A VA loan is a mortgage from a private lender that the Department of Veterans Affairs partly guarantees. If you have eligible service and full entitlement, you can buy a home you'll live in with no down payment as long as the price isn't above the appraised value, with no monthly mortgage insurance and no VA loan limit. You'll usually pay a one-time VA funding fee unless you're exempt, and you still have to qualify on credit and income. Here's how it works for buyers in Fort Worth and across Texas.
Eligibility comes from service and is proven with a Certificate of Eligibility (COE). VA's minimum active-duty service requirements include (VA eligibility):
Some surviving spouses can also qualify (VA surviving spouse). I can usually request your COE through the lender system, or you can request it yourself on VA Form 26-1880.
VA purchase loans are for a home you'll live in (VA purchase loan). You can buy a single-family home or up to 4 units, a condo in a VA-approved project, a manufactured home, or build a new home, as long as you'll occupy it. A pure rental doesn't qualify. See VA occupancy for the details.
VA doesn't set a minimum credit score. VA looks at your overall credit history and leaves score requirements to lenders (VA lender training, credit underwriting). Ask me how this applies to your situation, because what we can approve depends on your full file and the automated findings.
VA uses two tests together (38 CFR 36.4340):
Failing one test doesn't automatically disqualify you, but the file has to be justified.
VA assigns the appraiser and issues a Notice of Value showing the home's reasonable value. The no-down-payment feature works as long as the price isn't above that value. If the value comes in low, you can renegotiate, cover the difference in cash, or walk away under the right contract terms. See VA Notice of Value.
Most VA borrowers pay a one-time funding fee, which can be financed into the loan on a purchase. For purchase and construction loans (VA funding fee):
You're exempt if you receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability (or are eligible for it but receive retirement or active-duty pay instead), if you're a surviving spouse receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, if you're a service member with a proposed or memorandum rating before closing, or if you're an active-duty member who shows evidence of a Purple Heart on or before closing.
If you have full entitlement, VA doesn't cap how much you can borrow. Your income, credit and the appraisal still do, and so does the lender. If part of your entitlement is tied up in another VA loan, your no-down-payment maximum is based on the county conforming loan limit, which is $832,750 for a one-unit home in Tarrant, Dallas, Johnson and Parker counties in 2026 (VA loan limits). My VA entitlement article walks through the math.
On a purchase, the funding fee is the only cost you can finance into the loan. Your other closing costs are paid at closing, by you or through credits the rules allow. VA doesn't limit seller credits for normal closing costs, but it limits seller concessions, like paying your funding fee or paying off your debts, to 4 percent of the home's reasonable value. See seller concessions.
This example is made up to show how the pieces fit.
Jasmine served 6 years in the Army and is buying her first home in Benbrook for $310,000. She has full entitlement, so there's no VA loan limit in play. The Notice of Value comes back at $312,000, so she can buy with no down payment. Her first-use funding fee, with a loan above 95 percent of the price, is 2.15 percent of the loan, which she finances. Her contract asks the seller to pay her normal closing costs, which don't count against VA's 4 percent concession limit. Her debt-to-income ratio is 43 percent, but her residual income is more than 20 percent above VA's South region guideline for her family size, so the file meets VA's rule for ratios over 41 percent. If she later receives a disability rating with an effective date before closing, she can ask VA about a funding fee refund.
Thinking about a VA loan in Fort Worth or anywhere in Texas? I can pull your COE, check your entitlement and funding fee status, and tell you what fits before you start looking. Schedule a call, or when you're ready, start an application.
Links checked Oct 21, 2026.
About the author: McKade Lively, NMLS 2704474, American Pacific Mortgage Corporation dba True North Home Loans, NMLS 1850.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
Last reviewed: Oct 2026