The weather is getting warmer, the flowers are in bloom and “for sale” signs are blossoming on hundreds of thousands of homes across the United States. Spring is the traditional start of the homeownership journey for many Americans, but especially for service members and Veterans who are used to spring bringing Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders that require military members and their families to move to different military installations.
Veterans may be considering new job opportunities, moving closer to their families or finally retiring and looking for that “forever home.” Whatever the reason, all service members and Veterans should consider purchasing their new homes with a VA-guaranteed home loan, the unique option that makes housing more affordable.
How does a VA-guaranteed home loan make a house more affordable? VA-guaranteed home loans have specific requirements for lenders to help keep loan costs and down payments low or non-existent, ensure competitive interest rates for military borrowers and eligible surviving spouses, and do not require private mortgage insurance. This helps keep more money in borrowers’ pockets and lowers overall mortgage costs over the life of the loan.
Veterans with service-connected disabilities who receive VA service-connected disability compensation save even more money, since the VA funding fee—a one-time payment the borrower pays on a VA-guaranteed home loan—is waived. With funding fees as high as 2.15% (first-time use of the benefit) and 3.3% (subsequent uses), this could result in tens of thousands of dollars in savings.
But for Veterans who are required to pay the funding fee, a new change this year allows you to deduct that funding fee on your taxes, if you are itemizing. Veterans who pay the funding fee have the option to roll the fee into their loan so they do not need to pay it out-of-pocket at closing.
VA Deputy Secretary Paul R. Lawrence, Ph.D., recently posted three videos about the VA-guaranteed home loan to help Veterans understand how this important benefit makes homeownership more affordable.
- Glad You Asked: Home Loan (Part 1): Veterans have received more than 29 million VA home loans since inception, and Lawrence wants every Veteran who is eligible to understand the VA home loan process.
- Glad You Asked: Home Loan (Part 2): Lawrence provides an overview of the VA home loan eligibility and loan approval process, including appraisals, credit scores and debt-to-income ratios that can impact a Veteran’s ability to obtain a VA home loan.
- Glad You Asked: Home Loan (Part 3): In the final part of the VA Home Loan series, Lawrence discusses how lenders evaluate a Veteran’s financial health to ensure they can repay the loan. He highlights tools like the Veterans Benefits Banking Program that help improve credit, reduce debt and support long-term financial goals, and he further encourages Veterans to explore available resources.
Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 was a great year for Veterans using their VA-backed home loan benefit, with more than 500,000 loans guaranteed. Notably, more than 30% of all VA-guaranteed home loans issued in FY2025 went to Veterans under the age of 35—nearly 170,000 loans to Millennials and Gen Z Veterans!
The VA Home Loan program continues to serve Veterans across generations. In FY 2025, Veterans from every service era used their VA-guaranteed home loan benefit to buy, build or refinance a home. Nearly 850 Veterans who served prior to the Vietnam era, including during the Korean War and World War II, utilized the program, along with more than 8,000 Veterans over the age of 80.
Homeownership can be a significant financial commitment, but the VA-guaranteed home loan offers Veterans a unique earned benefit that can consistently save them money and be used again and again. Whether it’s purchasing a first home, refinancing or using the benefit again later in life, Veterans can take advantage of a VA-guaranteed home loan at any stage. It truly is a lifetime benefit.
The VA Home Loan program staff are here to assist you. For more information, visit VA home loans online.
You can also use the resources below to learn more about the VA home loan program and the home-buying process.
Online resources
Helpful videos on YouTube
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VA.gov/HomeLoans site should have all these videos and resources on a multimedia page with infographics and downloads, these are great!
Videos
• Glad You Asked
• Overview of home loans and how to apply
• Top 5 benefits of the VA home loan program
• True costs of home ownership
• Using your VA home loan benefit: Where to start
As a 76-year-old Vietnam vet who still remembers scraping by with regular loans after I got out, this article brought a tear to my eye. The fact that even some of us old timers can still use this benefit at 80+ gives me hope. Thank you VA for keeping the promise. I’m sharing this with my grandson, who’s in the Navy, and thinking about buying his first home. God bless all who served. All gave some, and some gave all.
On Memorial Day, we honor the brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. We also show respect to their surviving spouses and families who carry on with strength and courage.
We remember their sacrifice with deep gratitude, and appreciation for the Veterans Administration in its mission and continued support for vets and their families with earned benefits like the home loan guaranty, to help eligible vets, service members, and their families achieve homeownership and build financial stability, even after they pass.
Thank you to all the VA staff who continue this hard to make these benefits available. This Memorial Day, we remember the fallen, support the living, and value the benefits earned through their service and sacrifice.
Finally something actually useful from VA! We PCS every 2-3 years and these loans have saved us so much stress. No down payment means we can actually build some savings instead of blowing it on closing costs. Thanks for the easy read with helpful links!
An excellent overview of the VA Loan Guaranty program. The recent tax deductibility of the funding fee is a welcome legislative improvement. I have successfully utilized this benefit three times over my 28-year career and continue to recommend it to all eligible veterans in my network. Well done, VA
My husband passed in 2019.
Being an eligible surviving spouse and getting this benefit has let me keep our family home.
Thank you for reminding me this is still here for us.
The videos sound helpful too.
yo this is dope. no down payment + no pmi = more $$ for my kids sports and the truck payment lol. gonna send to my battle buddy who keeps renting. thx va
Reading this while house-hunting in Utah and it’s exactly what I needed. The lifetime aspect is what gets me — I used it once in 2018, and now I can use it again for a bigger place closer to family. The fact that even Korean War vets are still buying homes with this is inspiring. Saving this article.
What about VA home eligibility for surviving spouse?
Ms. Evans, please see “Surviving spouses and VA home loans”
https://news.va.gov/141431/surviving-spouses-and-va-home-loans
Surviving spouses can apply for a VA-guaranteed home loan, they just need to apply for a Certificate of Eligibility (COE). Those who are eligible for a COE must meet at least one of the following guidelines. Surviving spouses must prove their eligibility by ordering a COE, which can be obtained electronically by lenders or by mailing a completed VA Form 26-1817 to VA. Applications are oftentimes approved within just a few days.
Oorah! this was actually easy, no fancy bullshit that makes my head hurt. Zero down, zero stress, no PMI, no, solid rates, and that funding fee waiver for disabled vets is straight-up money in the bank.
Love that you can use it again and again, it’s lifetime benefit, not some one-time handout. Rolled the dice and the fee into the loan and now we can deduct it on taxes? That’s a solid win, my friends! Nobody gets hurt.
500,000+ loans last year, even old WWII and Korea guys still using it at 80+? Hot damn! Motivates this old jarhead to maybe finally grab that forever home.
Thanks for keepin’ it simple for boots and vets like me. Semper Fi!