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
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
A VA loan carries no mortgage insurance at full leverage, which FHA and conventional loans cannot say; the one-time funding fee, financed or paid at closing, is the program’s whole cost beyond the lender’s ordinary charges.
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
Two tests, one guideline: the total-debt ratio is measured against 41%, and residual income is measured against the West table below for the household’s size. VA tells lenders the residual-income test carries more weight, which is why a modest ratio does not approve a thin budget.
| Loan type | Use | Down payment | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase or construction | First use | less than 5% down | 2.15% |
| Purchase or construction | First use | 5% to 9.99% down | 1.5% |
| Purchase or construction | First use | 10% or more down | 1.25% |
| Purchase or construction | After first use | less than 5% down | 3.3% |
| Purchase or construction | After first use | 5% to 9.99% down | 1.5% |
| Purchase or construction | After first use | 10% or more down | 1.25% |
| Cash-out refinance | First use | Any | 2.15% |
| Cash-out refinance | After first use | Any | 3.3% |
| IRRRL | Any | Any | 0.5% |
| Manufactured home (not permanently affixed) | Any | Any | 1% |
| Loan assumption | Any | Any | 0.5% |
| Vendee loan | Any | Any | 2.25% |
| Family size | Residual income |
|---|---|
| 1 | $491 |
| 2 | $823 |
| 3 | $990 |
| 4 | $1,117 |
| 5 | $1,158 |
| Each additional member, up to seven | + $80 |
Exempt from the funding fee: veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability, those eligible for it but receiving retirement or active-duty pay instead, surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, service members with a pre-discharge claim rating, and active-duty service members who have received the Purple Heart. VA sets no minimum credit score; the wholesale programs behind these pages start at a 580 decision score and serve loan amounts up to $4,000,000, including loans above the conforming limit with full entitlement.
Refinances: cash-out to 100% loan-to-value after seasoning of 210 days and six payments with a net tangible benefit; rate-reduction refinances of an existing VA loan at a 0.5% fee without a VA appraisal. Current VA snapshot · updated October 1, 2026 · owner-occupied principal residences, one to four units · no VA loan limit with full entitlement · loans are assumable · no prepayment penalty · Lendmire is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
For informational purposes only. This is not a commitment to lend or extend credit, an offer, or a quote. Program parameters shown are VA guidelines and wholesale lender overlays, are subject to change without notice, and every figure depends on the borrower, the entitlement, the property, the selected program, and full underwriting. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. NMLS #2371349.
What a VA loan is — and how the file is qualified.
The difference between a VA loan and any other mortgage is who shares the risk. VA stands partly behind the lender, so the lender can lend the full value with no insurance premium and read the budget on residual income. Below, the four parts a Woodland buyer needs to understand.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s VA loan program, or the statewide guide at VA Loans in California; to request a Certificate of Eligibility, see VA.gov.
The guaranty replaces the down payment
VA backs a quarter of the loan for a borrower with full entitlement, which gives the lender the same protection a sizable down payment would. That is why a Woodland 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
The Certificate of Eligibility is the document that opens the file. It states the entitlement available, whether the funding fee is waived, and any prior use of the benefit. A Woodland lender can usually pull it within the VA system from a DD-214 or a statement of service, and VA.gov issues it directly as well.
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 Woodland purchase; a veteran receiving, or eligible to receive, compensation for a service-connected disability pays none of it.
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 Woodland family must meet the table for its size.
Change any of it in the calculator below: the Woodland price, a down payment if you want one, the fee tier, the term, the rate, and the escrows. VA supplies the fee table, the ratio guideline, and the residual-income figures; the payment is simply what those produce.
Where Woodland’s veterans and service members buy — and how VA fits.
The numbers below are Woodland’s, not any one borrower’s: owner households, median home value, and household income from the U.S. Census Bureau. They tell you the scale of a typical VA purchase here; the certificate, the appraisal, and the household’s own income tell you the loan.
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 Woodland neighborhoods, distinct VA files.
No single VA file describes Woodland. The submarkets below differ in housing stock, price, and the appraisal questions they raise, and each one shapes how a VA purchase is put together.
Everyday values and nothing down
A typical Woodland price keeps the fee in proportion to the loan and leaves room in an ordinary budget, which is why an eligible buyer in the market compares VA first. The calculator shows the payment at a Woodland value. Median household income in Woodland sits near $90,180 on the latest Census estimate.
Rural-edge and acreage properties
Homes on larger lots around Woodland are VA purchases when the use is residential; agricultural use puts the property outside the program, and the appraisal values the house and the land on comparable sales. Roughly 12,389 Woodland households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 59% of all households, the pool a VA purchase joins.
In-town neighborhoods
In Woodland’s older neighborhoods the condition report decides as much as the value. Buyers who expect findings negotiate them early, keep the seller’s completion on the contract timeline, and keep the file moving. About 41% of Woodland’s households rent — roughly 8,711 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Newer subdivisions on the bypass
On a new Woodland home the appraisal is usually uneventful and residual income decides the file. A ratio above the guideline needs residual income comfortably over the table. On a home at Woodland’s median value, a VA purchase with full entitlement needs no down payment at all — the funding fee on the full $548,200 is the program’s cost, and it can be financed.
Multi-unit conversions
Woodland’s converted two- and three-unit houses are VA purchases with nothing down when the buyer occupies one unit. The other units’ rent counts under VA’s rules, which may ask for landlord experience or reserves. The median owner-occupied home value in Woodland runs near $548,200 on the latest Census estimate.
Manufactured homes
Woodland manufactured homes finance on VA under VA’s rules: permanent foundation, real-estate title, and the construction standard the appraiser checks. The leverage and the absence of mortgage insurance match a site-built home. Woodland is home to about 62K people.
Across all of Woodland, 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 Woodland veterans put the VA benefit to work.
VA is more than a first-purchase program: it refinances, it takes cash out, it finances small multi-unit homes, it buys condominiums in approved projects, and it reaches above the conforming limit with full entitlement. The cards below take up the uses that bring Woodland veterans to it most often.
Buy a small multi-unit home and live in one unit
This is where the benefit stretches furthest: a Woodland veteran puts nothing down on two to four units, moves into one, and qualifies with the documented rent from the rest counted as VA allows, while the appraiser checks every unit against the property requirements.
Buy above the conforming limit
A higher-priced Woodland 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.
Take cash out of a home with equity
The cash-out refinance replaces the Woodland home’s first mortgage with a larger VA loan and hands over the difference, to the program’s leverage and after seasoning; it is also the route for refinancing a non-VA loan into the program, and a loan officer compares it with a second-lien option before recommending either.
Buy a condominium in an approved project
VA keeps its own list of approved condominium projects, and a Woodland 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.
Estimate the VA payment on a Woodland price before requesting a quote.
This is what a nothing-down Woodland purchase costs each month: the funding fee for the use and down payment you choose, the total loan amortized at the benchmark rate, the escrows added, and the ratio and a rough residual income measured against VA’s guideline and table. Edit any field; the rate shown is the weekly Freddie Mac average and not a quote.
Woodland VA payment estimate
Price starts from a Woodland value, with no down payment; fields update as you type.
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 $550,000 price near Woodland’s median owner-occupied home value, no down payment with full entitlement, a first-use funding fee financed into the loan, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for California (U.S. Census Bureau). Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conventional benchmark, a market reference and not a VA loan quote; your rate is set by the lender at lock. The funding fee follows VA’s published table for the use and down payment entered; the residual-income figure is VA’s guideline for the region and family size, and the rough residual shown subtracts only the housing payment and the debts entered, while VA also deducts taxes, maintenance and utilities. Taxes, insurance and dues are editable estimates; closing costs are not included. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. Lendmire is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Same veteran, three very different closings.
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 Woodland 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 Woodland 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 Woodland 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 Woodland scenario review.
Gather these before a Woodland 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.
Check these before leaning on any number for Woodland: 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 Woodland file clean and fundable.
The list is short because the program is: entitlement, the fee, and the property decide most Woodland files before income is even opened.
- 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.
- Structure the contract: seller concessions are capped as a share of the value; ordinary closing costs are outside the cap.
Full or remaining entitlement
The COE states the entitlement available, and that single line decides whether a Woodland 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 Woodland file the tier is confirmed from the COE.
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 Woodland loan officer reviews the fee sheet against VA’s list before the contract is final.
Residual income and the ratio guideline
The ratio VA names is a guideline and the residual-income table is the standard, which is why a thin budget can be declined under the ratio and a wide one approved above it. A Woodland family with child-care costs or support orders should count them early; both reduce residual income.
Occupancy and the reasonable-time rule
Second homes and rentals are not VA purchases. A Woodland buyer who will never live in the home cannot use the benefit for it, but a service member whose spouse will occupy it during a deployment can, and a veteran may later move out and keep the home as a rental without refinancing.
From a Woodland 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 Woodland buyer.
COE and pre-approval
A Woodland 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 appraisal is the VA step that surprises buyers most: it reports on condition as well as value, and a low value opens VA’s reconsideration process before the figure is final. Required repairs are negotiated with the seller, and the Woodland contract is adjusted or released under the escape clause.
Underwriting
Underwriting on a Woodland VA file reads the whole picture: the entitlement on the certificate, the housing payment history, the seasoning of any derogatory event, and the residual income after VA’s deductions for taxes and upkeep. Conditions are issued, documented, and cleared before the approval is final.
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 Woodland 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 Woodland 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 Woodland 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
What this page shows are VA’s parameters and the wholesale overlays; what a specific Woodland 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.
Woodland VA loan FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Woodland veterans ask most about VA loans, in the order they usually ask them.
What is a VA loan, and who is it for?
VA runs a guaranty program for veterans’ home loans; it is not a lender. A Woodland buyer applies through a lender or broker, the lender underwrites to VA’s rules, and VA stands behind part of the loan. Purchases, cash-out refinances, and rate-reduction refinances of existing VA loans are all inside it.
Who is eligible for a VA loan in Woodland?
The requirements depend on when and how you served, and VA publishes them by era. A Woodland 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?
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 Woodland 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 Woodland?
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 Woodland buyer with remaining entitlement should ask a loan officer how the county figure affects the file.
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 get a VA loan after a bankruptcy or foreclosure?
After the waiting period, yes. Each credit event (a bankruptcy, a foreclosure, a short sale) has its own period counted from a specific date, and the lender confirms it from the discharge or transfer papers; gather those dates before the review.
Can I use a VA loan to buy a condominium?
In a VA-approved project. A Woodland buyer under contract on a condominium should have the lender check the status early, because a project that is not approved must go through VA’s review before the loan can close.
What debt-to-income ratio does VA allow?
The guideline is in the snapshot, and VA allows files above it when residual income is strong. Enter income and family size in the calculator to see the ratio and a rough residual against the table for the California region.
Does a VA loan have mortgage insurance?
No monthly premium and no upfront premium. A Woodland buyer comparing VA with FHA sees the premium line disappear from the payment; comparing with conventional, the private insurance disappears as well.
Run the Woodland VA numbers, then get the terms in writing.
A Woodland 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 Woodland — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see VA Loans in California, part of Lendmire’s VA loan program.
Nearby markets in California: Davis · West Sacramento · Sacramento · Roseville · Vacaville · Citrus Heights · Elk Grove · Lincoln
Related programs: Conventional Loans · FHA Loans · Jumbo Loans