By: Megan Way and Su Phelps | Photos by: Su Phelps
Veterans in the local community were invited to a special Veterans Benefits Fair and Affordable Housing Tour on April 27. Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP) hosted this event to follow their mission to help veterans maximize their benefits or find a new affordable home. The event took place through late morning to the afternoon (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and was free to the public.
“You can come in get some information at the fair and head off to the affordable home tour where they’re gonna visit twelve different sales tracks; You can also use your VA benefits and get your zero money down.” Says Darius Toston, a Diverse Segments Market Consultant from Wells Fargo (who’s also an Army veteran). “We’re the nation’s number one lender to veterans from the VA loan program, so it just makes sense for us to be a part of this event.” He also told us that surviving spouses will be eligible for the VA benefits but not retired spouses.
Jimmy Vega, President of VAREP says “This is for us to just promote this event and to share with our veterans the possibility of owning a new home; We’re gonna try to do this every year but this is our first one”
Veterans had a hands-on-opportunity to tour local properties for sale. All sites that were visited are homes with starting prices of under $300,000. The builders and sites featured on the tour had booths at the Benefits Fair, where veterans could also find out about additional affordable homes across the valley. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association were the primary sponsors for this event.
Additionally, the tour featured a one-stop information and solutions fair with Down payment assistance programs and housing/purchase counseling programs from the Nevada Housing Division, Community Services of Nevada and Nevada Partners.
About VAREP: Established in 2011, the USA Homeownership Foundation, Inc. DBA Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP), is a non-profit 501(c)(3) and HUD-approved housing counselling organization dedicated to increasing sustainable homeownership, financial-literacy education, VA loan awareness, and economic opportunity for the active-military and veteran communities. While our focus is on the active-military and veteran communities, our doors are open to all that want to realize the American Dream of homeownership. VAREP and its members represent and work within all sectors of the real estate, housing, and financial-services industries.
