Helping veterans become homeowners

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Two veterans from Vancouver have banded together to prevent other former military members from going into home buying blindly. Kevin Lawson, a loan officer from Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, served in the U.S. Navy for four years and is an active board member for the Veterans Village. Michael Harding, a realtor from Cascadia Compass Realty Group, served in the U.S. Army for eight years, volunteers with the Community Military Appreciation Committee and helps out on the Veteran Advisory Board. 

Lawson and Harding hold events once a quarter to provide information to veterans and their families about making proper home buying decisions. 

“If we don’t put the information out to veterans then we’re doing a disservice to them in my opinion,” Harding said. “It doesn’t do us any good to keep the knowledge to ourselves”

While Harding handles the realtor side of things Lawson provides the loan process, making sure the veterans are well taken care of and don’t fall victim to any scams. 

“If there’s a way that we can get a veteran to a person or an organization that can help their need that’s huge,” Lawson said. “Veterans get taken advantage of all the time; we’re here to make sure they are properly informed, and well taken care of.” 

During their informational event in April, the team worked to actively answer any questions people had about buying homes and how to handle the process correctly. Harding shared his knowledge on Clark County’s healthy employment outlook as a whole and the five largest employers in the county. He also discussed the population increase of 54,150 people from the last census in 2010 and how it affects real estate prices. 

According to Harding, if purchased correctly, real estate is one of the safest forms of long term investments available. Additionally covered was why people tend to move in the first place. 

The team discussed how the current market is low on inventory, saying that the inventory numbers indicate the number of months needed to exhaust all available listings for sale, currently falling at 2.9 months. There has also been a 7.8 percent increase in home value from 2017 to 2018. 



Lawson covered how to properly take out a home loan, the different home loan options, and went over mistakes many people make. 

“People are afraid to come talk to me because they have made mistakes and feel ashamed,” he said. “I always tell people, ‘Look there’s a reason why the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. We’re going this way — don’t look at the past.’”

 

The team mostly serves first-time home buyers and younger people who are just coming off a deployment. Their goal is to remove the fear of buying a home, especially for young couples when it tends to be a daunting task. 

“Buying a house is huge, and if I don’t share information then they could have a 30-year commitment and 30 years of regret because they didn’t know information that could’ve helped them make a better decision,” Harding said. 

Both Harding and Lawson find great joy in helping their clients find the home that’s right for them. 

“When I got in the industry in 2005 I had a manager that always told me to focus on the root, not the fruit,” Lawson said. “Don’t look at the money, look at the people and their problems then decide what can you do to help them.”

{{tncms-inline content="<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Attend the next educational event at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 10, at 2211 E Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver.</span></p>" id="69de6601-51bc-43c6-8ac6-9608210a2026" style-type="bio" title="Learn more" type="relcontent"}}