Attention Active Military and Veterans:

The Veterans Administration has made it very easy for our few, proud and brave to purchase a home. In this post I want to share and highlight all the benefits of using the VA loan to purchase a property.

When it comes to home ownership there are a lot of mortgage programs out there.

  • There are VA, FHA and Conventional Mortgage loans. Some lenders may have even shared or talked you out of the VA loan and told you to finance another way. I firmly believe that for the majority of veterans the VA Mortgage loan is the best and most economical way to finance a home. Here are some highlights of the VA Mortgage Loan.
  • VA Loans will Finance 100% of the purchase price. As long as you are within the VA loan limits, the VA loan does allow 100% financing. I am not aware of any other loan program currently that will direct finance 100% of your loan. What this means is you will not need any down payment.
  • VA Loans will allow you to finance up to $417,000.00 in a mortgage. This is a lot of buying power. Now most active military will not even be close to this amount, but if you are a veteran who now works in the public sector, this could allow you to move up to that bigger home.


VA Loans have NO MORTGAGE INSURANCE.

This is probably one of the biggest benefits of VA loans. Now you do have to pay a VA Funding Fee. This Funding Fee is a percentage of the loan amount. However the VA Funding fee can be financed into the loan amount. Now the Funding fee itself varies depending on if you are using your VA benefit for the first time or subsequent usage. The easiest way to know the amount is to check with the mortgage advisor based on your individual situation. Also, sometimes the VA will waive the funding fee altogether. I have helped some veterans who had a slight disability from military duty and the VA has either waived some or the entire VA Funding fee.


  • VA Loans allow the seller to pay 4% of your closing costs and or prepaid expenses. Again if you have little money for closing costs, a lot of times we can find a seller to help negotiate these closing costs right into the real estate transaction.
  • VA Loans have very competitive mortgage rates. VA and FHA loans rates are sometimes a little more competitively priced due to them being tied to a different pricing index.
  • VA Loans are NOT credit score driven programs. The credit score does make a difference in the overall picture of qualification, but it is not the only factor that is taken into consideration. On most Conventional loans the Credit Score has a much more significant impact on the approval versus a VA mortgage loan.
  • VA Loans still allow manual underwrites if needed. FHA and VA loans are the only 2 programs that I work with that will still allow this. The majority of Conventional loans have moved completely to Automated Approvals by a computer. This option sometimes will give a slight degree of flexibility to help get a Veteran approved.


I have just highlighted the most common benefits of a VA Loan versus other types of financing. There are more benefits but just too many to list them all. Also sometimes the VA loan is NOT right for every veteran, but the majority of the time it has a lot of benefits to make it worthwhile to use this financing tool.


“I would like to dedicate this post to all of our brave men and women of The United States of America who wear the uniform to protect our country from harm’s way. To the veterans who protected our country from tyranny from the past”.


Gary Miljour Cherry Creek Mortgage Company

Cherry Creek Mortgage Company

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