Updated November 3, 2026. Every figure below carries its source and month.
Since 2020 the VA has set no loan limit for buyers with full entitlement. Yet every month I sit across from service members at JBSA who passed on a house because somebody in the squadron told them sellers hate VA offers, or that the benefit is single-use, or that they need 20 percent down saved first.
That folklore has a price: a year of rent while “saving up a down payment” the program never asked for. This guide covers how the VA loan actually works in 2026, what it costs, how to write an offer that wins in San Antonio, and the mistakes that cost military buyers real money.
Bottom Line Up Front
- The VA loan requires no down payment, charges no monthly mortgage insurance, and has no VA-imposed loan limit when you have full entitlement (VA purchase loan rules, checked November 2026).
- The one real cost is the funding fee: 2.15 percent of the loan on first use with nothing down, 3.3 percent on later uses. A large share of veterans pay nothing at all; the exemption list is below.
- The benefit is reusable for life, and you can hold two VA loans at once with remaining entitlement, which is common for PCS families who keep the first house as a rental.
- Sellers can pay your closing costs: the VA allows seller concessions up to 4 percent of the home’s appraised value, on top of normal closing costs (VA, November 2026).
- If you qualify, use it. Even with cash in the bank, zero down at no mortgage insurance usually beats spending your reserves, and the exceptions are specific enough to cover in a 15-minute conversation.
| Feature | VA loan | Conventional loan |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum down payment | $0 | 3 to 5 percent typical; 20 percent to avoid mortgage insurance |
| Monthly mortgage insurance | None | PMI required under 20 percent down |
| One-time program fee | Funding fee, 0 to 3.3 percent, often financed | None |
| Loan limit | None with full entitlement | Conforming limit applies |
| Assumable by a future buyer | Yes, with lender approval | Generally no |
VA column: VA purchase loan page and VA funding fee page, both checked November 2026.
Why This Matters
A PCS, a Permanent Change of Station move under military orders, usually gives you 60 to 120 days to decide where to live in a city you may have never seen. Make that decision on bad information and the bill is specific: a buyer who puts 5 percent down because “VA offers lose” just wrote a check for $17,000 on a $340,000 house that the program never asked for.
The reverse mistake costs more. Rent for a three-year tour at $2,200 a month and roughly $79,000 leaves your account with no equity behind it. Renting is still the right call in some situations; my take on that math is in the renting versus buying during a PCS breakdown. Either way, the decision should turn on your orders and your numbers, not on a myth from 2012.
How the VA Loan Actually Works
The guaranty, not a government check
A VA loan is a mortgage from a private lender that the Department of Veterans Affairs partially guarantees. Because the VA absorbs part of the lender’s loss if the loan fails, the lender can drop the down payment and the mortgage insurance. The VA does not lend the money and does not set the rate; your lender does both, which is why lender choice matters more here than on any other loan.
Entitlement and the end of the loan cap
Entitlement is the slice of the loan the VA promises to cover. With full entitlement, the VA imposes no loan limit at all: your income, debts, and credit set the ceiling, the same as any borrower (VA, November 2026). Limits only return when you have remaining entitlement because an older VA loan is still active. That is a math problem, not a disqualifier, and a VA-experienced lender runs it in minutes.
Who qualifies
Veterans, active-duty service members, many National Guard and Reserve members, and certain surviving spouses can qualify; the service requirements by era are on the VA eligibility page. The document that settles it is the Certificate of Eligibility (COE), which your lender can usually pull online the same day. Do not rule yourself out from memory; a Guard member with six creditable years who never deployed is often eligible and does not know it.
Credit, without the folklore
The VA sets no minimum credit score. Individual lenders set their own floors, and many work with scores in the low 600s [VERIFY: current credit-score floors with two or three VA-experienced lenders]. The honest caveat: a lower score means a higher rate, and on a $340,000 loan each half point of rate is roughly $110 a month. If your credit needs work, a 90-day plan before house hunting is worth real money.
What the Benefit Gets You, and What the Myths Cost
The short list
Zero down. No monthly mortgage insurance, where a conventional buyer under 20 percent down pays PMI, private mortgage insurance, until equity removes it. Capped lender fees. Competitive rates, because the guaranty lowers the lender’s risk. Entitlement that restores when a VA loan is paid off, with partial entitlement able to support a second VA loan during a PCS. No prepayment penalty, which matters when orders drop early.
Assumability, the quiet one
A VA loan is assumable: a qualified buyer can take over your loan at its existing rate when you sell, with lender approval. In a high-rate market, a seller holding a low-rate VA loan is selling something no new loan can offer. The honest flip side is below in the pitfalls, because an assumption done carelessly can freeze your entitlement for years.
The myths, briefly
Sellers won’t take VA offers; the loan takes forever; you need perfect credit; it only works once; there’s a low cap. Every one is outdated or flat wrong, and I took them apart with the 2026 rules in VA Loan Myths: What Actually Matters in 2026. The one with a grain of truth: a VA offer written by an agent who cannot explain the appraisal process to a listing agent does lose. That is an agent problem, not a loan problem.
Writing a VA Offer That Wins in San Antonio
Concessions are your closing-cost strategy
The VA limits which fees you can be charged and allows seller concessions up to 4 percent of the home’s reasonable value, plus ordinary closing costs on top (VA, November 2026). A well-structured VA offer can put you in a house for little more than the earnest money, typically about 1 percent of the price, credited back at closing [VERIFY: typical earnest money and buyer closing costs of 2 to 4 percent plus prepaids with the lender’s estimate].
The appraisal protects you; manage it anyway
The VA appraisal checks value and enforces Minimum Property Requirements (MPRs): the house must be safe, sound, and sanitary. When value comes in low, the Tidewater process lets your agent submit comparable sales before the appraisal is final, and the VA amendatory clause, the escape clause in your contract, lets you walk away with your earnest money if the house appraises under the price. Never sign that protection away.
Speed is a lender choice
VA closing timelines match conventional timelines when the lender closes VA loans every week. Delays come from inexperienced lenders and missing documents, not from the VA. Ask any lender two questions before you commit: how many VA loans did you close last quarter, and who orders your appraisals. Vague answers are your answer.
Step-by-Step Game Plan
- 120 days out: confirm eligibility. Have a lender pull your COE through the VA portal. If you hold a VA disability rating or have a claim pending, say so now; it changes the funding fee math below.
- 90 days out: get fully underwritten pre-approval, not a pre-qualification letter. Share your projected Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), the tax-free housing stipend set by pay grade, dependents, and duty station; check yours on the DoD BAH lookup.
- 60 to 90 days out: shortlist areas by commute and total tax rate, not by what the internet says. Bexar County total property tax rates generally run 1.9 to 2.7 percent depending on the taxing entities on the parcel [VERIFY: current combined rate ranges at bexar.org and on the tax certificate].
- 45 to 60 days out: tour, in person on a house-hunting trip or by live video walkthrough from your current duty station. Many of my PCS buyers go under contract before they land in Texas.
- Under contract: use the option period. In Texas you buy a negotiated termination right, commonly 7 to 10 days for a few hundred dollars [VERIFY: typical option fee and period on current contracts], and you inspect during it. The VA appraisal is not an inspection; order both.
- Closing week: verify the funding fee status. If a disability claim decision or a pre-discharge memorandum rating lands before closing, the fee may be removed; after closing, a refund requires a retroactive effective date (VA, November 2026).
- After closing: file your homestead exemption. It lowers the taxable value of your primary residence. The how and the deadlines are in my Bexar County homestead exemption walkthrough, and the filing happens at the Bexar Appraisal District.
Pitfalls and Solutions
Four places VA buyers actually lose money, and the move that prevents each one.
Financing the funding fee without checking your exemption first
Rolling a 2.15 percent fee into a zero-down loan means owing more than the price on day one: $7,310 added to a $340,000 loan. Exempt buyers pay it anyway because nobody checked. Before closing, confirm whether you receive or are eligible to receive VA disability compensation, and if a pre-discharge claim is pending, ask about a proposed or memorandum rating dated before closing; afterward it is too late unless the award is retroactive (VA, November 2026).
Treating the VA appraisal as your inspection
MPRs are minimums. They will not catch a 12-year-old AC compressor or early foundation movement in San Antonio’s expansive clay soil, and either one is a four-to-five-figure repair. Pay for an independent inspection during the option period; it costs a few hundred dollars against an $8,000 to $15,000 AC replacement if you guess wrong.
Letting an assumption strand your entitlement
When a civilian buyer assumes your VA loan, your entitlement stays pledged to that house until the loan is paid off, so your next VA purchase runs on partial entitlement and a limit returns. The fix is written into the deal: require substitution of entitlement, meaning the assuming buyer is a qualified veteran who swaps in their own, or price the trade-off deliberately.
Shopping payment instead of PITI against BAH
PITI is principal, interest, taxes, and insurance: the real monthly payment. In high-tax PID and MUD sections, special assessment districts that finance a new subdivision’s roads and utilities, the T in PITI can be a third of the bill. Read the tax certificate before the option period ends, and compare the full PITI to your BAH, not the principal and interest the listing portal shows you.
Costs, Timing, and Variables
The funding fee is the program’s one real cost, charged once and usually financed into the loan.
| Down payment | First use | After first use |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5 percent | 2.15% | 3.3% |
| 5 to 9.99 percent | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| 10 percent or more | 1.25% | 1.25% |
Purchase loans; schedule effective April 7, 2023 and unchanged as of November 2026 (VA funding fee charts). You pay nothing if you receive VA disability compensation, are eligible for it but take retirement or active-duty pay instead, receive Dependency and Indemnity Compensation as a surviving spouse, hold a qualifying pre-discharge rating before closing, or are an active-duty Purple Heart recipient.
What a zero-down purchase looks like end to end: $340,000 price, nothing down, 2.15 percent fee financed brings the loan to $347,310. At an illustrative 6.5 percent over 30 years [VERIFY: current average 30-year VA rate against the Freddie Mac weekly survey], principal and interest run about $2,195. Add taxes at 2.2 percent, about $623 a month, and insurance near $233 a month based on 2026 San Antonio quote ranges [VERIFY: current hail-adjusted insurance quotes for the specific roof age], and the real payment is roughly $3,051. That is the number to hold against your BAH and your budget, and it is why two houses at the same price can be $400 a month apart.
Shop total PITI against BAH, not list price against pre-approval. The pre-approval tells you what a lender will allow; PITI tells you what your month will feel like.
Verify Locally: What to Confirm
- Your COE and remaining entitlement: your lender, through the VA portal, before you shop.
- Your funding fee status and any pending claim timing: your lender and the VA regional loan center, before closing day.
- Current BAH for your grade and dependents: the DoD BAH calculator, when orders are in hand; JBSA is one BAH area.
- The parcel’s total tax rate and any PID or MUD assessment: the tax certificate from the title company, inside the option period.
- Homestead and disabled veteran exemption amounts and deadlines: the Bexar Appraisal District, right after closing.
- Flood zone and insurance pricing: the FEMA map and two insurance quotes, before the option period ends.
Frequently Asked Questions
What credit score do I need for a VA loan?
The VA sets no minimum credit score; the floor comes from the individual lender, and many VA-experienced lenders work with scores in the low 600s. The rate improves as the score does. If you sit below a lender’s floor, the fix is often 60 to 90 days of targeted work, not a year of waiting.
Can I use a VA loan more than once?
Yes, the benefit is reusable for life: entitlement restores when a VA loan is paid off and the house is sold, with a one-time restoration available if you keep the home. With remaining entitlement you can hold two VA loans at once, which is how many PCS families keep the first house as a rental.
Is there a VA loan limit in 2026?
Not if you have full entitlement; since 2020 the VA imposes no loan cap and your qualification rests on income, debts, and credit. Loan limits only apply when you have remaining entitlement tied up in another active VA loan. Your lender calculates the exact figure from your COE.
How much is the VA funding fee?
A first-use purchase with less than 5 percent down pays 2.15 percent of the loan; later uses pay 3.3 percent, and 5 percent or more down lowers the fee to 1.5 or 1.25 percent. Veterans receiving or eligible to receive VA disability compensation, qualifying surviving spouses, pre-discharge memorandum rating holders, and active-duty Purple Heart recipients pay nothing. The schedule has been unchanged since April 2023.
Can the seller pay my closing costs on a VA loan?
Yes. The VA allows seller concessions up to 4 percent of the home’s reasonable value, and ordinary closing-cost credits do not count against that cap. Structured well, this is how VA buyers close with little more than earnest money out of pocket.
How long does a VA loan take to close?
With a lender that closes VA loans every week, the timeline matches a conventional loan: 30 to 40 days contract to close is normal in San Antonio. Delays trace to inexperienced lenders and missing documents, not the VA. Ask how many VA loans a lender closed last quarter before you commit.
Can I buy a duplex or fourplex with a VA loan?
Yes, up to four units, as long as you live in one as your primary residence; approved condos and new construction qualify too. A multi-unit purchase can turn BAH into a long-term asset, though vacancy and repairs are real line items to budget before counting rent as income.
Do VA loans have PMI?
No. VA loans never carry monthly mortgage insurance, while a conventional buyer under 20 percent down pays PMI until equity removes it. That difference is a meaningful share of the VA loan’s monthly advantage at low down payments.
What happens if the VA appraisal comes in low?
Three paths: your agent submits comparable sales during the Tidewater process before the value is final, you renegotiate the price, or you walk away with your earnest money under the VA amendatory clause. You can also pay the difference in cash if the house is worth it to you. The clause exists so a low appraisal never forces you to overpay.
Does Texas give disabled veterans a property tax break?
Yes. Texas property tax exemptions for disabled veterans are tiered by VA rating, and a 100 percent rating or individual unemployability can mean a total exemption on the homestead [VERIFY: current tier amounts at the Texas Comptroller]. Details and forms are on the Texas Comptroller’s exemption page, and the filing goes through the county appraisal district.
San Antonio Context
San Antonio is one of the strongest VA markets in the country: Joint Base San Antonio spans Lackland, Randolph, Fort Sam Houston, and Camp Bullis, and listing agents here see VA offers weekly. The “sellers won’t take VA” myth dies faster in this market than almost anywhere.
Where buyers actually land depends on the gate. The Randolph belt runs Schertz, Cibolo, Universal City, Live Oak, and Converse along I-35; Lackland buyers concentrate in Alamo Ranch and the Potranco and Culebra corridors on the far west side; Fort Sam commuters split between the northeast suburbs and the central districts at a higher price band. My rankings, with commutes and tax rates, are in Best Places to Live Near JBSA, and the broader relocation playbook lives on the PCS to San Antonio hub.
Two local realities to price in. Training-flight noise is real near Lackland and Randolph; drive the house at different hours before the option period ends. And much of the new construction VA buyers love sits in PID or MUD sections where the total tax rate lands at the high end of the county’s range. The school-district homestead exemption, $140,000 of value under current law [VERIFY: 2026 school-district homestead exemption amount], plus the tiered disabled veteran exemption can claw a real share of that back, but only if you file.
Quick Checklist
- COE pulled and entitlement confirmed with a VA-experienced lender
- Funding fee status checked, including any pending disability claim
- Fully underwritten pre-approval in hand, not a pre-qualification
- BAH confirmed on the DoD calculator for your grade and dependents
- Area shortlist built on commute and total tax rate
- Independent inspection scheduled inside the option period
- Tax certificate read for PID or MUD assessments
- Seller concessions negotiated into the offer
- Escape clause intact, never waived
- Homestead and veteran exemptions filed after closing
Next Best Step
DIY
Pull your eligibility on the VA eligibility page, check your BAH on the DoD lookup, and run the funding fee against your own numbers on the VA charts linked above. An hour with those three pages puts you ahead of most buyers.
Professional Help
A VA-experienced lender verifies entitlement and the fee exemption and issues the underwritten pre-approval. A broker who works military moves structures the concessions, manages the appraisal, and keeps the escape clause intact. An independent inspector covers what MPRs do not.
Low-Pressure Consult
If you want the whole thing mapped to your orders, book the 15-minute fit call: your PCS timeline, VA strategy, area shortlist, and exit plan, mapped out before you commit to anything. Straight answers, no sales pitch.
About the author
Jesse Lopez is the broker and owner of Blue Utopia Realty in San Antonio, retired U.S. Air Force after 23 years, VA Home Loan Instructor Certified, and host of the Living in San Antonio Texas channel. He has spent more than nine years walking military families through PCS moves to and from JBSA.