Understand your VA loan benefit
One benefit, several decisions: whether you qualify, what buying with it looks like, whether an IRRRL refinance makes sense later, and — increasingly relevant as rates move — whether a VA loan assumption is worth exploring on a home you’re buying.
VA Loan Eligibility & Entitlement
Eligibility for a VA loan is based on service history, not current financial profile — it’s the one qualification step that’s about your record, not your credit score. Generally, veterans, active-duty service members, and certain surviving spouses qualify after meeting minimum active-duty or service-connected requirements, which vary by service era.
Entitlement — the dollar amount the VA guarantees on your behalf — determines how much you can borrow with no down payment. Full entitlement is restored once a previous VA loan is paid in full and the property is sold, though partial entitlement can sometimes support a second concurrent VA loan, which matters for a PCS move where you haven’t sold your prior home yet.
Your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is the document a lender needs to confirm your entitlement amount. Most lenders can pull it electronically in minutes once they have your basic service information — you generally don’t need to request it yourself before talking to a lender.
Buying with a VA loan
The VA Funding Fee, Explained
The VA funding fee is a one-time percentage-of-loan-amount charge that offsets the cost of the program to taxpayers, since there's no monthly mortgage insurance. It's typically 1.25%–3.3% depending on your down payment and whether it's your first use of the benefit, and most borrowers finance it into the loan rather than paying it in cash. Veterans with a service-connected disability rating are exempt entirely.
Buying With a VA Loan, Step by Step
A VA purchase largely mirrors a conventional purchase — pre-approval, house hunting, an offer, and closing — with two notable differences: a VA-specific appraisal that also checks for Minimum Property Requirements (habitability, safety), and no down payment requirement for most eligible buyers, which changes how much cash you need at the table versus a conventional loan.
Already have a VA loan?
If you already have a VA-backed mortgage, an IRRRL (Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan) may let you lower your rate or move off an adjustable rate with less paperwork than a typical refinance — usually no new appraisal or income re-verification.
The VA IRRRL Refinance
A streamlined refinance for veterans who already have a VA loan — when it helps and when it doesn't.
Read the full guideVA Loan Assumption
A VA loan assumption lets a buyer take over the seller’s existing VA loan — including its interest rate — rather than originating a new mortgage. In a rising-rate environment, a home with an assumable VA loan at a below-market rate can be a genuine selling point, not just a technicality.
Assumption doesn’t require the buyer to be a veteran — anyone who qualifies with the lender can assume a VA loan — but if the buyer isn’t eligible for VA benefits themselves, the seller’s entitlement stays tied up in the property until the loan is paid off or refinanced, which is the main tradeoff to weigh before agreeing to it as a seller.
The lender still has to approve the assuming buyer’s credit and income, and the process takes real underwriting time — it isn’t a same-day handoff. Get any assumption in writing and confirmed by the loan servicer before treating it as settled in a purchase agreement.
Common questions
No. Most service members and veterans can restore their entitlement after paying off (or in some cases even while keeping) a prior VA loan, and can have more than one VA loan at a time in certain situations, like a PCS move before a previous home sells.
Salute Mortgage
Salute Mortgage is our financing partner for VA-eligible buyers — including as the right-fit lender inside a Homebird-coordinated move. Check eligibility, run the numbers, and talk to a licensed loan officer when you're ready, not before.
- 1.Confirm eligibility — Pull your Certificate of Eligibility.
- 2.Run the numbers — Compare VA financing against conventional.
- 3.Talk to a loan officer — Only when you're ready to move forward.
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Salute Mortgage LLC — Company NMLS #2601951. Licensed in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. This is not an offer to enter into an agreement; not all customers will qualify; rates and programs are subject to change without notice. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access.
General educational information, not individualized loan advice. Rates, fees, and program rules change — confirm current details with a VA-approved lender or at va.gov before making a decision.