VA Loans California

Start Your VA Pre-Approval

Find out what you actually qualify for in a high-cost California county, with the real payment and no guesswork.

Who You’re Actually Working With

J.D. Peck — NMLS #314883. 25+ years originating. 3,100+ closed loans. Scotsman Guide Top Originator, 2026. Based in Colorado Springs, in one of the densest military markets in the country. VA files are not a sideline here. They are the practice.

In the Press

“When the underwriting is done correctly, VA loans are one of the most powerful lending solutions for military borrowers.”

— J.D. Peck, quoted in Chrisman Commentary, August 12, 2026, on PRMG’s recognition as a Top VA Lender in Scotsman Guide’s 2026 rankings.

No State-Specific VA Overlay

California adds no state-level restriction to VA purchase financing. Federal rules apply as written. What changes here is price, tax, and insurability, not the VA rulebook.

Disabled Veterans’ Exemption: Basic $180,671 for 2026

California exempts $180,671 of assessed value on the principal residence of a veteran rated 100 percent disabled by VA, or compensated at 100 percent due to inability to work. The figure is for the January 1, 2026 lien date and is adjusted for inflation every year by the State Board of Equalization.

Low-Income Exemption: $271,009 for 2026

If total household income is $81,131 or less for 2026, the exemption rises to $271,009 of assessed value. Both the exemption and the income limit are recalculated annually, so confirm the current year figures with your county assessor before you count on them.

Who Qualifies

A 100 percent rating, or 100 percent compensation for individual unemployability. Also qualifying: blindness at 5/200 or less or a visual field of 5 degrees or less, or loss of use of two or more limbs. Partial ratings below 100 percent do not qualify in California. This is stricter than many states.

Unmarried Surviving Spouse

An unmarried surviving spouse can claim the exemption if the veteran qualified during life, would have qualified on January 1, 1977, or died from a service-connected injury or disease. A surviving spouse can qualify even where the veteran never claimed it.

Proposition 13 Caps Your Assessment, Not Your Purchase Price

Your property is assessed at purchase price, then the assessed value can rise no more than 2 percent a year. The base tax rate is 1 percent plus voter-approved local additions. This makes a California payment far more stable over time than the sticker shock suggests, and it is worth modeling out when you compare buying here to renting.

Proposition 19 Base Year Value Transfer

Homeowners who are 55 or older, severely disabled, or victims of a wildfire or declared disaster can carry their existing Prop 13 assessed value to a replacement home anywhere in California, up to three times. For an older veteran moving closer to a VA medical center or downsizing after retirement, this can cut the tax line dramatically.

Apply Through the County Assessor

Every one of these is filed with your county assessor, not with VA and not with your lender. We will tell you it exists and hand you the form. Filing is on you, and the deadline matters.

No Minimum Credit Score Overlay

VA publishes no score floor. Most lenders impose one anyway, and in California they often impose a higher one because the loan amounts are larger. We do not add one. A refer from automated underwriting starts a manual underwrite. It does not end the file.

We Handle Loan Amounts Above the Conforming Limit

With full entitlement there is no VA loan limit. Not in Santa Clara County, not in Marin, not anywhere. Most lenders quietly treat anything above the conforming number as a jumbo and add overlays to it. We do not.

Residual Income, Calculated With California Tax

VA weighs what is left after every obligation is paid. California state income tax comes off that number, and California is scored against the West region residual income table, which carries the highest requirements in the country. A lender who runs this sloppily either denies you or approves you into a payment you cannot carry.

Insurance and Wildfire Risk Priced Up Front

If carriers have pulled out of the area, the FAIR Plan plus a difference-in-conditions policy is the path, and it costs real money every month. We get that number into the file before you write an offer.

$0 Down, No Monthly Mortgage Insurance

With full entitlement there is no down payment requirement and no monthly MI, ever. On a California-sized loan amount, skipping mortgage insurance is worth hundreds of dollars a month compared to conventional or FHA.

Manual Underwriting Is Standard Practice Here

Bankruptcy, foreclosure, collections, a rough stretch after separation. We run manual underwrites regularly, and we do it using the compensating factors VA actually recognizes rather than guessing.

Purchase, First-Time Use

2.15% with less than 5% down. 1.5% with 5% or more down. 1.25% with 10% or more down.

Purchase, Subsequent Use

3.3% with less than 5% down. 1.5% with 5% or more down. 1.25% with 10% or more down.

VA IRRRL Streamline Refinance

0.5% flat, regardless of prior use.

Exempt Entirely

Veterans receiving VA disability compensation at any rating, veterans entitled to compensation who take retirement pay instead, surviving spouses receiving DIC, and Purple Heart recipients on active duty. It shows on your COE and we verify before you pay anything.

Bucket 1: Your Closing Costs — No VA Cap

The seller can pay all of your normal allowable closing costs. Origination, appraisal, title, recording, credit report, prepaid taxes and insurance at customary levels. No VA percentage ceiling. Market-rate discount points for a permanent buydown also sit here, uncapped.

Bucket 2: Concessions — Capped at 4% of Reasonable Value

Anything of value beyond normal closing costs is a concession, capped at 4% of the VA reasonable value — and stacked on top of Bucket 1, not instead of it.

Paying Off Your Debt

The seller can retire your credit cards, collections, judgments, or an auto loan, and it counts against the 4%. Eliminating a $450 monthly payment can move a debt-to-income ratio from declined to approved without touching your savings. The single most powerful tool in VA structuring, and almost nobody uses it.

Breaking a Lease So You Can Buy Now

This is the one that changes timelines. You are renting and the right home appears six months before your lease ends. Early termination is commonly two months’ rent, and paying that on top of moving costs is what makes most renters wait another year. They do not have to wait. The seller can cover the lease-break penalty inside the 4%. We have structured this hundreds of times.

Prepaying Your Mortgage Payments

A seller can prepay your actual mortgage payments — the full PITI, not just escrows. Inside the 4% that can be several months covered before your first payment out of pocket. In California, where the insurance portion of that payment is heavy, the runway matters more than it does elsewhere.

The VA Funding Fee and Temporary Buydowns

At 2.15% on a first-use purchase the funding fee eats a real share of the 4%. A 2-1 buydown escrow also counts. Both are commonly seller-funded.

Debt or a lease standing between you and a house?

Send us the debts, the lease terms, and the purchase price. We will show you exactly what a seller can legally cover, what it does to your ratios, and how to write it so it survives underwriting.

San Diego County

Naval Base San Diego, Coronado, Miramar, and MCRD. Chula Vista, Santee, El Cajon, Escondido, and Imperial Beach.

Camp Pendleton and North County

Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Fallbrook, and over the county line into Temecula and Murrieta.

Inland Empire and High Desert

March ARB, Fort Irwin, Barstow, and Twentynine Palms. Riverside, Moreno Valley, Hesperia, Lancaster, and Palmdale. This is where California buying power actually stretches.

Sacramento Valley

Travis and Beale. Fairfield, Vacaville, Suisun City, Marysville, and Yuba City.

Central Coast

Vandenberg, Naval Base Ventura County, and Monterey. Lompoc, Santa Maria, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Camarillo, and Seaside.

Central Valley

Lemoore. Hanford, Visalia, Fresno, and Bakersfield. More house per dollar than anywhere else in the state.

Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Bay Area

High-cost counties where full entitlement and zero down matter most. Renton, Vallejo, Fairfield, Antioch, and Tracy are where the math still works up north.

1. Pull your Certificate of Eligibility

We pull it electronically and most come back in seconds. If yours needs manual review because of a discharge upgrade, a Guard or Reserve record, or a prior VA loan that was never restored, we file the paperwork and chase it.

2. Calculate entitlement, not a loan limit

With full entitlement there is no VA loan limit anywhere in California. If you have a VA loan open elsewhere, we compute your remaining entitlement using the 2026 conforming figures and give you the exact zero-down ceiling for the county you are buying in.

3. Confirm the property is insurable

In wildfire-exposed areas this is the step that decides whether the deal happens. We check availability and get a real quote before you write an offer, not after you are in escrow.

4. Run residual income against the West region table

California is scored on the West region residual income table, which sets the highest requirements in the country, and state income tax comes off your qualifying take-home. This is where sloppy lenders either deny you or over-approve you.

5. Underwrite it, manually if the file needs it

If automated underwriting refers, that is not a denial. VA allows a manual underwrite. We do them. Most California retail lenders will not, which is why you were told no somewhere else.

6. Close and handle the funding fee

Financed into the loan by default, and waived entirely with a service-connected disability rating. If your rating came through after you closed a prior VA loan, you may be owed a refund on a fee you already paid.

Credit score

No minimum. VA does not publish one. We have closed VA loans in the 500s. If a California lender quoted you 620 or 680 because the loan amount was large, that was their rule.

Down payment

Zero with full entitlement, at any price point California produces. Not a low down payment. Zero.

Mortgage insurance

None, ever. On a $900,000 California loan, that alone is worth several hundred dollars a month against a conventional structure.

Debt-to-income ratio

No hard cap. VA uses residual income instead. We have closed well past 50 percent DTI when the residual math supported it.

Bankruptcy, foreclosure, short sale

Chapter 7 at two years. Chapter 13 can work mid-plan with trustee approval and twelve months of on-time payments. Foreclosure and short sale at two years, and shorter with documented extenuating circumstances.

Property types

Single family, VA-approved condo, townhome, PUD, manufactured on a permanent foundation, and two to four units if you occupy one. In high-cost California counties, a duplex where you live in one side is one of the strongest plays available.

What most lenders do instead

They treat anything above the conforming number as a VA jumbo and bolt on their own rules: a 680 or 700 score minimum, reserve requirements, a down payment. None of that comes from VA. It comes from whoever they sell the loan to.

What the county limit actually controls

If you already have a VA loan open somewhere, the county limit is used to compute how much entitlement is left, which sets your zero-down ceiling. That is the only thing it does.

Zero down on a high-priced California home is real

We have closed zero-down VA purchases well above the conforming baseline in California. The question is never the price. It is residual income and whether the property is insurable.

Buying a duplex, triplex, or fourplex

VA allows two to four units if you occupy one. The rental income from the other units can help you qualify. In San Diego, the Inland Empire, and Sacramento this is how a lot of veterans actually get in.

Carriers have withdrawn from entire areas

Several major carriers have stopped writing or renewing policies in high wildfire risk areas of California. If the property sits in one, the standard market may simply decline it. That is not a credit problem and it is not a VA problem, but it will end the loan if it is not solved.

The FAIR Plan is the backstop, not a red flag

The California FAIR Plan is the state-mandated insurer of last resort. A FAIR Plan policy is an acceptable path to closing on a VA loan. It typically covers fire and limited perils only, so most buyers pair it with a difference-in-conditions policy to fill the gaps.

It costs more, so it has to be in the payment

A FAIR Plan plus DIC package costs meaningfully more than a standard homeowners policy. That difference goes straight into your debt-to-income calculation. A preapproval built on a generic premium is a preapproval that changes at underwriting.

We check insurability before you write the offer

We get an actual quote for the actual address. If a property cannot be insured at a price your file can carry, you learn that in week one instead of losing your deposit in week four.

Earthquake coverage is separate

Standard homeowners policies exclude earthquake damage in California. It is optional coverage and VA does not require it, but if you buy it, it changes the payment. We will show you both versions.

PCS to San Diego, Pendleton, Lemoore, or Travis

You have orders and a report date and you may not have arrived yet. VA allows closing before you physically occupy, with a reasonable window to move in. We build the timeline around your report date.

You are buying above the conforming limit with zero down

Full entitlement, high-cost county, no down payment. Other lenders call it a VA jumbo and add overlays. We call it a VA loan.

You already used entitlement in another state

Keep the other house. We calculate remaining entitlement and tell you the exact zero-down ceiling in the California county you are buying in. Many buyers keep the first property as a rental.

You are self-employed in California

Contractors, consultants, real estate agents, and creators get denied constantly over write-offs. We have bank statement and profit-and-loss paths that do not lean on your tax return. See California self-employed mortgage options.

You retired in California and your income changed

Retirement pay, VA disability compensation, and part-time work qualify differently than salary. VA disability compensation is not taxable, so it gets grossed up. Lenders miss this constantly and shortchange your qualifying income.

You want an investment property in California

VA occupancy rules require you to live in the home. For a pure rental, we use DSCR loans that qualify on the property’s rent instead of your personal income.

541 credit score, zero down

A retail lender declined it at a 620 overlay. VA publishes no score minimum. The file went manual, residual income cleared with room, and it closed. Full write-up on VA loans with a 541 credit score.

Zero down above the conforming limit

Full entitlement, high-cost county, no down payment, and no VA jumbo overlay. Half the market told the buyer they needed 10 percent down. VA does not say that.

Chapter 13 still in repayment

Twelve months of on-time trustee payments plus written trustee approval. VA allows it. Most lenders will not touch it.

Buyer needed out of a lease to buy now

Seller paid the early lease termination penalty on the rental as a concession. That is an allowable VA seller concession, and it is how a buyer stops paying California rent and closes this month instead of next year. Details on the VA seller concessions page.

Debt paid off by the seller at closing

A seller can retire a buyer’s credit cards or auto loan as a concession. That drops DTI and can turn a denial into an approval on the same contract, at the same price. Almost nobody in California structures deals this way.

Self-employed with two years of aggressive write-offs

Tax returns showed almost nothing. Twelve months of business bank statements told the truth. Closed on a bank statement program, then refinanced into VA once the documentation lined up.

Told No by Another California Lender?

Send me the denial. I will tell you within a day whether it was an actual VA rule or that lender’s own overlay. No cost, no obligation, no credit pull to find out.

Down payment

VA: zero with full entitlement, at any price. Conventional: 3 to 5 percent minimum and more on high-balance. FHA: 3.5 percent, and FHA county limits are far below what most California homes cost.

Mortgage insurance

VA: none, ever. Conventional: PMI until you reach 20 percent equity, and on a California loan size that is a large monthly number. FHA: upfront premium plus a monthly premium that usually runs the life of the loan.

Loan amount ceiling

VA: none with full entitlement. Conventional: high-balance caps at $1,249,125 in high-cost counties, then it becomes a true jumbo with its own rules. FHA: capped at the county limit, which prices FHA out of most of coastal California.

Credit score floor

VA: no published minimum. Conventional: generally 620, and pricing punishes anything under 700 on a large loan. FHA: 580 for 3.5 percent down.

One-time fee

VA: the funding fee, financed into the loan, waived entirely with a service-connected disability rating. Conventional: none, but you pay PMI monthly instead. FHA: 1.75 percent upfront plus the monthly.

Seller-paid costs

VA allows unlimited seller-paid closing costs plus up to 4 percent in concessions, and the concession bucket can pay off your debt. Conventional caps at 3 to 9 percent based on down payment and has no debt-payoff allowance like VA’s.

Refinancing later

VA: the IRRRL streamline needs no appraisal and no income documentation in most cases, which matters in a state where appraisals are expensive. Conventional and FHA require a full refinance. See VA IRRRL.

Myth: There is a VA loan limit in California

There is not, if you have full entitlement. The county figure only matters when you already have a VA loan open and we are computing what is left.

Myth: You need 10 percent down above the conforming limit

That is a lender overlay, not a VA rule. With full entitlement, zero down works above the conforming baseline.

Myth: California sellers will not accept VA offers

This is a listing-agent habit, not a rule. A clean VA offer backed by a real preapproval competes fine. Weak preapprovals from lenders who never priced the insurance are what damaged VA’s reputation in this state.

Myth: You need a 620 or 680 score

No. VA publishes no minimum credit score. Larger loan amounts do not change that. They just make lenders more nervous about their own rules.

Myth: A partial disability rating gets you the California property tax exemption

It does not. California requires a 100 percent rating or 100 percent compensation for unemployability, which is stricter than most states. Texas and Florida, for example, give tiered benefits at lower ratings.

Myth: The VA appraisal will kill the deal

A VA appraisal enforces minimum property requirements, most of which are safety items. In California the thing that actually kills deals is insurability, not the appraisal.

Myth: You can only use your VA loan once

Entitlement is reusable and restorable. Plenty of the California buyers we work with are on their second or third VA loan.

Is there a minimum credit score for a VA loan in California?

No. VA publishes no minimum credit score. Lenders add their own, usually 620 and often higher in California because the loan amounts are larger. The JD.Mortgage Team does not add one. If automated underwriting refers your file, we run a manual underwrite using the compensating factors VA recognizes: residual income, housing payment history, reserves, and documented explanations for past credit events.

Is there a VA loan limit in California?

No, if you have full entitlement. VA loan limits were eliminated for veterans with full entitlement, including in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, and Marin counties. County limits only matter for calculating remaining entitlement when you already have a VA loan open.

Can I buy above the conforming loan limit in California with zero down?

Yes, with full entitlement. The 2026 conforming baseline is $832,750 and high-cost California counties run to $1,249,125 for a one-unit property, but neither number caps a veteran with full entitlement. Lenders who require 10 percent down above the conforming limit are applying their own overlay, not a VA rule.

Do disabled veterans pay property tax in California?

California gives a Disabled Veterans Exemption of $180,671 in assessed value for the January 1, 2026 lien date, rising to $271,009 if total household income is $81,131 or less. It is an exemption of assessed value, not a full exemption from tax, and both figures are adjusted for inflation each year.

Who qualifies for the California Disabled Veterans Exemption?

A veteran rated 100 percent disabled by VA, or compensated at 100 percent due to inability to work. Blindness at 5/200 or less or a visual field of 5 degrees or less also qualifies, as does loss of use of two or more limbs. California does not offer a tiered benefit for partial ratings the way Texas and Florida do.

Can a surviving spouse claim the California veterans exemption?

Yes. An unmarried surviving spouse can claim it if the veteran qualified during life, would have qualified on January 1, 1977, or died from a service-connected injury or disease. A surviving spouse can qualify even where the veteran never claimed the exemption.

How does Proposition 13 affect my California mortgage payment?

Your property is assessed at the purchase price and the assessed value can then rise no more than 2 percent per year, with a base rate of 1 percent plus voter-approved local additions. That makes your long-run California payment far more predictable than the purchase price suggests, and it is a real argument for buying sooner rather than later.

What is Proposition 19 and does it help veterans?

Proposition 19 lets homeowners who are 55 or older, severely disabled, or victims of a wildfire or declared disaster transfer their existing Proposition 13 assessed value to a replacement home anywhere in California, up to three times. For an older veteran downsizing or moving closer to a VA medical center, it can cut the tax portion of the payment substantially.

Can I get a VA loan on a house in a California wildfire zone?

Yes, if it can be insured. Several major carriers have stopped writing policies in high wildfire risk areas. If the standard market declines the property, the California FAIR Plan is the state-backed insurer of last resort and is an acceptable path to closing. Most buyers pair a FAIR Plan policy with a difference-in-conditions policy to cover what FAIR Plan excludes.

Does the FAIR Plan cause a problem on a VA loan?

No. A FAIR Plan policy is acceptable. The issue is cost, not eligibility. FAIR Plan plus difference-in-conditions runs meaningfully higher than a standard policy, and that difference goes straight into your debt-to-income calculation, so it has to be in the preapproval from the start.

Do I need earthquake insurance for a VA loan in California?

No. VA does not require earthquake coverage and standard homeowners policies exclude it. It is optional. If you choose to carry it, it raises your monthly cost, so we will show you the payment both ways before you write an offer.

Does California state income tax hurt my VA qualification?

It affects the number VA weighs hardest. VA underwriting measures residual income, which is what is left after taxes and every obligation. California has one of the highest state income tax rates in the country and is scored against the West region residual income table, which carries the highest requirements nationally. A lender who runs this carelessly either denies you or approves you into a payment you cannot carry.

Do I pay the VA funding fee in California?

The funding fee is federal and identical in every state. It is waived entirely if you receive VA disability compensation or hold a service-connected disability rating. Otherwise it is financed into the loan rather than paid in cash. If your rating was granted after you closed, you may be owed a refund of a fee you already paid.

Can I buy a duplex or fourplex in California with a VA loan?

Yes. VA allows two to four units as long as you occupy one of them, with zero down on full entitlement. Rental income from the other units can help you qualify. In San Diego, the Inland Empire, and Sacramento this is one of the strongest plays available to a California veteran.

Can a seller pay off my debt at closing on a California VA loan?

Yes. VA allows a seller to pay off your credit cards, auto loan, or other debt as part of the 4 percent concession allowance, stacked on top of unlimited seller-paid closing costs. Retiring a high monthly payment lowers your debt-to-income ratio and can turn a denial into an approval on the same contract.

Can a seller pay to break my lease so I can buy now?

Yes. Paying an early lease termination penalty on a rental or on-post housing is an allowable VA seller concession. In a state with California rent levels, that is often the difference between buying now and waiting another year. We have structured this many times.

Can I get a VA loan in California after bankruptcy or foreclosure?

Yes. Chapter 7 is generally two years from discharge. Chapter 13 can work while you are still in the repayment plan with twelve months of on-time payments and trustee approval. Foreclosure and short sale are generally two years, and shorter is possible with documented extenuating circumstances.

Get a Real California VA Preapproval

Built on the actual insurance quote and the actual county numbers, so your offer holds up when the listing agent checks it. No credit pull to start the conversation.