Fremont · VA / Military
Buying With a VA Loan in Fremont
You earned it. The part that goes wrong out here is rarely the loan, it is the property, and that is the part I read before you offer.
This Is Where the Benefit Stretches Furthest
Fremont is the one town I cover that is not on the lakeshore, and for somebody buying with a VA loan that is mostly good news.
Money that buys a modest cottage on the water generally buys a house here with real ground around it. For a household that has spent years in whatever quarters were available, that is often the actual point of this purchase.
My office is here, so this is not a town I drive out to. The trade is honest in both directions, and the half most people underestimate is what the land asks of you.
The Ground Carries Its Own Questions
Out here a property is often a house plus land plus buildings, and each of those adds something to check.
A well and a septic system, where what matters is condition and age rather than their presence. The road, which may be private, meaning somebody maintains it and that somebody may become you. The drive that photographs well in June and behaves differently in a wet spring. Outbuildings, which are worth what they can honestly still be used for rather than what they were built for.
VA's basic standard is that the property be safe, sanitary and structurally sound, with the notice of value listing anything that falls short. On a property with this much to it, knowing what is likely to appear on that list before you offer is worth real time.
And one thing people assume and should check: internet varies street by street out here.
What I Walk Before You Write Anything
My office is here, so walking a property is not a trip I have to arrange.
I check where the lines truly run against the record, what the ground is like at the back rather than at the gate, what the buildings can honestly still carry, how the access behaves in a wet spring and who maintains the road, and the condition of the things an appraiser will look hardest at.
Then I tell you what I found, including when it means this one is not worth your leave.
More than $4 million in closed sales over my last twelve months, up from under a million the year before. I work the lakeshore and inland both, so if you are weighing this against the coast I can tell you honestly what you are trading.
This describes the property questions I check. It is not lending, legal or tax advice, and nothing here is a statement of VA program rules. Those belong to your lender or to the VA directly.
Before You Offer
Tell me what you want the land to do as well as the house, because out here those are two questions and only one is on the listing.
More about the town, Fremont Lake and the drive across M120 is on the Fremont area page. The wider approach is at VA and military buyers, and the buying process is at how buying works.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a VA loan on a property with acreage?
Properties with land are bought here regularly and the land is part of what gets looked at rather than a separate matter. VA's standard is that the property be safe, sanitary and structurally sound, and anything short of that appears on the notice of value. What your particular file supports is a question for your VA lender, and I will not guess at it.
What should I check that I would not on a town house?
The ground. What it will carry for a septic system, where the water comes from and how old the well is, who maintains the road, what the drive does in a wet spring, and what the outbuildings can honestly still be used for. Also internet, which varies street by street out here and is the thing people most often assume.
Am I giving something up by not buying on the lakeshore?
You are trading rather than settling. You give up being minutes from the big water and you generally get considerably more house and land for the same money. I work both sides of that, so I will tell you honestly which trade fits what you have actually said you want.
Fremont
What va / military looks like in Fremont
Inland in Newaygo County, where Gerber started in 1927 and where the same money buys land instead of frontage. My office is here.
Fremont is the one town I cover that is not on the lakeshore, and I would rather say so plainly. It has Fremont Lake by town with a public beach, a campground and a boat launch, and M120 runs across to Twin Lake and on toward Muskegon.
The trade is the point. The same budget that gets you a modest cottage on the water will generally get you a house with real acreage here, which is why people who start out searching for lakefront often end up looking at this side of the map.
VA / Military: keep exploring
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