Veterans are being charged more
“There are a few holes available in the market – certainly one of which Brian is capitalizing on, which is the VA market,” Flora said during a telephone interview. “If you were to have a look at the margins for the typical VA loan versus a standard loan, the VA loans are generally quite a bit higher in margin because there’s less competition, fewer persons are approaching them. The corporations which can be doing a variety of business within the sector just generally market to them and charge quite a bit more.”
There’s something of a unclean secret within the VA loan space, he suggested: “One of the niches we feel must be talked about is there are a variety of corporations on the market, not only Sunnyhill, that may actually offer higher loans to veterans than corporations which have the word ‘veteran’ in it,” Flora said. “I come from a military family, my father’s a West Point grad. So it’s ingrained in me to care for our veterans, individuals who serve our country, and I run into clients on a regular basis who tell me ‘that is the quote I got’ and I take a look at it and it’s a half a percentage higher in rate of interest. I just think: ‘Why are people making the most of our veterans?’”
He described the segment as comprising borrowers with the identical aspirations and dreams of achieving homeownership: “Veterans come out of the service,” Flora said. “they wait to purchase a house and begin a family and so they wish to put trust in anyone that can care for them. We want more corporations to care for our veterans, not only us. If they’re not going to do it, we’re going to try our greatest to do it.”
They’re off to a running start. Since making the pivot to deal with the VA market, Cooke now does from 25-30 VA loans a month, he said. About half of his business now comprises VA loans, he added.
A Memorial Day epiphany
Appropriately, it was on essentially the most solemn of holidays meant to honor those that gave the final word sacrifice in defending their country when Cooke realized what his focus needs to be, he said. “I made the choice three months ago, possibly – it was Memorial Day – to modify all my resources to go all-in on veterans,” he said. “That was the gap that I saw. I often come across other loan estimates which can be a percent higher than what we’re writing loans at.”
