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Investors Buy Foreclosure, Repair and Sell Them to Veterans
November 20th, 2009 by 
Joseph Smith
Cash-rich housing investors have been swarming foreclosure markets across the country to buy foreclosure at very low prices. Many of them would purchase discounted foreclosure homes, do some haphazard repairs and place the properties back on the market for sale at higher prices, often gaining them huge profits.
But the case is different with California housing investors, Patrick F. McMillin and his son, Patrick L. McMillin. The father-and-son team of McMillin Ventures buys foreclosure homes, spends a large amount of money and time fixing them, and sells them to military veterans.
Patrick L. said that military veterans deserve to have a home because they dedicated their lives to serving the country. He added that he and his father are very proud to have found a way to help someone who served in the military.
When father and son established the McMillin Ventures in 2008, they did not plan to buy foreclosure, repair and sell them to military veterans. However, they pointed out that their housing projects are tailor-made for military veterans.
The housing projects of the McMillins are affordable and eligible for low-cost loans guaranteed by the Veterans Affairs (VA, which means that no down payment is needed). Also, buyers are spared the trouble of waiting for weeks for the lenders to decide if they will approve the loans.
So far, eight out of the 12 buyers of McMillins’ houses have been veterans. Both father and son relish the idea of selling to military veterans because their ancestors also served the country.
Meanwhile, the McMillins said that they find it very easy to work with VA-insured buyers, adding that VA loan transactions are often the smoothest to handle. However, the case is different with turning a house in a deplorable condition into someone else’s dream home.
Both father and son said that the buying and rehabilitation process often involves months of waiting for banks to approve the deal and another three months to finish the renovations. When the McMillins buy foreclosure houses, they expect them to be in the worst conditions, with missing fixtures and appliances, illegal room additions, cracked slabs, outmoded electrical lines and malfunctioning plumbing.
To clinch the sale, the McMillins make it a point to meet the prospective buyers before signing the sales contract, adding that it is their way to establish a personal relationship with the buyers.
