If you are selling your home, and someone comes in with a VA loan, please seriously consider their offer.

A thread about #VALoans, trying to buy a home as a #military family, and parallels to the mental health care quality gap. 1/9

Every 3-4 years, military members are forced to move. They move because it is part of the job. When they signed up to protect our freedoms, they signed up for this too. It is currently transfer season. Military members are trying to find homes at their new units. 2/9

Our family is trying to buy a home because my husband is transferring. Like many military families, our family does not have access to family wealth. A #VALoan makes buying a home possible. But I've learned that many sellers don't want to deal with VA loans. 3/9

The VA tends to be picky during inspection and appraisal. The VA doesn't want military members to live in unsafe conditions or overpay - remember, they are going to have to sell again in 3-4 years. So if they overpay they will be upside-down in the loan. 4/9

We didn't ask to buy in this market. Yet here we are. I have so many friends who are transferring and can't find a home. We just lost a house because the house appraised for less than asking and the sellers walked.

It's sad. 5/9

As an academic, I see parallels between this situation and access to quality mental health care. Providers don't want to deal with #medicaid or insurance, so they charge a flat fee - $200 an hour. I get it. Therapy is hard. Mental health professional deserve to be paid well. 6/9

The demand of folks needing mental health care outweighs the supply of providers. There are more than enough people willing to pay $200 an hour. So the folks who need mental health care the most can't afford that quality care. 7/9

Similar situation here. The demand for houses outweighs the # of houses. But I can't afford to pay 50k over asking. The VA loan makes home ownership a possibility. But if you turn VA loans away, I don't even have a shot. I get it. #Capitalism. #Sellers have the upper hand. 8/9

But if you have it in your heart, and see a VA Loan, please remember that we didn't ask for this. And, just like everyone deserves quality mental health care, we deserve safe and affordable housing while our family members are risking their lives for our country. 9/9