Getting a VA home loan requires quite a bit of work, particularly paperwork. Here’s the good news. It’s no different from any other kind of mortgage in that way. 

Whether you get a loan backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or not, you’ll have to go through underwriting. That’s the often-lengthy process mortgage lenders use to make sure you can afford what you’re borrowing.

When you know how to get a VA home loan, navigating this process feels much easier. So here’s your guide. Follow these eight steps to getting your VA loan. 

#1: Confirm your eligibility for a VA home loan

First up, you need to make sure you’re actually allowed to get this kind of home financing. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs only backs loans for veterans and service members who’ve met minimum service requirements. 

For most people, that means serving 90 days during wartime or 181 days during peacetime. That’s a broad generalization, though, and there are some specific parameters based on where and when you served. We have a thorough guide to help you check your VA loan eligibility. 

If you think you are eligible, you can request a certificate of eligibility (COE) from the VA. You’ll need to have that piece of paperwork on hand to get a VA home loan. 

#2: Get your finances in order

The COE is just one piece of the puzzle. To get a VA home loan, you have to satisfy additional requirements from both the VA and the lender. 

Financial requirements from the VA

On the VA side, you get checked for affordability with a metric called residual income. This measures how much money you and any co-borrowers (e.g., your spouse) have left over each month after you’ve settled up what you owe (i.e., paid your mortgage, utilities, car loans, etc.). 

The VA sets minimum residual income requirements based on your household size and where you’re buying. A two-person household in the northeast needs to have at least $755 of residual income, for example. The same sized household in the west needs at least $823. And a four-person household needs to meet a minimum of $1,062–$1,158, depending on location. 

We did a deeper dive into this in our comprehensive VA home loan guide. You can use it to find what region your state is in and how much residual income you need based on that region and the size of your household. 

Financial requirements from lenders

The mortgage lenders that offer VA loans set their own requirements. Their goal is to make sure you’re highly likely to repay what you borrow. 

For that, lenders usually look at benchmarks like:

• Your credit score (most lenders want to see 620 or above)
• Your income history and whether or not you have ongoing employment (usually verified with pay stubs and tax returns)
• Your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, which measures how your total monthly debts compare to your gross monthly income (41% or below will usually help you get approved)
  
  • We have a calculator to help you figure out your own DTI ratio

Here’s the good news. For other types of mortgages, lenders typically also look at the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. An overly high ratio — which basically means you’re not putting up enough for your down payment — can disqualify you. But with the VA’s backing, lenders are willing to go up to an LTV of 100%. That means you can qualify for this kind of mortgage even if you put $0 down.

Meeting or exceeding financial requirements  

To help yourself get ready to apply for a VA home loan, and ideally get the best interest rate you can, work to shape up your finances. 

You might pay down debts, start a side hustle to increase your monthly income, or review your credit report to check for errors. Lowering your DTI ratio and improving your credit score can both help qualify for a better rate on your VA home loan. 

#3: Shop for VA home loan rates

Once you have your COE and you feel like your financial profile looks as good as possible, you’re ready to start shopping. No, not for homes. For lenders. 

With most VA home loans (the expectation being for Native Americans), you don’t get the mortgage straight from the VA. Instead, you work with a lender that’s VA-approved. 

Not every lender has gone through the process required to offer VA loans. That doesn’t mean you’ll have a shortage of options, though. When you’re figuring out how to get a VA home loan, you might find that you have too many choices, not too few.

Sifting through the available options helps you find the lender that can offer you a VA loan with the best interest rate and the lowest fees. To help you here, we have a rate table showcasing what’s currently on offer from leading VA lenders. 

In the top bar, input your info to get a more personalized look at your options. Providing your zip code and purchase price (i.e., your home shopping budget) helps surface lenders who are most likely to be able to serve you. 

#4: Get 6+ personalized quotes

You can look at lenders on rate tables, by doing your own online search, or by asking friends and family for recommendations. Whichever route(s) you choose, start making a list. 

Ideally, you want to come up with at least six VA lender options that look solid to you. Then, request a personalized quote from each of them.

That quote gives you a much clearer idea of what the lender can actually offer you. To get the quote, you’ll usually need to put in details like:

• The rough price of the house you want to buy
• Its zip code
• Your average income
• Your estimated credit score

With a better idea of the key details that will shape your loan, VA lenders can give you a quote that’s probably pretty close to the rate they can actually offer you. 

Why you should get six or more quotes for your VA home loan

Getting six or more quotes probably sounds like a lot of work. But in today’s world, a lot of lenders offer free quotes on their websites. Filling out the required form should only take a few minutes.

If you apply for six quotes and it takes five minutes each time, that’s a half-hour of work. And that can save you literally thousands. Freddie Mac, one of the big players in the U.S. mortgage game, estimates that borrowers could have saved more than $1,200 a year by getting four or more quotes. 

We recommend getting six quotes because it’s not very hard to get a couple extra more, and doing so increases your odds of finding the lender that offers the lowest rate. 

Extra tips for getting VA loan quotes

As you request your quote, watch out for language about a “hard credit check.” This kind of credit inquiry temporarily dings your credit score, so you want to avoid it until you’re really ready to apply for your VA home loan. Most lenders can give you a quote with a simple soft credit check, which doesn’t impact your score. 

If you’re in a housing market that’s hot, you might want to explore getting prequalified or pre-approved with the lenders that stand out to you. This can help to streamline the process once you actually apply for the loan. 

Just as importantly, showing the seller that you have pre-qualification or pre-approval lets them know you’ll be able to come up with the money you need to buy. This can help you gain a competitive edge against other potential buyers.  

#5: Find a house that meets VA requirements

Armed with quotes to give you a better idea of your interest rate, you can figure out how much house you can afford. We have a home affordability calculator to help with precisely that. 

If you end up arriving at a house budget that’s pretty different from what you input in step #4, repeat that process. You want to make sure you have a good idea of what you can actually afford before you start house shopping.

When you get your home budget dialed in, it’s time to start looking at properties. Since we’re talking about how to get a VA loan, it helps to cover the types of properties the VA will back. You can get a VA loan for a:

• Single-family home
• Townhome
• Multi-family home, up to a fourplex (you need to live in one of the units)
• Condo in a VA-approved complex or in a complex you get VA approved (you’ll need to go through a process for the latter, which starts with a customized condo report [CCR])
• Manufactured home as long as it’s affixed to its foundation

Then, on top of that, the place you want to buy needs to meet the VA’s minimum property requirements (MPRs). These basically make sure that the house is safe and sanitary. Unless you’re buying a major fixer-upper, you shouldn’t have an issue here. 

Once you’ve found a house you like that matches up with VA requirements, make an offer. When you and the seller agree to a price and other details, you’re ready to officially get your VA home loan. 

#6: Apply with 3+ lenders

Remember your handful of quotes from step #4? It’s time to take some of them a step further.

Choose the top three quotes you got, then apply for a mortgage with that lender. Yes, you want to apply with more than one company. Doing so can save you tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a 30-year mortgage.  

The application process will be a lot more work than getting your quote. The good news is that VA lenders tend to require the same information. You’ll probably have to dig up some pay stubs and tax returns, for example. But once you have them handy, you can likely give the same documentation to all three lenders. 

As a result, applying with three lenders shouldn’t be triple the work of applying with one. It will take a little more time but, again, that can save you big money. 

#7: Compare loan estimates

After you apply with each lender, they’re legally required to give you a loan estimate within three days. Line them up and compare them. Because loan estimates have to be formatted the same way, this lets you compare apples to apples. You’ll have a clear idea of what each lender charges. 

Pay special attention to the annual percentage rate (APR). This represents the yearly cost of the loan for you, which includes both interest and fees. 

#8: Choose your lender and close your loan

With three loan estimates in front of you, it should become clear which VA lender is best for you. That brings you to the home stretch of your journey. You’re about to put your question — how to get a VA home loan — behind you. 

Tell your chosen lender that you’re ready to move forward. You’ll then have to go through a few final steps to close your loan. Those include:

• Title search. The title search looks into the paperwork behind the house to make sure you can cleanly take over ownership.
• VA appraisal. This means a pro who’s approved by the VA goes out to check that the house meets MPRs and is worth what you’re paying for it. Your lender orders this on your behalf, but you have to pay for it. 
• Home inspection. You pay a licensed or certified home inspector to evaluate the house and point out potential problems (e.g., an aging roof, leaky plumbing). This helps you avoid unwelcome surprises once you get your keys. 
• Funding fee payment. As part of closing, you need to figure out how you’ll address the VA funding fee. You can either roll it into the loan or pay it at closing. Making it part of your mortgage means paying less at the closing table, but it costs more over time. Why? Because you then have to pay interest on that funding fee. So if you can afford to pay it upfront, that’s often the better money move overall. 
• Final walkthrough and signing. Once the VA and your lender are satisfied that they have everything they need, you do a final walkthrough of the house. Then, you head to the closing table to sign all of your loan documents and pay closing costs. 

Finally, you’ve got your VA home loan, and you get your keys. 

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These eight steps should give you a solid idea of how to get a VA home loan. Still, there will always be little nuances depending on things that are unique to you, like your service history, your financial profile, and the house you want to buy. 

Every VA lender has loan officers. These are essentially salespeople, which means they’ll try to convince you that their company is right for you. They’re also VA loan experts who can answer your questions and help you navigate the process. Shopping rates today can help you pinpoint some lenders who might be a good fit, and the loan officers at those companies can likely help you along. 

So, what are you waiting for? If you want to figure out how to get a VA home loan, our tables of current VA lenders and their rates are a great place to start.