Buying a Home With a VA Loan

A VA loan is made by a private lender and partly guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. That guarantee is why lenders can offer terms that are often friendlier than other loans.

Below is every piece of it that will actually change what you sign. Read the funding fee one twice, and then read the paragraph after the list, because the fee is where veterans most often hand over money they never owed in the first place.

• Eligibility. It's based on your service history. Your lender can help you request a Certificate of Eligibility, which confirms you qualify.
• Down payment. Eligible borrowers can often buy with no down payment, though you can still choose to put money down.
• No monthly mortgage insurance. VA loans don't carry the monthly private mortgage insurance that many low-down-payment loans require.
• The funding fee. Most borrowers pay a one-time VA funding fee, which can usually be rolled into the loan instead of paid at closing. As of September 2026 the purchase rates are 2.3 percent of the loan on a first use with nothing down, 1.65 percent with 5 percent down, and 1.4 percent with 10 percent or more down. If you have used the benefit before and put nothing down, it jumps to 3.6 percent, though 5 or 10 percent down brings it back to the same 1.65 and 1.4. On an $800,000 purchase with nothing down, that is a difference of about $18,400 on a first use versus roughly $28,800 on a later one, which is a real reason to ask whether a small down payment pays for itself.
• It's for your home. VA loans are meant for a home you'll live in as your primary residence.
• Property standards. A VA appraiser checks that the home meets minimum requirements for safety and soundness, along with value.

And the fee many people pay when they did not have to. You are exempt from the funding fee entirely if you receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability, if you are entitled to that compensation but receive retirement or active duty pay instead, if you are a surviving spouse of a veteran who died in service or from a service-connected disability, or if you are an active duty Purple Heart recipient. If your disability rating comes through after you close, you can apply for a refund of the fee you already paid. People miss that one constantly.

Rates, limits and fees change. Confirm yours with a lender who writes VA loans regularly, and bring us the Certificate of Eligibility number when you have it so we can write the offer correctly the first time.

With full entitlement, there is no VA loan limit on a zero-down purchase. The old county caps only bind when your entitlement is partial, meaning you already have a VA loan on another property.

What actually sets your number is what a lender will approve on income, debts and credit. Not a VA ceiling.

That distinction matters here, because plenty of veterans rule out Valencia, Stevenson Ranch or a gated community assuming the benefit will not stretch. Nothing about a premier community disqualifies VA financing.

Get a real pre-approval from a lender who writes VA regularly, not occasionally, and have them pull your Certificate of Eligibility so you know your true entitlement before you shop.

A VA loan requires you to certify that you intend to live in the home as your primary residence, generally moving in within about 60 days of closing. Buying purely to rent out is not permitted at origination.

What is permitted is a 2 to 4 unit property where you live in one unit and rent the others, and you can count some of that rental income toward qualifying.

Then life happens. PCS orders are the most common accepted reason to move out and rent the home, and with documented orders it does not put you crossways with the occupancy rule even if you have not hit a year. What matters is that you genuinely intended to live there when you closed, and did.

Keep your orders. Tell your lender. And if you want to use the benefit again where you are headed, ask about second-tier entitlement before you start looking.

VA has Minimum Property Requirements covering safety, soundness and sanitation. On most tract homes in this valley that clears easily. On land, horse property and older homes, a few items need looking at early rather than three days before closing:

• A private well has to supply safe, potable water year round, with testing to local health department standards. A shared well needs a recorded written agreement covering access and maintenance.
• A septic system has to be functioning, with no surfacing or failure.
• Roof condition, peeling paint on pre-1978 homes, and anything affecting habitability.

None of that rules out Castaic horse property or an older Newhall home. It means ordering the well test and septic inspection up front and building the timeline around them.