Current VA guidelines, updated from one source.
Treat this block as the program’s fixed points rather than an offer: the leverage, the fee tiers, the ratio guideline, and the residual-income figures by family size, each read live from Lendmire’s guideline source. The credit floor shown is a wholesale overlay, since VA itself sets none.
100% financing with full entitlement
100% financing is available with full entitlement, so the buyer brings 0% toward the price; closing costs are separate and can be paid by the seller within VA’s limit. A larger down payment lowers the funding fee tier, as the ladder shows.
No monthly premium, no upfront premium
There is no monthly mortgage insurance and no upfront premium on a VA loan at any leverage; the guaranty does the work that private mortgage insurance or FHA’s premiums do elsewhere, and the funding fee is the only program charge.
First use; 3.3% after first use; exempt for many disabled veterans
VA charges a funding fee instead of mortgage insurance: 2.15% on a first-use purchase, 3.3% on a subsequent use, less with a down payment of five percent or more, and nothing for the exempt groups. The ladder below shows every tier, including the cash-out and rate-reduction refinance fees.
Residual income decides the file
41% is the ratio VA names, and residual income is the test it trusts: the monthly income left after the housing payment, debts, taxes, and maintenance, measured against a table by family size and region. A ratio above 41% needs residual income well above the table or a documented justification.
| 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 | $491 |
| 2 | $823 |
| 3 | $990 |
| 4 | $1,117 |
| 5 | $1,158 |
| 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.
Informational only; not a commitment to lend, an approval, or a quote. Every figure on this page is a program parameter read from Lendmire’s guideline source, built on VA’s published rules, and may change without notice; eligibility, the loan amount, the fee, and the residual-income test depend on the Certificate of Eligibility, the credit profile, the property, and underwriting. Lendmire is a mortgage broker licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages and is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. NMLS #2371349.
What a VA loan is — and how the file is qualified.
A VA loan is an ordinary mortgage from a private lender wrapped in a federal promise: if the loan fails, VA covers part of the lender’s loss. That promise is what lets a Denver lender skip the down payment and the mortgage insurance, and the four cards below take the file apart piece by piece.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s VA loan program, or the statewide guide at VA Loans in Colorado; to request a Certificate of Eligibility, see VA.gov.
The guaranty replaces the down payment
The guaranty is a promise from VA to the lender, not a loan from VA. On a Denver file it covers a share of any loss, so the lender can lend the full appraised value without a down payment and without charging for mortgage insurance; the funding fee is what the borrower pays for that promise.
Eligibility, entitlement, and the COE
Eligibility comes from service: a minimum period of active duty, a qualifying period in the National Guard or Reserve, or status as an eligible surviving spouse, with a character of discharge VA accepts. VA confirms it on the Certificate of Eligibility, which a Denver buyer can request online, through the lender, or by mail.
The funding fee, and who is exempt
What the funding fee buys is the absence of mortgage insurance. On a Denver 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
VA qualifies a household on what is left, not only on what is owed: residual income is the monthly income remaining after the proposed housing payment, other debts, taxes, and an allowance for maintenance and utilities, measured against a table by family size and region. A Denver family must meet the table for its size.
Change any of it in the calculator below: the Denver price, a down payment if you want one, the fee tier, the term, the rate, and the escrows. VA supplies the fee table, the ratio guideline, and the residual-income figures; the payment is simply what those produce.
Where Denver’s veterans and service members buy — and how VA fits.
A VA loan is sized against a local market, and these are Denver’s numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau: how many households own, what a typical home is worth, and what households earn. They set the scale of the funding fee and the payment before any file is written.
Market context only. Higher values mean a larger loan and a larger funding fee in dollars; lower values mean a payment that leaves more residual income on the same salary. The percentages never move, only what they amount to.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Denver neighborhoods, distinct VA files.
A Denver condominium, a half-century-old family home, and a new subdivision house are three different VA files: different project approvals, different property findings, different funding fees in dollars. The six submarkets below show the range.
Established close-in neighborhoods
The Denver blocks nearest the core carry the oldest houses, and VA’s appraiser reads them for condition as well as price: paint, roof, railings, systems. Findings become required repairs, and sellers usually complete them before closing. About 51% of Denver’s households rent — roughly 171,873 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes
Denver duplexes and small apartment houses are VA purchases with nothing down when the veteran occupies one unit. VA counts rent from the other units under its own rules, which can require landlord experience or reserves. On a home at Denver’s median value, a VA purchase with full entitlement needs no down payment at all — the funding fee on the full $616,000 is the program’s cost, and it can be financed.
Condominiums and townhomes
For many Denver veterans the first VA purchase is a condominium, and the only question VA adds is whether the project is on its approved list. If it is, the file reads like a house file with the dues in the ratios; if not, the lender can submit the project. Median household income in Denver sits near $94,718 on the latest Census estimate.
Higher-value homes
For a high-value Denver file the question is entitlement rather than a limit. Full entitlement carries the loan with nothing down; remaining entitlement brings the county figure into the math and a down payment on the uncovered portion. Roughly 163,555 Denver households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 49% of all households, the pool a VA purchase joins.
Newer infill and recent construction
New rows and recent infill in Denver tend to appraise without findings, which moves the question to price. With full entitlement there is no loan limit, so a contract above the county conforming figure is still a nothing-down VA purchase, tested on residual income at that payment. Denver counts a population near 719K within the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO area.
Neighborhoods near the installation
A service member buying near a Denver installation uses the benefit as designed: no down payment, an occupancy certification with allowances for deployment, and the option to keep the home as a rental on the next set of orders without refinancing. The median owner-occupied home value in Denver runs near $616,000 on the latest Census estimate.
Neighborhood sets the price and the property type; VA sets the rest. The guaranty, the funding fee, the ratio guideline, and the residual-income table apply identically on every Denver file, and full entitlement carries no loan limit anywhere in the county.
Four ways Denver veterans put the VA benefit to work.
Denver 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 above the conforming limit
The VA jumbo is the program’s quiet strength in Denver: no down payment and no mortgage insurance on a loan above the conforming limit, qualified on residual income like any other VA file, with a credit floor set by the wholesale overlay rather than by VA.
Buy a first home with nothing down
For a first purchase in Denver, 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.
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 Denver owner weighs it against a home equity line, which keeps the existing first mortgage in place.
Buy a small multi-unit home and live in one unit
This is where the benefit stretches furthest: a Denver veteran puts nothing down on two to four units, moves into one, and qualifies with the documented rent from the rest counted as VA allows, while the appraiser checks every unit against the property requirements.
Estimate the VA payment on a Denver price before requesting a quote.
Before you ask for a quote, size the payment yourself: the Denver 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.
Denver VA payment estimate
Seeded at Denver’s 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 $615,000 price near Denver’s 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 Colorado (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.
Most buyers can close the same purchase three ways, and the structures differ more than the labels suggest: VA with nothing down and no mortgage insurance, FHA with a small investment and premiums for the life of the loan, or conventional with private insurance that falls away as equity grows.
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 Denver 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.
Where VA charges a one-time fee, FHA charges a premium every month and an upfront premium at closing. FHA fits the buyer with no entitlement or a property VA will not approve; it rarely wins for a Denver buyer who holds a COE. See Lendmire’s FHA loan program.
Conventional financing asks for a down payment and a higher score, in exchange for insurance that cancels and no funding fee. A Denver veteran with a large down payment and a subsequent-use fee tier should see both programs run on the same numbers. See Lendmire’s conventional loan program.
Choose by profile: eligibility with full entitlement points to VA; no eligibility and a small down payment point to FHA; a large down payment and a strong score point to conventional. A Denver loan officer runs all three on the same numbers before recommending one.
What to prepare for a Denver scenario review.
What a lender reads on a Denver VA loan, and what you can have ready before anyone asks.
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.
The percentages tell only part of the story. What a Denver VA loan actually becomes depends on the certificate, the appraisal, and the credit report, and these are the details that move it.
Use these checks to keep the Denver file clean and fundable.
Before asking for a quote, know three answers: is entitlement full, does the fee apply and at what tier, and does the property fit VA’s standards at that price.
- Confirm the entitlement: an earlier VA loan still outstanding leaves remaining entitlement and may call for a down payment.
- Know the fee: the fee can be financed, paid at closing, or paid by the seller.
- Know the history: each credit event has its own waiting period counted from a specific date.
Full or remaining entitlement
The COE states the entitlement available, and that single line decides whether a Denver 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
A subsequent use costs more than a first use, and five or ten percent down lowers either tier; the exemption removes the fee entirely. A Denver veteran with a pending disability claim should raise it early, because a rating granted before closing waives the fee and one granted after can bring a refund.
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 Denver veteran: the entitlement used on that loan stays used until the loss is repaid, leaving remaining entitlement for the new purchase.
Assumption and release of liability
Assumability is one of the program’s quieter advantages for a Denver 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.
Condominium project approval
Many Denver projects already hold VA approval, but VA keeps its own list rather than accepting FHA’s or the agencies’. The association’s documents, the budget, the owner-occupancy mix, and any litigation all bear on it, and the review takes weeks rather than days.
From a Denver Certificate of Eligibility to keys in hand.
Four steps: the certificate and pre-approval, the appraisal, the underwriting, and the closing. The Denver version of each follows.
COE and pre-approval
A Denver 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 Denver 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 Denver 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.
The case for a brokerage on a VA loan is candor with numbers: VA beside conventional on the same inputs, the fee tier stated outright, the entitlement checked first, and the terms in writing.
Three programs, one set of numbers
The comparison printed on this page is run for real on every Denver file: VA with the fee financed beside FHA with its premiums beside conventional with private insurance, and the written terms follow from whichever column serves the veteran.
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 Denver purchase and explains the exemption and the refund rules where they apply.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
Lendmire is licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages, each loan is a consumer-purpose transaction with the full set of disclosures, and every figure a Denver buyer relies on, from the fee to the leverage to the final terms, comes in writing from a licensed loan officer.
Trusted by veterans & families alike.
Denver VA loan FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Denver veterans ask most about VA loans, in the order they usually ask them.
What is a VA loan, and who is it for?
VA runs a guaranty program for veterans’ home loans; it is not a lender. A Denver buyer applies through a lender or broker, the lender underwrites to VA’s rules, and VA stands behind part of the loan. Purchases, cash-out refinances, and rate-reduction refinances of existing VA loans are all inside it.
Who is eligible for a VA loan in Denver?
Active-duty service members after a minimum period, veterans with the required length of service for their era, Guard and Reserve members with qualifying active duty or six years of service, and eligible surviving spouses. The certificate settles it.
How do I get a Certificate of Eligibility?
Most Denver buyers let the lender pull it: with a DD-214 or a statement of service, the lender can often obtain the certificate from VA’s system during the first conversation. VA.gov issues it online as well, and VA Form 26-1880 by mail is the slowest route.
What is the VA funding fee, and do I have to pay it?
It depends on your status. Disabled veterans receiving compensation and the other exempt groups pay no fee; other borrowers pay the tier in the snapshot, which is lower on a first use and with a larger down payment. Most Denver buyers finance it rather than pay cash.
Is there a VA loan limit in Denver?
With full entitlement, no. The county conforming figure only matters when part of the entitlement is tied up in an earlier VA loan; then the guaranty is reduced and a down payment may be needed on the uncovered portion. This page does not quote the county figure because it changes every year.
What credit score do I need for a VA loan?
No VA minimum exists; the practical floor is the wholesale overlay in the snapshot. A thin file is underwritten on rent, utilities, and other payment records, and a seasoned bankruptcy or foreclosure with clean recent history is inside the rules.
Do I need a down payment for a VA loan?
Usually not. The guaranty does the work a down payment does elsewhere. A Denver buyer may still choose one to lower the fee or to keep the payment down, and must bring one when the appraisal comes in under the price or entitlement is partial.
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 Denver 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.
Can the seller pay my closing costs on a VA loan?
Yes. The seller may pay ordinary closing costs without limit, and may pay concessions such as prepaid items, the funding fee, and payoff of the buyer’s debts up to VA’s cap as a share of the value. VA also bars certain fees from being charged to the veteran at all, so the contract and the fee sheet are reviewed together.
What does a VA appraisal check?
Value and condition. A VA-assigned appraiser values the home and checks it against VA’s minimum property requirements, which call for a safe, structurally sound, and sanitary home; required repairs are usually completed before closing, and a Notice of Value is issued on the report by the lender’s appraisal reviewer or by VA. When the value comes in below the price, VA’s process lets the appraiser consider additional sales before the figure is final.
VA, FHA, or conventional for Denver: compared on your numbers.
A Denver 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 Denver — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see VA Loans in Colorado, part of Lendmire’s VA loan program.
Nearby markets in Colorado: Aurora · Lakewood · Arvada · Fort Collins · Colorado Springs
Related programs: Conventional Loans · FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans