Any advice for negotiating seller concessions on VA loan?

Question

Hi all,

I see a lot of info regarding the buyer's angle in a VA loan, but can anyone steer me toward info on this topic from the seller's perspective, i.e. a seller having a prospective buyer who's made an offer and has a VA loan? The bottom line is, when a buyer asks for $$$ from the seller toward closing costs, pre-paids, atty fees, etc, how much of that is negotiable, and in what form? (Other than rejecting an offer outright, that is.)

My understanding is that the buyer is pretty much not supposed to pay anything out-of-pocket when using a VA loan, but that doesn't mean someone else can't step in to pay at least a portion of these costs - a relative, for example.

Any suggestions on how to counter this in negotiations? Should a seller counter with a flat number they would agree to, or else agree to certain fees but not others? Or something else?

Thanks!

Joe G. · Answer

Karin DiMauro, good question.  As active duty military, I have purchased homes with my VA Loan.  The purchases have happened on a tight timeline and when contracts have fallen out for a variety of reasons I stayed in hotels longer.  I was always stressed over the appraisal b/c VA will not back a loan for more than what the home is worth.  This will make a contract fall out just like the buyer not having money for closing costs the seller will not pay. 
 
From my limited experience I would offer/counter-offer a flat amount of closing costs. This way the buyer with the VA loan knows what they are getting into and if they can afford.  Good luck.