$0 down. No PMI. What will your VA loan cost?

• On active duty: 90 continuous days of service.
• Veterans (Aug 2, 1990 to now): 24 continuous months, or the full period you were ordered to (at least 90 days), or less with a service-connected disability discharge.
• Guard: 90 days of non-training Title 10 duty, or 90 days including 30 consecutive under certain Title 32 orders, or 6 creditable years.
• Reserve: 90 days of non-training active duty, or 6 creditable years in the Selected Reserve.
• Surviving spouses: if you receive or are eligible for certain DIC, or your spouse is MIA/POW.

Get your free Certificate of Eligibility (COE) on VA.gov, or your lender can pull it. Active duty usually needs a statement of service signed by your command.

No funding fee if you…

• get VA disability compensation (or are eligible but get retirement or active-duty pay instead),
• have a proposed or memorandum rating before closing (pre-discharge claim),
• are a surviving spouse receiving DIC, or
• are on active duty and show proof of a Purple Heart by closing.

You can finance the fee into the loan. If a disability rating is later made retroactive to before closing, ask the VA for a refund.

VA loans don't charge monthly mortgage insurance. With full entitlement there's no VA loan limit; your lender decides how much you can borrow. VA has no minimum credit score, but most lenders want about 620+.

Closing costs usually run 2–5% of the price: lender fees, appraisal, title, prepaid taxes and insurance. Only the funding fee can be rolled into a purchase loan.

The seller can pay them. VA doesn't limit seller credits for normal closing costs. Separately, VA caps seller concessions at 4% of the home's reasonable value. Concessions are extras: paying your funding fee, prepaying your taxes and insurance, paying off a debt, or extra discount points. In a slow market (many days on market), asking for both is normal.

Debt-to-income: VA's guideline is 41% of gross income (BAH counts). Higher can still work with strong residual income.

Residual income: money left each month after the house payment, taxes, debts and estimated upkeep.

Monthly residual income guideline for loans of $80,000+. Over 5 people: add $80 each. Source: VA Lenders Handbook (Pamphlet 26-7), chapter 4.

Regions: Northeast = CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT. Midwest = IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI. South = AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, PR, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV. West = AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY.

Entitlement is the VA's promise to your lender: it covers 25% of the loan. Full entitlement (never used, or restored) means no VA loan limit.

Remaining (second-tier or “bonus”) entitlement: if a VA loan is still open on another home, VA's math is (2026 county one-unit limit × 25%) − entitlement already used. Multiply what's left by 4 for the most you can borrow with $0 down. Above that, put down 25% of the difference.

The county loan limit only matters here, with reduced entitlement. It's the FHFA conforming limit for the county you're buying in. Each base page lists it.

Example from VA: limit $900,000 × 25% = $225,000; minus $50,000 used = $175,000 left; × 4 = $700,000 with $0 down.

An E-6 family buys near Fort Bliss

Home price

$233,000 (typical El Paso County home, Zillow, Sept 2026)

Down payment

$0

Funding fee (2.15%, first use)

$5,010, rolled into the loan

Loan

$238,010

Principal + interest

$1,648/mo at 7.4% (30-yr)

Property tax + insurance

$494/mo (est.)

PMI

$0

Monthly payment

$2,142/mo vs. $2,148 E-6 BAH with dependents

Closing costs

~$5,825 (about 2.5%). The seller can pay all normal closing costs; that doesn't count toward VA's 4% cap.

Seller concessions cap (4%)

up to $9,320 more for extras, like paying the funding fee ($5,010) or paying off a debt

With a VA disability rating

No funding fee: loan $233,000, saves about $5,010 plus interest

Then they PCS to Camp Pendleton and keep the El Paso house as a rental

Entitlement used on El Paso

~$58,250 (25% of the loan)

2026 San Diego County limit

$1,104,000

Remaining (second-tier) entitlement

$1,104,000 × 25% − $58,250 = $217,750

Max with $0 down

$217,750 × 4 = $871,000

Typical San Diego County home

$927,000, so they'd need about $14,000 down (25% of the amount over $871,000)

Funding fee on the 2nd loan

3.3% with under 5% down (subsequent use), unless exempt

Estimates for illustration. Your COE shows your exact entitlement. The county limit matters only because the first VA loan is still open (reduced entitlement); with full entitlement there's no VA loan limit.

• Sold the home and paid off the loan: restore your full entitlement.
• Paid it off but kept the home: one-time restoration.
• Still have the loan: use remaining entitlement (above). Your funding fee is 3.3% with under 5% down.
• Someone assumed your loan: your entitlement stays tied up unless the buyer is an eligible veteran who substitutes their own entitlement.

You must certify you'll live in the home as your primary residence, generally within 60 days of closing. If you're on active duty and can't because of your service (a deployment, say), your spouse, or in some cases a dependent child, can meet the rule. You can't use a VA loan for a pure investment property or a home overseas.

Once you've lived there, you can move on PCS orders and rent it out. Run the numbers first:

• Rent covers the payment, plus 8–10% for a property manager and a leasing fee (often half to a full month's rent)
• A month or so of vacancy each year
• Repairs, about 1% of the home's value a year
• Landlord insurance (it replaces homeowners insurance)
• Taxes on rental income, and depreciation (ask a tax pro)
• Selling later: the home-sale tax break needs 2 of the last 5 years living there, and military on extended duty can pause that 5-year clock for up to 10 years (IRS Pub. 523)

The Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan replaces your VA loan with a new one at a lower rate. Funding fee: 0.5%. You only have to certify that you live there now or used to, so it works even after you PCS and rent the home out. Lenders usually need little paperwork.

Replace any mortgage (VA or not) with a VA loan and take cash out of your equity, or refinance a non-VA loan into a VA one. You must live in the home. Funding fee: 2.15% first use, 3.3% after. The lender orders an appraisal.

A VA loan can be taken over by a buyer at its existing rate, with the lender's approval (funding fee 0.5%). When rates are high, a low-rate VA loan makes your home easier to sell at PCS. Get a release of liability, and remember: unless the buyer is a veteran who substitutes their entitlement, yours stays tied up until the loan is paid off.

A VA loan can buy a home with up to 4 units if you live in one. Tenants in the other units help pay the mortgage. Lenders may count part of that rent as income and may want cash reserves. 2026 FHFA limits for 2–4 units matter only with reduced entitlement.