Ch. 19 · Relocation
Military & veterans: buying a new build with a VA loan
The VA funding fee, the 60-day occupancy rule, and how PCS timing lines up with a builder's completion date. Theresa's specialty, walked through step by step.
A VA loan is the most powerful financing tool most military families will ever use, and on new construction it runs on three rules that change the timeline: the funding fee, the occupancy requirement, and the VA appraisal. This chapter covers the current rules, how they fit a builder's construction calendar, and how PCS timing reshapes the buying plan.
It ends with a note from Theresa De La Rosa, Broker at Covenant Heritage Realty, whose practice has long included military and veteran families. The rules cited here are current per VA.gov as of the review date on this page; confirm the numbers with your lender, because funding fee rates change with federal law.
Part of the Where you're coming from hub. California, Florida, New York, Colorado, Illinois, corporate relocation, and military & veterans each have their own chapter.
The VA funding fee, current rates
The funding fee is a one-time charge on most VA loans that offsets the program's cost to taxpayers. Per VA.gov, the current rate for first use is 2.15 percent of the loan amount with a down payment under 5 percent, 1.5 percent with 5 to 10 percent down, and 1.25 percent with 10 percent or more down. Subsequent use runs higher, 3.3 percent at the lowest down payment tier. Veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability are exempt from the fee, as are surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. The fee can be financed into the loan, which matters when the builder's incentive stack (chapter 3) is on the table, because the financing math runs on the total loan amount.
The occupancy rule: 60 days is the working goal
A VA loan is for a primary residence only, and the borrower must certify intent to personally occupy the home. The working rule is occupancy within 60 days of closing, with extensions available for documented reasons and specific exceptions for active-duty orders and deployment, in which case a spouse or dependent can sometimes satisfy the requirement. The new-build wrinkle: the occupancy clock starts at closing, so the builder's completion date and your PCS date have to land inside the window, or you need a documented extension on file before you close, not after.
PCS timing vs. the builder's completion date
PCS dates move, and builder schedules move too; the contract (chapter 5) decides which risk you carry. Read what happens to the completion date when the builder slips, what happens to your deposit when orders slip, and whether the financing contingency protects you if the PCS and the closing collide. The cleanest alignment is a finish-stage or quick-move-in home timed so closing lands in the gap between your report date and your household-goods delivery. If you are buying while still stationed elsewhere, chapter 2's remote protocol, documented walkthroughs, inspections, and a local agent, is your playbook, and chapter 9 covers closing by remote notarization when the PCS wins the scheduling fight.
How new construction differs from what military buyers know
The VA appraisal is an additional step on new construction, and the builder's paperwork is not written in VA language: sales contracts, incentive addenda, and deposit schedules are drafted by the builder's attorneys, so the VA timeline (appraisal, underwriting, funding-fee exemption paperwork) has to be confirmed compatible with the builder's deadlines before you sign. A VA-savvy lender matters more on new construction than on resale, so ask any lender directly about their new-construction VA volume and their experience with finish-stage inventory. And keep the exemption paperwork staged early: for a disabled veteran, the funding-fee exemption is a signed form plus documentation, so confirm the file is clean well before the closing date.
A note for military families from Theresa
As the wife of a U.S. Marine veteran and a mother, I have helped military and veteran families navigate relocations across Texas and Florida, including VA financing, PCS-timed closings, and the selling side for families moving on orders. Those families are why the process chapters in this guide exist the way they do: so a family moving on a short timeline gets the same clarity as a buyer with six months of runway. When you are ready, book a consultation and bring your orders; the calendar, not the market, is what we will plan around.
Sources
Material factual claims in this chapter link to the sources below. Market figures are reported conditions, not guarantees; verify current offers in writing.
Written by
Theresa De La Rosa
Broker, Covenant Heritage Realty, LLC · TX #807294 · 18+ years in Texas and Florida real estate.
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This guide is the process, not the listings. When you are ready to apply it to your specific move, book a consultation with Theresa De La Rosa, Broker at Covenant Heritage Realty. For the which-DFW-area-fits question, the community and city guides live at indfwliving.com.