Companion lessons, action checklists, and space for your questions.
Use this workbook privately. It is an educational resource, not a mortgage application or eligibility result. Keep sensitive service and financial records out of this website. Sources reviewed October 12, 2026. Downloading this file gives you HTML; your browser’s print action can save a PDF.
MODULE 1 / 8
Understand your VA benefit
Your learning goal: Separate benefit eligibility, financing approval, and your own buying decision.
Three different decisions
VA benefit eligibility, a lender’s loan decision, and your decision to buy are separate. A VA-backed purchase loan comes from a private lender. VA guarantees part of it; VA does not pick a home or approve every borrower’s financing.
Know the features and the limits
Eligible borrowers may be able to buy without a down payment, subject to value, entitlement, and lender requirements. VA-backed loans do not require monthly private mortgage insurance. Credit, income, other lender requirements, and occupancy still matter.
Use the benefit deliberately
You do not have to be a first-time buyer. Ask about your entitlement and whether prior use affects your next purchase. Start with official eligibility guidance and a lender conversation rather than assuming service alone settles every requirement.
Your action plan
Identify the benefit questions you want answered.
Review official eligibility guidance for your service category.
Write down one question about entitlement or prior benefit use.
A useful conversation starter
“How does my benefit fit this purchase, and which financing requirements are separate?”
Your learning goal: Choose the correct official document instructions and request route.
What a COE does
Your Certificate of Eligibility documents eligibility for the VA home loan benefit. It is not a preapproval or a promise that a mortgage will close. VA’s instructions vary by service category and surviving-spouse circumstances.
Prepare the right documents
Veterans generally need discharge or separation papers such as a DD214. Active-duty service members need a signed statement of service. Guard, Reserve, and surviving-spouse documentation can differ. Use VA’s category-specific list rather than another borrower’s checklist.
Choose your request route
VA offers online, lender-assisted, and mail routes. Ask whether a lender can retrieve your COE, or follow the current VA online or mail instructions. Check your request status through VA. Keep your DD214, Social Security number, and service documents out of this course.
Your action plan
Identify your service or surviving-spouse category.
Review the official document list and locate documents privately.
Choose online, lender-assisted, or mail instructions.
A useful conversation starter
“Can you help obtain my COE, and are any service documents still needed?”
Your learning goal: Separate monthly costs, cash at closing, and future reserves.
Start with your full monthly picture
Consider principal and interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance, any HOA dues, and other applicable insurance. Keep utilities, maintenance, repairs, and other goals in your budget. Taxes and insurance can change over time.
No down payment is not no cost
Discuss closing costs, prepaid expenses, and your funding-fee status with the lender. Exemptions exist, including for qualifying VA disability-compensation recipients. For a VA purchase loan, the funding fee may be financed; other closing costs generally must be paid at closing.
Keep room for life after move-in
Use the workbook to list questions about your comfortable payment, cash needs, and ongoing ownership costs. Ask for written estimates instead of relying on a headline rate or a generic percentage. Your comfort level may differ from the maximum amount a lender considers.
Your action plan
List current expenses and a comfortable housing-payment question.
Ask the lender for estimated payment and cash-to-close details.
Discuss funding-fee status and leave room for maintenance.
A useful conversation starter
“What is included in this payment, what cash may I need, and what expenses remain outside it?”
Your learning goal: Ask useful preapproval questions and compare written loan information.
Clarify what has been reviewed
Preapproval is a tentative lender assessment, not a guaranteed loan offer. Lenders use the terms preapproval and prequalification differently. Ask what documents were reviewed, what assumptions were made, what conditions remain, and when the letter expires.
Compare written information
A Loan Estimate helps explain proposed loan terms, projected payments, closing costs, and cash to close. Request comparable estimates and ask about differences from your discussion. Review loan amount, type, term, rate-lock status, points or credits, and charges rather than judging one number.
Prepare a secure document plan
Ask your lender which income, asset, and credit documents are needed and how to provide them securely. Ask how changes in employment, credit, or funds could affect the review before making a major change. This course is not a loan application and does not collect financial documents.
Your action plan
Ask what the preapproval review includes and what remains.
Compare Loan Estimates using matching assumptions where possible.
Confirm the lender’s secure document process and next milestone.
A useful conversation starter
“What remains conditional, and how do these costs compare with another written offer?”
Your learning goal: Understand representation and compare homes against your own priorities.
Choose the right conversation
Ask prospective agents about relevant local experience, who they represent, confidentiality, and compensation. Review representation terms and fees before signing. You may choose your own professionals; using VRES does not obligate you to use a referral.
Make a practical shortlist
Compare location, daily travel, condition, ongoing costs, and your must-haves. Revisit the budget as property-specific information becomes clearer. Consider insurance availability and disaster risk rather than assuming similar prices mean similar ownership costs.
Use search as a planning tool
Browse through John Dilley’s personal eXp search link if you choose, then bring specific questions to your agent and lender. A listing does not establish your eligibility or guarantee that a property meets financing requirements. Keep your own priorities in control of the search.
Your action plan
Write three must-haves and three flexible preferences.
Discuss representation, compensation, and communication with an agent.
Compare a short list against your budget and insurance questions.
A useful conversation starter
“How will you represent me, and how will we evaluate homes for my priorities and VA financing?”
Your learning goal: Ask about negotiated costs, contract deadlines, and required VA protections.
Read the actual offer
Discuss price, requested credits, deposits, deadlines, and contingencies with your agent. The contract’s details matter more than assumptions about a loan label. Ask how changes to the offer affect your cash needs and the seller’s estimated net.
Understand the escape clause
The required VA escape clause protects the buyer when VA reasonable value is below the contract price; it is not a general right to cancel for any reason. Discuss required language and value-shortfall options with the lender and your agent using approved forms. Do not assume another provision overrides it.
Address a seller’s concern directly
If a seller hesitates about VA financing, ask which concern is driving the response: costs, timing, condition, or financing preparation. Your agent can seek clarification and coordinate a factual response. No script guarantees acceptance. Contract-specific questions belong with your broker or attorney.
Your action plan
Ask your agent to explain offer terms, deposits, and deadlines.
Confirm the required VA clause with the agent and lender.
Identify the seller’s specific concern before proposing a response.
A useful conversation starter
“What am I agreeing to, what protections apply, and what happens if value is below price?”
Your learning goal: Explain the distinction and prepare questions if issues arise.
Know the distinction
A VA appraisal addresses an opinion of value and minimum property requirements. A separate home inspection examines condition more closely. An appraisal does not replace that inspection or guarantee the home has no defects.
Ask early, respond thoughtfully
Choose an independent inspector and review findings with appropriate professionals while contract deadlines still allow a response. If an issue is identified, discuss repair responsibility, feasibility, and timing. The contract and lender requirements affect the available choices; a casual “as-is” label is not the full answer.
Plan for a possible value gap
If appraised value is below price, discuss options with the lender and agent: a reconsideration of value using appropriate support, renegotiation, or a buyer-funded difference. Preserve required protections and confirm what you can afford. Do not assume covering a gap is mandatory.
Your action plan
Discuss an independent inspection and relevant contract deadlines.
Review appraisal or inspection questions with the appropriate team member.
If an issue arises, confirm options before agreeing to costs or repairs.
A useful conversation starter
“Is this a condition issue, a value issue, or both—and what options fit our contract and financing?”
Your learning goal: Organize closing documents, unresolved questions, and move-in preparation.
Use the review period
For a typical covered mortgage, you must receive the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before closing. Compare it with the most recent Loan Estimate. Ask about loan terms, total payment, closing costs, cash to close, and changes you do not understand.
Coordinate the final details
Ask the closing team for other documents in advance, including the note, security instrument, and deed. Confirm remaining lender conditions, insurance arrangements, your final walkthrough, and how funds should be delivered. Verify payment instructions using a trusted, independently established contact; last-minute instruction changes can be scams.
Close informed and plan ahead
Read before signing and raise unresolved questions. Confirm possession and key arrangements with your agent. Keep your final documents securely and identify your loan servicer and first-payment instructions. Your course completion marks education, not a closed transaction, loan approval, or VA certification.
Your action plan
Compare the Closing Disclosure with your latest Loan Estimate.
Confirm remaining conditions, walkthrough, and payment instructions.
Ask unresolved questions and organize post-closing documents.
A useful conversation starter
“What changed, what remains to be done, and who can verify these instructions before I sign or pay?”
