'Cutthroat and stressful': Finding housing out of reach for many Georgia military families
As Madison Stringer combed through real estate sites, one thing was clear.
Most of the homes were out of her price range.
Her husband, Brian Stringer, was given a permanent change of station to Savannah, a long way from Joint Base Lewis-McChord just outside Tacoma, Washington, where he currently serves. Madison hails from Warner Robins, so moving back to Georgia was the least of her worries. But with two kids aged 2 and under and Brian’s 10-month deployment coming, Madison was scrambling to find a roof to put over her family’s head as prices rose and houses flew off the market.
Military personnel are at a major disadvantage in today’s housing market as their PCS orders do not allow adequate time to house hunt. And in a market where working-class families are struggling against the upper class and cash buyers, it makes Madison wonder if they will ever earn the coveted title of “homeowner.”
“It’s been an absolute nightmare,” said Madison. “The biggest challenge has been trying to find a mortgage loan company to work with us. On top of that, they want explanations on everything. If we had an inquiry on our credit report, they want to know about it, even if it was two years ago. They are also asking for a lot of documents, many of which the military won’t release.”
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Frank and Jacklyn Pepe moved to Bryan County in January. The couple was stationed in Arizona and relied on virtual tours throughout the homebuying process.
They were overwhelmed by how tough the market was and although they had a budget of around $300,000, it took a handful of tries before their offer was accepted.
“We did not realize the speed of the market,” said Frank. “If you didn’t put in an offer in three days, it was contingent. We placed four offers and got beat on three of them. It was a long process. The market was more competitive than we thought it was. We would put in more money to make our offer more appealing, but we would consistently lose out. It was very cutthroat and stressful.”
Housing prices up 15%
Real estate agent Caitlyn Rowe is a military spouse and said time constraints and limited inventory create an unfavorable homebuying experience for military families.
“It's been hard,” said Rowe. “We're slowly building up as far as having more homes now, but a lot of our military has to buy sight unseen.”
She added most soldiers are not well-versed on how VA loans work and forgo buying a home early on in their enlistment.
“A lot of the times the soldiers don't understand that it is even available or what it even consists of,” said Rowe. “It is 100% financed and it can be used multiple times. It is not a one-and-done thing. A lot of soldiers want to hold off and buy their forever home. But it does not have to be that way, because you can have three VA loans open at once.”
According to Rocket Mortgage, homes in Richmond Hill are priced at $295,000 on average and prices have increased nearly 15% or roughly $35,000 in the last year. Madison said she and her family are in the market for a three-bedroom, two-bath home, but most are out of reach price-wise.
“Our budget is $200,000, and it is almost impossible to find,” said Madison. “In Savannah, it is nearly impossible, too. We found one that is outdated. We would have to put so much money into it, and the sellers are not willing to put money in it to fix it.”
Richmond Hill realtor helps veterans
Military veteran Eric Lukkarinen, owner of American Veteran Properties in Richmond Hill, said military families in dire straits have lived in RV parks, hotels and have been taken in by other families in a last-ditch effort to secure housing. His brokerage company tries to eliminate those options by guiding families through the homebuying process.
“The whole reason I started this company is because when the market collapsed, 30-60 homes every single month foreclosed and that was 90% market-share VA loans,” said Lukkarinen. “I sat back and thought about how I could advocate for them. I thought about it and developed a program where we can teach them how to make good choices.”
Madison is concerned that mortgage companies are not willing to work with military families because they assume their stay will be short lived.
“My husband and I are looking for our forever home,” said Madison. “He plans on getting out after his contract is up. Just because you see military on our application does not mean we are going to leave in four years.”
Lukkarinen said special consideration should be given to soldiers relocating and is hopeful the basic allowance for housing will be raised so military families can house hunt with ease.
“We need folks to contact their Congress people and tell them our [basic allowance for housing] is not enough,” said Lukkarinen. “We need to get emergency action to increase that amount of money for our community, and it probably should be done across the country.”
Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Finding housing out of reach for many Georgia military families
