A VA loan is a mortgage guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, available to eligible veterans, active-duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members, and certain surviving spouses. The VA’s guarantee lets lenders offer terms no other program matches: nothing down, no monthly mortgage insurance, and rates that are often the lowest on the board.

Instead of monthly insurance, VA loans carry a one-time funding fee — 2.15% on first use with less than 5% down, less with a larger down payment, and waived entirely for veterans receiving VA disability compensation, Purple Heart recipients, and eligible surviving spouses.

VA loans are also not one-size-fits-all between lenders. Rates and overlays vary meaningfully, and some lenders simply don’t know the program well. We shop your VA loan across dozens of wholesale lenders and place it where the pricing and the underwriting actually respect your benefit.

Here’s the part many borrowers don’t know: with full entitlement, VA loans have no set loan limit in 2026. Your loan size is determined by what you qualify for — income, credit, and debt — not by a government cap. That makes VA financing viable even in Colorado’s high-priced mountain and Denver-metro markets.

If you have remaining entitlement (for example, an active VA loan you’re keeping), county loan limit math applies — based on the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750 in most counties, higher in high-cost areas. We calculate this precisely before you shop.

The one-time funding fee can be paid in cash or rolled into the loan, and it drops with a down payment: 2.15% first use with less than 5% down, 1.50% with 5% down, and 1.25% with 10% or more.