You earned this benefit, and then someone told you a VA offer would get you beaten out or that your price range was capped. Both are usually wrong.
Full entitlement removed the loan limit, and most people still do not know
Effective for loans closed on or after 1 January 2020, under the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, there are no county loan limits for a veteran with full entitlement. The VA says so plainly on its own site. The old county cap that everyone remembers does not apply to you if your entitlement has not been used, or has been used and restored.
That changes which houses are on the table. It means a veteran with full entitlement can buy in north Scottsdale or Paradise Valley on a VA loan, which most agents and a surprising number of loan officers assume is impossible.
Full entitlement does not mean unlimited. The lender still underwrites your credit, income, debts and assets, and the VA caps the loan at the appraised value or the purchase price, whichever is lower. What it removes is the arbitrary county ceiling.
If you have used your entitlement before, the limit comes back
This is the part that gets missed. County loan limits still apply to a veteran who has previously used entitlement and not restored it, on a loan above $144,000. In that case your remaining entitlement is 25% of the county loan limit, reduced by the entitlement you used and have not restored.
Practically: if you still own a home financed with a VA loan, or sold one without restoring entitlement, your second use is a different calculation than your first. It is still a strong loan, frequently still zero down, but the arithmetic has to be done before you shop rather than after you are in contract.
Your Certificate of Eligibility shows both your exemption status and the entitlement already charged. Pull the COE first. Every other decision depends on what it says.
The funding fee, and who does not pay it
There is no monthly mortgage insurance on a VA loan. Instead there is a one-time funding fee, which varies with your down payment and whether this is a first or subsequent use, and is normally financed into the loan.
A large share of veterans are exempt from it entirely. Per the VA, the exemption covers veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability; veterans who would be entitled to that compensation but receive retirement or active duty pay instead; surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation; active duty service members with a proposed or memorandum rating issued before closing (VA Circular 26-23-19); and active duty Purple Heart recipients.
On a mid-six-figure purchase the exemption is worth thousands of dollars at the closing table. It is not automatic in the sense that nobody has to look it up: the lender has to confirm the exemption status before closing. If your file is being handled by someone who never asked about a disability rating, ask.
The pending claim refund, which almost nobody is told about
If a disability claim is still pending when you close, the funding fee must be collected as though you were not exempt. That is the rule, and it feels wrong at the time.
But if the claim is later awarded with an effective date retroactive to a date before your loan closed, you can seek a refund of the fee. Veterans lose real money here simply because nobody told them to go back and ask after the award came through.
If you have a claim in process and you are buying now, write the date down. Close the loan, and when the award arrives, check the effective date against your closing date.
Beating the "VA offers are weak" problem
The belief that a VA offer is a liability in a competitive market is stale, and it costs veterans houses. The appraisal has minimum property requirements, which is the legitimate root of the concern, and those requirements look a great deal like FHA's: safety, soundness, functioning systems, roof life, no exposed wiring, pool barriers.
The fix is not to abandon the benefit. The fix is to pick properties that clear those requirements, and to have the listing agent shown the strength of the file up front: a full underwritten approval rather than a pre-qualification, a COE in hand, and a loan officer whose phone number is on the letter and who answers it. Sellers are not refusing VA, they are refusing uncertainty.
Where the VA benefit goes furthest across the East Valley
Zero down is federal. What changes by city is the supply of homes that clear the property requirements and whether the price point needs full entitlement.
- Mesa. A large veteran population and the deepest supply of homes in a comfortable VA price range. The minimum property requirements hit the older Mesa stock the same way FHA's do, so the property choice matters more here than the loan does.
- Gilbert. New construction. Get the COE and a complete file in hand before signing a builder contract, because the builder's completion date and the appraisal timing are the two clocks that collide on these files.
- Chandler. Competitive, frequently against cash. A VA offer holds up here when the listing agent has been shown an underwritten approval rather than a pre-qualification printout.
- Tempe. Attached housing has to be on the VA approved condominium project list. There is no single-unit workaround on the VA side the way FHA has one, so check the list before you write an offer on a Tempe condo.
- Scottsdale. This is where full entitlement matters most. With no county limit in play, VA financing reaches Scottsdale price points that most agents assume are off the table for a veteran.
- Phoenix. Central Phoenix puts you near the Phoenix VA Medical Center. If you are reporting to Luke Air Force Base, that is a west valley commute and worth driving on a weekday morning before you choose a neighborhood.
- Queen Creek. New build and acreage, popular with veterans leaving base housing. Zero down works, and the closing costs still need a plan, which is where seller concessions earn their keep.
- Paradise Valley. Reachable on full entitlement, which surprises people. The binding constraints become the appraisal and the lender's own overlays rather than anything the VA imposes.
Common questions
Is there a VA loan limit in Maricopa County?
Not if you have full entitlement. For loans closed on or after 1 January 2020 there are no county loan limits for veterans with full entitlement. If you have used entitlement and not restored it, county limits apply to the remaining calculation.
Do I pay the VA funding fee?
Not if you are exempt. Exemptions include veterans receiving service-connected disability compensation, those entitled to it who take retirement or active duty pay instead, surviving spouses receiving DIC, active duty members with a proposed or memorandum rating before closing, and active duty Purple Heart recipients.
My disability claim is still pending. What happens at closing?
The fee must be collected as if you were not exempt. If the claim is later awarded with an effective date before your closing date, you can seek a refund. Keep the closing date and check it against the award.
Can I use a VA loan more than once?
Yes. Entitlement can be restored, and many veterans use the benefit several times. The calculation on a second use differs from the first, so it needs to be run before you shop.
Is there monthly mortgage insurance on a VA loan?
No. That is one of the structural advantages of the program compared with FHA and with conventional financing above 80% loan-to-value.
Will sellers reject my VA offer?
Some are wary because of the property requirements. The answer is property selection plus a fully underwritten approval the listing agent can verify, not giving up the benefit.
Why bring this file to us
- Broker model. Multiple investors rather than one bank's shelf, which is what a file needs when the first answer is no.
- You talk to the principal. Ricky Khamis is President of EPiQ Lending and a Certified Mortgage Planner, NMLS #173141, originating mortgages since 1999. Direct line: (480) 999-9842.
- We price the alternatives against each other. Most lenders quote the program you asked for. The comparison is the work.
Looking at a specific home? Send me the address and I will run the numbers: rickykhamis.com/analyze
Equal Housing Opportunity. This is general information, not a commitment to lend or an offer to extend credit. Program rules, agency limits and pricing change, and every file depends on credit approval, property appraisal, income and asset verification and other qualifying factors. Not all applicants will qualify. Figures attributed to an agency above are cited with the issuing agency and the date they were published; confirm the current figure on your own file before you plan around it. Ricky Khamis, NMLS #173141. EPiQ Lending, NMLS #1936984, 7975 N. Hayden Road, Suite A-101, Scottsdale, AZ 85258. Verify any of this at NMLS Consumer Access, the EPiQ Lending profile or the Scottsdale branch page.