Current VA guidelines, updated from one source.
Four numbers and two tables 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
0% down is the program’s defining term: a buyer with full entitlement finances up to 100% of the lesser of price and value, the guaranty replaces the down payment, and the funding fee can be added on top of the loan rather than paid in cash.
No monthly premium, no upfront premium
There is no monthly mortgage insurance and no upfront premium on a VA loan at any leverage; the guaranty does the work that private mortgage insurance or FHA’s premiums do elsewhere, and the funding fee is the only program charge.
First use; 3.3% after first use; exempt for many disabled veterans
VA charges a funding fee instead of mortgage insurance: 2.15% on a first-use purchase, 3.3% on a subsequent use, less with a down payment of five percent or more, and nothing for the exempt groups. The ladder below shows every tier, including the cash-out and rate-reduction refinance fees.
Residual income decides the file
41% is the ratio VA names, and residual income is the test it trusts: the monthly income left after the housing payment, debts, taxes, and maintenance, measured against a table by family size and region. A ratio above 41% needs residual income well above the table or a documented justification.
| Loan type | Use | Down payment | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase or construction | First use | less than 5% down | 2.15% |
| Purchase or construction | First use | 5% to 9.99% down | 1.5% |
| Purchase or construction | First use | 10% or more down | 1.25% |
| Purchase or construction | After first use | less than 5% down | 3.3% |
| Purchase or construction | After first use | 5% to 9.99% down | 1.5% |
| Purchase or construction | After first use | 10% or more down | 1.25% |
| Cash-out refinance | First use | Any | 2.15% |
| Cash-out refinance | After first use | Any | 3.3% |
| Irrrl | Any | Any | 0.5% |
| Manufactured home (not permanently affixed) | Any | Any | 1% |
| Loan assumption | Any | Any | 0.5% |
| Vendee loan | Any | Any | 2.25% |
| Family size | Residual income |
|---|---|
| 1 | $491 |
| 2 | $823 |
| 3 | $990 |
| 4 | $1,117 |
| 5 | $1,158 |
| Each additional member, up to seven | + $80 |
Exempt from the funding fee: veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability, those eligible for it but receiving retirement or active-duty pay instead, surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, service members with a pre-discharge claim rating, and active-duty service members who have received the Purple Heart. VA sets no minimum credit score; the wholesale programs behind these pages start at a 580 decision score and serve loan amounts up to $4,000,000, including loans above the conforming limit with full entitlement.
Refinances: cash-out to 100% loan-to-value after seasoning of 210 days and six payments with a net tangible benefit; rate-reduction refinances of an existing VA loan at a 0.5% fee without a VA appraisal. Current VA snapshot · updated October 1, 2026 · owner-occupied principal residences, one to four units · no VA loan limit with full entitlement · loans are assumable · no prepayment penalty · Lendmire is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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 Montana 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; to confirm eligibility or 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 Montana 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
Three questions settle eligibility on a Montana 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
The fee scales with use and with the down payment: a first use with nothing down pays the base tier, a later use pays more, and five or ten percent down lowers either. Financed, it adds to the loan balance rather than the cash to close, which is the usual choice on a Montana purchase.
Residual income over ratios
The ratio VA names is a guideline; the residual-income table is the standard. A Montana 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.
The calculator turns this arithmetic into a Montana scenario: price in, down payment in, fee tier chosen, and out come the funding fee, the total loan, principal and interest, and the escrows. Add income and family size to see the ratio and a rough residual against VA’s table.
Where Montana’s veterans and service members buy — and how VA fits.
Montana is many markets, not one: ownership, home values, and incomes shift from city to city, and every VA file written in the state is sized against its own local numbers. The statewide figures below come from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Statewide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. 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.
Where Montana’s veterans buy — market by market.
Lendmire works Montana one market at a time. The cities below rank by owner households and each opens its own VA guide, with local Census context, the same program block, and the calculator seeded to local prices.
Billings
Close to 33,059 households own in Billings (65% of the total), so VA purchases, cash-out refinances, and rate-reduction refinances are all routine files in this metropolitan market. Census context: median value near $343,400, median household income near $73,712, population near 119K.
Great Falls
About 17,439 Great Falls households own (66% of the total), which makes this metropolitan market a steady source of the purchases the VA benefit was built for. Census context: median value near $257,000, median household income near $63,373, population near 60K.
Missoula
About 16,420 Missoula households own (47% of the total), which makes this metropolitan market a steady source of the purchases the VA benefit was built for. Census context: median value near $473,100, median household income near $70,392, population near 77K.
Bozeman
With roughly 10,721 owner households, about 45% of households, Bozeman is a metropolitan market where a VA purchase is an everyday file, qualified on entitlement, residual income, and the ratio guideline. Census context: median value near $687,900, median household income near $85,747, population near 56K.
Helena
Helena’s roughly 8,303 owner households, about 53% of households sit in a metropolitan market whose price range a nothing-down VA loan with full entitlement fits comfortably. Census context: median value near $387,300, median household income near $71,036, population near 34K.
Whitefish
Roughly 2,653 households own in Whitefish (62% of the total); in a resort and second-home market this size a VA purchase pairs with the market exactly as it does elsewhere in the state. Census context: median value near $684,300, median household income near $73,811, population near 8.7K.
No Montana market has its own VA rules. The guaranty, the funding fee table and its exemptions, the ratio guideline, the residual-income table for the state’s VA region, the occupancy rule, and the property requirements apply identically everywhere; only the county conforming figure differs, and it matters only when entitlement is partly in use.
Four ways Montana 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 Montana uses follow.
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 Montana veterans use it when the market moves in their favor.
Buy above the conforming limit
The VA jumbo is the program’s quiet strength in Montana: 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
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 Montana owner weighs it against a home equity line, which keeps the existing first mortgage in place.
Buy a condominium in an approved project
Many Montana first purchases are condominiums, and VA finances them in approved projects; a project not yet on the list can be submitted, which takes time and the association’s cooperation. The buyer’s side of the file does not change.
Estimate the VA payment on a Montana price before requesting a quote.
Enter a Montana 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.
Montana VA payment estimate
Seeded at Montana’s median value with no down payment; every field updates the result as you type.
Editable benchmark: 7.03% as of September 24, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not a VA loan quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $375,000 price near Montana’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 Montana (U.S. Census Bureau). Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conventional benchmark, a market reference and not a VA loan quote; your rate is set by the lender at lock. The funding fee follows VA’s published table for the use and down payment entered; the residual-income figure is VA’s guideline for the region and family size, and the rough residual shown subtracts only the housing payment and the debts entered, while VA also deducts taxes, maintenance and utilities. Taxes, insurance and dues are editable estimates; closing costs are not included. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. Lendmire is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Same veteran, three very different closings.
Most buyers can close the same purchase three ways, and the structures differ more than the labels suggest: VA with nothing down and no mortgage insurance, FHA with a small investment and premiums for the life of the loan, or conventional with private insurance that falls away as equity grows.
VA, FHA, or conventional.
The program’s strengths are the down payment, the insurance, and the residual-income test; its cost is the funding fee. A Montana veteran with full entitlement usually pays less each month on VA than on FHA at the same price, and the conventional comparison turns on the down payment and the fee tier.
Where VA charges a one-time fee, FHA charges a premium every month and an upfront premium at closing. FHA fits the buyer with no entitlement or a property VA will not approve; it rarely wins for a Montana buyer who holds a COE. See Lendmire’s FHA loan program.
Conventional financing asks for a down payment and a higher score, in exchange for insurance that cancels and no funding fee. A Montana veteran with a large down payment and a subsequent-use fee tier should see both programs run on the same numbers. See Lendmire’s conventional loan program.
Choose by profile: eligibility with full entitlement points to VA; no eligibility and a small down payment point to FHA; a large down payment and a strong score point to conventional. A Montana loan officer runs all three on the same numbers before recommending one.
What to prepare for a Montana scenario review.
Gather these before a Montana 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.
What moves a Montana file most often: entitlement, the funding fee and its exemptions, the appraisal and the Notice of Value, the project approval, residual income, seasoning after a credit event, and occupancy.
Use these checks to keep the Montana file clean and fundable.
A Montana 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: the COE states the entitlement available; full entitlement carries no loan limit.
- Know the fee: disabled veterans receiving compensation and the other exempt groups pay no fee.
- Plan the units: rental income from the other units counts within VA’s rules.
Full or remaining entitlement
Entitlement is full on a first use, and it is restored when an earlier VA loan is paid off and the home sold; it is partial when an earlier VA loan is still outstanding or was lost to foreclosure. A Montana buyer with full entitlement has no loan limit; with remaining entitlement the county conforming figure enters the math and a down payment may be required.
The funding fee tier and the exemptions
A subsequent use costs more than a first use, and five or ten percent down lowers either tier; the exemption removes the fee entirely. A Montana 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.
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 Montana buyer in one unit qualifies on the combined picture.
The VA appraisal and the Notice of Value
VA assigns the appraiser, and the appraiser reports on two things: what the Montana 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.
Credit, seasoning, and the prior VA loan
Each waiting period is VA’s own, and the recent housing record carries the most weight. A foreclosure on an earlier VA loan adds a second question for a Montana veteran: the entitlement used on that loan stays used until the loss is repaid, leaving remaining entitlement for the new purchase.
From a Montana 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 Montana buyer.
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 Montana purchase. The lender can pull the COE directly.
Contract and appraisal
The Montana 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 the state requires one 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 Montana underwriter verifies the income, the assets, the credit history, and the property, and issues the approval with its conditions.
Closing
At closing the funding fee is added to the loan or paid, the escrows for taxes and insurance are set up, and there is no mortgage insurance to begin. A Montana buyer signs the note and the security instrument, certifies occupancy, and VA’s guaranty attaches to the loan.
A brokerage that puts the benefit to work.
The case for a brokerage on a VA loan is candor with numbers: VA beside conventional on the same inputs, the fee tier stated outright, the entitlement checked first, and the terms in writing.
Three programs, one set of numbers
The comparison printed on this page is run for real on every Montana 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
A Montana 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 carries the license for the state the Montana home is in, delivers the disclosures a consumer mortgage requires, and commits the terms to paper. The program figures on this page are read from one guideline source built on VA’s published rules.
Trusted by veterans & families alike.
Montana VA loan FAQs
The questions below come up on nearly every Montana VA conversation. The answers are general; the figures in the snapshot above are the program’s current parameters.
What is a VA loan, and who is it for?
A VA loan is the mortgage an eligible Montana 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 Montana?
The requirements depend on when and how you served, and VA publishes them by era. A Montana loan officer can check the service record against them in a few minutes, and the Certificate of Eligibility is the official answer.
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?
VA charges it on most loans in place of mortgage insurance: a first-use purchase with nothing down pays the base tier, a subsequent use pays more, and a down payment of five or ten percent lowers either. Exempt veterans pay none of it, and a rating granted after closing can bring a refund.
Is there a VA loan limit in Montana?
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 Montana buyer with remaining entitlement should ask a loan officer how the county figure affects the file.
What happens after my Montana offer is accepted?
Appraisal first, then underwriting, then conditions, then closing. The VA appraiser values the home and checks the property requirements; the underwriter reads the certificate, the credit, the income, and the residual income; the closing adds the fee to the loan and starts a payment with no mortgage insurance in it.
What is residual income, and why does it matter?
Residual income is the monthly income left after the proposed housing payment, other debt payments, taxes, and VA’s allowance for maintenance and utilities, and VA requires it to meet a table that varies by region and family size. It is the test VA trusts most, because a household with real room in the budget weathers surprises; a ratio that looks fine can still fail it.
What credit score do I need for a VA loan?
There is no VA minimum, and the snapshot shows where the wholesale programs begin. A Montana buyer below that floor should ask a loan officer what the file needs, because VA’s own rules weigh the payment history and residual income, not a score alone.
Can I take cash out with a VA refinance?
Yes, up to the leverage in the snapshot, which includes the funding fee, on an owner-occupied principal residence after seasoning of the later of the period and the number of payments shown, with a net tangible benefit and, where the loan refinances an existing VA loan, a recoupment test on the costs. A HELOC that leaves the first mortgage alone is the comparison worth running.
Do I need a down payment for a VA loan?
Not with full entitlement when the home appraises at or above the price: the guaranty replaces the down payment and the lender finances the full value. A down payment becomes part of the file when entitlement is partial, when the price exceeds the appraised value, or when a buyer chooses one to lower the funding fee tier.
Run the Montana VA numbers, then get the terms in writing.
A Montana 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 Montana — for the program overview, see Lendmire’s VA loan program.
All Montana city guides (6): Billings · Bozeman · Great Falls · Helena · Missoula · Whitefish
Related programs: Conventional Loans · FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans