Current VA guidelines, updated from one source.
What follows is VA’s own rulebook reduced to the handful of numbers that decide a file, pulled from Lendmire’s single guideline source and refreshed on this page whenever VA or the wholesale overlays move: leverage with full entitlement, the funding fee by use and down payment, the ratio guideline, and the residual-income table for this state’s VA region.
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
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
The funding fee is a one-time charge of 2.15% on a first-use purchase with less than five percent down and 3.3% on later uses; it drops with a larger down payment, can be financed into the loan, and is waived for the exempt groups listed below.
Residual income decides the file
VA’s debt-to-income guideline is 41%, but it is a guideline, not a ceiling: a file above it can be approved when residual income exceeds the regional table by a fifth or more, and a file under it can still fall short on residual income. The table below shows the figures for the South region.
| 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.
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.
Every Houston VA file has the same skeleton: a certificate that proves eligibility, an entitlement figure that sets how much VA will back, a funding fee that pays for the backing or is waived, and an underwriting test that reads the household’s leftover income. The cards below explain each bone.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s VA loan program, or the statewide guide at VA Loans in Texas; 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 Houston 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 Houston buyer can request online, through the lender, or by mail.
The funding fee, and who is exempt
Veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability pay no funding fee, and neither do surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, Purple Heart recipients on active duty, or those rated before discharge. On a Houston file the exemption is confirmed on the COE and removes the program’s only cost.
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 Houston scenario.
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 Houston’s veterans and service members buy — and how VA fits.
A VA loan is sized against a local market, and these are Houston’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.
Read the figures as backdrop. These are ranges, not predictions. The lender appraises one home, documents one income, and runs the residual-income test for one household of a specific size.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Houston neighborhoods, distinct VA files.
No single VA file describes Houston. The neighborhoods 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 Houston 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 58% of Houston’s households rent — roughly 538,885 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Newer infill and recent construction
New rows and recent infill in Houston 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. Median household income in Houston sits near $64,813 on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes
Houston 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. Roughly 391,519 Houston households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 42% of all households, the pool a VA purchase joins.
Neighborhoods near the installation
A service member buying near a Houston 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 Houston runs near $277,800 on the latest Census estimate.
Higher-value homes
An expensive Houston purchase is a VA jumbo when entitlement is full: the guaranty scales with the loan, the lender waives the down payment, and the comparison against a conventional jumbo turns on the large down payment the conventional loan requires and VA does not. Houston counts a population near 2.33M within the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area.
Established close-in neighborhoods
Condition carries weight in Houston’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 Houston’s median value, a VA purchase with full entitlement needs no down payment at all — the funding fee on the full $277,800 is the program’s cost, and it can be financed.
Across all of Houston, five questions settle a VA loan: what the appraiser finds, whether the property meets VA’s standards, whether the veteran will occupy it, what the certificate says about entitlement, and what residual income supports.
Four ways Houston veterans put the VA benefit to work.
A good use of VA is one the program’s shape fits: no down payment, no mortgage insurance, residual-income underwriting, and a guaranty that scales with the loan. Four common Houston uses follow.
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 Houston owner weighs it against a home equity line, which keeps the existing first mortgage in place.
Refinance an existing VA loan
The rate-reduction refinance is the simplest shape in the program: a reduced funding fee, no VA appraisal in most cases, and the existing VA loan’s record as the main test. Many Houston veterans use it when the market moves in their favor.
Buy a first home with nothing down
A Houston buyer with the income for the payment but not the cash for a down payment uses VA to purchase with nothing down, finances the funding fee, and keeps the savings for moving costs, reserves, and the first repairs on the home.
Buy above the conforming limit
A higher-priced Houston home is still a VA purchase: the guaranty backs a quarter of the loan whatever its size, and the lender can waive the down payment on the whole amount with full entitlement. The county conforming figure only matters when entitlement is partly in use.
Estimate the VA payment on a Houston price before requesting a quote.
Enter a Houston 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.
Houston VA payment estimate
Defaults describe Houston, not your purchase: put in the real price, the real fee tier, and the real escrows.
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 $280,000 price near Houston’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 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.
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 Houston 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 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 Houston buyer without VA eligibility it is the nearest substitute; with eligibility it is the costlier route. 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 Houston 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.
The decision is rarely close once eligibility is known. VA wins nearly every file with a COE and full entitlement, conventional wins the veteran with twenty percent down and a high fee tier, 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 Houston scenario review.
What a lender reads on a Houston 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.
Check these before leaning on any number for Houston: entitlement, the funding fee tier, the appraisal and VA’s property standards, the condominium approval, residual income, and occupancy.
Use these checks to keep the Houston file clean and fundable.
Three things to settle before a Houston review: what the certificate says about entitlement, which funding fee tier applies, and whether the property has any VA question attached.
- 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.
- Match the occupancy: deployment and remote duty have their own allowances.
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. A Houston loan officer reads the certificate before anything is sized.
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 Houston 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.
Occupancy and the reasonable-time rule
Occupancy is certified at closing and enforced by VA, with allowances for deployment, extended duty, and retirement within a year. A Houston file with a non-occupying borrower who is not a spouse or another veteran changes the guaranty and usually the loan.
Two- to four-unit homes and rental income
VA finances owner-occupied homes of up to four units with nothing down and has its own rules for counting rent from the other units: landlord experience or reserves, and a share of the documented rent rather than all of it. A Houston buyer in one unit qualifies on the combined picture.
Condominium project approval
Many Houston 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 Houston Certificate of Eligibility to keys in hand.
A VA purchase runs in a fixed order: certificate and pre-approval on income and residual income, contract and VA appraisal with the Notice of Value, underwriting with the fee tier confirmed, and closing with the fee financed, paid, or waived for exempt borrowers. Here is that order for a Houston buyer.
COE and pre-approval
Start with the Certificate of Eligibility, the income, and the household size. A Lendmire loan officer confirms the entitlement, the funding fee tier, the ratio, and the residual income, runs the VA structure against FHA and conventional on the same numbers, and provides the terms in writing.
Contract and appraisal
With the contract signed, the lender requests a VA-assigned appraiser, who values the Houston 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
An automated approval still runs the residual-income test; a manual file is read against the guideline and the table. Either way, the Houston 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 Houston buyer takes the keys and VA backs the lender.
A brokerage that puts the benefit to work.
Lendmire never lends. It reads a Houston 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
A lender with one program sells that program; a brokerage with all three can say which fits. For a Houston veteran with full entitlement the answer is almost always VA; with a large down payment and a high fee tier it can be conventional, and the arithmetic decides.
The fee and the entitlement explained before the offer
A Houston veteran should never discover at the closing table that the fee was the subsequent-use tier or that entitlement was partly in use. The loan officer reads the certificate aloud, so to speak: the tier, the leverage, and the conventional alternative on the same numbers.
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 Houston 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.
Houston VA loan FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Houston 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 Houston.
Who is eligible for a VA loan in Houston?
Service decides it: a minimum period of active duty, a qualifying period in the Guard or Reserve, or eligible surviving-spouse status, with a character of discharge VA accepts. A Houston buyer unsure of the answer can request the certificate from VA.gov or have the lender pull it.
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?
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 Houston buyers finance it rather than pay cash.
Is there a VA loan limit in Houston?
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.
Can I get a VA loan after a bankruptcy or foreclosure?
Yes, with seasoning. Bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed-in-lieu, and short sale each carry their own waiting period, and a Houston veteran with the event seasoned and the recent history clean is inside the rules, read on residual income and the ratio.
Can I take cash out with a VA refinance?
It is available at the leverage shown in the snapshot after seasoning, on a principal residence only, with a net tangible benefit required. The new loan is a VA loan with the cash-out funding fee tier, financed or paid at closing.
Does a VA loan have mortgage insurance?
Not at any loan-to-value. FHA charges an upfront and an annual premium, conventional charges private mortgage insurance until equity grows, and VA charges neither; the funding fee is paid once.
How does a VA refinance work?
It depends on the goal: lower the payment on an existing VA loan by IRRRL, or borrow against equity or move a non-VA loan into the program by cash-out. Each has its own fee and seasoning rules, summarized in the snapshot.
Can I use a VA loan to buy a condominium?
Condominiums are eligible in approved projects, and VA keeps its own list rather than relying on FHA’s or the agencies’. The association’s documents, owner-occupancy mix, and litigation all bear on approval, and dues count in the ratios.
Buy in Houston with nothing down and no mortgage insurance.
A Houston 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 Houston — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see VA Loans in Texas, part of Lendmire’s VA loan program.
Nearby markets in Texas: Austin · San Antonio · Dallas · Fort Worth · El Paso
Related programs: Conventional Loans · FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans