California mortgage answers · VA

VA loans in California: zero down, the funding fee and the parts people get wrong

A VA loan can carry zero down and no monthly mortgage insurance, and with full entitlement there is no loan limit. The funding fee varies by down payment and use, and some veterans are exempt from it. Those are the parts most people know. The parts that decide a specific purchase are the appraisal, the property condition standards, the seller concessions, and how a builder home or a condo is treated.

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What this topic is really about

The questions here come from veterans and service members buying in the markets we work, including the commute-to-base questions and the new construction questions. Each is answered against the current VA rules, with the local number where one applies, and each names what changes on a specific file.

VA is one of the strongest instruments a buyer can hold, and it is often misread by sellers and by listing agents. Knowing where the misreadings are before you write is part of what the check at the bottom of every answer does.

By market

Every va answer, by where the address is

Murrieta, CA 1

How do I buy a house as a first time buyer with the VA home loan? Pull your Certificate of Eligibility first, then get underwritten before you shop, not just pre-qualified, and buy with zero down.

Temecula, CA 1

How much did it cost to move in a VA $0 down home? A VA loan requires no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance.

Menifee, CA 1

VA home loan $400K but..... A VA loan requires no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance at any price.

Clairemont, San Diego 1

[Moving to San Diego in October] Help Me Find A Good Neighborhood A fixed move date, a job start or PCS orders, does not mean rushing the neighborhood pick in San Diego.

Southwest Riverside County 1

I pcs to Pendleton in February and was wondering if it would be smart to use the va loan to buy a house near Pendleton and live in it till I get Camp Pendleton is close enough to make Murrieta, Temecula and Menifee realistic VA purchase options, and far enough that the commute is a real cost, not an afterthought.

On your file

What changes this answer on your file

Full entitlement against partial entitlement, which reintroduces a limit.
The funding fee tier, and whether you are exempt.
The appraisal and the minimum property requirements on the specific house.
Whether the condo or the builder community is approved.
The seller concession limit and what it can cover.

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Who answers

Nick Nagy

23 years in California lending · NMLS 314880 · CA DRE 01444600 · Loan Factory, Inc.

Dual licensed, so the loan side and the real estate side of a move are looked at as one problem instead of two. Most of what goes wrong in a move is a timing problem wearing a financing costume, and it is cheaper to catch it before you write an offer than after.

Financing is placed through Loan Factory, Inc. Real estate work is under CA DRE 01444600. More about Nick.

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The desk behind the file

One file, 237 lenders competing for it, and a broker who has done this for 23 years.

Loan Factory, Inc. is the brokerage. These are its published figures.

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A retail bank has one guideline book. When your file does not fit it, the answer is no and the reason is rarely explained. A broker shops the same file across the shelf and finds the lender whose box it already fits.

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Straight answers

Questions people here actually ask

The three most asked, in one sentence each. The full answers are on their own pages above.

How do I buy a house as a first time buyer with the VA home loan?

Pull your Certificate of Eligibility first, then get underwritten before you shop, not just pre-qualified, and buy with zero down. The full answer, with the local number and its source, is on its own page: https://go.homeaccesslist.com/answers/murrieta/va-loan-first-time-buyer

How much did it cost to move in a VA $0 down home?

A VA loan requires no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance. The full answer, with the local number and its source, is on its own page: https://go.homeaccesslist.com/answers/temecula/va-loan-zero-down-cost

VA home loan $400K but.....

A VA loan requires no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance at any price. The full answer, with the local number and its source, is on its own page: https://go.homeaccesslist.com/answers/menifee/va-loan-menifee

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What happens after you send it

You tell us the situation. Which end of the market you are in and what you are trying to do. It takes about a minute, and there is no credit pull to start.
We shop the file. One file goes across 237 lenders at Loan Factory, against the programs that actually apply at your price point rather than the one book a single bank keeps.
You get a real number. Written down, with what it rests on, so you can check it yourself. You keep it either way, and when the honest answer is that waiting is the better move, that is the answer you get.