Key Trends For Military Buyers & Sellers

Key Trends For Military Buyers & Sellers

As more military service members and veterans enter the housing market, it’s important for them to have real estate agents who are up to date on VA loans and market trends to guide them through the purchase process.

Here are two other key trends that are likely to affect military buyers and sellers in 2015:

1. More millennials and first-time buyers are entering the housing market.

Millennials are expected to drive two-thirds of household formations over the next five years, according to Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for realtor.com. The forecast of 2.5 million added jobs next year and the increase in household formation are key factors that will drive more first-time buyers into the housing market.

For active-duty service members and veterans entering the home-buying market for the first time, the VA home loan will be the best mortgage option. With zero down payment and no private mortgage insurance among the many benefits offered through the VA loan program, it may also be the only mortgage product they can afford due to tight credit and stagnant wages.

2. Boomerang buyers are making a move

Many homeowners felt the impact of the financial collapse, which gave rise to an increase in bankruptcies and the foreclosure crisis. The postive news is that many who were adversely affected have since repaired their credit and are ready to re-enter the real estate market.

The VA loan offers flexible underwriting and credit standards, which may allow veteran home buyers to re-enter the market sooner than their conventional home-buying counterparts.

The Department of Veterans Affairs doesn’t have a minimum credit score requirement, but the lenders offering VA mortgages do have credit score requirements in place. While the score requirements vary by lender, it’s common for them to be more than 100 points lower than the scores required for conventional financing.

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Samantha Reeves is the senior real estate and home-buying writer at Veterans United Home Loans. As a real estate agent and former licensed loan originator, Reeves helps educate real estate agents and their military clients about the VA loan process.

CONTACT HEIDI BUCHBERGER RE/MAX REALTY CENTER 262-443-2672 FOR ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS. IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS A VETERAN AND THEY WANT TO PURCHASE OR SELL A HOME, I WOULD LOVE TO WORK WITH THEM! 

YOUR REFERRALS ARE APPRECIATED!!!