VA Home Loans in Brevard County, FL: A Veteran's Buying Guide

Eligibility depends on your service period and duty status. In general, active-duty service members need at least 90 continuous days of service; veterans from the Gulf War era to today typically need 24 continuous months of service (or the full period they were called to active duty, or 90 days under certain qualifying discharges); National Guard and Reserve members generally need at least 90 days of non-training active duty, or 6 creditable years of service. Certain surviving spouses also qualify.

The only way to know for certain is a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) — most lenders can pull this for you in minutes, or you can request it yourself through VA.gov.

A VA loan can finance up to 100% of the purchase price — no down payment required for most qualifying buyers — and, unlike a conventional loan with less than 20% down, there's no monthly private mortgage insurance (PMI) at all. That alone can mean a meaningfully lower monthly payment compared to a conventional buyer putting down the same amount. VA loans also don't require a minimum credit score by VA rule, though individual lenders still set their own.

If you have full entitlement (meaning you haven't used your VA loan benefit before, or you have and it was fully restored), there's no VA-imposed loan limit — what you can borrow comes down to your income, credit, and a lender's own approval, same as any other loan.

Most VA loans carry a one-time funding fee, which can be rolled into the loan rather than paid in cash at closing. For a purchase loan, it's roughly 2.15% of the loan amount with no down payment on a first use (3.3% on a subsequent use), dropping to 1.5% with at least 5% down and 1.25% with at least 10% down, regardless of prior use.

Veterans with any service-connected disability rating are fully exempt from the funding fee, as are Purple Heart recipients and certain surviving spouses — worth confirming with your lender before you assume the fee applies to you.

A VA appraisal does two things: it confirms the home's market value, and it checks the VA's Minimum Property Requirements (MPRs) — that the home is safe, structurally sound, and sanitary. It is not a substitute for a full home inspection, which is still worth ordering separately as the buyer.

A few things come up more often in Florida specifically: a wood-destroying organism (termite) inspection is effectively standard, roof age and condition get close scrutiny (it affects both the appraisal and your insurance quote), any pool needs a code-compliant safety barrier, and rural properties may need separate well and septic testing. Coastal homes often benefit from a wind mitigation inspection — see our hurricane insurance guide for what that can save you on premiums.

If you're considering a condo — common along Brevard's barrier island — the specific building has to appear on the VA's approved condo list before a VA loan can be used there. Not every building qualifies, so it's worth checking a building's VA approval status before writing an offer, not after.

Beyond the loan itself, Brevard County offers several property tax exemptions specifically for veterans, on top of the standard homestead exemption covered in our property taxes & homestead exemption guide. An honorably discharged veteran with a 10% or greater service-connected disability rating qualifies for a $5,000 exemption, which stacks with the standard homestead exemption for up to $55,000 off your home's assessed value combined. Veterans with a service-connected total and permanent disability can qualify for a full exemption from all ad valorem property tax on their homestead. There's also an age-65+ combat-related disability discount, an exemption for active-duty members deployed outside the U.S. on a designated operation during the prior year, and 100% ad valorem tax relief for surviving spouses of veterans who died in the line of duty. Brevard County's Property Appraiser handles applications, with a March 1 deadline for most of these.

VA Home Loans FAQ