Homeownership Opportunities for Veterans
The country is proud of you and everyone would love to know you and have you as a neighbor – but then again, is it really easy for you, our veterans and heroes who protect our homeland and country, to get back from missions and invest in a home that you can call your own. Here, we will be having a quick look at the things that can and should be done!
The numbers that matter
By the end of the fiscal year of 2014 there were 1,066,600 service men in the USA military. Of this, over 150,000 soldiers were deployed in 150 countries. Of a budget of about $260 billion allocated to military, just $1.3 billion (roughly 0.5%) is earmarked for military housing. The rising cost of wars continue to hamper the economic situation of the country but there has been recent cuts to the military budget in the last few years and that is not particularly great for veterans and military personals serving the nation.
Significant rise in rental costs
Rents have been seeing a steady increase over the years. Now while the increases have not been drastic, what needs to be kept in mind is that the salary continues to remain stagnant, while expenses continue to rise. A study conducted revealed that the average American needs to earn at least $19.35 per hour to afford a two bedroom unit. Currently, the average American earns just $15.16 per hour.
Of course, real estate is a lot about the location so some places have seen an obnoxious increase in rents and continue to be out of the range for many veterans and people who have served in the military. For our heroes returning after serving the country, the last thing we would want you to be worried about is the cost of affordable housing and living standards.
Benefits that Veterans deserve
A lot can be done for the veterans if we are looking to integrate them back to our society in an easy and affable manner. We need to keep in mind that our veterans could be injured and wounded in battles and also suffer from PTSD. What can be done to ensure the smooth transition of veterans back to our society is give them the responsibility of planning and building houses in special areas. This will especially be easy for you, if you happen to be someone who has served the nation and happen to be from an engineering background.
The government can also ensure that some tax cuts and other financial incentives and perks are offered to those veterans taking part in such projects. There can also be a committee formed to ensure the smooth running of the projects and financial profits from such projects can be used to refinance projects that will benefit veterans and returning soldiers – for instance more research in PTSD and so on.
Building healthy credit
Now being away for considerable amount of time, could mean that your credit rating could have taken a beating if it has not been carefully looked after. What banks absolutely need to do for our veterans is offer a chance for damage control and repair the credit rating so that military personals are applicable and can afford to qualify for housing that is given to military personals.
This is especially helpful for our young comrades who have really high tuition loans once they graduate from college. It would be extremely helpful and also provide an additional incentive for more students to join the military, if a system is put into place where you can get a certain amount deducted if you join the military.
We need to take action NOW!
Yes, now is the time for action to be taken so that the situation changes for the better. We need to stand up together so that the people serving our nation so valiantly are not taken for granted. We are proud of every one of you who put your lives constantly on the line so that the people of this wonderful country can stay in peace.
There is currently some noise that Congress intends to put into place a system that will make both renting and owning a house easy for veteran and servicemen but we need to raise our voice and show support for the cause to ensure that the system is initiated and implemented. The time to act is NOW!