What should I ask a lender before getting a VA loan?

Most VA borrowers choose a lender on the rate quote, and the rate quote is the least informative thing a lender tells you. What decides whether your file closes — and how much house you can buy — is the set of rules the lender adds on top of VA's, and how well they handle the parts of a military purchase that civilian lenders never see. These are the questions that surface both.

Overlays: what you add on top of VA

1. What is your minimum credit score for a VA loan? VA sets none. The answer is the lender's overlay.
2. What debt-to-income ratio do you cap at, and what compensating factors move it? VA's 41% is a guideline. Ask whether they use the residual-income 20% cushion as a compensating factor.
3. How do you calculate residual income, and what region and family size will you use for me? A lender who does VA loans answers this immediately. See the credit and residual income page.
4. What percentage do you gross up BAH, BAS and disability compensation? It varies by lender and it changes your qualifying income. See the BAH page.
5. What overlays apply above the conforming loan limit — score, reserves, down payment? VA has no limit; the lender may.
6. Do you require landlord experience or equity to count rental income on a departing residence? Some do; VA does not.

Entitlement and the loan

7. Can you pull my Certificate of Eligibility today, and will you walk me through what it shows? They should, and they should explain any prior loan still charged.
8. If I have a VA loan open elsewhere, run the second-tier calculation for the county I'm buying in. A competent lender does this on the first call. See the second-tier page.
9. What is my funding fee percentage, and does anything on my file exempt me? Check the COE. If a rating is pending, ask how they document a pre-discharge or proposed rating.
10. What fees am I paying, itemized, and which fees does VA prohibit me from paying? Ask for the fee sheet. The non-allowable list is in the Handbook and a VA lender knows it.

The military-specific parts

11. How do you qualify me on orders before I report, and which BAH rate will you use? The new station's, once orders are in hand. See orders as income.
12. My ETS is within twelve months — what do you need? A reenlistment, an extension or a civilian offer. A lender who does not know the twelve-month rule will find out at underwriting.
13. My spouse will close while I'm deployed — what does the power of attorney need to say? Specific to the transaction, with the alive-and-well verification on closing day.
14. Can I close remotely from overseas, and how? POA, military notary, or remote online notarization depending on the state.
15. What is the VA appraisal turn time in this market, and what is your Tidewater process? They should name a point of contact and a plan.

Process and people

16. How many VA loans did you personally close last year? Volume is the honest proxy for competence.
17. Who is my point of contact during underwriting, and what are their hours relative to my time zone?
18. What is your typical contract-to-close timeline on a VA purchase? Should match conventional.
19. If the appraisal comes in low, what happens next? Tidewater, reconsideration of value, renegotiation, escape clause — in that order.
20. Are you licensed in the state where I'm buying? Not every lender is licensed everywhere, and the answer determines whether they can make the loan at all.

What the answers tell you

For the rules behind each question, the VA loan guidelines page covers what VA sets versus what lenders set, and the VA loan process page walks the timeline step by step.