I’ve been a Veterans Assistance Specialist Since 1991. As a veteran of the US Air Force myself, I understand the unique challenges facing active duty, ex-military, and retired military families. VA loans have had a bad reputation from the Realtors® in your local area, for some good reasons. Understanding these reasons will empower you to overpower the objections.
DON’T TRUST YOUR VA LOAN TO JUST ANYONE. WORK WITH SOMEONE YOU TRUST.
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Most loan agents do very few if any VA loans, therefore causing delays in closing escrow and headaches for the buyer, Realtors® and everyone involved. Most loan agents aren’t even authorized to provide VA loans so they downplay the VA loan as “not the best” product for the client. I think this is a crime and should be punishable by whipping.
THERE IS VERY RARELY ANY BETTER PRODUCT FOR A VETERAN TO PURCHASE A HOME WITH THAN A VA LOAN for many reasons, including:
DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENTLY! Any veteran considering buying or refinancing should always work with a true Veterans Assistance Specialist. Not only am I a Veterans Assistance Specialist with Years of experience since 1991, but I’m also a veteran myself and a Certified Mortgage Planner.
Speaker and Advocate for local Vet Centers
Did you know that in all counties in California, the VA loan Maximum Loan Size is now two million?
100% loan limits have been increased in every county.
Here’s a little fun for you if you haven’t laughed for a while. While you read this just remember that you are appreciated by those of us who served. And, oh yeah, I apologize in advance if this offends anyone. SG
HONOR? This world has gone MAD!
Michael Jackson dies, and it’s pandemonium 24/7 for 6 straight days of news coverage with more to come………………… Hundreds of thousands of people in mourning. Some flying in from around the world, descend upon an old iron gate (meant to keep them away from a building where he only occasionally stayed) to light candles, weep uncontrollably, write testimonials, and lay flowers in Jackson’s (accused several times of child molesting) “HONOR”?
BUT……A real American hero dies and not a mention of it in the news.
Ed Freeman
You’re a 19-year-old kid. You’re critically wounded and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.
You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you’re not getting out. Your family is halfway around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day you die.
Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter and you look up to see an unarmed Huey, but it doesn’t seem real because there are no Medi-Vac markings are on it.
Ed Freeman is coming for you. He’s not Medi-Vac, so it’s not his job, but he’s flying his Huey, committing his life and the lives of the other 3 crewmen, down into the middle of the machine gun fire, absolute “HELL ON EARTH”, even after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.
He’s coming anyway.
And he drops it in, becoming the biggest target the Viet Cong can and MUST have, just sitting there in the machine gun fire, as the center of attention, as other brave soldiers drag you and two or three of your buddies on board.
Then he flies you up and out through the intense gunfire to the doctors and nurses.
Ed keeps coming back, 13 more times, and take about 30 of you and your buddies out, men who without his efforts would never have gotten to see another sunrise.
Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman died on Wednesday, June 25th, 2009, at the age of 80, in Boise, ID.
May God rest his soul. Medal of Honor Winner Ed Freeman!
THANKS AGAIN, ED, FOR WHAT YOU DID FOR OUR COUNTRY AND YOUR FRIENDS. RIP
Dear Civilians, ‘We know that the current state of affairs in our great nation has many civilians up in arms and excited to join the military. For those of you who can’t join, you can still lend a hand. Here are a few of the areas where we would like your assistance:
1. The next time you see any adults talking (or wearing a hat) during the playing of the National Anthem – kick their ass.
2. When you witness, firsthand, someone burning the American Flag in protest – kick their ass.
3. Regardless of the rank they held while they served, pay the highest amount of respect to all veterans. If you see anyone doing otherwise, quietly pull them aside and explain how these veterans fought for the very freedom they bask in every second. Enlighten them on the many sacrifices these veterans made to make this Nation great. Then hold them down while a disabled veteran kicks their ass.
4. (GUYS) If you were never in the military, DO NOT pretend that you were. Wearing battle dress uniforms (BDUs) or Jungle Fatigues, telling others that you used to be ‘Special Forces,’ and collecting GI Joe memorabilia, might have been okay when you were seven years old. Now, it will only make you look stupid and get your ass kicked.
5. Next time you come across an Air Force member, do not ask them, ‘Do you fly a jet?’ Not everyone in the Air Force is a pilot. Such ignorance deserves an ass-kicking (children are exempt).
6. If you witness someone calling the Coast Guard ‘non-military’, inform them of their mistake – and kick their ass.
7. Next time Old Glory (the flag) prances by during a parade, get on your damn feet and pay homage to her by placing your hand over your heart. Quietly thank the military member or veteran lucky enough to be carrying her – of course, failure to do either of those could earn you a severe ass-kicking.
8. Don’t try to discuss politics with a military member or a veteran. We are Americans, and we all bleed the same, regardless of our party affiliation. Our Chain of Command is to include our Commander-In-Chief (C in C). The President (for those who didn’t know) is our C in C regardless of political party. We have no inside track on what happens inside those big important buildings where all those representatives meet. All we know is that when those civilian representatives screw up the situation, they call upon the military to go straighten it out. If you keep asking us the same stupid questions repeatedly, you will get your ass kicked!
9. ‘Your mama wears combat boots’ never made sense to me – stop saying it! If she did, she would most likely be a vet and therefore could kick your ass!
10. Bin Laden and the Taliban are not Communists, so stop saying ‘Let’s go kill those Commies!’ And stop asking us where he is! Crystal balls are not standard issue in the military. (Well, thanks to some brave Navy SEALs, now we KNOW where Osama bin Laden is!) That reminds me- if you see anyone calling those damn psychic phone numbers, let me know, so I can go kick their ass!
11. ‘Flyboy’ (Air Force), ‘Jarhead’ (Marines), ‘Grunt’ (Army), ‘Squid’ (Navy), ‘Puddle Jumpers’ (Coast Guard), etc., are terms of endearment we use describing each other. Unless you are a service member or vet, you have not earned the right to use them. Using them could get your ass kicked.
12. Last, but not least, whether or not you become a member of the military, support our troops and their families. Every Thanksgiving and religious holiday that you enjoy with family and friends, please remember that there are literally thousands of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen far from home wishing they could be with their families. Thank God for our military and the sacrifices they make every day. Without them, our country would get it’s ass kicked. ‘It’s the Veteran, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press.’ ‘It’s the Veteran, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech.’ ‘It’s the Veteran, not the community organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate.’ ‘It’s the Military who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.’
Raised in Racine Wisconsin, I entered military duty with the United States Air Force right out of high school, where I spent two four-year tours in Great Britain, Mississippi, and California. I left active duty in 1991 when I was in charge of field training in the area of jet propulsion maintenance and repair. During my time in the Air Force I worked on several of our government’s top secret aircraft including the B-52, KC-135, T-38, T-37 and the FB-111. I have received the following decorations: an Achievement Medal, The Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, The National Defense Service Medal, The Air Force Longevity Service Award Ribbon, and the NCO Professional Military Education Ribbon.
I left the service with an honorable discharge and started my career in the mortgage industry when it was hard to get into and integrity and service were still important. Later, in an attempt to distinguish myself from the competition, I became certified as a Mortgage Planner and I continue to serve my clients today with the philosophy that a mortgage loan is not just a tool to buy a home but a financial tool that should be used to improve the family’s whole financial being.
I have served over 6000 families since beginning my career with more than 50% of them being Veterans. I prefer to work with Veterans for several reasons: I find them to have more integrity than the general population, more discipline than the general population and a certain amount of esprit-de-corps that I find only with active duty and former military members. You might say I speak their language, I understand what they are going through, and I share in their love for this country. I believe my military experience allows me to provide a very different kind of Mortgage and Financial Service to Veterans.
I am very proud to state that I have worked with former military members from every war, police action, or skirmish since WWII. I’m proud to have known two of the original Flying Tigers from WWII, multiple veterans who stormed the beaches of France together, as well as veterans who served in Vietnam, Somalia, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and everywhere our troops ever set foot. It’s truly been my pleasure to make Veterans my choice of client to serve. I treat them with respect and honor as they deserve to be treated.
I have never met one of our war heroes that believe they are heroes. I have never seen combat like many of the heroes I’ve served, yet they welcome me into their inner circle with honor and respect. Just recently I met Sergeant Hernandez who has received two Purple Heart Medals from wounds received in battles in Iraq and Afghanistan and who elected to stay and serve in the US Marine Corps and put off his 100% VA disability pay until he retires. This kid was only 25 years old when i met him, yet when you look into his eyes, it feels like you’re looking into the eyes of someone much older. A famous General whom I cannot name said it best. “There is nothing stronger on earth than an all-volunteer army with high morale”.
Steve Gronlund
Wholesale Direct Mortgage Broker
Veteran’s Assistance Specialist
Government Loan Specialist
Former Staff Sergeant, USAF
1983/4 in RAF Lakenheath testing engine for the FB-111 Look at all that hair I had!