The young officer was transferring from Japan. With two weeks to find a home, close his VA loan and take early possession, he needed help - the kind only a military relocation specialist can give. Over the Internet, he found Air Force wife and Realtor Audrae Rivera, and she swung into action.

First, Rivera mailed the officer a relocation package about the surrounding cities and schools, and got him started on his VA loan application. Then she e-mailed him information about neighborhoods and specific homes for sale. By the time the officer arrived on a Friday, appropriate homes were pre-selected for viewing. By Saturday night, they had a contract accepted. Thanks to early loan approval, the officer and his family were able to get moved into their new home by the next weekend.

Aside from the speed, are military relocations that different from corporate transfers? According to Rivera, they are.

"Military clients tend to transfer more frequently than non-military personnel, about every three years," says Rivera, "and that's one reason why they tend to make decisions quickly."

"I've found that some military personnel need assistance up front, and that communicating by the Internet is an advantage, especially if they are stationed overseas," she continues. "There can be as much as a 12-hour time difference and it might be very difficult to communicate verbally. That's where my Web site becomes really important. It's happened twice this year already that I've gotten requests to help someone find a home sight unseen.”

If a client wants to use a VA loan, that can pose special challenges. A VA loan is essentially a warranty for the lender, that will guarantee up to $203,000. It's also no money down for the borrower, but the price for that perk is stricter qualifying guidelines as well as pricing for the home. "Many military personnel have a high income-to-debt ratio, and while that means that they can get a loan, they may not qualify for a VA loan. That's why I try to get them to apply early so that we don't have credit problems before closing. I don't want anyone to have to sleep in a tent if we can prevent it," says Rivera.

VA loans don't take longer than other loans, and in fact can allow the borrower to get early occupancy, as many military transferees need to do before the transaction actually closes. But, in order to apply for a VA loan with a lender, the transferee must supply his or her certificate of eligibility and that can add a week or two onto the back end of a closing.

How does Rivera get business besides her Web site? "I have a lot of contacts in the military, and most are word of mouth and referrals," she says. "I would love to have a deal with the Air Force, but it is against their policy."

When she gets referrals or clients from her Web site, Rivera sets up a Web page for them to educate them about neighborhoods and to give them a special place to visit for new listings, and other information that may affect their base transfer.

For all their reliance on the Internet and its technologies, many home sales are accomplished the old-fashioned way - through delegation to the trailing spouse. "On a typical transaction, you might have the husband and wife come to a buyer counseling session, and then we look at about 15 homes," says Rivera, "but with the military, it is more disjointed. We'll start with e-mail or long distance, and I might do a property tour by myself or with the wife. (Not surprisingly, most military personnel are men, says Rivera.) The wife narrows the choices to about three or four, and then they pick one. It's not that the military men are less interested in buying a home, it's that they know they won't be there that long."

Using the Internet to promote a specialty like military transfers, Rivera comes across like a seasoned pro well beyond her years. But she is actually a real estate rookie who learned on the job as an Internet specialist for her current real estate firm, William E. Wood Realtors. "I really have about four years experience in real estate," says Rivera, "even though I have only been licensed to sell for a little over a year." Rivera also has personal experience - as a fifth-year Air Force wife, with one transfer under her belt. She feels she knows the drill, and in her one year in sales, she has already done over 15 military relocations alone.

Rivera's top three tips for serving the military are:

• Use Internet technologies. '"Military people are Internet-savvy and they all have access to e-mail no matter where they are stationed in the world. You have to have access to the Internet and e-mail, and the technologies like virtual tours that make it easy to transfer information back and forth. I think that has been one of the best ways I serve my clients," says Rivera.

• Understand VA loans. "VA loans are harder to qualify for, so you need to know early if there is going to be a credit problem," advises Rivera. "Also, some sellers balk because they have to pay up to four percent of the sales price in closing cost concessions. You also need to know what programs your state offers in conjuction with the VA. In Virginia, for example, we have the VHVA, which has some products that are pretty neat."

• Keep resale in mind. "I also look for neighborhoods for the military that have a strong stable resale market," adds Rivera. "Since they don't have time to build equity, we put them in popular neighborhoods with a high turnover and stable prices so they can get their money out."

Sums Rivera, "After all, isn't that the whole point of buying a house? To build a nest-egg!"

Published: July 17, 2001

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