Current VA guidelines, updated from one source.
One guideline source feeds every number in this block, and the block changes here when the source does. The terms shown are purchase terms; the refinance leverage, the seasoning rule, and the fee exemptions sit under the two tables.
100% financing with full entitlement
The purchase leverage is 100% loan-to-value with full entitlement, which means 0% down on a home that appraises at the price; a price above the appraised value is paid in cash or renegotiated, and the guaranty covers the lender’s exposure.
No monthly premium, no upfront premium
Mortgage insurance does not exist on a VA loan: no monthly premium, no upfront premium, no cancellation rules to track. The calculator below shows a payment with nothing in that line, which is where VA differs from every other high-leverage program.
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
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 West table below applies to California, 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 | $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.
For informational purposes only. This is not a commitment to lend or extend credit, an offer, or a quote. Program parameters shown are VA guidelines and wholesale lender overlays, are subject to change without notice, and every figure depends on the borrower, the entitlement, the property, the selected program, and full underwriting. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by 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.
To follow an Antioch VA file, follow four things in order: the guaranty, the eligibility and entitlement that unlock it, the funding fee that funds it, and the residual-income standard that qualifies it. Each rule below comes with the reason behind it.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s VA loan program, or the statewide guide at VA Loans in California; to request a Certificate of Eligibility, see VA.gov.
The guaranty replaces the down payment
VA backs a quarter of the loan for a borrower with full entitlement, which gives the lender the same protection a sizable down payment would. That is why an Antioch purchase can close with nothing down and no mortgage insurance, and why there is no VA loan limit when entitlement is full: the backing scales with the loan.
Eligibility, entitlement, and the COE
Entitlement is the share of the loan VA will back. It is full for a first use and for a veteran who has sold the earlier home and paid the loan off; it is partial when an earlier VA loan is still outstanding or was lost to foreclosure. An Antioch buyer with partial entitlement can still buy, often with a down payment on the uncovered portion.
The funding fee, and who is exempt
The funding fee is VA’s one-time charge for the guaranty, set as a share of the loan by whether the benefit has been used before and by the down payment. An Antioch buyer can finance it into the loan or pay it at closing, and the seller can pay it as part of concessions; the ladder in the snapshot shows every tier, and veterans compensated for a service-connected disability are exempt.
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 regional table for California, and the calculator estimates a rough residual from the income, the payment, and the debts you enter for an Antioch scenario.
Change any of it in the calculator below: the Antioch 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 Antioch’s veterans and service members buy — and how VA fits.
Start with the market, then the file. These Antioch figures from the Census set the backdrop for a VA purchase: who owns, what homes are worth on the latest estimate, and what households earn, which together decide what a nothing-down loan and its payment look like locally.
Read the figures as backdrop. Income is the residual-income input, value is the loan and the fee, and family size is the row in VA’s table. The Census describes the first two for the market; the file supplies all three for the borrower.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Antioch neighborhoods, distinct VA files.
No single VA file describes Antioch. The submarkets below differ in housing stock, price, and the appraisal questions they raise, and each one shapes how a VA purchase is put together.
Condominiums and townhomes
A VA-approved Antioch project turns a condominium into a routine file. The buyer’s side does not change; the lender confirms the project before ordering the appraisal, which is the step that saves a contract from a dead end. About 36% of Antioch’s households rent — roughly 13,592 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes
The small multi-unit Antioch purchase is where VA’s leverage goes furthest: no down payment on two to four units, the buyer living in one, and the documented rent from the others helping the ratios and the residual income. Roughly 23,789 Antioch households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 64% of all households, the pool a VA purchase joins.
Service members and the occupancy rule
A service member buying within commuting range of an 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. Median household income in Antioch sits near $97,465 on the latest Census estimate.
Higher-value homes
For a high-value Antioch file, the question is entitlement rather than a limit. Full entitlement carries the loan with nothing down. With remaining entitlement, the county figure comes into play, and a lender may require a down payment on the uncovered portion. The median owner-occupied home value in Antioch runs near $629,700 on the latest Census estimate.
Newer infill and recent construction
New rows and recent infill in Antioch 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. Antioch is home to about 116K people.
Established close-in neighborhoods
Condition carries weight in Antioch’s established neighborhoods. The appraisal lists what VA wants fixed, the contract decides who fixes it, and the Notice of Value is issued once the value and the condition are settled. On a home at Antioch’s median value, a VA purchase with full entitlement needs no down payment at all — the funding fee on the full $629,700 is the program’s cost, and it can be financed.
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 Antioch file, and full entitlement carries no loan limit anywhere in the county.
Four ways Antioch veterans put the VA benefit to work.
VA is more than a first-purchase program: it refinances, it takes cash out, it finances small multi-unit homes, it buys condominiums in approved projects, and it reaches above the conforming limit with full entitlement. The cards below take up the uses that bring Antioch veterans to it most often.
Buy above the conforming limit
The VA jumbo is the program’s quiet strength in Antioch: 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.
Take cash out of a home with equity
The cash-out refinance replaces the Antioch home’s first mortgage with a larger VA loan and hands over the difference, to the program’s leverage and after seasoning; it is also the route for refinancing a non-VA loan into the program, and a loan officer compares it with a second-lien option before recommending either.
Buy a small multi-unit home and live in one unit
Up to four units, nothing down, no mortgage insurance: VA finances the small multi-unit home as long as the veteran lives in one unit. Rent from the other units can count toward qualifying under VA’s rules, which may ask for landlord experience or reserves.
Refinance an existing VA loan
An existing VA loan in Antioch can be refinanced on its own record: the IRRRL skips the appraisal and most of the documentation, carries the smallest funding fee in the program, and must leave the borrower better off under VA’s net tangible benefit rules.
Estimate the VA payment on an Antioch price before requesting a quote.
Before you ask for a quote, size the payment yourself: the Antioch 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.
Antioch VA payment estimate
Use the Antioch defaults as a starting point and change the price, the down payment, the fee tier, the term, and the escrows to fit.
Editable benchmark: 7.28% as of October 1, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not a VA loan quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $630,000 price near Antioch’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 California (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 Antioch 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. An Antioch 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’s leverage is high and its credit standard is forgiving, but its insurance never comes off a full-leverage thirty-year loan. An Antioch veteran comparing the two sees the premium line in the FHA payment and nothing in that line on VA. See Lendmire’s FHA loan program.
Conventional is the comparison for a veteran with savings: with twenty percent down there is no mortgage insurance and no funding fee, and the payment can beat VA with a financed fee. Below that down payment, VA usually wins for an Antioch buyer. 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. An Antioch loan officer runs all three on the same numbers before recommending one.
What to prepare for an Antioch scenario review.
The paperwork is the standard mortgage set with the service record on top; here is what an Antioch 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 an Antioch VA file closes as planned, closes smaller, or stalls. These are the ones that come up most.
Use these checks to keep the Antioch file clean and fundable.
An Antioch file that is ready to review has already answered three questions: how much entitlement, what funding fee, and whether the property is inside VA’s rules.
- Confirm the entitlement: entitlement is restored once the earlier loan is paid off and the home sold.
- Know the fee: the fee can be financed, paid at closing, or paid by the seller.
- Mind the appraisal: repairs the appraiser requires are usually completed before closing.
Full or remaining entitlement
Two veterans, two COEs, two different loans: one with full entitlement buys above the conforming limit with nothing down, the other with an earlier loan still open brings a down payment on the uncovered portion. An Antioch loan officer reads the certificate before anything is sized.
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. An Antioch 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.
The VA appraisal and the Notice of Value
Two outcomes matter on an Antioch appraisal: the value and the condition findings. When the value comes in short, the gap above the appraisal is paid in cash, the price is renegotiated, or the buyer is released under the escape clause with the deposit returned; a property finding is repaired and re-inspected before the loan closes.
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 an Antioch veteran: the entitlement used on that loan stays used until the loss is repaid, leaving remaining entitlement for the new purchase.
Occupancy and the reasonable-time rule
Second homes and rentals are not VA purchases. An Antioch buyer who will never live in the home cannot use the benefit for it, but a service member whose spouse will occupy it during a deployment can, and a veteran may later move out and keep the home as a rental without refinancing.
From an Antioch Certificate of Eligibility to keys in hand.
Underneath, the Antioch process is any mortgage process; on top sit VA’s checks: the certificate, the property requirements, the project approval where it applies, and the residual-income test. Each step below says what happens and what the buyer does.
COE and pre-approval
The first conversation settles the shape: whether entitlement is full, whether the fee applies, what residual income supports, and whether VA is the right program next to FHA and conventional for the Antioch purchase. The lender can pull the COE directly.
Contract and appraisal
With the contract signed, the lender requests a VA-assigned appraiser, who values the Antioch 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. An Antioch 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 is a mortgage brokerage licensed for consumer lending in sixteen states, and on a VA file that buys three things: the program run against FHA and conventional on the same numbers, the entitlement and the fee tier confirmed before an offer is written, and the terms in writing from a licensed loan officer.
Three programs, one set of numbers
A lender with one program sells that program; a brokerage with all three can say which fits. For an Antioch veteran with full entitlement the answer is almost always VA; with a large down payment it can be conventional, and the arithmetic decides.
The fee and the entitlement explained before the offer
The fee is the program’s cost and the entitlement is its reach, and Lendmire explains both first rather than last: how much the fee is, whether it is waived or refundable, and what the certificate supports for an Antioch buyer at the price in hand.
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 an Antioch 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.
Antioch VA loan FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Antioch 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 the mortgage an eligible Antioch buyer should compare first: backed by VA, offered through lenders, written with no down payment and no insurance line, and qualified on residual income rather than ratios alone.
Who is eligible for a VA loan in Antioch?
Veterans and service members who meet VA’s minimum service requirements with a character of discharge VA accepts, National Guard and Reserve members with qualifying active service or six creditable years, and surviving spouses of service members who died in service or from a service-connected disability, or who are receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. VA confirms it on the Certificate of Eligibility.
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 an Antioch 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. An Antioch 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 Antioch?
No limit with full entitlement, which is why a VA jumbo with nothing down exists. Partial entitlement brings the county conforming figure into the math; the loan officer confirms the current figure and the down payment it implies.
Does a VA loan have mortgage insurance?
VA loans carry no mortgage insurance, which is why the calculator above shows nothing in that line. The funding fee, financed or paid at closing, is what the borrower pays for the guaranty instead.
Is a VA loan assumable?
Assumable, yes, once the lender approves the buyer taking over the loan. The original veteran should obtain a release of liability. Entitlement is restored when the loan is paid off after a sale, or when a veteran buyer substitutes their own.
What does a VA appraisal check?
It checks what the home is worth and whether it meets VA’s requirements. Older Antioch homes draw required repairs more often; most are settled before closing, and the escape clause protects the deposit if the value falls short and the price cannot be renegotiated.
What credit score do I need for a VA loan?
VA leaves the credit standard to the lender, and the lender overlay in the snapshot is the floor behind these pages. The file is read as a whole: two years of clean housing payments carry more weight than an old event that has seasoned.
Do I have to live in the home to use a VA loan?
The home has to become your principal residence, with move-in within a reasonable time after closing. 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.
Buy in Antioch with nothing down and no mortgage insurance.
Begin with a scenario review: the Certificate of Eligibility, the price, the income, and the household size. A licensed Lendmire loan officer runs VA beside FHA and conventional on the same numbers and puts the terms in writing.
This guide covers Antioch — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see VA Loans in California, part of Lendmire’s VA loan program.
Nearby markets in California: Brentwood · Pittsburg · Concord · Walnut Creek · San Ramon · Dublin · Livermore · Pleasanton
Related programs: Conventional Loans · FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans