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Updated about 6 years ago on . Most recent reply
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How to Help Military Families with Little Equity?
Hello BP Team,
Throughout my decade long Military career I've seen dozens of friends unwillingly forced into the role of landlord or end up writing a check for thousands of dollars, $12,000 in one scenario, to sell their primary residence after they completed their service (ETS), retirement, or forced to move out of state (PCS)? Now that I have the REI mindset, I often think about how we can help these great Americans offload unwanted homes through creative approaches.
In most cases, they lived in the house for a short amount of time and used a VA loan with zero down. Needless to say, they have little equity and limited options. Most of them end up hiring a property manager and after monthly P&I and operating expenses they end up with negative cash flow with the hopes of breaking even years down the road.
As a new investor, I'm not very comfortable with the "option to" approach so I thought it would be appropriate to start a dialog that would highlight all options to best assist this very specific demographic. With all the experience and creativity the BP community has to offer I believe we can identify avenues that benefit both the investor and Service Member. If anyone is willing to share a specific example of a success story or provide recommendations it will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your contributions!
Most Popular Reply
As @Eric Upchurch mentioned, our sole purpose is to educate military members, veterans, and their families to help build passive income and financial freedom! So thank you to @Greg Scully and @John Murphy for the mention!
I will say this, I have seen MANY military members struggle with exactly what you are talking about and it all stemmed from a lack of understanding and education. There is NOTHING wrong with using your VA loan while on Active Duty so long as you are using it as an INVESTMENT tool not a "I am really tired of paying rent" tool. That is a sure fire way of disaster. With the proper understanding of how one should use their VA loan, one would make better decisions and then not be in the world of hurt signing a check for $12k+. OUCH!
I also love the way @Anthony R. stated the Joes should have a good financial understanding before they invest. This is SO true. A lot of military members are much happier coming back from the box ready to buy a new Corvette than they are investing in their financial future. Helping them understand why that is a bad idea is just the beginning.
Anyways, please come on over to our Facebook group, #startthespark group, and website for some awesome information. We are always looking to help and we are excited to do it!