VA County Loan Limits, Entitlement, and How They Work

Look up Your County's VA Loan Limits

Find Your County's VA Loan Limits

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Choose your state and county to view the current VA loan limits for your area

*Loan limits are set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and may change annually. These limits determine the maximum amount the VA will guarantee for your loan.

VA county loan limits help determine how much your lender can offer with a VA guaranty—especially if you have a remaining VA loan or you’re using your entitlement across multiple properties. Use the lookup tool above to find your county’s current limits, then read on to understand how limits connect to entitlement and down payments.

What is VA entitlement?

Your VA entitlement is the amount the VA will guarantee on your loan. It comes in two pieces: basic entitlement (often shown as $36,000 on your COE) and bonus (or second-tier) entitlement used for loan amounts above $144,000. Entitlement doesn’t replace lender approval—your income, credit, debts, and assets still determine how much you can borrow.

Full entitlement vs. remaining entitlement

Full entitlement: If you’ve never used VA, or your prior VA loan is paid off and restored, lenders can typically approve above county limits with no down payment (subject to approval).
Remaining entitlement: If you still have a VA loan or partial entitlement charged, county loan limits help determine how much you can borrow with no down payment.

How county loan limits fit in

VA loan limits mirror FHFA conforming loan limits. When you’re using remaining entitlement, lenders use your county’s One-Unit limit as part of the calculation to see how much of your loan can be covered by the 25% VA guaranty without a down payment.

Quick way to estimate remaining bonus entitlement

Find your county’s One-Unit limit in the tool above.
Multiply that limit by 0.25.
Subtract the entitlement already charged on your COE.

Example: If your county One-Unit limit is $900,000, 25% is $225,000. If your COE shows $50,000 charged, then your remaining bonus entitlement is $175,000.

Will I need a down payment?

Most lenders want entitlement and/or down payment to cover at least 25% of the loan amount. If your remaining entitlement doesn’t cover 25% of the target loan amount, you may need a down payment to make up the difference.

Continuing the example: $175,000 × 4 = $700,000. That’s about the maximum most lenders will approve with no down payment using remaining entitlement. Borrowing more may require a down payment.

Tips

Your lender may have minimum credit score requirements even though the VA doesn’t.
The maximum VA loan is the lower of the appraised value or purchase price.
If you think your entitlement should be restored, talk to your lender or request an update to your COE.

Sources: VA Loan Guaranty program, FHFA conforming loan limits. For county limit details, see your county above.