Guides
Plain-spoken guides on the VA loan.
Written from the primary sources (VA Pamphlet 26-7 and the official published tables) and reviewed for accuracy before publication. We publish what actually helps. We do not publish marketing fluff.
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№ 00 · Start here · Pillar
Never bought a home? The first-timer's guide to every step.
The whole process in order, in the plainest language on this site: saving, preapproval, agents, offers, inspection vs. appraisal, closing day, and your first year.
№ 13 · Start here · Cluster
Can you buy a home as a cadet or brand-new officer?
Academy time counts as service, so cadets and midshipmen are a VA eligibility category. How to prove it before you have a DD-214, why ROTC and military colleges differ, and the timing that actually works.
№ 01 · Pillar
What is a VA loan, and is it the right loan for you?
A complete plain-English breakdown of the benefit you have earned. How it works, what it costs, how it compares to conventional and FHA, plus the IRRRL refinance and one-time close construction loan.
Tool · Interactive
VA Buying-Power Calculator
Estimate the home price you can finance with your VA benefit. Honest math, no rate quote. ZIP-based property tax estimates for the states we cover so far.
Tool · Interactive
BAH Look-up
Your Basic Allowance for Housing from the official DoD tables: both dependent statuses, your housing area, and a one-tap handoff into the buying-power calculator.
№ 02 · Pillar
How much home can you actually buy with a VA loan?
A 2,500-word deep dive into VA buying-power math. The 41% DTI, residual income, the funding fee, BAH for active duty, and what moves the number most.
№ 06 · Cluster
Yes, you can rent it out: occupancy, PCS, and buying again.
What the occupancy rule actually requires, the accidental-landlord path after PCS orders, counting rental income, and the dual-military entitlement play.
№ 07 · Cluster
What sellers get wrong about VA offers (and how to win anyway).
The misconceptions that cost VA buyers houses, what the appraisal and MPRs actually check, Tidewater, and the five-move playbook that makes VA offers compete.
№ 08 · Cluster
The VA has no minimum credit score. So why did you get denied?
Lender overlays explained, what underwriters actually weigh, bankruptcy and foreclosure waiting periods, and the rebuild path that works.
№ 09 · Cluster
What can you buy with a VA loan? More than you think.
Condos, four-unit buildings you live in, manufactured homes, new construction, and the short list of hard nos, with the house-hacking math shown.
№ 10 · Cluster
How long does a VA loan actually take?
Stage by stage from accepted offer to keys: where the 30 to 45 days go, what actually causes delays, and the two biggest factors you control.
№ 11 · Cluster
Surviving spouses: the benefit survives.
Who qualifies, how DIC connects to the home loan, the survivor-specific paperwork, the full funding-fee exemption, and how survivor income counts.
№ 12 · Cluster
State veteran loan programs: the ones that actually exist.
CalVet, the Texas Veterans Land Board, Oregon's ODVA, and Mississippi's VHPB. Separate from the federal VA loan, sometimes better, always worth pricing.
№ 03 · Cluster
Can you use your VA loan twice? Entitlement, explained.
Full versus partial entitlement, how to restore it, when you can hold two VA loans at once, and what county loan limits actually mean for you.
№ 04 · Cluster
The VA funding fee, demystified
How the funding fee works, who pays which rate, when it is waived for disability-rated veterans, and how it gets rolled into your loan.
№ 05 · Cluster
VA loans by state: what's different in yours
State-by-state notes for all 50 states: disabled-veteran property tax exemptions verified against state sources, with the official source linked on every page.
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