285 Hustler June 20, 2024

2024 2024

Feliz Papich

Kathryn Fry-Dave Siembieda

Greystone Ranch

Phil Shanley & Barb Hadley

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Wouldn’t It Be Great if You Could Assume the Seller’s Low-Interest Loan? Maybe, if It’s a VA Loan

Most mortgage loans are not assumable, but VA loans are assumable when certain conditions are met. Here’s what I have learned about that.

There are many sellers who are veterans and obtained a VA loan on the home they are now selling. If they don’t need to regain their certificate of eligibility for a VA loan on their replacement home, they can sell their home to anyone — not just a veteran — and let that person assume their VA loan. For the seller to regain their eligibility for a VA loan on their replacement home, the buyer would have to be able to qualify for a VA loan as a veteran.

Wendy Renee, our in-house lender at Golden Real Estate, helped me learn the rules for assuming a VA loan.

Rocket Mortgage has an excellent website explaining those rules and is the source for the following. I’ll post a link to their webpage on our company blog, http://RealEstateToday.substack.com

The good news is that a buyer can assume a VA loan, even if they would not qualify for a VA loan for themselves. If the seller has a VA mortgage at, say, 2.75%, a buyer would get to take over that loan and make the same payments. Not bad, given today’s loan rates over 6 percent!

Conventional loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not

assumable. Sellers with a VA loan will want to take advantage of this crucial selling point over competing listings on the MLS. Every seller who has an existing VA loan should have his listing agent emphasize that fact in the MLS, pointing out its interest rate and that it’s assumable. However, if it’s important to the seller that he regain his entitlement to a VA loan for his replacement home, then it should be noted in the MLS that the seller will only allow an eligible veteran to assume the loan.

Hooray for that veteran, because a new VA loan would probably have an interest rate over 6%.

Although the buyer will not need to meet the military eligibility, he or she will need to meet the financial eligibility requirements of the lender. The lender, not the VA, must approve the assumption. If the lender approves your financial qualifications, you can proceed with the assumption. Note: Lenders are not required by the VA to allow assumption. Most lenders have a minimum FICO score to qualify for a loan. With Rocket Mortgage, that score is 580. Other lenders require a minimum score of 620.

VA loans don’t require a down payment, but in assuming a VA loan, you may be asked for a down payment. Considering that most homes for sale have plenty of equity due to the rise in home

Megan’s Insights on the June Real Estate Market

By MEGAN ALLER

First American Title

As we navigate the real estate market for the week of June 5th-12th, 2024, it is clear that the market continues to retract. Increased inventory and hesitant buyers have led to significant shifts in market dynamics. Now the key points:

Retraction persists as more inventory enters the market and pending transactions decline, leading to a higher months’ supply of inventory than usual for the second week of June.

The growing inventory and shrinking buyer pool have caused prices to fall slightly as we transition into summer.

Our average daily active listings have increased week over week, with inventory significantly higher compared to the same period last year.

New listings have shown an upward trend, and this activity is expected to continue growing until September. However, pending transactions have declined compared to the previous weekend.

The odds of selling have decreased

values, that’s not very likely.

VA loans require the payment of a funding fee, and that is true for the buyer who assumes a VA loan. That funding fee is 0.5% of the loan amount. As with the original borrower, that fee can be waived if the buyer is a disabled veteran or the spouse of a deceased veteran with a service-related disability.

Compensating for that 0.5% funding fee is the fact that you won’t have other fees, including paying for an appraisal.

A processing fee of $250 to $300 will be charged to the buyer in addition to the funding fee.

Note that the VA is not the lender The loan is merely guaranteed by the VA. The underwriting requirements may differ from lender to lender.

So, how do you find a home on which the seller has a VA loan? Unfortunately, that is a not a searchable field on the

MLS, even for us MLS members. However, if you find a home you want to buy, we can find that property on Realist, an app within the MLS, which tells what kind of loan, if any, was taken out by the seller. And, of course, we can ask the listing agent if that VA loan is still in place and what the current balance and interest rate is. Depending on the buyer’s cash reserves, it may be necessary to apply for a second mortgage.

When the loan is assumed, the seller needs to request a release of liability from the lender. Without that, the seller could be responsible for late payment fees or even default by the new borrower. Ask your lender in advance of agreeing to the assumption whether you will receive a release. If they won’t, that could or should be a deal breaker.

If you’d like help finding a home with a VA loan in place, call us (below).

Coming: A 5-BR Home in Scenic Heights

compared to last week, trending historically below the average for June in previous years.

To balance the market with a 6-month supply of inventory, we would need a significantly higher number of total listings, indicating we are currently far from market equilibrium.

Showings last week were down slightly, with the average number of showings per property and the number of showings required to go under contract showing some fluctuations.

Price reductions were more prevalent this week, with a notable portion of units going under contract after reducing their price. The size of these reductions has remained consistent.

If you are wondering when to list your property this summer, it is advisable to list as soon as possible. Growing inventory and a diminishing buyer pool could lead to longer days on market and potential price reductions. Listing earlier in the summer may help achieve the best possible price for your home.

The sellers designed this 4,603-sq.-ft. home at 6714 Field St. in Arvada for entertaining and were the general contractor when building it in 1985. Spaces for entertaining abound both indoors and on the large wraparound deck, which was rebuilt with Trex two years ago. There's an indoor hot tub in its own room that is well ventilated to avoid moisture-related issues. Oak hardwood floors are on the main level, while the upstairs and the mostly finished basement have wall-to-wall carpeting. All bathrooms and the kitchen are tiled. There is not only a separate den on the main floor, but also a reading room and sewing room upstairs. This home is an early example of passive solar design for exploiting solar gain through thermal mass in the winter but staying cool in the summer. In addition to the solar thermal panels on the roof which provide hot water for the home, there are solar thermal panels built into the south wall of the living room to capture solar gain in the winter for dispersal inside the house after dark. The backyard includes a large garden area and a shed with electricity which has two compartments — a storage area with a concrete floor and a south-facing area with gravel floor and windows to capture solar gain for starting plants in the late winter. There is no HOA and there’s a gate on the north side of the house for parking an RV next to the garage. Take a narrated video tour at www.GRElistings.com, then come to my open house on June 22, 11am to 1pm.

Jim Smith

Broker/Owner, 303-525-1851

Jim@GoldenRealEstate.com 1214 Washington Ave., Golden 80401

Broker Associates:

JIM SWANSON, 303-929-2727

CHUCK BROWN, 303-885-7855

DAVID DLUGASCH, 303-908-4835

GREG KRAFT, 720-353-1922

AUSTIN POTTORFF, 970-281-9071

KATHY JONKE, 303-990-7428

“Concentrate on giving and the getting will take care of itself.” —Anonymous

Sun Jr., a ‘psych mountain rock’ experience at the Mile High Hoedown

BY JO ANN M. COLTON

If you yearn to fly back to the sounds of yesteryear, you will love soaring to new heights with Boulder’s own Sun Jr, appearing at the MILE HIGH HOEDOWN later this month! The band’s sound is a blend of psychedelia, cosmic cowboy and Americana with indie-folk influences.

Friends Nod Norkus (drums), Jim Heekin (guitar/singer), Matt Kubis (banjo/singer), Jon Schimek (pedal steel guitar), and Jeremiah Streets (keys/ bass/organ) launched the band in 2013. They practiced in the evenings in Jim’s basement (“The Bottoms”), where they have become a “band of brothers.”

Sun Jr. hit the stage with a style all their own and immediately made an impression. From a spot on the “Gentleman of the Road” tour in Salida with Mumford & Sons, Dawes and the Flaming Lips in 2015, they’ve grinded their way into a stellar act that you cannot miss.

During the 2020 COVID pandemic, the band leaned heavily into long basement jams, taking notes from the likes of Pink Floyd and late ’60s bands that played for art’s sake. They branched into livestreaming to reach out to more folks and have continued to do so.

“In February 2024, (Heekin) posted a TikTok video of our song ‘Buttercorn’ from a live performance at Dharma Farm

— and it went viral,” Norkus said. “The post garnered 2.3 million views and about 40,000 new fans.”

The post was the mega break that has opened more doors to some of Colorado’s best venues and a “second media wave” of the post expanded their reach even farther, he said.

“We started receiving invitations to play in California, Texas, and points beyond the U.S.,” Norkus said.

The band’s current goal is

mostly to ignore national invites and build an ardent local fan base. To stay connected, they are partnering with Chris Wright of Violet Recording to capture their Colorado live shows to share more broadly. Wright will also engineer a series of in-studio live recordings, possibly capturing two albums from this dual recording process.

Visit sunjrband.com for the latest band information (recordings, play dates — and more)! Then, “go down” to the MILE HIGH HOEDOWN and enjoy Sun Jr.’s “Psych Mountain Rock” ex-

perience LIVE at the Stampede, 2431 S. Havana Street, in Aurora.

MILE HIGH HOEDOWN attendees can enjoy food truck food and beverages, learn new line dances with instructor/choreographer Laurie Burkardt, “creative cut” or screen print their own T-shirt with Ink & Drink, purchase a custom hat from hat shaper Parker Thomas, get a “flash” tattoo from Ace of MR. ACE Art & Tattoos; and visit Little People Face Painting for cool, but not permanent, body/ face/hair art — you’ll be sure to sparkle during Sun Jr.’s LIVE, never-to-be-duplicated hoedown performance!

Get the “low down” on the MILE HIGH HOEDOWN, which is 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, June 29, by heading to coloradocommunitymedia.com/ mile-high-hoedown. And GET A MOVE ON, partners! We’re running a limited-time buy-oneget-one promotion. Entry ONLY tickets are $20/each ($25 at the door). Don’t miss out and BUY YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

Purchase Tickets

Consumer Groups, Patients, & Providers Applaud Colorado Legislators for Holding Big PhRMA Accountable, Protecting State’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board

AARP Colorado, along with a broad coalition of consumer groups, patients, and medical providers celebrated the end of the 2024 legislative session after fending off coordinated efforts by drug manufacturers to undermine the Colorado Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB), the state’s only tool to reign in out-ofcontrol drug costs. As a rare cancer patient currently in remission, I’m deeply grateful for the broad coalition that fought to ensure that the voices of patients were heard.

The Colorado State Senate stood alongside advocates to defeat SB24-060, which sought to prevent the PDAB from reviewing the costs of, and setting limits on, hundreds of the most high-cost and commonly-prescribed prescription medications. In fact, it would have exempted 67% (more than 400 medications) of the approximately 600 drugs eligible for review by Colorado’s PDAB because they have some form of orphan drug designation – including many of the most expensive and most commonly prescribed medications in the state. The bill was part of a national strategy being pushed by pharmaceutical companies

to make it impossible for PDABs across the country to bring down the cost of prescription medications. Lawmakers laid the bill over indefinitely on April 15th, sending a strong message: Colorado refuses to let the pharmaceutical industry continue to put profits over patients, especially as the PDAB is just beginning its critical work. In addition, 115 medical professionals across Colorado released a letter opposing Senate Bill 60.

Big PhRMA continues to use the defeat of SB24-060 and the ongoing work of the PDAB to stoke fear in patients of rare diseases. Unfortunately, these very patients are among the most harmed by out-of-control drug costs and deserve access to affordable, lifesaving drugs through Colorado’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board. To ensure these critical voices are front and center, SB24203 “Prescription Drug Board Consider Rare Disease Council’’ legislation was introduced on April 8th by Senators Ginal and Kirkmeyer, and Representatives Harstook and Ortiz. The legislation passed with strong bipartisan support and will ensure greater

stakeholder engagement from the rare disease community in the work of Colorado’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board without exempting any medications.

We thank the lawmakers who championed these efforts and refused to let Big PhRMA play games with Colorado’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board. This work is more important than ever, with 1-in-3 Coloradans struggling to afford the medications they need to stay healthy. AARP has a vested interest in ensuring drug prices are affordable for all. Over 80% of adults over 50 take at least one prescription medication regularly, with many older adults skipping or stretching their life-saving medication because of the high cost. Older Coloradans are the highest utilizers of prescription drugs in the state and many of our own members have expressed their frustration and concerns with rising health care costs. Adults 65 and older tend to spend the most on health care; and skyrocketing drug prices are driving up health care costs for all. This economic pressure piles on top of the emotional, physical, and psychological toll that patients

face on an almost daily basis. The Colorado Legislature created the PDAB with the passage of SB 21-175. Since 2023, the PDAB has reviewed three medications, and determined one of those medications, Enbrel, to be unaffordable for Coloradans. The PDAB is slated to complete affordability reviews on two additional medications in June.

Debbie Hornor

AARP Colorado State President 6427 S. Kline St., Littleton, CO 80127

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