Current VA guidelines, updated from one source.
Four numbers and two tables decide most VA files, and all of them are here, drawn from one guideline source built on VA’s published rules: the down payment with full entitlement, the absence of mortgage insurance, the funding fee by first or subsequent use, the ratio guideline, and the residual-income table for the region.
100% financing with full entitlement
0% down is the program’s defining term: a buyer with full entitlement finances up to 100% of the lesser of price and value, the guaranty replaces the down payment, and the funding fee can be added on top of the loan rather than paid in cash.
No monthly premium, no upfront premium
No mortgage insurance, monthly or upfront, at any loan-to-value: the guaranty stands in for it. That is the single largest difference between a VA payment and an FHA or low-down-payment conventional payment on the same price.
First use; 3.3% after first use; exempt for many disabled veterans
2.15% of the loan on first use and 3.3% after, both lower with five or ten percent down; the fee can be rolled into the loan or paid at closing, and VA waives it for disabled veterans receiving compensation, eligible surviving spouses, and Purple Heart recipients.
Residual income decides the file
The ratio guideline is 41%; the deciding figure is residual income, VA’s measure of what the household keeps each month after the housing payment, debts, taxes, and maintenance. The South table below applies to Texas, and the calculator estimates a rough residual from the income you enter.
| Loan type | Use | Down payment | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase or construction | First use | less than 5% down | 2.15% |
| Purchase or construction | First use | 5% to 9.99% down | 1.5% |
| Purchase or construction | First use | 10% or more down | 1.25% |
| Purchase or construction | After first use | less than 5% down | 3.3% |
| Purchase or construction | After first use | 5% to 9.99% down | 1.5% |
| Purchase or construction | After first use | 10% or more down | 1.25% |
| Cash-out refinance | First use | Any | 2.15% |
| Cash-out refinance | After first use | Any | 3.3% |
| Irrrl | Any | Any | 0.5% |
| Manufactured home (not permanently affixed) | Any | Any | 1% |
| Loan assumption | Any | Any | 0.5% |
| Vendee loan | Any | Any | 2.25% |
| Family size | Residual income |
|---|---|
| 1 | $441 |
| 2 | $738 |
| 3 | $889 |
| 4 | $1,003 |
| 5 | $1,039 |
| Each additional member, up to seven | + $80 |
Exempt from the funding fee: veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability, those eligible for it but receiving retirement or active-duty pay instead, surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, service members with a pre-discharge claim rating, and active-duty service members who have received the Purple Heart. VA sets no minimum credit score; the wholesale programs behind these pages start at a 580 decision score and serve loan amounts up to $4,000,000, including loans above the conforming limit with full entitlement.
Refinances: cash-out to 100% loan-to-value after seasoning of 210 days and six payments with a net tangible benefit; rate-reduction refinances of an existing VA loan at a 0.5% fee without a VA appraisal. Current VA snapshot · updated October 1, 2026 · owner-occupied principal residences, one to four units · no VA loan limit with full entitlement · loans are assumable · no prepayment penalty · Lendmire is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
This page describes program parameters, not an offer. The leverage, the funding fee, the ratio guideline, and the residual-income table are VA guidelines and lender overlays, subject to change without notice and to full underwriting; the certificate, the appraisal, the credit report, and the property decide every file. Lendmire is a broker, not a lender, and is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. NMLS #2371349.
What a VA loan is — and how the file is qualified.
The difference between a VA loan and any other mortgage is who shares the risk. VA stands partly behind the lender, so the lender can lend the full value with no insurance premium and read the budget on residual income. Below, the four parts a Texas buyer needs to understand.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s VA loan program; to confirm eligibility or request a Certificate of Eligibility, see VA.gov.
The guaranty replaces the down payment
Because VA backs part of every loan, the lender’s risk on a Texas purchase is closer to a loan with a large down payment than to a high-leverage conventional loan. The program passes that difference to the borrower as no down payment, no mortgage insurance, and a cap on the fees a veteran can be charged.
Eligibility, entitlement, and the COE
Three questions settle eligibility on a Texas file: the service history, the character of discharge, and whether entitlement is full or partly in use. The COE answers all three. Surviving spouses, National Guard and Reserve members, and veterans with an earlier VA loan each have their own path to the certificate.
The funding fee, and who is exempt
What the funding fee buys is the absence of mortgage insurance. On a Texas purchase the fee is paid once, usually financed, while an FHA or conventional borrower at the same leverage pays a premium every month for years; the comparison usually favors VA unless the fee tier is high and the loan is short-lived.
Residual income over ratios
Residual income depends on where the home is and how many people live in it: the tables differ by region, and the figure rises with each family member. The snapshot shows the Texas table, and the calculator estimates a rough residual from the income, the payment, and the debts you enter for a Texas scenario.
A lender runs exactly this math on a Texas file, with one refinement the page cannot make: underwriting also subtracts taxes, maintenance, and utilities before measuring residual income, so the rough residual here will read higher than the lender’s. The price, the fee tier, and the locked rate are the moving parts.
Where Texas’ veterans and service members buy — and how VA fits.
Three statewide numbers frame a Texas VA file: how many households own, what a typical home is worth on the latest estimate, and what households earn. They describe the market; they decide nothing about any one borrower.
Statewide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. Two veterans with identical entitlement can see different files here: one buying at the median clears the residual-income table with room, another stretching above it needs the ratio justified. The market sets the spread.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Where Texas’ veterans buy — market by market.
These Texas markets hold the largest owner-household pools in the state’s footprint, and each has a city guide of its own. The guaranty, the fee table, and the residual-income table do not change between them; the prices and the typical files do.
Houston
Close to 391,519 households own in Houston (42% of the total), so VA purchases, cash-out refinances, and rate-reduction refinances are all routine files in this metropolitan market. Census context: median value near $277,800, median household income near $64,813, population near 2.33M.
San Antonio
San Antonio’s owner households run near 289,380, about 52% of households; a metropolitan market this large gives veterans and service members a steady supply of homes the guaranty can carry with nothing down. Census context: median value near $235,700, median household income near $65,056, population near 1.48M.
Dallas
Close to 226,615 households own in Dallas (42% of the total), so VA purchases, cash-out refinances, and rate-reduction refinances are all routine files in this metropolitan market. Census context: median value near $320,700, median household income near $70,518, population near 1.31M.
Austin
Close to 198,180 households own in Austin (43% of the total), so VA purchases, cash-out refinances, and rate-reduction refinances are all routine files in this metropolitan market. Census context: median value near $555,300, median household income near $93,658, population near 980K.
Fort Worth
Close to 195,072 households own in Fort Worth (57% of the total), so VA purchases, cash-out refinances, and rate-reduction refinances are all routine files in this metropolitan market. Census context: median value near $303,000, median household income near $79,507, population near 963K.
El Paso
Among Lendmire’s Texas markets, El Paso has one of the deepest pools of owner households, close to 149,169, about 61% of households, and in a metropolitan market of that size the VA benefit closes purchases at every price the appraisal supports. Census context: median value near $184,500, median household income near $59,745, population near 680K.
What decides a Texas VA file does not vary by city: the entitlement on the certificate, the fee and its tiers, the residual-income table, the appraisal requirements, and the seasoning after a credit event. The county conforming figure changes yearly, enters the math only with remaining entitlement, and is confirmed by a loan officer rather than printed here.
Four ways Texas veterans put the VA benefit to work.
Texas veterans use VA for a handful of reasons that repeat: the purchase with nothing down, the move above the conforming limit without a jumbo down payment, the cash-out refinance at the program’s leverage, and the rate-reduction refinance of an existing VA loan.
Buy a condominium in an approved project
Many Texas first purchases are condominiums, and VA finances them in approved projects; a project not yet on the list can be submitted, which takes time and the association’s cooperation. The buyer’s side of the file does not change.
Take cash out of a home with equity
Cash-out on VA is a full refinance of the first mortgage at the leverage in the snapshot, after the later of the seasoning period or the required payments, with the funding fee at the cash-out tier. A Texas owner weighs it against a home equity line, which keeps the existing first mortgage in place.
Buy above the conforming limit
With full entitlement there is no VA loan limit, so a Texas buyer can finance a home above the conforming limit with no down payment, where a conventional jumbo loan would ask for a large one. The wholesale programs behind these pages serve loan amounts up to the ceiling shown in the snapshot.
Buy a first home with nothing down
For a first purchase in Texas, VA pairs no down payment with no mortgage insurance and a residual-income test that reads the whole household budget; the file closes on the certificate, the appraisal, the income, and the funding fee tier.
Estimate the VA payment on a Texas price before requesting a quote.
Before you ask for a quote, size the payment yourself: the Texas price, the fee tier, the term, the benchmark rate, and the escrows go in, and the funding fee table and the residual-income figures come from the same guideline source as the block above. The result is an estimate, and the rate is a published market average, not an offer.
Texas VA payment estimate
Seeded at Texas’ median value with no down payment; every field updates the result as you type.
Editable benchmark: 7.03% as of September 24, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not a VA loan quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $285,000 price near Texas’ median owner-occupied home value, no down payment with full entitlement, a first-use funding fee financed into the loan, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Texas (U.S. Census Bureau). Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conventional benchmark, a market reference and not a VA loan quote; your rate is set by the lender at lock. The funding fee follows VA’s published table for the use and down payment entered; the residual-income figure is VA’s guideline for the region and family size, and the rough residual shown subtracts only the housing payment and the debts entered, while VA also deducts taxes, maintenance and utilities. Taxes, insurance and dues are editable estimates; closing costs are not included. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. Lendmire is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Same veteran, three very different closings.
Choosing among VA, FHA, and conventional in Texas is really choosing an insurance structure and a down payment at the same time. Each is laid out below with the buyer it fits.
VA, FHA, or conventional.
The program’s strengths are the down payment, the insurance, and the residual-income test; its cost is the funding fee. A Texas veteran with full entitlement usually pays less each month on VA than on FHA at the same price, and the conventional comparison turns on the down payment and the fee tier.
FHA asks for a small minimum investment, accepts a forgiving decision score, and charges an upfront premium plus an annual premium that lasts for the term at full leverage. For a Texas buyer without VA eligibility it is the nearest substitute; with eligibility it is the costlier route. See Lendmire’s FHA loan program.
A conventional loan with private mortgage insurance prices the score and the down payment: a strong profile with twenty percent down pays no insurance at all, a smaller down payment pays a premium that cancels as equity grows. It competes with VA for a Texas buyer who has the cash and a high funding fee tier. See Lendmire’s conventional loan program.
Where each one fits: VA for the eligible buyer who wants no down payment and no mortgage insurance; FHA for the buyer without eligibility who needs the small investment and the forgiving score; conventional for the buyer with twenty percent down or a strong score who wants cancellable insurance.
What to prepare for a Texas scenario review.
The paperwork is the standard mortgage set with the service record on top; here is what a Texas scenario review typically draws on.
This is a general preparation guide, not a universal checklist. The selected lender may request additional information based on the transaction, the property, entitlement, and the income picture. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.
Local details that can change the loan.
A handful of details decide whether a Texas VA file closes as planned, closes smaller, or stalls. These are the ones that come up most.
Use these checks to keep the Texas file clean and fundable.
Three things to settle before a Texas review: what the certificate says about entitlement, which funding fee tier applies, and whether the property has any VA question attached.
- Confirm the entitlement: an earlier VA loan still outstanding leaves remaining entitlement and may call for a down payment.
- Know the fee: the tier follows first or subsequent use and the down payment, as the funding fee table above shows.
- Plan the exit: entitlement is restored only when the assuming buyer substitutes their own.
Full or remaining entitlement
The COE states the entitlement available, and that single line decides whether a Texas purchase closes with nothing down at any price the appraisal supports or needs a down payment on the part VA does not back. A veteran keeping an earlier VA-financed home as a rental is the usual remaining-entitlement case, and the file still works.
The funding fee tier and the exemptions
The fee depends on whether the benefit has been used before and on the down payment, and it is waived for veterans receiving compensation for a service-connected disability, surviving spouses receiving DIC, active-duty Purple Heart recipients, and service members rated before discharge. On a Texas file the tier is confirmed from the COE.
Assumption and release of liability
Assumability is one of the program’s quieter advantages for a Texas owner who may sell into a higher-rate market, and one of its traps: without a release of liability the seller remains responsible, and without substitution of entitlement the seller’s benefit stays in use on a home they no longer own.
Credit, seasoning, and the prior VA loan
Each waiting period is VA’s own, and the recent housing record carries the most weight. A foreclosure on an earlier VA loan adds a second question for a Texas veteran: the entitlement used on that loan stays used until the loss is repaid, leaving remaining entitlement for the new purchase.
Residual income and the ratio guideline
Residual income is measured after the housing payment, other debts, taxes, and VA’s allowance for maintenance and utilities, against a table by region and family size. A Texas household must meet the figure for its size, and a ratio above VA’s guideline needs residual income well above the table or a documented justification.
From a Texas Certificate of Eligibility to keys in hand.
Four steps: the certificate and pre-approval, the appraisal, the underwriting, and the closing. The Texas version of each follows.
COE and pre-approval
A Texas pre-approval is a sizing exercise: the certificate, the income, the family size, the funding fee tier, and the price. The loan officer confirms eligibility and entitlement against the program rules and puts the pre-approval in writing for the offer.
Contract and appraisal
With the contract signed, the lender requests a VA-assigned appraiser, who values the Texas home and checks it against VA’s property requirements; the Notice of Value is issued on the report. Seller concessions are checked against VA’s cap, and any condominium project approval is confirmed.
Underwriting
The file is scored by the automated system or underwritten manually, with income, assets, credit, and residual income documented. Seasoning after a credit event is confirmed from the discharge or transfer papers, the funding fee tier is confirmed from the COE, and the ratio is measured against VA’s guideline.
Closing
At closing the funding fee is added to the loan or paid, the escrows for taxes and insurance are set up, and there is no mortgage insurance to begin. A Texas buyer signs the note and the security instrument, certifies occupancy, and VA’s guaranty attaches to the loan.
A brokerage that puts the benefit to work.
Lendmire never lends. It reads a Texas file against VA, FHA, and conventional, matches the program to the profile, and keeps the funding fee and the residual-income test in front of the buyer before anything is signed.
Three programs, one set of numbers
Before any recommendation, VA, FHA, and conventional are run on the same Texas price, income, and down payment. The buyer sees the payment, the insurance or fee line, and the cash to close for each, and the choice follows the figures.
The fee and the entitlement explained before the offer
The certificate fixes two things a buyer should know before signing a contract: the funding fee tier and the entitlement available. Lendmire states both for the Texas purchase and explains the exemption and the refund rules where they apply.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
What this page shows are VA’s parameters and the wholesale overlays; what a specific Texas loan gets is a written set of terms from a licensed loan officer after the review. Lendmire is a broker, never the lender, and has no affiliation with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Trusted by veterans & families alike.
Texas VA loan FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Texas veterans ask most about VA loans, in the order they usually ask them.
What is a VA loan, and who is it for?
A VA loan is a mortgage from a private lender with a partial guaranty from the Department of Veterans Affairs: VA backs a share of the loan, and in exchange the program allows no down payment with full entitlement, no monthly mortgage insurance, a residual-income test, and a cap on the fees a veteran can be charged. It is for veterans, service members, National Guard and Reserve members, and eligible surviving spouses buying a principal residence in Texas.
Who is eligible for a VA loan in Texas?
Most veterans with an honorable or general discharge, current service members past the minimum period, Guard and Reserve members with enough qualifying service, and eligible surviving spouses. Other-than-honorable discharges can disqualify, and VA reviews them case by case.
How do I get a Certificate of Eligibility?
The lender is usually the fastest path, and VA.gov the next. The certificate shows available entitlement, prior use of the benefit, and any funding fee exemption, which is why a Texas loan officer wants it before sizing the loan.
What is the VA funding fee, and do I have to pay it?
The fee is the program’s only charge for the guaranty, and the snapshot shows the tiers. A Texas buyer who is receiving VA disability compensation, or who falls in one of the other exempt groups, pays nothing; everyone else pays the tier for their use and down payment, usually by financing it.
Is there a VA loan limit in Texas?
Not with full entitlement: VA backs a quarter of the loan whatever its size, so a Texas buyer with full entitlement can finance above the conforming limit with no down payment, up to the ceiling the wholesale programs set. With remaining entitlement the county conforming figure enters the calculation and a lender may require a down payment; a Lendmire loan officer confirms the figure for the county.
What credit score do I need for a VA loan?
There is no VA minimum, and the snapshot shows where the wholesale programs begin. A Texas buyer below that floor should ask a loan officer what the file needs, because VA’s own rules weigh the payment history and residual income, not a score alone.
Can I buy a duplex or fourplex with a VA loan?
VA finances owner-occupied two- to four-unit homes. A Texas buyer lives in one unit, the rent from the others counts as VA allows, and the residual-income test runs on the combined picture.
Do I need a down payment for a VA loan?
Not with full entitlement when the home appraises at or above the price: the guaranty replaces the down payment and the lender finances the full value. A down payment becomes part of the file when entitlement is partial, when the price exceeds the appraised value, or when a buyer chooses one to lower the funding fee tier.
How does a VA refinance work?
VA refinances come in two shapes, and the funding fee applies to each unless the veteran is exempt. A Texas owner with an existing VA loan usually starts with the IRRRL; an owner taking cash out needs the seasoning period and the program’s cash-out leverage.
Do I have to live in the home to use a VA loan?
The home has to be your principal residence at closing, occupied within a reasonable time. Second homes and investment property are outside the program, but a multi-unit home where you occupy one unit is inside it, and deployment has its own allowances.
A Texas VA loan sized to the price, the entitlement, and the budget.
A Texas VA purchase starts with three questions: eligibility, the fee, and the price. Lendmire answers them, compares the programs, and writes up the one that fits.
This guide covers Texas — for the program overview, see Lendmire’s VA loan program.
All Texas city guides (6): Austin · Dallas · El Paso · Fort Worth · Houston · San Antonio
Related programs: Conventional Loans · FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans