If you’re buying with your VA home loan benefit, Rudy Flores can be the real estate agent on your team. He’s a Realtor® at Coldwell Banker West and the Real Estate Strategist who works alongside the Patti & Jeff McKelvey Team.
The VA lays out home buying as a series of steps. They include getting a Certificate of Eligibility, choosing a lender, choosing an agent, shopping for a home, signing a purchase agreement and closing. Rudy fills the agent step and helps keep the rest on track. The loan comes from a private lender, not from the VA and not from Rudy.
From Picking Cell Site Locations to Picking a Neighborhood
For about 12 years, Rudy worked in telecom site acquisition. That meant finding the right location, then working it through approvals. Along the way he negotiated leases and worked through permits and zoning in more than 100 cities and counties.
Choosing where to live in San Diego County takes similar homework. The bases are spread out, from Naval Base San Diego on the bay next to National City to Camp Pendleton along Interstate 5 next to Oceanside. Rudy helps you compare areas on facts you can check: the drive at the hours you’d really travel, typical home values, and any HOA dues or Mello-Roos taxes on a home.
His permit years help once you find a house, too. If a home has an added room or a converted garage, he’ll point you to the official public records and help you read what you find, while your inspector looks at the work itself. He also films and edits his own neighborhood videos, so you can get a feel for an area before you’re able to visit.
How Buying With Rudy Works
- Tell Rudy your base, your timeline and your must-haves. The four-question Home Strategy Quiz is a quick place to start, and Rudy reads each response personally. A 15-minute phone call works too.
- Get a pre-approval from the lender you choose, and ask them to pull your Certificate of Eligibility at the same time.
- Rudy builds a shortlist of areas and homes worth touring, with rush-hour commute checks and video tours if you’re not in town yet.
- When you’re ready to offer, Rudy puts together the purchase agreement with you. The VA tells buyers to make sure it includes the “VA escape clause,” which gives an option to void the contract if the home doesn’t appraise for the contract price.
- During escrow, he keeps the inspection, appraisal and closing dates in view. Your lender must give you a Closing Disclosure at least 3 business days before closing, so you have time to read it.
License and team
Rudy is a Realtor® with Coldwell Banker West and works with the Patti & Jeff McKelvey Team. You can confirm his California real estate license, CalDRE #02257808, with the California Department of Real Estate license lookup. The responsible broker is Coldwell Banker West, CalDRE #01481919.
Questions about working with Rudy
How does Rudy help me choose between areas near my base?
He starts with where your base sits and how long the drive takes at your real hours. Then he lines up typical home values and the costs that sit outside the mortgage, like HOA dues and Mello-Roos taxes. You weigh the trade-offs, and he gathers the numbers.
Does my BAH set the price I can pay?
Not by itself. BAH varies by duty ZIP code, rank and whether you have dependents, and the Defense Department sets it each year. Your lender decides what you qualify for, based on your income, credit, assets and the loan program, and also decides how to count BAH. This site’s BAH calculator lets you try a few amounts.
Who requests my Certificate of Eligibility?
You or your lender can. The VA says you can request a COE online, by mail with VA Form 26-1880, or through a lender that can use its Web LGY system. Rudy isn’t a lender and this site has no tie to the VA, but he can show you where the COE fits in your buying steps.
Keep exploring
- Home Strategy Quiz — Four quick questions; Rudy reads every answer himself.
- Book a 15-minute call — Pick a time that works for you.
- Videos — Market notes, listings and neighborhood clips.
- Ask Rudy — Answers to real questions, and a form to ask your own.
- Our local sites — The team’s sites for each part of San Diego County.
Talk to a lender. Rates, loan programs and approvals come from lenders, not from websites or real estate agents. Talk to your own mortgage broker, or use our preferred lender, Point Mortgage Corporation (NMLS #231073), at (619) 475-4095. You are always free to choose any lender you like, and you can verify any lender’s license at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
Company names describe Rudy’s past professional experience only and do not imply affiliation with, or endorsement by, any of them. Rudy is a real estate agent, not a lender, attorney, tax professional or contractor.
