VA and Texas Veterans Land Board Buyers in Karnes County

If you're a veteran looking at Karnes County, you may be weighing two programs. A VA loan can finance a home. The Texas Veterans Land Board has its own programs for Texas veterans buying land and homes. Both are good benefits, and both have requirements that can stall a deal when nobody sees them coming.

Barbara Peterson leads VA and Land Board purchases for Texas Ranch & Home. She served over 14 years in the U.S. Army and separated as a Major. She knows what these benefits mean to the veteran using them, and she's worked them from the broker's side across our five South Texas counties.

A deal on rural property already has more moving parts than a subdivision sale. A survey, a well, a septic system and access all have to pass. Add a program with its own rules, and the order you do things in starts to matter.

1. Program first. Before you tour anything, we talk about which program fits the property you want. It might be a house, land, or land with a house on it. Some properties fit one program better than the other.
2. Lender and eligibility. You line up your eligibility and a lender or program contact who works with that benefit. Barbara tells you what to ask so the answers come back early.
3. Property search with the program in mind. A property that can't meet the program's requirements isn't a bargain at any price. We screen for access, water, septic and survey issues before you fall for the place.
4. Contract with enough time. Program deals need time for inspections, appraisal, survey and program review. We write the contract so those steps fit.
5. Close. Barbara runs the details to the closing table, and keeps you, the lender and the title company talking.

The full picture of how we work with buyers is on how we help buyers.

Sometimes the property you want already carries a VA loan the seller might let you assume. Assumptions can come with the seller's interest rate, which is why buyers ask about them. They also come with rules.

• You pay the difference between the purchase price and the remaining loan balance, in cash or with a second loan.
• There's a VA funding fee on an assumption, plus closing costs.
• If you're a veteran, you can substitute your own entitlement, which releases the seller's entitlement for their future use.

That last point matters to the seller, and a seller who understands it is more likely to agree. Here's how VA loan assumptions work in Texas.

On land in Karnes County, ask one more question: what does the deed say about minerals? Karnes County is tied to Eagle Ford Shale activity, and a surface-only tract can be a fine purchase as long as you know that's what it is. More on the county is on our Karnes County page.