VA Purchase Contract Language for Realtors

VA Purchase Contract Language & Terms Tips for RealtorsVA purchase contract language for seller paid costs and sales concessions

As a Realtor working with Veterans, Service Members, or Surviving Spouse of a Veteran, there are important steps to take in order to make sure seller paid concessions are used in the buyer’s best interest.  It is also important to use the full amount of the sales concessions and seller paid costs stated in the contract.  In this article we want to show Realtors how to help your VA buyer use the full benefits of their contract by using the correct VA purchase contract language among other tips.

Use the Correct Language on the VA Purchase Contract

Do you ever have VA purchase closings where there are extra, unused seller paid costs or concessions in the end, but there are no other closing costs to pay?  Maybe you add a home warranty to the final numbers but that may be it, right?  So what if you could put one line in the purchase contract up-front that would allow your VA buyer to pay towards a debt or their VA funding fee with these excess funds?  You can cover yourself and your VA buyer by including the following exact language in the executed offer to purchase:

“seller contributions to be used for closing costs, pre-paids, and other items at borrower’s discretion”

By including this simple line in the executed contract, it can be one of the steps to avoid a last second issue of leaving money on the table.

Additionally, always remember to discuss the offer terms with the buyer’s loan officer up-front too.  Our loan officers can have a detailed discussion with the buyer’s agent and the VA buyer to ensure that the buyer’s needs are met in the contract.  There are times that the buyer may need one or more of the following in order qualify and close:

  • Accurate seller paid costs.  We will do our best to figure the amount needed
  • Seller paid concessions do not exceed limits for VA loans.  Check out the maximum limits
  • Paying off a debt, a rental lease buyout, etc

So before writing an offer, we invite the buyer’s agent to have a joint discussion with the buyer to discuss the wants and needs of the VA buyer to ensure the contract matches these needs from a borrower perspective.  Plus by adding the line mentioned above in the purchase contract, your buyer would have options with excess seller contributions just in case it happens.  There is no way to get all numbers exactly correct in the beginning, but by coordinating up-front with us and the buyer it will improve the chances of closing in the buyer’s best interest.

Contact our team of VA home loan experts to help your VA buyers get the full benefits of their new purchase!  Using the correct VA purchase contract language is just one of the many tools that will help you have a successful closing for your buyer.   Also check out our related articles that further discuss using seller paid concessions to a Veteran’s benefit below.

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Written By: Russell Smith