Texas Home Buying for Veterans and Military: The Reference Guide

If you are a veteran, or on active duty and getting close to separation, and you are trying to decide where to plant roots, this article is for you. It lays out what Texas actually offers a service member who wants to buy a home or land here: which programs exist, what each one costs and requires, and which ones work together. The goal is a decision you can make with your eyes open.

Here is the short version up front. Texas offers veterans several home-buying programs that work together. The combination depends on the buyer. A VA-backed mortgage can provide no down payment and no PMI; eligible Texas veterans and military members may instead obtain their home financing through the Texas Veterans Land Board's Veterans Housing Assistance Program using a participating lender, including VA-backed financing; qualifying borrowers may also use TSAHC assistance for eligible closing costs; and Texas property-tax exemptions can substantially reduce—and for qualifying 100% disabled veterans eliminate—property tax on the residence homestead [1][7][12].

Here is what the article covers, in order. Section 1 walks through the VA loan: eligibility, the funding fee, and the certificate of eligibility. Section 2 covers the Texas Veterans Land Board and the TSAHC down payment help that build on the VA loan. Section 3 covers the property tax exemptions that matter most to veterans and the deadlines that go with them. Section 4 covers the no-state-income-tax picture and the tradeoff that comes with it. Sections 5 and 6 cover verified charities and the bases near the Hill Country, Section 7 clears up the myths, and the article ends with a checklist of what to do next.

If you are making this decision in the middle of a transition, you are not alone in finding it hard. Separation, a pending PCS, and the question of where to build a life all arrive at once, and a sales pitch is the last thing you need. What follows is the landscape itself, in plain English, with the numbers attached.

Picture a late spring Saturday on a bare limestone lot west of San Antonio. A senior NCO walks the property line with his wife, counting live oaks, a half-typed PCS email still sitting on his phone. After twenty years of moving every two or three years, the question they keep circling is a good one: where do we actually put down roots. The households in this article are composites drawn from patterns that repeat across real moves, never a single family, and they exist only to put a face on the numbers.

None of it works automatically. Every program here has an application, a deadline, and a tradeoff, and the biggest honest tradeoff is Texas property tax, which is not low even when the income tax is zero. This reference separates confirmed law and program fact from local rules of thumb, tells you what each program actually means for your budget, flags the things people get wrong, and ends with the specific questions to ask a lender and your county appraisal district [2][11][16].

Sources checked: program facts in this article were verified on September 21, 2026 against the numbered sources at the end. They are primary sources (VA, Texas General Land Office, TSAHC, Texas Comptroller, and state tax agencies) except where a source is marked secondary. Where a number is a rate, a limit, or a deadline, expect it to move.

The Department of Veterans Affairs guarantees a portion of a loan made by a private lender. That guaranty can give eligible borrowers financing terms that are difficult to duplicate with a low-down-payment conventional loan. For many qualified borrowers with full entitlement, the principal advantages include no required down payment when the purchase price does not exceed the VA-established reasonable value, no monthly private mortgage insurance (PMI), limits on certain charges, and no prepayment penalty. Those advantages do not mean a VA loan will always have a lower interest rate, monthly payment, APR, or total borrowing cost than every conventional alternative, so compare same-day Loan Estimates.

Rob carries a 30% VA disability rating, and that single document rewrites the closing math. Veterans receiving VA disability compensation at any rating are exempt from the funding fee entirely, so his fee is zero, not the 2.15% a first-time borrower pays at zero down [2]. No monthly PMI eliminates a charge that commonly applies to low-down-payment conventional financing. Whether Rob's total monthly payment is lower than a conventional alternative still depends on the rate, points, down payment, taxes, insurance, and other loan terms. A borrower with full VA entitlement can often finance the purchase without a required down payment when the VA reasonable value supports the contract price, but partial entitlement, an appraisal shortfall, or lender underwriting can still create a cash requirement.

Who qualifies depends on when and how you served. For veterans whose active-duty service began after August 2, 1990, one common pathway is 24 continuous months or the full period for which the member was called or ordered to active duty, provided that period was at least 90 days; shorter service can qualify under specified exceptions, including discharge for a service-connected disability. Current active-duty members generally meet the minimum after 90 continuous days. National Guard and Reserve members can qualify through qualifying active-duty service or, in many cases, through six creditable years combined with continued service, retirement, or a qualifying discharge. Character of discharge can affect eligibility. VA—not the lender or this article—makes the final Certificate of Eligibility determination, and former service members with discharges that create an eligibility issue should use VA's current discharge-review guidance rather than assuming they either do or do not qualify.

Certain surviving spouses may also qualify under VA's statutory rules, including some spouses of service members or veterans who died in service or from a service-connected cause.

There is no program income ceiling that disqualifies a borrower for earning too much. That is different from mortgage underwriting: the lender and VA rules still require the borrower to meet applicable income, debt, residual-income, credit, and occupancy requirements.

VA occupancy matters for a relocation purchase. A borrower using a VA-guaranteed purchase loan must certify an intent to personally occupy the property as a home. VA generally considers occupancy within 60 days after closing to be a reasonable time. A later date may be accepted when the borrower identifies a specific future event that will make occupancy possible on a definite date, although occupancy beyond 12 months generally is not considered reasonable. Buyers closing from another state or around a PCS should address timing with the lender before making an offer. VA rules also contain limited exceptions and alternative occupancy provisions, including circumstances in which a spouse or dependent child can satisfy the occupancy requirement and situations involving deployment or other service commitments. A buyer who will not personally occupy within the normal period should have the lender document the applicable VA rule before contract or closing.

Limits in 2026: none for full entitlement

One worry people carry over from the old rules is the county loan limit. Since 2020, a borrower with full entitlement, meaning someone who has never used a VA loan or has restored their entitlement, faces no county loan limit in Texas or anywhere else. The VA guarantees 25% of the loan with no dollar cap [6]. County limits, with a $832,750 baseline in 2026, apply only to borrowers with partial entitlement, usually because an earlier VA loan is still attached to an old property [6]. For the first-timer and the retiree alike, the ceiling that decides your purchase is the one your lender sets, not the one the county publishes.

The Certificate of Eligibility and the two roles you will meet

You get a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) three ways: online through VA.gov, through a VA-approved lender, which may be able to retrieve it electronically through VA's lender system, or by mail using VA Form 26-1880 and your service documents (a DD 214 for veterans and activated Guard and Reserve members; a signed Statement of Service for active duty; NGB Form 22 and NGB Form 23 for discharged Guard members who were never activated; VA Form 26-1817 for surviving spouses receiving DIC) [4]. Pull it before you look at a house. Many COE requests are straightforward, but some require VA review or additional documentation. VA's current goal is to contact COE applicants in an average of five business days, and individual cases can take longer. The COE confirms eligibility and available entitlement; it does not by itself determine the buyer's budget, which also depends on lender underwriting, debts, assets, interest rate, taxes, insurance, and the property's appraised value.

Two distinct professionals matter in the process, and confusing them is where mistakes happen. The lender is a private bank, credit union, or mortgage company that actually funds the loan, underwrites it under VA rules, pulls the COE, and requests the VA appraisal [1][4]. The VA fee appraiser is an independent, licensed appraiser, not a VA employee, not the lender's appraiser, and not your agent's, who establishes the home's reasonable value and checks the VA's Minimum Property Requirements for safety, soundness, and sanitation [5].

After the fee appraiser completes and uploads the appraisal, the appraisal is reviewed and a Notice of Value (NOV) is issued—typically by the lender's VA-authorized Staff Appraisal Reviewer under the Lender Appraisal Processing Program, or by VA in cases VA reviews directly. The NOV states the property's VA reasonable value and any property requirements that must be satisfied.

The Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB), part of the Texas General Land Office, operates specialized loan programs for eligible Texas veterans and military members. Its programs are self-funded through bonds serviced by participant loan payments rather than public taxpayer funding.

For home purchases, do not think of VLB as a second mortgage layered on top of a separate VA first mortgage. The Veterans Housing Assistance Program (VHAP) is itself a first-lien home-loan program offered through participating VLB lenders. Eligible borrowers can obtain VA, FHA, or conventional financing through the program. Veterans with a VA service-connected disability rating of 30% or greater may qualify for a VLB interest-rate discount. Separately, an eligible veteran may have an active VLB land loan and an active VLB home loan at the same time [7][9].

VLB eligibility is separate from VA-loan eligibility. The applicant must be at least 18 and a bona fide and legal Texas resident on the date of application, and must also fit one of VLB's service categories. Current VLB categories include an active-duty military member; a member of the Texas National Guard; a reserve-component member with 20 qualifying years for retirement; a veteran who served at least 90 active-duty days unless discharged sooner for a service-connected disability and who meets VLB's discharge requirements; and certain surviving spouses. VLB publishes specific discharge rules, so a borrower with anything other than an honorable, general, or medical discharge should have VLB determine eligibility before relying on the program.

One more piece completes the financing stack for a family like Rob and Dana's, and it is the piece most people never get to. It is not a VA program and it is not a Texas land program. It is the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation, or TSAHC, a nonprofit created by the Texas Legislature that uses state and federal funding to help Texans buy homes, and it runs a program built for exactly the households this article covers. Homes for Texas Heroes is aimed at public-service buyers, and for eligible veterans it can materially reduce the cash needed at closing, although the borrower should compare the accompanying mortgage rate and total borrowing cost against a no-DPA loan [29].

Who qualifies. Homes for Texas Heroes covers specified public-service and military categories, including professional educators, police officers and other qualifying public security officers, firefighters and EMS personnel, county jailers and qualifying correctional officers, veterans and active military, and qualifying nursing/allied-health faculty. The statutory/program definitions are specific, so employment title alone does not establish eligibility. TSAHC also covers active-duty members and veterans, with a residency test that matters to anyone relocating. An active-duty member qualifies when assigned to a base or facility in Texas and Texas is the member's designated home of record. A veteran must have served at least 90 days on active duty (or 20 years of active or reserve service, or qualifying Texas National Guard or Republic of Vietnam service) without a dishonorable discharge. Under TSAHC's definition of "Veteran," the applicant must also be a bona fide Texas resident at the time of application and either have been a Texas resident at enlistment or have lived in Texas for at least one year before applying [29]. A California veteran who has not yet lived in Texas for a year may not qualify, so confirm your status with a TSAHC participating lender before you build a plan around this program. One clarification that surprises retirees: the down payment assistance is open to repeat buyers, so a veteran who owned a home in California for decades is not ruled out by that history. The mortgage credit certificate is different, as explained below [29].

TSAHC also requires home-buyer education: at least one person on the mortgage loan must complete an approved home-buyer education course. TSAHC states that the completion certificate is valid for 12 months.

What the program offers is a 30-year fixed-rate first mortgage through a participating lender, paired with down payment assistance of up to 5% of the loan amount that can be used toward the down payment and closing costs. You choose the structure. The grant option is cash toward closing. TSAHC's grant does not have to be repaid as long as the first-lien mortgage is not refinanced or otherwise paid off during the first six months. Borrowers should still confirm the applicable version of the TSAHC guidelines and their closing documents before closing. TSAHC's current product lineup includes a grant, a three-year deferred forgivable second lien, and a Bond-program deferred repayable second lien. Not every structure is available to every borrower or loan type, and the Bond product has additional eligibility rules. Use the current TSAHC daily rate sheet and lender guidelines rather than assuming all three are interchangeable.

Two limits decide how much house the program supports, and both are county-based and updated over time. TSAHC sets income limits per county as a percentage of the local median income, with the Homes for Texas Heroes income limit set at 170% of the area median income in the chart in effect as of September 2026, and it sets purchase price limits per county and metropolitan area as well. The exact dollar amount for Kendall, Bexar, or Comal County is a row on TSAHC's official limits chart, the edition effective June 13, 2026 as of this writing, so read your county's row on tsahc.org before you commit to a price [29].

Ask the lender for same-day, side-by-side Loan Estimates showing the VA loan with no TSAHC assistance and the comparable VA/TSAHC option. Compare cash to close, note rate, APR, monthly principal-and-interest payment, lender credits or points, and the estimated cost over the period you realistically expect to keep the loan. Down-payment assistance can solve a cash-to-close problem without necessarily being the lowest-cost financing over time.

There is one more piece worth knowing: the mortgage credit certificate, or MCC. It is neither a grant nor a loan. It is a yearly federal income tax credit equal to 15% of the mortgage interest you pay, a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the federal tax you owe [29]. TSAHC generally applies a first-time-home-buyer requirement to an MCC, but the requirement is waived for purchases in designated Targeted Areas and for a 'Qualified Veteran' as TSAHC defines that term for the federal bond/MCC rules. That term is narrower than the broader 'Veteran' category used for Homes for Texas Heroes. TSAHC states that active-duty military do not qualify as a 'Qualified Veteran' for this particular first-time-buyer exception. A former service member who previously owned a principal residence should therefore confirm that he or she meets TSAHC's Qualified Veteran definition rather than assuming military status alone waives the rule. TSAHC defines a Qualified Veteran, for this purpose, as a veteran under 38 U.S.C. Section 101 who has not previously used the Qualified Veteran exception to the applicable first-time-home-buyer requirement. In practical terms it puts money back in your pocket every year you hold the loan and effectively lowers your monthly cost, and it can help you qualify because the expected credit counts in the underwriting math. TSAHC offers MCCs alongside its down payment assistance. The MCC has separate income and purchase-price requirements. Under TSAHC's September 15, 2026 notice for the 2026 MCC program, the general income ceiling is 100% of area median family income (AMFI) for a family of two or fewer and 115% of AMFI for a family of three or more, subject to the applicable county/program limits. Because these limits can be updated, use the current TSAHC limits in effect when the borrower applies. TSAHC currently requires the MCC to be combined with its Non-Bond Down Payment Assistance rather than obtained as a stand-alone MCC. Because MCC funding and program rules can change, verify availability with a participating TSAHC lender at the time of application [32]. For eligible Texas Heroes combining TSAHC DPA with an MCC, TSAHC currently waives the usual MCC fee. Confirm the current fee schedule with the participating lender because program fees can change [29]. Ask about it in the same conversation as the DPA, because the two are meant to be used together [29].

An MCC is a federal income-tax credit, not a cash payment, and the usable credit in a given year is limited by the borrower's federal income-tax liability. TSAHC also warns that federal recapture tax can apply in some circumstances if a home purchased with an MCC is sold within nine years. Borrowers should review the current recapture rules with TSAHC and a tax professional rather than treating the projected credit as guaranteed cash flow.

TSAHC is a nonprofit, but the program is not a gift with no paperwork. The structure, the limits, and the way the money can be used are set by TSAHC and administered through approved lenders, so the officials you actually deal with are the lender and TSAHC itself. Our full walkthrough of both TSAHC programs, Homes for Texas Heroes and Home Sweet Texas, including the application sequence and the lender questions to ask, is on the TSAHC grant guidance page [29]. For a family like Rob and Dana's, one possible structure is a VA-backed first mortgage paired with TSAHC assistance for eligible cash-to-close costs, followed by the applicable property-tax exemption filings after ownership and occupancy requirements are met. Whether that combination is available or preferable depends on TSAHC eligibility, current product pricing, lender underwriting, and the borrower's expected holding period.

Now the part of the story that matters most, and the part that surprises people the wrong way if they hear only the good news. This is local Texas property tax, not income tax, and it is separate from the no-state-income-tax point in Section 4. County appraisal districts administer it. The standard exemption-application deadline is April 30, but Texas law provides different late-filing windows for different exemptions. For example, certain disabled-veteran exemptions allow a qualifying veteran to file as late as five years after the delinquency date, while other residence-homestead or surviving-spouse claims can have different windows. Do not assume that one five-year rule applies to every exemption. The relief discussed below includes the disabled-veteran exemption by rating, the total residence-homestead exemption for qualifying 100% disabled/TDIU veterans, and the general residence-homestead provisions available to homeowners who meet the ownership, principal-residence, and other statutory requirements [11][12].

Layer three: the general residence homestead exemption and age-65/disabled tax ceiling

A homeowner who owns an interest in the property, uses it as the principal residence, and otherwise meets the statutory requirements can apply for the Texas residence-homestead exemption. For 2026, the statewide school-district exemption removes $140,000 of appraised value from the school-tax calculation. Local-option exemptions may provide additional relief, and counties that collect farm-to-market or flood-control taxes have separate statutory provisions [14][15][46].

Veterans 65 or older with at least a 10% rating get the top 11.22 exemption amount, $12,000, and it applies to any one property they own [11]. That exemption belongs to the veteran, so there is nothing to transfer. Separately, a qualifying residence-homestead owner who is age 65 or older, or who meets the statutory disability definition, can receive the additional $60,000 school-district exemption on top of the $140,000 general school-district homestead exemption, together with the applicable school-tax ceiling [33][35]. The school-tax ceiling can transfer to another qualifying Texas residence homestead using the percentage of school tax paid under the former home's ceiling. The Comptroller's example is straightforward: if the old ceiling is $100 and the school tax without the ceiling would have been $400, the owner was paying 25% of the uncapped school tax. If ordinary school tax on the new home would be $1,000, the transferred ceiling is $250, or 25% of $1,000. The owner obtains the applicable ceiling certificate from the former appraisal district for use with the new appraisal district [33]. County, city, and junior-college ceilings transfer only as provided by statute and where the relevant local taxing unit has adopted the applicable ceiling [33][34]. Ask both appraisal districts what they need before you list your current home.

The plain-language version: property tax relief in Texas is real, it is administered county by county, and the price of getting it is paperwork filed on time. The county appraisal district, not the state, is your first phone call [11][14]. Rob files promptly after he qualifies because early filing reduces the risk of missed deadlines, delayed account corrections, or avoidable follow-up with the appraisal district. The effective date of the exemption is governed by the applicable statute and qualification date, not merely by the date the application is submitted [11][12].

Read the plain homestead filing walkthrough in our Texas homestead exemption guide, and the honest rate comparison for Kendall, Bexar, and Comal Counties in Property Tax Shock or Relief.

If you are about to retire from the service, here is what that means in dollars. Texas has no personal state income tax, a prohibition written into the Texas Constitution, so it taxes none of your military pay: active-duty base pay, military retirement pay, pensions, VA disability compensation, or Social Security [16]. That is genuinely different from most of the country, and the comparison table below shows where Texas sits [16][17].

Two honest clarifications. First, federal tax rules still apply. Regular active-duty basic pay and ordinary military retired pay are generally taxable federally, but important exceptions exist—for example, qualifying combat-zone pay and certain disability-related military retirement or compensation can be excluded. VA disability compensation is generally excluded from federal taxable income, and qualifying Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) and Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) are excluded as well. Anyone with combat-zone pay, disability retirement, Combat-Related Special Compensation, or another special-pay category should use the current IRS Armed Forces' Tax Guide rather than treating all military pay alike [43]. Second, no state income tax does not mean no taxes. Texas has no state property tax. Property taxes are levied and collected by local taxing units such as school districts, counties, cities, and special districts. State revenue instead relies heavily on sources including the state sales tax and business-related taxes, while local governments also use property taxes and, where authorized, local sales taxes and other revenue [16][38].

Beyond the federal and state programs, a small number of national nonprofits grant mortgage-free homes, adapted homes, and repair funds to veterans and their families. Some families hear "mortgage-free home" and assume it is a rumor; it is a real but selective program, and the verified organizations are below. Every organization below was verified as an active organization against its own site in September 2026, and two of them, Military Warriors Support Foundation and Operation Homefront, are headquartered in San Antonio [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].

The single most important thing to know about all of them: program terms, service areas, income rules, and waiting lists change, and availability varies by state and by year. Always check the organization's current program page before you count on anything [23][26].

The practical geography works in Texas's favor for both assignment moves and retirement. Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) is one of the largest military concentrations in the country, and it sits on the doorstep of the Hill Country: Fort Sam Houston, home of Brooke Army Medical Center and the Army Medical Center of Excellence, anchors the eastern side of the base complex; Lackland Air Force Base, the gateway to Air Force basic training, is southwest of the city; Randolph Air Force Base, headquarters of Air Education and Training Command, is northeast; and Camp Bullis sits northwest of San Antonio, close to the corridor many military families choose [27].

The Ortegas, a composite of the first-term families who PCS to JBSA, started their search close to the city and ended it on an acre lot off the I-10 corridor, trading a shorter commute for room to breathe. That trade, in both directions, is what the rest of this section maps. Farther north in Central Texas, Fort Hood—known as Fort Cavazos from 2023 until the Army restored the Fort Hood name on July 28, 2025—is home to the 1st Cavalry Division and III Armored Corps. It is substantially farther from the Boerne/Fair Oaks Ranch area than the JBSA installations and generally is not a practical daily commute from that part of the Hill Country [28][31].

The short version: VA financing can eliminate a required down payment for many qualified borrowers and does not require monthly PMI, the Texas Veterans Land Board adds Texas-resident land and home-loan programs (VHIP is temporarily paused for new applications as of April 30, 2026), the disabled veteran exemption rises by rating to a full exemption that takes a 100% rated veteran's residence homestead bill to zero, and Texas has no state income tax. Each program's requirements, deadlines, and current status are in the sections above, with the sources at the end of this article.

What to do next, in plain terms. Confirm your VA rating and pull your Certificate of Eligibility before you look at a house, talk to a Texas lender who works with both VA and TSAHC loans, and ask the appraisal district in the county where you plan to buy about the April 30 exemption application and which exemption forms and filing rules apply to your property. If you want help navigating the move itself, Bill Ross at Hill Country Homesteads Group, brokered by Keller Williams Boerne, works with out-of-state buyers regularly. Reach him through the contact page at movetotexas.net/contact, by email at Bill@HillCountryHomesteads.com, or by phone at (210) 294-9190, 8 AM to 6 PM Central, Monday through Friday. A no-pressure conversation about your timeline is the only thing on offer.