I am a first time home owner. So I had no real experience to compare this to. It seemed like everyone was on different pages, I was constantly doing work for the loan team that the sellers agent and my agent said was unacceptable for the buyer to be doing on Veteran's United behalf.This has been the overall experience:First, just finding a home to accept an offer in the current economy is insane. Once my offer was accepted it was supposed to be a little pressure off of us as buyers; however, our terrible experience with VU was just beginning. Our loan team was atrocious. Even the loan concierge when asked about information she provided would say 'well, our interns do all of this so let me double check.' Then go unresponsive until it was too late.Our loan coordinator, Jenifer Almazan (sp) may have been working behind the scenes hard, but would not return phone calls or check voicemails. I left two voicemails, multiple texts on the text thread the team 'was routinely checking' and all went unanswered. Until I spoke to the client advocate team she would not answer. Further, she said she received no voicemails, or missed calls, a straight lie.My loan officer was probably the most stress inducing person in my life. This is from memory and the timeline may not be exactly accurate because it was so stressful due to VU's incompetence. We had an offer accepted, our realtor took care of the home inspection, termite inspection and some other things. I kept on my loan officer about appraisal of the property and he said he needed a couple of weeks. The appraisal contingency had 15 days to get done. As 15 days crept closer everyone (seller agent, my agent and me) kept hounding him so I can pay through the VU portal. The seller granted an extension because Samuel (loan officer) did not get it done in time. The hour it was available it was paid for.Next, it seemed like everyday both my realtor and the listing agent could not get in contact with my loan officer. Constantly asking him to respond to emails or acknowledge forms/items they were sending him for VA approval. They began getting more and more concerned that we were not going to close on time. I kept telling him their concerns and he told me something along the lines of, "...that's what realtors do. They are just going to freak out. My job is to keep them in line and I am doing that. You need to trust me this will get done on time." In retrospect, this could not be further from the truth. He failed every step of the way.As the close date loomed closer, the realtors continued to express dissatisfaction with Samuels performance. It was getting close to Easter and Samuel was taking an extended long weekend. He said his team lead, Caleb would be the point of contact and knows the concerns and what is happening with the loan (this is important because later Caleb said he had no idea who I was or the status of my loan or close date). Close to this weekend we continued to miss deadlines for closing. Both realtors were more than frustrated and were ready to kill the deal. My emails, texts, calls, everything went unanswered. No one could get in contact with Caleb or knew if he existed.At this point it was more of the same. Closing was a few weeks a way and realtors were beyond mad at Veteran's United. They finally drew a line in the sand. Between Samuel not being responsive, claiming to not have items that they already sent and missing previous deadlines, they asked me to be more than firm with him. Ask him directly if we were closing and if it was going to be on time. He responded yes, we were looking good, he was sorry for any miscommunications. He agreed I should not be middle-manning the deal, communication will be better with everyone. With that, I removed all contingencies and removed all of my protections as a buyer. Big mistake when dealing with Sam Short.The close date came. Never heard anything from Samuel as he thought it was a perfect time to go on vacation. Did not hear anything troubling in any conversations prior other than checking last minute boxes and everything looked great. The day of closing I received a frantic phone call from my realtor asking if Sam contacted me. I said no, I just figured he was waiting to send me to sign paperwork. She said no, we are not closing, no one can get a hold of him because he is on vacation.I started spam calling VU. I was finally put in touch with Caleb, Sam's team lead. He said he never heard of me, or any issues with any deal. I explained to him today was our close date and we have no idea why we are not closing on time. He was surprised, said he'd need a day to do research. Keep in mind I had to pay a pretty hefty per diem to the seller everyday passed closing.Thought it was not satisfactory, and got in touch with a client advocacy manager Morgan. Morgan reviewed the case. He agreed that it looks like communication totally broke down. That the deal went completely sideways and was not a reflection of VU. At this point, it was 4(?) days after close and the seller issued a demand to close. The next day or two we were able to get the deal done.The sellers agent called Samuel "incompetent, lazy, or both" said that they have no idea how he has a job in real estate and does not expect him to have one long term.My agent said she has closed numerous deals with VU and never had an experience like she did with Samuel. She said he was unresponsive, lazy, and seems like he has no idea what he is doing. She also went to bat for VU saying not to judge them based on him, but its hard to do that at this point.I asked Morgan, "if this was your family member would you want them to be treated the way I have by VU?" his answer was "No". So how could I recommend VU to friends or family?
If you’re on the fence about buying or refinancing, put all your concerns away and go with Veterans United. They make the whole process easy and speedy. Can’t imagine anyone else could make it any easier or quicker. Thank you!
The overall experience with Veterans United was great. The process was broken down so that anyone could understand what was going on. My wife who bought a home previously had dreaded buying a home again and going through a nightmare process again. She stated, working with Veterans United was a great experience compared to her first time home buying.
The homebuying process was made so much easier once we went with Veterans United. They had all the necessary information and contacts ready for every step of the process. They remained in contact the entire time...never just worried about getting us signed up and then dumping us on our own...they constantly reached out to us to ensure we knew what was happening during the entire process. They worked with us slightly over a full year! I would recommend Veterans United to potential homebuyers who are interested in making sure all aspects of home buying are covered in a non-pressured environment. Excellent work by all we had contact with.
Thanks Veterans United for a quick and easy process from start to finish . It was our pleasure to work with loan specialist Logan Smith . I will recommend Veterans United to my fellow veterans with pleasure .
We had team Ty, Aaron, Ben and Holly and britanny as our realtor. This was truly the mortgage dream team! They made the process beyond easy, smooth and incredibly supportive. They will work towards your dream like it's their own! And live with you through the motions of the ocean! If you are lucky to have one or all of them you definitely won't leave disappointed!
The whole team was very professional and tentative to me during all aspects of the loan process
I would definitely recommend this team to anyone of my friends and family
I will definitely be recommending Veteran’s United to my friends and fellow veterans.
This was our second home purchased with Veterans United and our loan specialist and team was excellent. Everyone really helped us through an interstate move and made everything so clear and easy.
Thank you all for a wonderful experience!! Will absolutely be recommending Veterans United to fellow Veterans!!!
Ready to see for yourself?
Experience first-hand why 315,734 homeowners give us a perfect score!
Cindy Tolster was a phenomenal loan specialist. I came to Veterans after going under contract because my original lender could not meet the quick closing timeline the seller required. Cindy worked so fast to make it all happen & she was even ready for closing almost a week earlier than required. She was always responsive to my questions and kept me well informed every step of the way. I recommend Cindy wholeheartedly!
Veterans United helped me look for everything that we needed for our home. You guys went above and beyond what I thought you would.
Our loan team was amazing. Whenever we had questions someone was available for us. They helped to make the stressful process of finding and buying a home much easier.
First time buyer didn’t know what to expect. Great team even sent my newborn stuff for the house.
