The VA does not lend you the money. A regular lender does, and the VA guarantees part of the loan. That guarantee is why the lender can let you in with nothing down and skip the monthly mortgage insurance every other low-down-payment loan carries.
On the median house in Comanche County, $199,900, the full payment at 7.40% with nothing down is about $1,920 a month. That includes property tax and insurance at real Lawton rates.
What it costs: the funding fee
Instead of mortgage insurance, a VA loan has a one-time funding fee. It is a percentage of the loan and you can roll it into the loan.
| Down payment | First use | After first use |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5% | 2.15% | 3.3% |
| 5% or more | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| 10% or more | 1.25% | 1.25% |
On a $200,000 house with nothing down, a first-time fee is $4,300. Financed, that adds roughly $30 a month.
You do not pay it at all if you receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability, if you are on active duty with a Purple Heart, or if you are a surviving spouse drawing DIC. If your rating comes through after you close and it is backdated to before closing, you can ask for the fee back. People miss that one.
How much you can borrow
With full entitlement there is no VA loan limit. The real limits are your income and the appraisal.
Lenders look at two things. The first is your debt-to-income ratio. The VA's guideline is 41%, and lenders can go past it with good reasons. The second is residual income, and it is the one that decides close files. It is what you have left each month after the house payment, taxes, and your other debts.
| Family size | Left over each month |
|---|---|
| 1 | $441 |
| 2 | $738 |
| 3 | $889 |
| 4 | $1,003 |
| 5 | $1,039 |
Add $80 for each person past five. Lenders also take out an estimate for utilities and upkeep based on the size of the house. BAH, BAS, and disability pay are tax free, which helps you here. The VA loan calculator runs your whole household through this test.
What the seller can pay
This part is worth understanding. There are two separate buckets.
- Your normal closing costs. The seller can pay these, and the VA does not set a cap on it.
- Concessions, up to 4% of the value. This covers extras like paying your funding fee, prepaying your taxes and insurance, paying off a debt so you qualify, or funding a temporary rate buydown.
Homes here have been selling at about 98% of asking, so there is usually not much room to cut the price. There is often room in seller-paid costs. The buydown calculator shows whether a price cut or a rate buydown is worth more to you.
The appraisal and the termite inspection
A VA-assigned appraiser sets the value and checks the house against the VA's minimum property requirements. In Comanche County the fee is $750 as of 2026. It is not a home inspection. Get one of those too.
The VA requires a termite inspection on purchases in Oklahoma. If the appraiser or the termite report turns something up, it generally has to be fixed before closing. On Lawton's older houses that is common, and it is usually solvable.
If the appraisal comes in under the price, you are not stuck. You can renegotiate or pay the difference, and the VA financing supplement to the contract has an escape clause for a house that does not appraise.
The Oklahoma parts
- At a 100% permanent rating, Oklahoma exempts your homestead from property tax. The whole value, no cap. You have to be an Oklahoma resident, own and live in the house on January 1, and file Form 998 with the county assessor. On a $200,000 house in Lawton that is roughly $185 to $200 a month.
- Oklahoma does not tax military retirement pay. It does not tax active-duty pay either.
- Assistance money exists. REI Oklahoma's Home100 program gives a 3% to 5% gift toward your costs on a VA loan if you are under its income limit. OHFA's 3.5% is a second lien that comes due when you sell, refinance, or move out. The rate that comes with assistance is not always the best rate you could get without it, so compare before you take either.
You have to live in it
A VA loan is for your home. The standard is moving in within about sixty days of closing, and a spouse moving in counts if you cannot be there yet. After you have lived in it, you can keep it as a rental when you PCS and buy again at the next station with the entitlement you have left.
VA loans can also be assumed by a qualified buyer when you sell. If your rate is lower than the going rate by then, that is worth something. If the buyer is not a veteran swapping in their own entitlement, yours stays tied to the loan until it is paid off, so think that through first.
Since 2024: paying your own agent
Under a temporary VA policy in place since August 2024, a VA buyer is allowed to pay a buyer's agent directly if it comes to that. It cannot be rolled into the loan. You can still ask the seller to cover it in the offer. We will talk through it before you sign anything.
Common questions
Is there a VA loan limit in Oklahoma?
Not if you have your full entitlement. Since 2020 there is no VA loan limit for a borrower with full entitlement. You can borrow what a lender approves and the house appraises for, with nothing down. A limit only comes into the math if you already have entitlement tied up in another VA loan.
How much is the VA funding fee?
On a purchase with less than 5% down it is 2.15% of the loan the first time you use the benefit and 3.3% after that. It can be financed into the loan. Veterans who receive VA disability compensation, and active-duty Purple Heart recipients, do not pay it.
Does Oklahoma require a termite inspection on a VA loan?
Yes. The VA requires a wood-destroying insect inspection on purchases everywhere in Oklahoma. Since 2022 the buyer is allowed to pay for it.
Keep reading
- VA loan calculatorHousehold income, residual income, and how much house it supports.
- What your BAH buysYour Fort Sill allowance, by pay grade.
- Closing costs in OklahomaWhat a buyer pays here, and what the seller usually covers.
- Keeping the house when you PCSUsing the benefit again at the next station.