Pull a current COE
Request or refresh your Certificate of Eligibility so the entitlement charged reflects any payoff, sale, or restoration already completed.
VA remaining entitlement calculator
Using your VA loan once does not use it up.
Enter the county loan limit, the entitlement already charged on your Certificate of Eligibility, and the price of the next home. The calculator estimates your remaining entitlement, the largest loan available with no down payment, and any down payment needed.
Analytics records that the calculator was used. It does not receive the dollar values entered here.
Your planning result
25% of the county loan limit$208,188
Remaining entitlement$108,188
Maximum loan with no down payment$432,750
Estimated down payment needed$0
Remaining entitlement is 25% of the county loan limit minus entitlement already used and not restored. Most lenders limit a no-down-payment loan to four times that figure, and require entitlement, down payment, or both to cover at least 25% of the loan amount. This is an educational estimate, not a commitment to lend. Your Certificate of Eligibility, the appraisal, lender approval and VA review control the final numbers.
How the figure is calculated
Twenty-five percent of the county limit, minus what is still charged.
VA publishes the method directly. Take the one-unit county loan limit where the property sits, multiply it by 25 percent, then subtract the entitlement already used and not restored. What remains is your bonus entitlement. For a borrower without full entitlement who makes no down payment, lenders generally cap the loan at four times that amount.
For 2026 the baseline one-unit conforming loan limit is $832,750. That baseline applies to every county in Alabama, Georgia and Texas, to every Florida county except Monroe, and to every Maryland county except Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery and Prince George’s.
Source: VA home loan entitlement and limits ↗A worked example
What a $400,000 second purchase looks like.
A Veteran bought at Robins AFB, kept the home as a rental after a permanent change of station, and has $100,000 of entitlement still charged to that loan. The new home is in Houston County, Georgia, where the 2026 one-unit limit is $832,750.
Twenty-five percent of $832,750 is $208,188. Subtracting the $100,000 still charged leaves $108,188 of remaining entitlement. Four times that figure is $432,750, so a $400,000 purchase needs no down payment for guaranty purposes.
Change one input and the answer changes. If $180,000 were still charged, remaining entitlement would be $28,188, the no-down-payment ceiling would fall to $112,750, and a $400,000 purchase would call for roughly $71,813 down.
The entitlement figure on your Certificate of Eligibility is the number that decides this, not the balance of your first loan.
Read the full second VA loan and entitlement guide →Use the estimate in this order
From a rough number to an offer you can write.
Confirm the county limit
Check the FHFA one-unit limit for the county the new property sits in, not the county you live in today.
Review the whole file
Entitlement decides the guaranty. Income, debts, residual income, credit, occupancy, the appraisal and lender approval decide the loan.
Entitlement questions
Know what the result can—and cannot—tell you.
How do I calculate my remaining VA entitlement?
Multiply the one-unit county loan limit where you are buying by 25 percent, then subtract the entitlement already used and not restored, which appears in the Entitlement Charged column of your Certificate of Eligibility. The result is your remaining bonus entitlement.
Can I have two VA loans at the same time?
Yes, when enough entitlement remains and the new purchase meets occupancy, income, credit, residual income and property requirements. Keeping a prior home as a rental after a permanent change of station is a common reason.
What is the largest VA loan I can get with no down payment?
With full entitlement there is no VA county loan limit and no down payment is required for guaranty purposes. Without full entitlement, most lenders limit a no-down-payment loan to four times your remaining entitlement.
How much down payment do I need if my entitlement is short?
Most lenders require your entitlement, your down payment, or a combination of both to cover at least 25 percent of the loan amount. If remaining entitlement falls short of that, the gap is covered with a down payment.
Does selling my first home restore my entitlement?
Selling the property and paying off the VA loan generally supports restoration of the entitlement charged to it. A one-time restoration is also available after payoff while keeping the home. Restoration must be confirmed on an updated Certificate of Eligibility before it can be counted.
Which county loan limit applies to a duplex or fourplex?
The one-unit limit. VA uses the conforming loan limit for a single-family residence in the entitlement calculation even when the property has more than one unit.
Start with a plan
Want your actual entitlement read before you write an offer?
Send me your Certificate of Eligibility, the prior loan details, and the property you are targeting. I will confirm the entitlement math and what it means for your down payment.