VA Home Buying Guide

You earned this benefit. This guide is how you actually use it.

The VA loan is one of the strongest home-buying benefits available to veterans, active-duty service members, and eligible surviving spouses — zero down in most cases, no PMI, reusable entitlement. It is also one of the most misunderstood. Sellers still believe myths about VA offers. Lenders add their own overlays on top of VA rules. And the funding-fee exemption that many disabled veterans qualify for gets missed on the Certificate of Eligibility more often than it should.

This is the plain-English walkthrough Andy Kurien wished he had before closing.

Inside you will learn how to:

• Read your entitlement (basic, bonus, full vs. partial) and what that means for a zero-down purchase

• Pull and check your Certificate of Eligibility, including the funding-fee exemption

• Run the real numbers — funding fee tiers current as of 2026, a full worked example, and why shopping three lenders inside 14 days does not tank your credit

• Qualify using VA disability compensation even if you do not have a job

• Handle the VA appraisal, Minimum Property Requirements, renovation loans, and the mandatory Escape Clause

• Negotiate seller-paid closing costs vs. the 4% seller-concession cap

• Recognize the deed-copy and fake-refinance mail that starts the week your purchase becomes public record — and tell a real loan-servicing transfer from a scam

• Reuse entitlement, occupy on a military timeline, and choose IRRRL vs. cash-out later

Includes a glossary, FAQ, and a one-page quick-reference checklist of questions to ask every lender and agent.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy Kurien is a U.S. Navy veteran (2000–2004) and former VA Community Care Specialist. He is the author of The Veteran Roadmap Series, covering VA claims, C&P exams, appeals, nexus letters, dependent and survivor benefits, TDIU, SMC and caregiver benefits, and the VA home loan process. He used his own VA loan benefit to buy a home in December 2024. He is not an accredited VSO, attorney, or mortgage loan originator. Learn more at veteran-roadmap.com.