When Evan Kaufman was an Air Force Academy cadet, a commander once told his class that everyone could leave five minutes early or choose to stay and learn how to be a millionaire.
Everyone left but Kaufman, who listened to the man explain how he’d bought real estate at every duty station with the goal of selling the properties to buy his dream retirement home.
That, Kaufman said, was the launchpad that eventually led him to establish WeVett, a business he now runs with his wife, Shannon. The Wichita, Kansas couple will celebrate their seventh anniversary in October and have three children — Anna, 4, Ethan, 2, and Eli, 1 — plus a baby due in June.
Specializing in working with individuals serving in the military, WeVett comprises two companies: WeVett Realty, a realtor referral company, and WeVett Home Loans, a VA lender. Shannon runs WeVett Realty, formed in 2018, while Evan leads WeVett Home Loans, created in 2022.
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WeVett Realty helps connect active-duty service members with real estate agents who know how to work with the military, including helping them through a PCS move, purchasing a home long distance and handling VA loans. The Kaufmans get a commission from the real estate agent at closing, at no additional cost to the buyer.
WeVett Home Loans helps individuals attain homeownership through VA loans, with a process that includes setting long-term financial goals and successfully navigating military relocation. More than 80% of its business consists of active-duty military members.
Working with VA loans
While commissioned in Ohio, Evan began his career by obtaining a real estate license and buying properties, and eventually helping others on base do the same.
The idea to start WeVett came from Shannon. Evan has a degree in economics from Wright State University, while Shannon has a degree in business administration from Pittsburg State University. The couple decided to take the plunge, so Shannon quit her job, and a few months later Evan left the Air Force.
“We went from two incomes to one income, to zero income in a really short amount of time,” Shannon said. “But it really started turning pretty early, and that allowed us to get into the home loan business as well.”
Evan says there are three rules to home buying.
- First, timing is crucial. If someone is not planning to stay at a duty station for at least three years and doesn’t intend to keep the property as a long-term rental, it’s OK to rent, Evan said.
- Second, it’s essential for people to be educated about how lenders charge. Besides loan interest rates, there are two other factors to consider: closing costs and finance charges, Evan said. “It’s a three-way teeter-totter,” he said. “When one is lower, typically another one goes up.”
- The third rule is that VA loans, contrary to popular perception, are no more difficult than other home loans — they’re just different, he said.
“For most folks, it’s like the redheaded stepchild. It’s not well known to them,” he said. “One in 10 loans are VA loans, and only one in 10 of those are active-duty families. (WeVett’s specialty) is a sub niche of a sub niche.”
VA loans can be “a really powerful tool” to achieve homeownership, Evan said. They can offer more competitive interest rates, don’t require a down payment, and can offer lower loan refinancing interest rates and costs in the long run, he said.
The VA also allows a more forgiving calculation for tax-exempt pay, such as BAH. A common mistake among lenders unfamiliar with VA loans is not adjusting tax-exempt pay and doing calculations based on the BAH for the military member’s current station, rather than the station they are moving to, Evan said.
A recent WeVett client, for example, was told by a lender that — based on that lender’s income calculations — he needed to first rent his home in North Carolina to tenants before purchasing a new home at his next PCS in Florida, which might have required his wife and kids to live in a hotel for a few weeks.
However, when Evan worked with the client on a VA loan and applied its guidelines, he was able to help the client and his family avoid that extra stressful step, he said.
“Sometimes folks assume that VA loans are black and white, when in reality every lender handles VA guidelines differently. A ‘no’ by one lender could be a ‘yes’ by another,” Evan said. “We work with the VA daily to make sure we are not adding any unnecessary steps for loan qualification.”
Educational tools at WeVett
The Kaufmans say they are personally invested in their WeVett businesses, not just financially but also emotionally.
“We know what it’s like to be a military family moving around, and we still have so many friends still in the military who are moving around,” Shannon said. “It’s really important to us to help others who are in the same situation we were in.”
Several WeVett employees have family connections to the military, Evan added.
Additionally, WeVett’s website features a variety of educational tools. Some examples are a BAH calculator, a “PCS Toolkit” with videos such as “VA loan crash course” and “homebuying A to Z,” and educational videos of Eric discussing topics such as selling vs. renting, and whether a VA loan is worth it.
As for what the future holds, the Kaufmans look forward to continuing to work together and grow their business.
“We have a lot of fun together, and we’ve learned to work effectively over the years,” Shannon said. “I’d say we’ve figured it out by now,” she added, looking at her husband as they both laughed.
For information, please visit the WeVett website.
