"We Felt Like Veterans Being Recognized for Our Service" A Veteran Family's VA Loan Story

After 21 years of service and 13 years of renting, Robert and Pamela Philyaw bought their home in Panama City Beach with no down payment and no closing costs, weeks after another lender turned them away.

Robert Philyaw served 21 years in the military, and his wife Pamela describes the years she spent raising their children while he deployed as some of the best of her life. When he retired in 2013, the two of them began a search for the right place to settle that ended up lasting 13 years, most of it in an apartment. The first lender they approached told them they needed six months of mortgage payments in the bank before it would help them. 

The second one closed their loan, and the Philyaws now own a home a short walk from the Gulf, where their children and grandchildren come to visit and Robert's mother spends her afternoons in the backyard sun.

A Family That Served Together

Ask Robert about his career and he turns the conversation toward his family. "The children benefited, but they served too, and so did my wife," he said. "She gave up everything to support me."

Pamela does not describe it as a sacrifice. "I loved being a military wife, and being at home taking care of the kids while he was out taking care of our country," she said. "I loved every minute of it, all the places we got to see, and the people we got to meet. It was all wonderful."

Thirteen Years of Deciding Where to Land

After Robert retired in 2013, the Philyaws lived in the Dothan, Alabama, area and moved back and forth between Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, renting the whole time. "We've been renting for the last 13 years, just trying to decide where we want to go," Pamela said. When they finally chose Panama City Beach, the reason for buying was simple. "I was tired of moving," Robert said. "Tired of moving around and renting. We wanted to own."

The Brick Wall

Their search for a VA loan did not begin with NewDay USA. The Philyaws first went to a large national VA lender, expecting a straightforward process. "We were just trying to use someone that would help us with our VA loan," Robert said. "Unfortunately, we ran into a brick wall with them, and I can't begin to tell you how defeating that felt. With everything that we had done with the military, we thought that this should have been a no-brainer."

The obstacle was cash reserves. That lender told the couple they needed six months of mortgage payments sitting in the bank, and with living costs what they are, the Philyaws did not have it. "We weren't prepared," Pamela said. "With life the way it is now, and expenses the way it is now, we didn't have money in the bank to put down huge deposits and earnest money and that kind of thing."

A Referral From Fellow Veterans

A couple of Robert's friends, both of whom had bought homes through NewDay USA, told him to make a call. They had first heard of the company the same way many Veterans do. "Through the TV commercials," Robert said. "The Admiral, Mr. Lynch, on TV." The Philyaws decided to try. "We were just like, well, we'll give them a shot."

The difference registered on the first phone call, before they had even reached their loan officer. "He called us by our first names, and asked us to call him by his first name," Robert said of the person who took that call. "It seemed like it was our friend helping us buy a house."

In the Trenches With Joe Delgado

Their loan officer was Joe Delgado. "He was really in the trenches with us," Robert said. "It made us feel like we weren't just a file number or something like that. We were Veterans trying to get a home, and he really went above and beyond." Pamela credits him with taking the pressure off the paperwork. "There must be a mountain of paperwork to do buying a house, but he made it stress relief for us by taking the weight off our shoulders."

No Down Payment, No Closing Costs

The Philyaws used their VA home loan benefit alongside two NewDay USA programs that addressed the exact problem the first lender had raised. Under the VA home loan program, an eligible Veteran can buy with no down payment as long as the sale price does not exceed the home's appraised value, and the VA requires no monthly mortgage insurance.

Closing costs were the second hurdle. The NewDay Home Advantage Loan is a short-term personal loan that can be used to cover closing costs, and if the borrower repays it within 12 months, NewDay USA refunds all of the interest. The Deposit Boost is a short-term loan of up to $5,000 that covers the earnest money deposit a seller expects with an offer. The Philyaws used both.

"NewDay stepped in and said, hey, listen, we understand," Robert said. "There will be no closing costs, no down payment. There was nothing. All we did was get the keys and sign some paperwork."

Pamela spent much of the process braced for a catch. "I kept waiting for the other shoe to fall," she said. "Like, something's gonna go wrong. This can't be. It's too good to be true. But here we are, living in this beautiful house."

An Agent Who Drove 100 Miles to the Closing

Their real estate agent, Jason, is a retired Air Force Veteran and part of the NewDay Home network of Admiral Certified agents. "He still is out there in the trenches trying to help fellow Veterans get a place," Robert said. Jason answered their questions daily, gave them a housewarming gift, and made a drive of roughly 100 miles to be at the closing table. "He was there to answer questions that we couldn't answer," Robert said. "We're very pleased."

What Owning a Home Means Now

The Philyaws joined the interview from the front of their new house, and Pamela mentioned that Robert had pulled her out of the pool because they had the meeting time wrong. Asked what owning the home means to them, she answered first. "Being able to host our grandchildren and our children, and know that we own this. It's beyond words."

Robert put it another way. "For some people, a beach house is a vacation, but this is our home. This is where we are gonna be, probably the rest of our lives."

The house has also changed how they care for Robert's mother, who needs assistance. When they lived in an apartment, they helped her where she lived and did the best they could. "Now we have more room to spread out," Robert said. "She can be here for longer periods of time. We're not in an apartment anymore, we're in a home." She was in the backyard during the call, enjoying the Florida sun.

"We Felt Like Veterans Being Recognized for Our Service"

Pamela's brother is a Veteran who has never used his home loan benefit. The Philyaws have told him about their experience and hope he will act on it. "It has been such a pleasure, such an easy process, stress-free," Robert said. "We felt like somebody. We felt like Veterans that are being recognized for our service, and that really means a lot. That's why we're doing this."

Asked about Admiral Tom Lynch's goal of helping one million Veteran families into homes of their own, Robert did not hesitate. "We completely appreciate everything that he does, and I believe that he'll easily get one million Veterans in homes, as easy as this process worked for us. We will sing the praises from here to eternity."

How the VA Loan Made It Possible

Every element of the Philyaws' purchase is available to any eligible Veteran, and the requirement that stopped them at the first lender was that lender's own, not the VA's.

• No down payment. The VA guaranty lets a lender finance 100% of the purchase price up to appraised value.
• A funding fee you can finance. Most Veterans pay a one-time VA funding fee, 2.15% on a first-use purchase with no down payment and 3.3% for subsequent use, and can roll it into the loan. Veterans receiving VA disability compensation pay none.
• Closing costs with options. The seller can pay them, the VA allows seller concessions up to 4% of the loan amount, and programs like the NewDay Home Advantage Loan can cover what remains.
• A benefit earned by service. The VA's eligibility rules cover Veterans, active-duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members with qualifying service, and eligible surviving spouses.

If another lender has told you that you need months of payments in the bank before you can buy, take a few minutes to learn more about your VA loan benefit and what your service has already earned you.