe even 85% of their business is VA, Someone who's actually dealt with some weird stuff and had to be on the phone to VA Like does this does?

00:30:22.961 --> 00:30:23.403
this work.

00:30:23.403 --> 00:30:39.021
Yeah, I have a buddy of mine who's in real estate and he's a veteran and he gets really upset when a I guess someone that hasn't served before is sporting the flag and they're saying that they care about veterans and all this stuff but really they're really just going for the business.

00:30:39.021 --> 00:30:49.128
They really don't have any type of, I guess, self-fulfillment to truly help veterans like yourself, Just like you're doing right now for our community.

00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:57.406
Well, the other issue too is and I got a lot of flack over this it wasn't this last Veterans Day, it was 2023.

00:30:57.406 --> 00:31:07.559
I can't remember exactly how I worded it, but it was pretty much saying Ray, a lot of real estate agents follow me I mean a ton and so I posted right.

00:31:07.559 --> 00:31:16.736
Here comes all the real estate agents saying, uh, happy veterans day, and how much they love veterans, but then they won't accept the va loan offer, and that caused a huge oh boy fire.

00:31:16.736 --> 00:31:27.680
But actually it helped me with business this year, because then I started getting calls from real estate associations to come in and teach VA and really tell them why they need to be accepting VA loans.

00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:38.910
My real estate agent classes are three hours and an hour of it is really hammering down why you accept a VA loan and you need to stop listening to the misinformation that's out there.

00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:43.469
You need to educate your sellers too, because there's just a lot of misinformation out there.

00:31:43.469 --> 00:31:51.261
Yes, there has to be pest inspection, but if you're really worried about that, maybe you should take care of that before you possibly sell your home.

00:31:51.261 --> 00:31:55.723
Obviously, there's situations where you just need to get the home sold, but there's ways around that too.

00:31:55.723 --> 00:31:57.630
The veteran can come in and pay for that.

00:31:57.630 --> 00:32:07.644
If you really don't want to pay for it, they can pay for it.

00:32:07.644 --> 00:32:08.906
Or you just have the termite company charge escrow.

00:32:08.906 --> 00:32:14.463
You're like, oh, I don't have the 10 grand to tent a house and fix the wood rot, that's fine, charge escrow, they'll just take it out of your check, your seller's check.

00:32:14.463 --> 00:32:17.190
So there's little things like that.

00:32:17.230 --> 00:32:24.121
That real estate agents go, appraisals always come in low.

00:32:24.121 --> 00:32:31.626
Actually, no, on VA, appraisals come in higher than conventional and the VA is also the only home loan product that allows you to fight the appraisal.

00:32:31.626 --> 00:32:39.325
So if the appraisal comes in low, you can first go back to the appraiser and say, nope, these are our comps, this is why we think it should be at that price.

00:32:39.325 --> 00:32:45.473
And even if that appraiser still says, nope, I don't see it, we're worth $20,000 lower.

00:32:45.473 --> 00:32:48.483
You can go back to the VA and say, hey, we don't agree with this.

00:32:48.483 --> 00:32:50.670
Can you override the appraiser?

00:32:50.670 --> 00:32:55.683
And 79% of the time the VA raises that price.

00:32:55.683 --> 00:32:59.432
So it's just like stuff like that and it's just about getting out there and educating.

00:32:59.432 --> 00:33:06.882
I'm only one person.

00:33:06.882 --> 00:33:07.463
That's why I try to.

00:33:07.463 --> 00:33:10.335
I always tell veterans hey, I need you to also go out and teach, especially if they're on active duty.

00:33:10.335 --> 00:33:10.916
I need your help now.

00:33:10.916 --> 00:33:13.404
Please go out and tell everyone that you serve with that.

00:33:13.404 --> 00:33:15.049
This is the way the VA loan actually is.

00:33:15.700 --> 00:33:16.721
You know what man, knowledge is?

00:33:16.721 --> 00:33:17.123
Power?

00:33:17.123 --> 00:33:18.023
That that's for sure.

00:33:18.023 --> 00:33:20.107
And for folks out there there, here's a hot take.

00:33:20.269 --> 00:33:37.861
I mean, there are a lot of flag wavers out there there are there are a lot of folks out there that will say we are veteran friendly, we welcome veterans, we're hiring veterans, but then you show up and it's like not exactly what you thought it would be as far as like the actual job or position or the support that's being provided.

00:33:37.861 --> 00:33:52.132
So, finding someone with the authenticity, ideally with the background, someone who maybe who's been in the military before Um, I hate to say that, but that is true, like you have to have been there to have a true appreciation for it and to truly care about it.

00:33:52.820 --> 00:33:59.413
But overall, what would you say to folks who think that they live in like a high property value area?

00:33:59.413 --> 00:34:10.731
Not think, but they know they do, like LA Southern California, who think that they're priced out, that they think that you know, hey, there's no way I could get a VA loan because the property values in my area are way too high.

00:34:10.731 --> 00:34:11.961
I mean, is there a ceiling on that?

00:34:13.324 --> 00:34:13.565
No.

00:34:13.565 --> 00:34:23.036
So on VA, one of the other misconceptions is that there's a county loan limit and you can't go over that county loan limit.

00:34:23.036 --> 00:34:27.429
There's several misinformation within that, or what people believe within that statement.

00:34:27.429 --> 00:34:32.967
Some because on your certificate of eligibility it says $136,000.

00:34:32.967 --> 00:34:34.590
And that's what's the original.

00:34:34.590 --> 00:34:39.465
Okay, back when it came out in 1944, that was the original loan amount.

00:34:39.465 --> 00:34:49.567
And instead of the VA changing it on a certificate of eligibility, it's become a formula now which I don't teach that formula because we'll let lenders stick to that.

00:34:49.768 --> 00:34:58.744
You can still go over county loan limits and county loan limit only comes into play if you're going to use your VA loan again and you're keeping your previous VA loan.

00:34:58.744 --> 00:35:07.481
So let's say you bought a home in LA and you want to keep that home and rent it out and you still have the VA loan on it and you want to go buy a home in Santa Barbara.

00:35:07.481 --> 00:35:10.990
That's when county loan limits come into play.

00:35:10.990 --> 00:35:13.342
But even then you can still go over the county loan limit.

00:35:13.342 --> 00:35:20.474
You just have to come up with a 25% guarantee of the overage.

00:35:20.474 --> 00:35:24.030
Okay, so the VA guarantees 25% to every lender.

00:35:24.030 --> 00:35:31.742
So if you foreclose on a home, that lending company gets 25% of that original loan amount, so original loan amount.

00:35:31.742 --> 00:35:40.211
So even if you lived in it for 20 years and you don't owe much on it, the lending company still gets 25% plus they get to sell the home with today's value.

00:35:40.211 --> 00:35:46.389
And that's why rates are lower on VA, because it's not as big of a risk for lending companies.

00:35:46.389 --> 00:35:47.724
That's why VA does.

00:35:47.724 --> 00:35:48.807
That is because they want.

00:35:48.807 --> 00:35:53.012
They want to make sure lenders are doing VA loans.

00:35:53.320 --> 00:36:08.672
But anyways, to answer the question about like high property values in certain areas and really being scared about it, you know, most of the time when people tell me that, oh, I can't, I'm priced out, I can't afford it A lot of them actually can.

00:36:08.672 --> 00:36:10.905
They just don't think that they can.

00:36:10.905 --> 00:36:12.590

VA Loans & Building a Future with Army Combat Veteran Robert Tolan

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