VA Loans in Tennessee: Get the Most From the Benefit You Earned
For veterans, active-duty service members and eligible surviving spouses buying a home to live in.
A VA loan is one of the best benefits you earned: no down payment as long as the price isn’t above the appraised value, and no monthly mortgage insurance.
I check your entitlement and whether you owe the funding fee before you shop, and I price your loan across more than 30 lenders.
Recent file: pre-approved the same day they applied, and exempt from the VA funding fee because they receive VA disability compensation.
“Working with RL made the loan side of home buying stress free. He is extremely knowledgeable and familiar in all of the different loan types. RL crunched numbers for me multiple times at my request offering multiple finance options and ensuring the loan path I chose was the best possible for my situation. He communicates well and is very responsive. Highly recommend working with RL.”
Ben J.
Franklin, TN
Who VA Loans Are Best For
VA loans are for eligible service members, veterans and surviving spouses buying a primary residence. Your Certificate of Eligibility confirms it, and a lender can usually request it during pre-approval.
Is a VA Loan Right for You?
A VA loan usually makes sense if you’re eligible and buying a home you’ll live in, especially if you want to keep cash in the bank.
Some sellers still think VA offers are harder to close. A complete file and a pre-approval the listing agent can call me about take care of most of that.
Are an eligible veteran, active-duty service member, or surviving spouse
Are purchasing a primary residence
Want a low or zero-down-payment option
Want credit guidelines that are often more flexible than conventional
Want to keep more of your cash after closing
VA Loans in Tennessee: Limits and Entitlement
With full entitlement, there is no VA loan limit. What you can borrow depends on what you qualify for and what the home appraises for. County limits only matter if part of your entitlement is still tied up in another VA loan.
When the County Limit Applies
If you have an active VA loan, or used your benefit before and it has not been restored, VA uses the county’s conforming loan limit to work out your remaining entitlement. For 2026 that limit is:
| Where the home is | 2026 county limit used by VA |
|---|---|
| Williamson, Davidson, Rutherford, Maury, Sumner and Wilson counties, plus Cannon, Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman, Macon, Robertson, Smith and Trousdale | $1,029,250 |
| The other 81 Tennessee counties, including Knox, Hamilton, Shelby and Montgomery | $832,750 |
Do You Have Full Entitlement?
You generally do if you have never used your VA home loan benefit, or if a previous VA loan was paid off and your entitlement was restored. Your Certificate of Eligibility shows it, and a lender can often request the certificate online during pre-approval, so you don’t need it before we talk.
The VA Funding Fee
Unless you’re exempt, the VA charges a one-time funding fee on each VA loan. It’s a percentage of the loan, set by your down payment and whether you’ve used the benefit before, and you can pay it at closing or add it to the loan. Here is the VA’s published chart for a purchase:
| Your down payment | First use | After first use |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5% | 2.15% | 3.3% |
| 5% to less than 10% | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| 10% or more | 1.25% | 1.25% |
For example, on a $400,000 home with no down payment, a first-time user pays 2.15%, or $8,600; added to the loan, the loan amount becomes $408,600. On a refinance, a cash-out loan is 2.15% the first time and 3.3% after, and a VA rate-reduction refinance (IRRRL) is 0.5%.
You don’t pay the fee 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 have a proposed or memorandum rating before closing that shows you’re eligible for compensation, or if you’re on active duty and show evidence of a Purple Heart by closing. I check this before you shop; the buyer below didn’t know they were exempt.
From a Recent File
The day after Memorial Day 2025, a buyer using their VA benefit came to me through their agent, and I pre-approved them the same day. They found their home in Jonesborough, Tennessee’s oldest town, in late June, and we closed on July 24. They hadn’t realized that because they receive VA disability compensation, they were exempt from the VA funding fee. The same year, two past clients came back to refinance with VA loans, one in Gallatin and one in Murfreesboro.
Tennessee Property Tax Relief for Disabled Veterans
If the VA has rated you permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected cause, Tennessee reimburses part or all of the property taxes on your home, figured on up to $175,000 of its market value (2026). Certain other service-connected disabilities qualify too, and so may a surviving spouse.
Apply with your county trustee within 35 days after taxes become delinquent (March 1 in Williamson County). If you think you qualify, tell me; it changes what the home really costs.
Entitlement rules from the VA’s loan limits page, funding fee rates from the VA’s funding fee page (in effect since April 7, 2023); county limits from the FHFA; Tennessee’s disabled veteran tax relief from the Tennessee Comptroller and its 2026 brochure, reviewed October 2026.
Common Questions About VA Loans
No. Eligible veterans and service members can purchase with zero down in many cases.
No. Most closing delays on VA loans come from the appraisal’s property requirements or a missing Certificate of Eligibility, and both can be checked before you write an offer.
Yes. Sellers care most about whether the loan will close on time. A complete file, a pre-approval the listing agent can confirm with me and an appraisal plan make a VA offer hold up.
The funding fee helps support the VA loan program. It varies based on usage and down payment and can often be rolled into the loan. Some borrowers are exempt, including veterans who receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability and surviving spouses who receive Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. Your Certificate of Eligibility shows whether you are.
Not if you have full entitlement. If part of your entitlement is in use on another VA loan, VA uses the county limit to work out your remaining entitlement: $1,029,250 in the Nashville area and $832,750 in most other Tennessee counties for 2026.
Yes. Entitlement can be restored after a VA loan is paid off and the home is sold, and some veterans can use remaining entitlement while an earlier VA loan is still open.
No. A lender can often request it online during pre-approval. If your service record needs updating, that can take longer, so it helps to start early.
Related reading: How Much House Can I Afford? · Mortgage Pre-Approval vs Pre-Qualification
How I Approach VA Loans
Four things I do on every VA file.
Entitlement and the Funding Fee First
Before you shop, I confirm how much entitlement you have and whether you owe the VA funding fee. Veterans who receive VA disability compensation are exempt, and many don’t know it until someone checks.
You know what you can buy, and what it will cost to close, before you fall for a house.
The Lender Whose VA Rules Fit
VA sets the program, but each lender adds its own rules on credit, debt-to-income and property condition. I shop your file across more than 30 lenders and place it where it fits.
Most pre-approvals go out the same day.
The Appraisal, Planned Ahead
A VA appraisal checks the home against VA’s minimum property requirements. I flag likely repair items before you write the offer, so they don’t surface a week before closing.
I have never missed a closing date.
One Person, Seven Days a Week
You work with me from the first call until your loan closes. No call center, no handoffs.
Calls and texts returned the same day, 7 days a week.
Not Sure if a VA Loan Is the Right Fit?
Send me your situation and I’ll tell you what your entitlement covers, whether you owe the funding fee, and whether a VA loan or another option costs you less. It takes one call, and there’s no credit pull to start.
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