What a VA loan actually is
A VA loan is a mortgage guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It is available to eligible veterans, active-duty service members, and certain surviving spouses. It requires no down payment and carries no private mortgage insurance.
Eligibility
- Active-duty service members with 90 or more days of continuous service.
- Veterans with a qualifying discharge status.
- National Guard and Reserve members with six or more years of service, or 90 days of active duty.
- Surviving spouses of service members who died in service or from a service-connected disability.
- A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is required.
How the structure differs
- No down payment required, so cash at closing is limited to fees and prepaids.
- No monthly mortgage insurance — structurally different from FHA and from low-down conventional, both of which carry it.
- The VA funding fee can be financed into the loan rather than paid at closing.
- No prepayment penalty.
- The entitlement is reusable, and in some cases restorable after a prior VA loan is paid off.
Where it gets decided
The funding fee varies by service category, down payment, and whether this is a first or subsequent use, and it is waived entirely for borrowers receiving VA disability compensation. That single variable moves the total cost more than most rate differences do, so it belongs in the comparison from the start.
Run the numbers before you talk to anyone
Nothing on this page is a quote. The calculators carry the same assumptions block a Loan Estimate does, so what you see there is comparable to what a lender will hand you.
Running the VA option in Austin?
Send your service category, entitlement status, and target price. You get the funding fee, the cash-to-close, and the total cost laid out against the alternatives.
VA Loans in other markets
All 33 markets we publish, not a selected eight.
- Arlington Heights, IL
- Aurora, IL
- Barrington, IL
- Bolingbrook, IL
- Chicago, IL
- Dallas, TX
- Detroit, MI
- Downers Grove, IL
- Elgin, IL
- Evanston, IL
- Fort Wayne, IN
- Glenview, IL
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Hinsdale, IL
- Houston, TX
- Indianapolis, IN
- Jersey City, NJ
- Joliet, IL
- Wichita, KS
- Naperville, IL
- Newark, NJ
- Northbrook, IL
- Oak Brook, IL
- Overland Park, KS
- Palatine, IL
- Park Ridge, IL
- San Antonio, TX
- Schaumburg, IL
- Skokie, IL
- Kansas City, KS
- Wheaton, IL
- Wilmette, IL
The same city, a different product
Program parameters on this page (down payment minimums, credit thresholds, debt-to-income ceilings) are agency guidelines and change. Nothing here is a rate quote, an offer, or a commitment to lend.