Guest post By Netanel Baruch, founder of VeteranHomeMatch

Plenty of families keep their VA-loan house and rent it out after a PCS, and this blog has already covered the landlord side in “PCS MOVES: Renting Out Your Home.” This post covers the money question that comes next: with the first VA loan still open, how much can you borrow at the next duty station, and when do you need a down payment?

The answer comes down to one number on your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and the county you’re moving to. Below are the rules, then two worked examples with 2026 figures.

Yes, you can keep the first house and buy again

The VA Buyer’s Guide says that “generally, you can hold multiple home loans if you can afford all the loans.” Two conditions do the real work.

First, the new home has to be your home. Federal law requires you to certify that you intend to occupy it as your home and to move in “within a reasonable time.” The rule looks at the house you’re buying now, and VA’s underwriting regulation specifically covers the “proposed rental of a veteran’s existing property.” If you’re on active duty and can’t move in because of your duty status, the law treats the occupancy requirement as met if your spouse occupies the home and signs the certification.

Second, the old loan keeps part of your entitlement tied up. While that first loan is open, the guaranty it uses isn’t available for the next purchase.

How much entitlement your first loan is using

On your COE, the “Entitlement Charged” column in the “Prior Loans charged to entitlement” table shows how much your open loan is using. Ask your lender to pull a current COE early, because that figure drives everything else.

If you want to check the number yourself, the statute (38 U.S.C. 3703(a)(1)) sets the guaranty in tiers based on the loan amount:

• Loans of $45,000 or less: 50% of the loan
• More than $45,000 up to $56,250: $22,500
• More than $56,250 up to $144,000: the lesser of $36,000 or 40% of the loan
• More than $144,000: 25% of the loan

If your first loan was more than $144,000, the charge is 25% of the original loan amount. A $250,000 first loan ties up $62,500.

The remaining-entitlement formula

VA spells out the calculation on its entitlement and loan limits page:

1. Find the county’s one-unit conforming loan limit on FHFA’s county list (use the one-unit limit even if you’re buying a duplex).
2. Multiply that limit by 25%.
3. Subtract the entitlement your open loan is using.
4. Multiply the result by 4.

Step 3 is your remaining entitlement. Step 4, in VA’s words, “is the maximum amount most lenders would be willing to loan you without your needing to make a down payment.”

You can still buy above that number. VA’s Buyer’s Guide notes that most lenders want your remaining entitlement plus any cash down payment to equal at least 25% of the purchase price or appraised value, whichever is lower. In practice that works out to a down payment of 25% of the amount by which the price (or the appraisal, if lower) goes over your $0-down figure.

Important: the county limit only matters here because you still have a loan open. Veterans and service members with fullentitlement have had no VA loan limit since January 1, 2020, under the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 (Public Law 116-23). With full entitlement, the only limits are what a lender will approve and what the home appraises for. County limits are a partial-entitlement issue.

Worked example 1: moving to Camp Lejeune (Onslow County, NC)

Say your first VA loan was $250,000 and it’s still open. Your new orders are to Camp Lejeune. Onslow County’s 2026 one-unit limit is the national baseline, $832,750.

• 25% of the county limit: $832,750 × 0.25 = $208,187.50
• Minus entitlement charged on loan #1: $208,187.50 − $62,500 = $145,687.50 remaining
• Times 4: $145,687.50 × 4 = $582,750

Up to about $582,750 you may be able to buy with nothing down, if you qualify for the payment and the home appraises at the price.

Now say the house you want is $650,000:

• Amount over the $0-down figure: $650,000 − $582,750 = $67,250
• Down payment: $67,250 × 0.25 = $16,812.50
• Loan amount: $650,000 − $16,812.50 = $633,187.50

Check: $145,687.50 of entitlement plus $16,812.50 down equals $162,500, which is exactly 25% of $650,000.

To run this math for your own COE and county, you can use this step-by-step VA entitlement calculator, which walks through the same four steps line by line.

Worked example 2: moving to Camp Pendleton (San Diego County, CA)

Same first loan, but this time the orders are to San Diego County, where the 2026 one-unit limit is $1,104,000.

• 25% of the county limit: $1,104,000 × 0.25 = $276,000
• Minus entitlement charged: $276,000 − $62,500 = $213,500 remaining
• Times 4: $213,500 × 4 = $854,000

On a $900,000 home:

• Over the $0-down figure: $900,000 − $854,000 = $46,000
• Down payment: $46,000 × 0.25 = $11,500
• Loan amount: $888,500

Notice that the first loan takes the same $250,000 off your $0-down figure in both places (4 × $62,500). What changes is the starting point: a higher county limit leaves more room. That’s why you should run the numbers for the specific county on your orders instead of relying on a rule of thumb.

About the year: both examples use FHFA’s 2026 limits, announced November 25, 2025. FHFA has announced each new year’s limits in late November for the past three years, so if you’ll close in 2027, check the 2027 figure for your county once it’s published.

The funding fee is higher the second time

Using your VA benefit a second time costs more unless you put money down. VA’s current purchase-loan rates for subsequent use are:

• Less than 5% down: 3.3%
• 5% or more down: 1.5%
• 10% or more down: 1.25%

(First use with less than 5% down is 2.15%.) The fee is charged on the loan amount and can be rolled into the loan.

In the San Diego example, $11,500 down is under 5%, so the fee is 3.3% of $888,500, or $29,320.50. In the Camp Lejeune example it’s 3.3% of $633,187.50, or $20,895.19. Putting 5% down ($45,000) on the $900,000 home would cut the loan to $855,000 and the fee to 1.5%, or $12,825. Whether that’s worth the extra cash is your call.

You owe no funding fee at all if you receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability, or are eligible for it but receive active-duty or retirement pay instead. Service members with a proposed or memorandum rating before closing, and active-duty members who show proof of a Purple Heart on or before closing, are also exempt. If you get a disability rating after closing with an effective date before the closing date, you may be able to get a refund.

Getting your entitlement back later

Your entitlement doesn’t stay tied up forever. Under 38 U.S.C. 3702(b) and VA’s Buyer’s Guide, you can have it restored when:

• You sell the home and the loan is paid off.
• Another eligible veteran assumes your loan and substitutes their own entitlement. If a non-veteran assumes it, your entitlement stays with that loan, and a default by the person who assumed it can still count against you.
• You pay the loan off in full but keep the house. VA allows this only once.

Will the lender count the rent?

You have to qualify with both mortgage payments on the books. VA’s underwriting rule lets proposed rent on your existing home “offset the mortgage payment on that property, provided there is no indication that the property will be difficult to rent.” A signed lease helps, and the regulation says that in a very strong rental market, not having a lease shouldn’t automatically block it. The same regulation sets a stricter bar for counting rental income from other property to qualify: self-employment-style documentation plus reserves equal to three months of that property’s payment. It also says that for someone with no landlord experience, it’s unlikely the rental income can be used. Lenders can add their own requirements on top of VA’s, so ask yours early how they’ll treat the rent.

Before tenants move in, ask your insurer whether your current policy still fits a rental, and set aside money for a property manager, vacancies, and repairs before you count on the rent.

What to do before you PCS

• Ask a lender to pull your COE and confirm the “Entitlement Charged” amount.
• Look up the one-unit limit for the county you’re moving to on FHFA’s list, and recheck it if you’ll close in the next calendar year.
• Run the four-step formula and know your $0-down figure before you start house hunting.
• Line up a lease or a property manager so the lender has something to work with on rent.
• Price out the funding fee at less than 5%, 5%, and 10% down, or confirm your exemption.
• Call your insurer about switching the old house to a rental policy.

FAQ

Does the county loan limit apply to me if I sold my first house?

If you sold it and the loan was paid off, you can have your full entitlement restored. With full entitlement there’s no VA loan limit, only what your lender approves and the appraisal supports.

Can my spouse sign the occupancy certification while I’m deployed?

Yes. If you’re on active duty and can’t occupy the home because of your duty status, the law counts your spouse occupying it and making the certification.

Can I get my full entitlement back without selling the rental?

Yes, once, if you pay that loan off in full. Another route is for an eligible veteran to assume the loan and substitute their entitlement.

Guest author Netanel Baruch is the founder of VeteranHomeMatch (https://veteranhomematch.com), a free VA home-loan education site.