Heide & Jim were both in the military, and wanted to take advantage of their Veteran’s Administration benefits to get great financing for their purchase, but most lenders said that the property wasn’t eligible for purchase using a VA loan. Ethical Homes knew that the property technically was eligible because of a relatively obscure provision of the VA financing rules, so we went to our stable of literally dozens of wholesale lenders, and were able to find one who would approve the loan under that provision.

DC law doesn’t allow the same person to act as the mortgage broker and real estate agent on the same transaction, and at the time Ethical Homes didn’t have as extensive a network of affiliated agents working in D, so Heide & Jim had to use a different agent to help them with their purchase, who wasn’t familiar with VA loans. Since we are experienced agents as well as mortgage brokers, however, we were able to help their agent navigate the intricacies of the relevant VA financing contract clauses. And when the sellers was balking at accepting Heide & Jim’s offer, their agent asked Ethical Homes to step in and talk to the sellers about why Heide & Jim’s offer made the most sense for both sides. As their agent said to us later:

Thanks for all your help. I just had a good feeling that if she talked to you they would feel better about [the offer].

Ethical Homes came through for Heide & Jim yet again when a VA underwriting issue was going to force them to pay hundreds of dollars extra per year for their homeowner’s insurance; with our thorough knowledge of VA regulations, we were able to step in and show the underwriter why Heide & Jim shouldn’t have to pay the higher amount.

Heide talks about her second experience working with Ethical Homes:

I cannot recommend Sweth and Ethical Homes strongly enough. The education and information we received were invaluable and the customer service tremendous. Sweth and his team helped significantly to make this buying process a positive experience.

And Heide wasn’t joking about how much she recommends Ethical Homes; her raves about our services have led to over a dozen other people contacting us for assistance already!

Possibly related posts (automatically generated):

1. Testimonial from Heide B.
2. Testimonial from Alex & Julia C.
3. Testimonial from Dawne D.

We worked closely with Melissa to make sure that we understood her needs completely before she arrived in-country, and were thus able to help her focus her time once she arrived on the properties that were most appropriate for her; during her search, we also gave her the information she needed to quickly evaluate those properties, and once she identified the one that she wanted–a sunny, open condo in the heart of the thriving Penn Quarter–we helped her negotiate a price for it that was nearly $60k below the seller’s initial asking price.

Melissa says:

With Ethical Homes’ help, I managed to select a condo that met all my needs in just one week’s time. Sweth’s dedication to helping me find a place that met my criteria (which, at times, weren’t all that clear, even to me) was never in question. When I wanted more information or had obscure questions, Sweth provided the answers. The real pleasure in the experience was feeling like Sweth was out to get me exactly what would make me happiest, rather than telling me what would be best for me and would be twisting my arm to go with his option. I’m confident in my decision making; Sweth gave me the information I needed so I could make a sound choice. Sweth is detail-oriented and perceptive. He uses these traits to his advantage, and provides the perfect amount of info–he’ll skim over topics if you clearly aren’t interested, but he’ll also research particular issues and get you all the info you need.

She goes on to comment on how much she appreciated the systematic approach that we bring to the process, including how we sent her reminders to do things like change her utilities and forward her mail:

This attention to detail made the process so much easier. The effort put into each step wasn’t just tied to finalizing the transaction.

And she gives one last comment about her new purchase:

P.S. I love my apartment! High ceilings are the best!

Update 2/19/09: Melissa B. was so happy to use our services for her original purchase that when the time came for her to look into refinancing, she contacted us, and we were able to help her reduce her mortgage payments by nearly $350/mo!

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1. Testimonial from Carolyn P.
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3. Testimonial from Dawne D.

After working with Walt & Diane for a while and going over their needs and wants, we realized that what they were looking for just didn’t exist in their price range in Virginia or DC, but that there were definitely properties that met their needs in suburban Maryland. Even though we didn’t have any Maryland-licensed agents on our team at the time, we felt that helping Walt & Diane find the right property was more important than getting a commission from helping them buy the wrong property, so we suggested that they work with another agent who specialized in the area of Maryland that we thought they should be looking in, and continued to advise them about their mortgage options. Walt & Diane say that they were especially happy with the “personal help in selecting neighborhoods and patience when showing properties” that we showed when working with them directly, and commented that the most representative moment of their experience with Ethical Homes actually came when we stopped helping them directly:

When we made the decision to go to Maryland to buy, Sweth (who is not licensed in MD but should be, hint hint) did not hesitate or drag his feet in setting us up with Vanessa. We were very happy with the service, and would absolutely use Ethical Homes again.

(For buyers in Maryland, don’t worry–we do now have real estate agents in our team who are licensed in that state, and can now also handle Maryland mortgages as well.)

Update 3/15/09: In the time since their initial purchase, we helped Walt & Diane refinance their mortgage on their home, and started advising their daughter, who is considering making her first venture into buying real estate later this year.

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