Current VA guidelines, updated from one source.
A handful of figures and the tables behind them decide most VA files, and all of them are here, drawn from one guideline source built on VA’s published rules: the down payment with full entitlement, the absence of mortgage insurance, the funding fee by first or subsequent use, the ratio guideline, and the residual-income table for the region.
100% financing with full entitlement
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, with VA’s cap applying to concessions beyond them. 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
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
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.
Every Lakewood 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 Washington; 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 a Lakewood 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
Three questions settle eligibility on a Lakewood file: the service history, the character of discharge, and whether entitlement is full or partly in use. The COE answers all three. Surviving spouses, National Guard and Reserve members, and veterans with an earlier VA loan each have their own path to the certificate.
The funding fee, and who is exempt
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 Lakewood file the exemption is confirmed on the COE and removes the funding fee, the program’s one charge of its own.
Residual income over ratios
The ratio VA names is a guideline; the residual-income table is the standard. A Lakewood file above the ratio can be approved when residual income clears the table by a fifth or more, and a file below the ratio can still be declined when residual income falls short, which is the reverse of how FHA and conventional loans read a budget.
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 Lakewood’s veterans and service members buy — and how VA fits.
Start with the market, then the file. These Lakewood 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.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. 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 Lakewood neighborhoods, distinct VA files.
Six Lakewood 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.
Established close-in neighborhoods
An older Lakewood 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 Lakewood’s median value, a VA purchase with full entitlement needs no down payment at all — the funding fee on the full $461,200 is the program’s cost, and it can be financed.
Higher-value homes
An expensive Lakewood purchase is a VA jumbo when entitlement is full: the guaranty scales with the loan, VA requires no down payment if the price does not exceed the appraised value, and the conventional jumbo comparison turns on the large down payment the conventional loan requires. Median household income in Lakewood sits near $74,720 on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes
The small multi-unit Lakewood 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 12,590 Lakewood households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 48% of all households, the pool a VA purchase joins.
Newer infill and recent construction
On recent construction in Lakewood the appraisal rarely raises findings and the arithmetic is the issue: does residual income clear VA’s table once the funding fee is financed into a larger loan, and does the certificate show full entitlement at that amount. The median owner-occupied home value in Lakewood runs near $461,200 on the latest Census estimate.
Service members and the occupancy rule
Where Lakewood 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. Lakewood is home to about 63K people and sits within the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area.
Condominiums and townhomes
Close-in Lakewood condominiums suit the benefit well: nothing down, no insurance line, and a project review that runs through VA’s approved-project list. The dues go into the residual-income math, and the appraisal covers the project along with the unit. About 52% of Lakewood’s households rent — roughly 13,910 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
What the program accepts is the same everywhere in Lakewood: houses, condominiums in VA-approved projects, planned developments, manufactured homes that meet VA’s rules, and owner-occupied homes of up to four units. What it declines is also the same: second homes and investment property.
Four ways Lakewood veterans put the VA benefit to work.
Because VA backs part of every loan, it fits the Lakewood 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.
Take cash out of a home with equity
A VA cash-out refinance lets a Lakewood owner borrow against equity up to the program’s full leverage, including the funding fee, after the seasoning period and with a net tangible benefit; it can also move an FHA or conventional loan into VA. A HELOC that leaves the first mortgage alone is the comparison worth running.
Refinance an existing VA loan
An existing VA loan in Lakewood 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.
Buy above the conforming limit
The VA jumbo is the program’s quiet strength in Lakewood: 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
The most common Lakewood VA file: a veteran with steady income and full entitlement buys at the appraised value with no down payment, finances the funding fee, and pays no mortgage insurance; the seller can cover closing costs, with VA’s cap applying to concessions beyond them.
Estimate the VA payment on a Lakewood price before requesting a quote.
The program’s own math on your Lakewood inputs: price less any down payment, plus the financed fee, amortized at the benchmark, with escrows added and nothing for mortgage insurance. The actual rate, payment, and costs come in writing from a licensed loan officer.
Lakewood VA payment estimate
Use the Lakewood 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 $460,000 price near Lakewood’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.
Eligibility, entitlement, the cash available, and the expected length of the loan decide which program wins. Here are the three, one next to the other.
VA, FHA, or conventional.
VA fits nearly every Lakewood 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.
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 Lakewood buyer who holds a COE. 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 a Lakewood 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. A Lakewood loan officer runs all three on the same numbers before recommending one.
What to prepare for a Lakewood scenario review.
What a lender reads on a Lakewood 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 Lakewood: 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 Lakewood file clean and fundable.
Three things to settle before a Lakewood review: what the certificate says about entitlement, which funding fee tier applies, and whether the property has any VA question attached.
- Confirm the entitlement: the COE states the entitlement available; full entitlement carries no loan limit.
- Know the fee: the tier follows first or subsequent use and the down payment, as the funding fee table above shows.
- Check the project: the lender checks VA’s approved condominium list before the appraisal is ordered.
Full or remaining entitlement
The COE states the entitlement available, and that single line decides whether a Lakewood purchase closes with nothing down at any price the appraisal supports or needs a down payment on the part VA does not back. A veteran keeping an earlier VA-financed home as a rental is the usual remaining-entitlement case, and the file still works.
The funding fee tier and the exemptions
The fee depends on whether the benefit has been used before and on the down payment, and it is waived for veterans receiving compensation for a service-connected disability, surviving spouses receiving DIC, active-duty Purple Heart recipients, and service members rated before discharge. On a Lakewood file the tier is confirmed from the COE.
Condominium project approval
Many Lakewood projects already hold VA approval, and a condominium must be VA-approved for a VA loan to apply. You can check any project against VA’s list. VA looks at the association’s documents, the budget, the owner-occupancy mix, and any litigation, and that review can take a while.
Assumption and release of liability
Assumability is one of the program’s quieter advantages for a Lakewood owner who may sell into a higher-rate market, and one of its traps: without a release of liability the seller remains responsible, and without substitution of entitlement the seller’s benefit stays in use on a home they no longer own.
Credit, seasoning, and the prior VA loan
VA sets no minimum credit score and seasons credit events instead of barring them: a bankruptcy from discharge, a foreclosure from the transfer of title, each with its own waiting period and exceptions for documented hardship. The wholesale programs behind these pages start at the score in the guidelines above, which is the working floor for a Lakewood file.
From a Lakewood Certificate of Eligibility to keys in hand.
From the certificate to the closing table, a Lakewood VA purchase takes four steps, and each one carries a VA rule inside it.
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 Lakewood 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 Lakewood 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 Lakewood buyer takes the keys and VA backs the lender.
A brokerage that puts the benefit to work.
Lendmire never lends. It reads a Lakewood 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
The comparison printed on this page is run for real on every Lakewood 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 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 Lakewood buyer at the price in hand.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
What this page shows are VA’s parameters and the wholesale overlays; what a specific Lakewood loan gets is a written set of terms from a licensed loan officer after the review. Lendmire is a broker, never the lender, and has no affiliation with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Trusted by veterans & families alike.
Lakewood VA loan FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Lakewood veterans ask most about VA loans, in the order they usually ask them.
What is a VA loan, and who is it for?
A home loan benefit earned through military service. VA does not lend the money; it backs part of a loan a private lender makes, which is what allows the lender to waive the down payment and the mortgage insurance. It fits any eligible Lakewood buyer purchasing or refinancing a home they will live in.
Who is eligible for a VA loan in Lakewood?
Most veterans with an honorable or general discharge can qualify, as can current service members past the minimum period, Guard and Reserve members with enough qualifying service, and eligible surviving spouses. Other-than-honorable discharges can disqualify, and VA reviews them case by case.
How do I get a Certificate of Eligibility?
Three ways: online through VA.gov, through the lender using VA’s system, or by mail with VA Form 26-1880. A veteran provides the DD-214, an active-duty member a statement of service, a Guard member NGB Forms 22 and 23, a Reserve member a points statement, and a surviving spouse VA Form 26-1817 where DIC is already in pay, or the DIC application first where it is not.
What is the VA funding fee, and do I have to pay it?
The fee is the program’s only charge for the guaranty, and the snapshot shows the tiers. A Lakewood 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 Lakewood?
There is no VA loan limit for a veteran with full entitlement; the lender’s own maximum loan amount, shown in the snapshot, is the practical ceiling. A Lakewood buyer with remaining entitlement should ask a loan officer how the county figure affects the file.
Can I get a VA loan after a bankruptcy or foreclosure?
VA loans can be an option after a bankruptcy or foreclosure. The seasoning rules are specific, the exceptions are real, and a prior VA loan lost to foreclosure raises the entitlement question as well.
Do I have to live in the home to use a VA loan?
VA backs owner-occupied homes only. Occupancy is certified at closing, with allowances for deployment and remote duty; a buyer who will never live in the home cannot use the benefit for it.
Can the seller pay my closing costs on a VA loan?
Yes. VA allows seller-paid closing costs and caps the broader concessions; it also lists fees a veteran may not pay, which the seller or the lender absorbs. Structured well, cash to close on a Lakewood purchase is modest.
Is a VA loan assumable?
It is. A future buyer who qualifies can take over the loan with the lender’s approval, which can make a Lakewood home more attractive to sell when rates have moved up. Ask for a release of liability and, where the buyer is a veteran, a substitution of entitlement.
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 Lakewood 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.
A Lakewood VA purchase, from the certificate to the closing table.
When you are ready, a Lakewood review sizes the loan, settles the program, and produces written terms. Nothing on this page commits anyone to lend.
This guide covers Lakewood — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see VA Loans in Washington, part of Lendmire’s VA loan program.
Nearby markets in Washington: Tacoma · Federal Way · Lacey · Auburn · Olympia · Kent · Tumwater · Burien
Related programs: Conventional Loans · FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans