VA home loan and housing guides
Buying with a VA loan, your COE, property rules, refinancing, Native American Direct Loans, adapted-housing grants and housing assistance.
Getting a VA loan
The Complete VA Home Loan Guide (2026)
A VA home loan is a mortgage from a private lender that the Department of Veterans Affairs partially guarantees.
VA Purchase Loan Guide: Buying a Home With Your VA Benefit
A VA purchase loan is a VA-guaranteed mortgage used to buy a primary residence: a single-family home, condo in a VA-approved project, 2-4 unit property you occupy, manufactured home on a permanent foundation, or new construction.
VA Certificate of Eligibility Guide: How to Get Your COE
A VA Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is the document proving to a lender that you qualify for a VA-backed home loan and showing how much entitlement you have.
First-Time Homebuyer Guide for Veterans Using a VA Loan
Veterans buy a first home with a VA loan in roughly eight steps: get a Certificate of Eligibility, get pre-approved by a VA lender, hire a VA-experienced agent, make an offer with the VA escape clause, complete the VA appraisal and an optional inspection, clear underwriting, then close.
VA Property Requirements Guide: MPRs and the VA Appraisal
VA Minimum Property Requirements (MPRs) are the safety, soundness and sanitation standards a home must meet for a VA loan.
Refinancing
VA Refinance Options: Which One Is Right for You?
Veterans have two VA refinance options.
VA IRRRL Streamline Refinance Guide (2026)
A VA IRRRL (Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan), or VA streamline refinance, replaces an existing VA loan with a lower-rate VA loan, usually with no appraisal, income verification or cash out.
VA Cash-Out Refinance Guide (2026)
A VA cash-out refinance replaces your current mortgage (VA or not) with a larger VA-backed loan and pays you the difference in cash.
Native American Direct Loan
Native American Direct Loan (NADL) Guide
The Native American Direct Loan (NADL) is a VA program that lends money directly to eligible Native American veterans, and veterans married to Native Americans, to buy, build, improve or refinance a home on federal trust land.
Trust Land Requirements for the VA Native American Direct Loan
For a VA Native American Direct Loan, the home must sit on federal trust land: land held in trust by the United States for a tribe or individual, restricted fee land, Alaska Native Corporation land, Hawaiian Home Lands, or land in American Samoa, Guam or the Northern Mariana Islands.
Grants and housing assistance
VA Housing Grants and Assistance Guide (FY2026 Amounts)
The VA offers four home-modification grants for veterans with service-connected disabilities: the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant, up to $126,526 in FY2026; the Special Home Adaptation (SHA) grant, up to $25,350; the Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) grant for family-owned homes; and the HISA medical grant of up to $6,800.
SAH and SHA Grants: VA Adapted Housing Grants Explained
The Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant gives severely disabled veterans up to $126,526 in FY2026 to build or modify a wheelchair-accessible home; the Special Home Adaptation (SHA) grant provides up to $25,350 for smaller adaptations such as for loss of both hands or blindness.
VA Housing Assistance Programs for Homeless and At-Risk Veterans
Veterans who are homeless or at risk can call VA's National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-424-3838 (24/7) to be connected with a VA social worker.
Tools
VA Loan Rates Today and Your Personalised Rate Estimate
VA loan rates are set by private lenders, not the VA, and typically run 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points below conventional rates because of the government guarantee.
VA Home Loan Eligibility Wizard
You are generally eligible for a VA home loan if you served 90 continuous days on active duty during wartime, 181 days during peacetime, 24 continuous months (or your full ordered period) after 1980, or six years in the National Guard or Reserves, with an honorable or other qualifying discharge.