Your COE tells a lender that VA has verified your home-loan eligibility based on your service history and duty status. It can also contain entitlement and funding-fee information. A COE is not a loan approval—you still have to qualify with the lender.
Most Asked
Start with the questions we hear every week.
These answers are intentionally written in plain English. Your actual loan still depends on your COE, lender review, entitlement, property, and transaction details.
VA itself does not require a minimum credit score. Individual lenders can establish their own credit requirements and still must determine that the borrower is an acceptable credit risk.
Yes. The VA home-loan benefit is reusable. Depending on what happened with your prior VA loan, you may have full entitlement restored or you may have remaining entitlement available while another VA loan is still outstanding.
Potentially. VA recognizes that an eligible borrower can sometimes have more than one VA-backed loan when enough entitlement remains, the borrower financially qualifies, and the new property satisfies VA occupancy and loan requirements. Estimate your remaining entitlement →
If you have full entitlement, VA does not impose a county loan limit on the guaranty. Your lender still determines what you can afford, and the property value/purchase price still matters. If you have only partial entitlement, the applicable FHFA county limit becomes part of the remaining-entitlement calculation.
Often, yes. One of the major VA benefits is the ability to purchase without a down payment when you have sufficient entitlement and meet lender and property requirements. A down payment may still be needed in some partial-entitlement situations or when you choose to make one strategically.
Many VA borrowers pay a one-time funding fee, but VA provides exemptions for certain Veterans, service members, and surviving spouses. The amount also varies by loan type, down payment, and whether it's first or subsequent use. Review the funding fee and calculator →
Potentially more than 4%. VA separates seller-paid help into two different buckets:
1. Normal closing costs and customary discount points: These do not count toward VA's 4% seller-concession limit. A seller can negotiate to pay some or all of the Veteran's allowable closing costs.
2. True seller concessions: These are capped at 4% of the home's established reasonable value. Examples include paying the VA funding fee, prepaid taxes or insurance, temporary buydowns, extra discount points beyond what is customary for the market, and paying off the Veteran's credit balances or judgments.
Example: On a $500,000 VA value, the seller could potentially pay $10,000 of normal buyer closing costs plus as much as $20,000 in qualifying seller concessions. That would equal $30,000—or 6%—of total seller assistance. If the normal closing costs were higher than $10,000, the total seller-paid amount could even exceed 6%, because the normal closing-cost bucket is separate from the 4% concession cap.
Important: Paying off debt to help the Veteran qualify is allowed in the proper structure, but VA specifically treats payoff of credit balances or judgments as a seller concession, so that amount counts toward the 4% concession bucket.
1. Normal closing costs and customary discount points: These do not count toward VA's 4% seller-concession limit. A seller can negotiate to pay some or all of the Veteran's allowable closing costs.
2. True seller concessions: These are capped at 4% of the home's established reasonable value. Examples include paying the VA funding fee, prepaid taxes or insurance, temporary buydowns, extra discount points beyond what is customary for the market, and paying off the Veteran's credit balances or judgments.
Example: On a $500,000 VA value, the seller could potentially pay $10,000 of normal buyer closing costs plus as much as $20,000 in qualifying seller concessions. That would equal $30,000—or 6%—of total seller assistance. If the normal closing costs were higher than $10,000, the total seller-paid amount could even exceed 6%, because the normal closing-cost bucket is separate from the 4% concession cap.
Important: Paying off debt to help the Veteran qualify is allowed in the proper structure, but VA specifically treats payoff of credit balances or judgments as a seller concession, so that amount counts toward the 4% concession bucket.
On a VA purchase or construction/permanent loan, VA says the funding fee is the closing cost that can be financed into the loan. Other closing costs generally have to be paid at closing or covered through permitted credits or other allowed sources.
No. The VA appraisal provides an opinion of value and evaluates the home against VA minimum property requirements. VA strongly recommends that buyers also obtain a separate professional home inspection.
Options can include providing additional market data for a Reconsideration of Value, renegotiating the purchase price, or choosing to pay an agreed difference. The VA escape clause also protects the Veteran from being forced to complete the purchase solely because the established VA value is below the contract price.
VA purchase loans can be used to buy a property with up to 4 units, subject to VA and lender requirements. The VA borrower generally needs to occupy the property as their home.
Yes, but the condominium project generally needs to be acceptable to VA. Your lender and real estate professional can help determine the project's VA status and what may be needed.
A VA-backed purchase loan is generally for a home the VA borrower intends to occupy. A multi-unit property can potentially create rental income opportunities while the Veteran occupies one of the units, subject to lender and VA requirements.
We don't have that question published yet. Use Ask Matt below and send it to us.
Answered by Matt
Real Veteran questions become better resources.
These are examples of the type of questions submitted through Ask Matt. Questions are reviewed, rewritten when needed to remove personal details, answered, and only then published anonymously.
Submitted anonymously · Entitlement
“I'm relocating but still have a VA loan on my current house. Do I have to sell it before I can use VA again?”
Not necessarily. If you have enough remaining entitlement and qualify for the new loan, there are situations where you can purchase another primary residence before the current VA loan is paid off. We first look at your COE, entitlement already charged, the new county limit, occupancy, and how the current housing obligation affects qualification.
Answered by Matt
Submitted anonymously · Entitlement
“I used my VA loan years ago. Did I already use up the benefit?”
No. VA home-loan entitlement can be reused. Depending on the status of the previous VA loan, you may be able to restore full entitlement or use whatever entitlement remains available.
Answered by Matt
Submitted anonymously · COE
“My COE shows $36,000. Does that mean I can only get a $144,000 VA loan?”
No. The $36,000 figure is basic entitlement information—it is not your maximum purchase price. If you have full entitlement, VA does not impose a county loan limit on the guaranty. Your lender still determines what you can qualify to borrow.
Answered by Matt
Can't find your question?
Ask Matt.
Submit the situation you're dealing with. You decide whether the question stays private or whether Matt can publish an anonymized version after answering it.
About published questions: Public FAQs are educational and anonymous. Personal contact information and private loan details are not displayed. Matt reviews the wording and answer before a submitted question can appear publicly. Individual loan advice still requires a full lender review.