You earned the loan that asks nothing down.
A VA loan does both. No other loan does, and buyers weighing are va loans good against other financing quickly find this combination hard to match.
Takes about 2 minutes. No credit check to start.
- Buy with zero down payment
- No monthly mortgage insurance, ever
- The fee is waived with a disability rating
- No loan limit on full entitlement
- Use it again and again
A VA loan does both. No other loan does.
Licensed mortgage broker · NMLS 179997
Office in Vienna, Virginia
The benefit is strong. The handling is not.
- The VA guaranteed 528,340 loans in 2025, up 26.9% in one year.
- A VA loan is not rare; it is a standard loan that needs to be handled correctly.
- If the basic allowance for housing is missed, your approval may be lower than it should be.
- Your certificate of eligibility should be pulled early to avoid delays.
- Eligible borrowers may avoid the VA funding fee, and full entitlement can mean no county loan limit.
- A VA loan with a 600 credit score may pass with one lender and fail with another, which is exactly the kind of gap that turns a straightforward file into a bad credit VA loan denial somewhere else.
- The problem is often the lender, not the VA loan.
- If one way does not work, we move to the next. You never start over somewhere else.
Which one of these is you?
Almost every VA loan buyer is in one of these six spots. Find the one closest to yours.
You have a report date you cannot move
Your PCS orders set the clock. We build the file backward from that date, and nothing waits.
You have never used the benefit
You qualify after 90 days of wartime service, or 181 in peacetime. Guard and Reserve: after six years. Use a VA loan again later, because your entitlement never runs out.
You hold a disability rating
Any rating of 10% or more removes the VA funding fee, which is $10,750 on a $500,000 loan. It shows on your certificate of eligibility.
You are a surviving spouse
Spouses who have not remarried qualify in certain cases. The fee is waived, and the zero down payment works the same way.
You want to keep this house and buy again
Keep the first home as a rental and buy at the next based on second-tier entitlement, sometimes called using 2 VA loans at once. This is the one place county VA loan limits matter, and VA loan limits are ignored entirely on full entitlement.
A lender said your score was too low
The VA sets no credit score rule. Lenders set their own, usually 580 to 620. A credit score that fails at one lender often passes next door.
One fee. Many of you pay nothing.
A VA loan has one charge: the VA funding fee. There is no monthly insurance at all, and with a zero down payment you still pay nothing each month for it. Some borrowers also ask about points on VA loan pricing, and paying discount points upfront to buy down the rate works the same way on VA financing as it does on conventional loans.
First time, nothing down
The VA funding fee is 2.15% of the loan. On $500,000, that is $10,750, and most buyers roll it in and keep the zero down payment. This answers: Do VA loans require a down payment for most first-time use? No, not for the loan itself; only the funding fee applies.
Put 5% down
When you choose to put 5% down on your home purchase, your associated fee significantly drops down to just 1.50%. This option is definitely well worth pricing out carefully if you happen to have some extra personal savings available to use right now.
Using it a second time
Using it a second time typically incurs a fee of around 3.30% when you proceed with nothing down. Even with this second-tier usage, you still benefit from having absolutely no monthly mortgage insurance required on your loan at any point whatsoever.
Lowering your rate later
Lowering your rate later through a streamlined program costs just 0.50% with very little paperwork and often zero appraisal needed. Please remember that this option cannot take any cash out, but most of these files tend to close extremely fast.
Disability rating
When you have a qualifying disability rating, you are required to pay absolutely no VA funding fee at all. This official waiver will be clearly documented and shown directly on your final mortgage paperwork, saving you substantial upfront costs during your home purchase process.
Then the part that adds up. There is no mortgage insurance on a VA loan, at any loan size, for the whole life of the loan, which also answers: do I need PMI with a VA loan? No, never, regardless of down payment.
An FHA buyer at 3.5% down pays about $229 a month for insurance that never comes off. Over ten years, no mortgage insurance beats almost any rate difference.
A bank has one answer. We have several.
The VA writes the VA loan rules. Each lender then adds rules of its own on top, and those extra rules are where a yes turns into a no.
We send your file to several lenders and place it where their rules suit you.
We request your certificate on day one
Your crucial certificate of eligibility is the item requested most often during the process. Please keep in mind that being late with this required documentation usually costs you a full week.
We call the listing agent for you
Many home sellers still repeat outdated stories regarding strict VA appraisals. However, a professional phone call directly from your dedicated lender wins significantly more accepted offers than any interest rate.
We check your housing allowance
Basic allowance for housing is untaxed and grossed up by lenders, some at 25%, others at 15%, creating a major difference in buying power and directly affecting your debt-to-income VA loan and VA loan income ratio calculations.
We work back from your report date
Make sure to send your official PCS orders right at the very start. We always plan our schedule strictly around your specific orders, never around our own internal processing queue.
SAI Mortgage, Inc.
Is committed to helping you find the right mortgage product for your needs, whether you’re exploring a home mortgage loan, considering a home mortgage loan in Virginia, or comparing other financing options. We understand that every borrower is different, and we offer a variety of products to meet your individual requirements, ensuring you receive guidance that fits your unique financial goals. If you are still weighing programs side by side, our conventional loan page and FHA loan page can help you compare options before you commit to one path.
Three steps. That is it.
Most people are pre-approved within two days.
Tell us how you get paid
Have a short and friendly consultation conversation with our team in your preferred language if you like. Rest completely assured that there will be absolutely no formal credit check conducted at this very early preliminary stage.
We shop it for you
We check many lenders and send you what you qualify for, in writing, and if VA financing is not the right fit for your file, we can also route you toward the best mortgage loans available across our full lender panel.
You get the keys
You can comfortably relax while our experienced professionals handle all the remaining paperwork and coordination behind the scenes. We ensure everything is fully finalized so that you successfully close on the exact date you need.
Licensed in Virginia, DC and Maryland.
From our office in Vienna, we serve buyers across the Commonwealth, and your file follows you if you move across state lines.
Northern Virginia
I-95 Corridor
Hampton Roads
Central & Western Virginia
What people ask us first.
The questions that come up on almost every call.
Can I use it more than once?
Yes. It comes back in full when you sell and repay. You can also keep the first home as a rental and buy again, and eligible couples buying together sometimes structure the file as a joint VA loan with a co-borrower.
Do I pay the fee in cash?
No, most borrowers roll the VA funding fee into the loan amount rather than paying it out of pocket at closing, which keeps the zero down payment structure intact. You can still choose to pay it in cash if you would rather keep your loan balance lower.
What credit score do I need?
The VA sets no minimum credit score, but individual lenders typically require 580 to 620. A VA loan with a 600 credit score often works with the right lender, which is exactly why we shop your file to several lenders rather than relying on just one.
Can I buy a rental?
Not as your first VA purchase, since the home must be your primary residence at closing. However, once you have lived in it for a period of time, you can move out, keep it as a rental, and use remaining entitlement to buy your next primary residence, similar to the second home strategies covered above.
What does the appraiser check?
The VA appraiser confirms the home meets minimum property requirements for safety, soundness, and sanitation, in addition to establishing market value. This is different from a full home inspection, which we still recommend separately.
How long does a VA loan take to close, and what will closing costs run?
Most VA loan files close in about 30 to 45 days from a signed contract, similar to conventional and FHA timelines. Buyers often ask about average VA loan closing costs, which typically run 3 to 5% of the purchase price, though sellers can contribute toward these costs and the VA caps certain fees the buyer is allowed to pay.
What are the pros and cons of VA loans, and can I buy a foreclosed home?
The pros and cons of VA loans come down to this: zero down payment and no mortgage insurance on one side, against the funding fee and primary residence requirement on the other. Can you buy a foreclosed home with a VA loan? VA loans for foreclosure purchases in general are both allowed as long as the property meets VA minimum property requirements, which sometimes rules out homes in significant disrepair.
How does earnest money work on a VA loan offer?
VA loan earnest money and earnest money VA loan deposits work the same way they would on any other financed offer, typically 1 to 2% of the purchase price, held in escrow and credited toward closing costs or down payment at settlement. VA financing does not change this requirement.
Send your orders. We do the rest.
We come back with a pre-approval and a closing date, not a range.
Most of our VA loan files come from the Belvoir, Pentagon, Quantico, and Fort Meade areas.
If you searched for a VA loan near me because a call center would not commit to your date, that is the problem we solve. Ready to see your numbers? Visit our homepage to start, or head straight to our refinance page if you already own and want to explore an IRRRL or a refinance into a VA loan option.