Before being deployed to the Middle East in August, Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason Goul and his wife, Judith, made several offers to buy foreclosed homes in Fairfield and Suisun City. They lost out each time – even when theirs was the highest offer.
The couple, who are using a mortgage backed by the Veterans Administration, were trumped by investors offering considerably less but willing to pay all in cash. “It was like a kick in the face when I told him, ‘The banks didn’t want to sell you this house,’ ” said Robin Miller of Vacaville’s Schuster Real Estate, the Gouls’ real estate agent. “Banks put VA loans on the back burner, which is unfair. These men and women are serving their country.”
VA mortgages, created in 1944 to help current and retired military personnel buy homes, are proving ineffective in today’s housing market because the banks selling foreclosed homes – the best bargains around – routinely reject them in favor of cash offers, many Realtors say. VA loans, which do not require a down payment, are issued by regular lenders and are partially guaranteed by the Veterans Administration.
