The VA loan requires no down payment, no private mortgage insurance, and offers competitive rates. But in competitive suburban markets where homes attract multiple offers quickly, the structural constraints of VA financing put buyers at a disadvantage before they submit an offer. In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where inventory moves fast and cash offers are common at the upper end, one agent working with veteran buyers has found that closed deals come from listings that have been sitting, not the ones that just went live.
Alexander Shulzhenko, a dual-licensed agent in Pennsylvania and New Jersey who leads the Alexander Shulzhenko Team at Compass, has built much of his 24-year practice around VA transactions, working with more than 100 veterans. A U.S. Army combat engineer who served four years on active duty, Shulzhenko entered real estate after an agent discouraged him from using a VA loan for his own home purchase. He later researched the product, concluded the advice was wrong, and decided other veterans shouldn’t face the same obstacle. The strategy he now uses with VA buyers is straightforward but counterintuitive: stop competing where you’re weakest.
The disadvantage is not the loan itself – it is the contingencies that come with it. VA appraisals are more stringent than conventional ones, and buyers cannot waive the appraisal contingency. Many VA buyers also need sellers to cover closing costs, a request that is easy to reject when a seller has conventional offers with 20 percent down and fewer conditions attached.
“We don’t want to compete against other buyers when the home just hits the market,” Shulzhenko says. “It’s foolish when the veteran is at a disadvantage.”
The resistance, he notes, comes less from sellers than from listing agents steering the process. Sellers often don’t understand the difference between loan types, according to Shulzhenko – agents are the ones driving the preference for conventional offers.
His approach is to target homes that have been on the market for 20 or more days – properties where the seller’s expectations have softened and a full offer with seller-covered closing costs becomes more acceptable. Not every buyer accepts this logic immediately. Some insist on submitting offers on fresh listings anyway. “After a try or two or three,” Shulzhenko says, the buyer sees that competing head-to-head on newly listed homes doesn’t work. At that point, most are willing to shift strategy.
That patience may be getting easier to exercise. Shulzhenko estimates that 15 to 20 percent of buyers have pulled back from the market because of interest rates, and homes are sitting longer than they were. He has a listing in Robbinsville, New Jersey, that has been on the market for over 30 days – unusual for that area. Properties priced below a million dollars are seeing longer days on market across the region.
The upper end, however, behaves differently. Luxury properties in Bucks County are still moving, often as cash transactions. “People who are well off usually borrow from their trusts – they borrow money against themselves, against their companies,” Shulzhenko says.
That split creates a two-speed market in a county with an unusually wide price range. Bucks County spans everything from ground-rent manufactured housing to homes worth $20 million, with areas like New Hope ranking among the most expensive in the country. For VA buyers operating at the lower end, the constraints compound: manufactured homes on leased land don’t qualify for VA financing, which requires the borrower to own the land. Buyers at the $100,000 level and below are effectively priced out, according to Shulzhenko.
Bucks County’s appeal for buyers migrating from New York and northern New Jersey is partly geographic – train access to New York, proximity to Philadelphia and Allentown – and partly financial. Shulzhenko describes a consistent pattern: buyers from New Jersey can find larger homes for less, but property taxes are higher and keep growing. In Pennsylvania, the purchase price is higher, but taxes are lower.
“It actually balances out,” he says. “But the taxes never stop. They keep growing. Mortgage does.” For retirees specifically, Pennsylvania’s lack of a tax on retirement income creates a pull that Shulzhenko sees regularly in clients crossing the river from New Jersey.
Bucks County also carries one of the lowest foreclosure rates in the country, which Shulzhenko attributes to the financial stability of the area’s residents and the strength of the local job base, with many residents commuting to northern New Jersey and New York.
When VA transactions collapse, the failure points are predictable. Inspections are the leading deal killer, according to Shulzhenko, particularly for first-time buyers who may be reluctant to move forward after a bad report. Appraisals are second – the stricter VA appraisal process adds a layer of risk that conventional buyers can simply waive.
Homes in perfect condition with recent renovations are the hardest for VA buyers to win, both because they attract the most competition and because the appraisal contingency cannot be removed. Targeting homes with longer days on market also tends to surface properties where sellers are more willing to negotiate on repairs, a secondary advantage for buyers who need every concession available.
Shulzhenko sees rates and the upcoming election cycle as the two forces most likely to shape the Bucks County market over the next year. “Right now the buyers did pull back, so homes sit on the market a little bit longer,” he says. “But that doesn’t usually affect the buyers that are buying cash; it only affects those who finance.” For VA buyers, that slowdown may widen the window of opportunity; more listings sitting longer means more sellers willing to accept the terms VA financing requires.
About the Expert: Alexander Shulzhenko is a dual-licensed agent in Pennsylvania and New Jersey who leads the Alexander Shulzhenko Team at Compass, working with veteran buyers in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He is a U.S. Army veteran and combat engineer.
This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.
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