Buying a House w/ VA Loan in El Paso

[rezarxt]

I know we have some Ft Bliss/ El Paso people on here that can offer some advice. I am PCSing out to Bliss anytime in the next few months. Im thinking that I want to buy with a VA loan. I have been looking all over Zillow trying to get a feel for whats out there and what prices are in certain areas. What I dont understand are the down sides to living on certain sides of town. I want it to have rental potential once I leave Bliss in 4 years.

Some things so far:

The houses on the far east of town look to be really good deals and only 20 minutes from base. Why are they so cheap? The area looks nice on google street view so I cant figure it out.

West side seems like out of my price range and would be harder to rent once I leave Ft Bliss due to traffic of commuting.

North East seems to have potential but the area doesnt look as nice. Nothing really out there.

Central is kind of ghetto and Im not interested.

I am looking to stay 160k or less. Preferably around 130.

 

[DaleM]

Drive NE, it is better than you think. newer developments going up with the local shops to support the area.

West is where it is at but if it costs too much don't do it. The housing market is changing, your decision is for long term investing from what I see. USAA has a pretty nice realtor program.

 

[rezarxt]

Drive NE, it is better than you think. newer developments going up with the local shops to support the area.

West is where it is at but if it costs too much don't do it. The housing market is changing, your decision is for long term investing from what I see. USAA has a pretty nice realtor program.

Thanks I will have to look into that. Im emailing back and forth with a realtor I found on Zillow but I havent committed to using him yet. Thanks for your advice. North East seems to be where I will end up due to ease of commute.

 

[Fuerza]

Okay, westside is really nice but will cost you money. It's far from post and during high traffic times it will take you a long time to get to work.

East side, off of Joe Battle is also decent, it's well established and has lot of amenities. The downside is that more locals are filling that area so it's starting to age IMO.

Northeast, IMO is north of Hwy 375 and runs along HWY 54. I live near the intersection of HWY 54 and Sean Haggerty. Google map it. There are lots of houses in the $150k range here and turn over seems to be happening a lot. I'd look into a local realtor like century 21 on McClombs street I see their sign up everywhere.

As far as financing, I used Bank of America. I don't recommend USAA they are okay in some areas but not Mortgages. Plus you'll get a better deal IMO staying local. They have a NFCU here to so that could be an option. Lock in you financing now, rates are going up so at least put your application in somewhere and see what you'll get approved for.

FYI El Paso buyer market is soft, people here have too much bad credit, renter market is strong. Don't let people tell you it's not worth it to buy here for a investment. I bought my house for the same reason you are, flip it for a military rental after PCS.

 

[DaleM]

Okay, westside is really nice but will cost you money. It's far from post and during high traffic times it will take you a long time to get to work.

East side, off of Joe Battle is also decent, it's well established and has lot of amenities. The downside is that more locals are filling that area so it's starting to age IMO.

Northeast, IMO is north of Hwy 375 and runs along HWY 54. I live near the intersection of HWY 54 and Sean Haggerty. Google map it. There are lots of houses in the $150k range here and turn over seems to be happening a lot. I'd look into a local realtor like century 21 on McClombs street I see their sign up everywhere.

As far as financing, I used Bank of America. I don't recommend USAA they are okay in some areas but not Mortgages. Plus you'll get a better deal IMO staying local. They have a NFCU here to so that could be an option. Lock in you financing now, rates are going up so at least put your application in somewhere and see what you'll get approved for.

FYI El Paso buyer market is soft, people here have too much bad credit, renter market is strong. Don't let people tell you it's not worth it to buy here for a investment. I bought my house for the same reason you are, flip it for a military rental after PCS.

I did not finance with USAA but they have a realtor incentive program. I used a realtor recommended by them and will get 960 USD back for it. I financed through my builder, who covered the closing cost, plus about 3K in other incentives!

 

[Fuerza]

I did not finance with USAA but they have a realtor incentive program. I used a realtor recommended by them and will get 960 USD back for it. I financed through my builder, who covered the closing cost, plus about 3K in other incentives!

Thats great information! I didn't know about that when I moved here. I wish I did though. My builder also paid my closing costs so I came out ahead.

OP, if you are going to buy my suggestion is to look up the property tax value of the house you are looking at here. One thing that made me mad is that I didn't do that and IMO ended up paying about $10k too much even though my closing costs were covered and my house appraised at enough to qualify for the loan... I tried to refin last summer to get down to a sub 4% and low and behold my house value was $10k less than the loan balance. My new refi appraisal was exactly the property tax value of my home. Plus additional closing cost I need $20k to refin from 5% to 4%. Either way I wasn't able to refin, very disappointing!

 

[rezarxt]

Thats great information! I didn't know about that when I moved here. I wish I did though. My builder also paid my closing costs so I came out ahead.

OP, if you are going to buy my suggestion is to look up the property tax value of the house you are looking at here. One thing that made me mad is that I didn't do that and IMO ended up paying about $10k too much even though my closing costs were covered and my house appraised at enough to qualify for the loan... I tried to refin last summer to get down to a sub 4% and low and behold my house value was $10k less than the loan balance. My new refi appraisal was exactly the property tax value of my home. Plus additional closing cost I need $20k to refin from 5% to 4%. Either way I wasn't able to refin, very disappointing!

Solid advice. I think I have narrowed my search down to NE side due to ease of commute. Thanks for your help. I found a decent foreclosure on that side for 114. Im probably gonna sign at apt lease for 3 months so I have somewhere to live while I search. Im not gonna have time to buy something before I arrive.

 

[KingBlack]

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