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
With full entitlement a purchase needs 0% down at up to 100% of the appraised value; VA backs a quarter of the loan, which is what lets the lender waive the down payment. With remaining entitlement a lender may ask for a down payment on the part VA does not back.
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
First use costs 2.15% of the loan; later uses cost 3.3%; a down payment of five or ten percent lowers either tier. The fee is usually financed into the loan, it may be refunded when a disability rating is later granted with an effective date before closing, and exempt veterans pay none of it at all.
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.
Not a commitment to lend, not an offer of credit, not a quote. The figures shown are current VA program parameters and wholesale overlays that change without notice and apply only after full underwriting of the borrower, the entitlement, and the property; the wholesale credit floor and maximum loan amount are lender overlays, not VA rules. Lendmire is a mortgage broker licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages, never the lender, and is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. NMLS #2371349.
What a VA loan is — and how the file is qualified.
To follow a Silverdale 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 Washington; 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 Silverdale file it covers a share of any loss, so the lender can lend the full purchase price, up to the 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 Silverdale buyer can request online, through the lender, or by mail.
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. A Silverdale 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
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 Silverdale family must meet the table for its size.
Nothing here is a decision. The appraisal can come in under the contract price, the rate is set by the lender at lock, and the lender’s residual-income figure includes deductions this page only approximates. What holds steady is the structure the calculator reproduces: price, fee, loan, payment, residual.
Where Silverdale’s veterans and service members buy — and how VA fits.
Three Census figures frame every Silverdale VA file. Ownership says how much of the market the benefit can reach, the median value says what a nothing-down loan typically comes to, and household income says how much residual income is left after that payment.
These are context figures, not underwriting inputs. 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 Silverdale neighborhoods, distinct VA files.
Six Silverdale submarkets, six versions of the same program: the cards below describe the housing stock, the price range, and the VA question that comes up most often in each.
Two-to-four-unit homes
Owner occupancy of one unit is the hinge on a Silverdale multi-unit file; after that, the guaranty treats the loan like any other, the rent VA allows is documented toward qualifying, and the appraiser inspects each unit against the property requirements. About 48% of Silverdale’s households rent — roughly 4,115 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Service members and the occupancy rule
Where Silverdale neighborhoods serve an installation, VA purchases appear on every street, often by service members who will move again. The program is built for that: nothing down, a loan that can be assumed, and entitlement restored when the home is sold and the loan repaid. Median household income in Silverdale sits near $105,483 on the latest Census estimate.
Higher-value homes
For a high-value Silverdale 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 Silverdale runs near $555,300 on the latest Census estimate.
Established close-in neighborhoods
An older Silverdale house is a fine VA purchase; the property requirements are the hurdle, not the age. Buyers who expect a repair list write the contract with room for it, and a wood-destroying insect inspection is ordered where VA calls for one. On a home at Silverdale’s median value, a VA purchase with full entitlement needs no down payment at all — the funding fee on the full $555,300 is the program’s cost, and it can be financed.
Condominiums and townhomes
A VA-approved Silverdale 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. Roughly 4,487 Silverdale households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 52% of all households, the pool a VA purchase joins.
Newer infill and recent construction
A newer Silverdale home rarely produces repair findings; the file turns on entitlement and budget. Full entitlement covers the price with nothing down. With remaining entitlement, the conforming figure enters the math, and a down payment may be required. Silverdale is home to about 21K people and sits within the Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA area.
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 Silverdale file, and full entitlement carries no loan limit anywhere in the county.
Four ways Silverdale veterans put the VA benefit to work.
Because VA backs part of every loan, it fits the Silverdale veteran who has the income for the payment but would rather keep the savings than spend them on a down payment and insurance. Four examples follow.
Buy a condominium in an approved project
VA keeps its own list of approved condominium projects, and a Silverdale unit in one of them is financed like a house with the association’s dues added to the ratios and the residual-income math. The appraisal covers the project as well as the unit.
Buy above the conforming limit
A higher-priced Silverdale home is still a VA purchase: the guaranty backs a quarter of the whole loan with full entitlement, so a lender can waive the down payment on the whole amount. The county conforming figure only matters when entitlement is partly in use.
Buy a first home with nothing down
For a first purchase in Silverdale, 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 Silverdale owner weighs it against a home equity line, which keeps the existing first mortgage in place.
Estimate the VA payment on a Silverdale price before requesting a quote.
Enter a Silverdale price, any down payment, and the funding fee tier, choose a term, and the calculator returns the base loan, the fee financed, the total loan, principal and interest, taxes and insurance, and, with income and family size entered, the ratio and a rough residual income against VA’s table. The rate field holds the weekly Freddie Mac benchmark as a market reference, never a VA quote.
Silverdale VA payment estimate
The starting figures are a typical Silverdale price with nothing down and a first-use fee. Replace them with yours.
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 $555,000 price near Silverdale’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 Washington (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.
VA fits nearly every Silverdale buyer who holds eligibility: the leverage is complete, there is no insurance line in the payment, and the fee is paid once. Partial entitlement, a property that fails VA’s standards, or a fee tier that outweighs a short hold are the cases where another program competes.
FHA’s leverage is high and its credit standard is forgiving, but its insurance never comes off a full-leverage thirty-year loan. A Silverdale 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 financing asks for a down payment and a higher score, in exchange for insurance that cancels and no funding fee. A Silverdale veteran with a large down payment, where the funding fee falls to its lowest tier and conventional insurance falls away, should see both programs run on the same numbers. See Lendmire’s conventional loan program.
Which program fits best depends on the borrower’s numbers once eligibility is known. VA can come out ahead with a COE and full entitlement, conventional can for a veteran with twenty percent down and no fee exemption, and FHA is the fallback where the benefit is unavailable. The comparison is run on the actual numbers, in writing.
What to prepare for a Silverdale scenario review.
Gather these before a Silverdale review: ordinary mortgage documents plus the proof of service that opens the file.
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 Silverdale VA file closes as planned, closes smaller, or stalls. These are the ones that come up most.
Use these checks to keep the Silverdale file clean and fundable.
A Silverdale 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: the appraisal reports condition against VA’s requirements as well as value.
Full or remaining entitlement
The COE states the entitlement available, and that single line decides whether a Silverdale 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
Financed, the fee raises the loan balance and the payment; paid at closing, it raises the cash to close; paid by the seller, it counts toward the concessions cap. Which is best on a Silverdale file depends on the tier and on how long the home will be kept, and the loan officer shows all three ways side by side.
The VA appraisal and the Notice of Value
VA assigns the appraiser, and the appraiser reports on two things: what the Silverdale home is worth and whether it meets VA’s minimum property requirements for a safe, structurally sound, and sanitary home. Peeling paint, a failing roof, or missing handrails become required repairs, and a wood-destroying insect inspection is ordered where VA calls for one.
Occupancy and the reasonable-time rule
A VA loan finances a principal residence: the veteran certifies an intent to occupy within a reasonable time after closing, which VA generally reads as a couple of months. The usual Silverdale exception is military life itself, where a spouse can occupy for a member on orders elsewhere.
Seller concessions and the fees a veteran may not pay
Seller concessions are capped as a share of the value, and VA also limits what a veteran can be charged: the lender’s flat charge is capped, and certain fees are not allowed on a VA file at all, which is why the contract often has the seller or the lender cover them. A Silverdale loan officer reviews the fee sheet against VA’s list before the contract is final.
From a Silverdale Certificate of Eligibility to keys in hand.
Four steps: the certificate and pre-approval, the appraisal, the underwriting, and the closing. The Silverdale version of each follows.
COE and pre-approval
A Silverdale 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
The Silverdale contract sets the price and the concessions; the appraisal sets the value and the condition. Both feed the loan amount, and the lender confirms the project approval and the wood-destroying insect inspection where VA requires one for the state before underwriting begins.
Underwriting
An automated approval still runs the residual-income test; a manual file is read against the guideline and the table. Either way, the Silverdale underwriter verifies the income, the assets, the credit history, and the property, and issues the approval with its conditions.
Closing
Closing is where the fee becomes real: financed into the total loan or paid at the table, with the seller’s concessions applied and the fees a veteran may not pay removed from the sheet. The Silverdale buyer takes the keys and VA backs the lender.
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
A lender with one program sells that program; a brokerage with all three can say which fits. For a Silverdale 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 a Silverdale 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 a Silverdale 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.
Silverdale VA loan FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Silverdale 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 Silverdale 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 Silverdale?
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?
Request it on VA.gov, ask the lender to pull it, or mail VA Form 26-1880. The supporting document depends on status: DD-214 for veterans, a statement of service for active duty, NGB Forms 22 and 23 for the Guard, a points statement for the Reserve, VA Form 26-1817 for surviving spouses.
What is the VA funding fee, and do I have to pay it?
The funding fee is a share of the loan paid once, with the amount set by VA’s table in the snapshot; it is waived for several groups and refundable when a disability rating is granted retroactively. On a typical Silverdale purchase it is financed, so it raises the balance rather than the cash to close.
Is there a VA loan limit in Silverdale?
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 is residual income, and why does it matter?
What the household keeps each month after the mortgage, the debts, the taxes, and an allowance for upkeep. VA publishes the figure a family must retain by region and size, and the snapshot shows the Washington table; the calculator estimates a rough residual before the lender’s deductions.
Can I use a VA loan to buy a condominium?
Yes, with one extra step: the project review against VA’s list. Approved projects close on the ordinary file; a Silverdale project not yet approved can be submitted, which takes time and the association’s cooperation.
What happens after my Silverdale offer is accepted?
The file moves into appraisal and underwriting, and the calendar is set by the appraisal, any repairs it requires, and the conditions the underwriter adds. No page can promise a date, and this one does not.
What debt-to-income ratio does VA allow?
VA’s guideline is the ratio in the snapshot, measured on total debt against gross income, but it is a guideline rather than a ceiling: a file above it can be approved when residual income exceeds VA’s regional table by a fifth or more or when the lender documents other justification, and a file under it can still fall short on residual income. The residual-income test is the one VA weighs most.
Does a VA loan have mortgage insurance?
No. There is no monthly mortgage insurance and no upfront premium on a VA loan at any leverage; the guaranty replaces it, and the one-time funding fee is the program’s only charge for the backing. That absence is the largest difference between a VA payment and an FHA or low-down-payment conventional payment on the same Silverdale price.
A Silverdale VA loan sized to the price, the entitlement, and the budget.
When you are ready, a Silverdale review sizes the loan, settles the program, and produces written terms. Nothing on this page commits anyone to lend.
This guide covers Silverdale — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see VA Loans in Washington, part of Lendmire’s VA loan program.
Nearby markets in Washington: Bremerton · Port Orchard · Seattle · Shoreline · Burien · Kirkland · Bothell · Bellevue
Related programs: Conventional Loans · FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans