Your trusted resource for PCS planning, military moving guides, BAH breakdowns, checklists, and tips to make your relocation simple and stress-free.

The short answer is zero. If you have full VA entitlement and you're buying within the conforming loan limit for your county, you don't need a down payment. That's the program's core benefit and it's real.

But there are situations where a down payment becomes necessary — or at least strategically smart — and the search results for "how much down payment for a VA loan" rarely explain them clearly. Here's the complete picture.

Zero Down: When It's Fully Available

If you have full VA entitlement — meaning you haven't used the VA loan benefit before, or you used it previously and restored your entitlement by paying off and selling the property — you can purchase any home priced up to the conforming loan limit with no down payment required.

The…

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Every year, service members PCSing out of Fort Carson face the same decision: sell the Colorado Springs house or keep it as a rental. The VA loan adds wrinkles to that decision that most people don't fully understand until they're already under the gun with orders in hand.

This post covers exactly what happens to your VA loan when you PCS and convert the property to a rental — your entitlement, your occupancy obligation, your BAH situation at the new duty station, and the most common mistakes people make in this scenario.

The Occupancy Requirement: What It Actually Says

VA loans require that the borrower intend to occupy the property as their primary residence. That's the rule at origination. What it does not say is that you must live there…

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If you received PCS orders to Colorado Springs — or you've been stationed here for a while and are thinking about buying — this is a different market than it was two or three years ago. That's not a bad thing. For military buyers using a VA loan, the current conditions may actually be the best environment in years.

Here's what the numbers look like right now and how to use them.

Where Colorado Springs Prices Stand in 2026

The median sale price in Colorado Springs is hovering around $450,000, roughly flat compared to last year. What has changed is the pace. Homes are sitting on the market longer — around 40–45 days on average, compared to under 30 during the peak. Inventory has also increased significantly, with roughly twice as many homes…

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Two hundred and fifty years ago today, a group of men signed their names to a document that was, at the time, an act of treason. They were pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to an idea that had never been tried at scale — that people could govern themselves, that liberty was worth fighting for, that a nation could be built on principle rather than bloodline.

It worked. Not perfectly, not without cost, and not without ongoing effort. But it worked.

What made it work, generation after generation, was the willingness of ordinary people to put themselves between that idea and everything that threatened it. Some of them were farmers. Some were kids who had never left their home state. Some were career soldiers and some were…

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PCS orders to Fort Bragg put you in the Fayetteville, North Carolina area — home of the 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, USASOC, and JSOC. By population and mission footprint, Fort Bragg is one of the largest and most operationally active installations in the country. The surrounding housing market has been built around military families for decades, which means sellers understand VA loans, landlords know military lease terms, and communities close to the gates know the rhythm of PCS season.

Quick note on the name: the installation was called Fort Liberty from June 2023 until February 2025, when it officially reverted to Fort Bragg — now honoring World War II paratrooper Private First Class Roland L. Bragg, who earned the Silver Star and…

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If you have orders to Colorado Springs, the VA loan is the most powerful tool you have for buying a home here. It was built for service members, and in a market like this one it can be the difference between renting for three years and building equity while you serve. Here is how it actually works, and what to keep in mind near the local installations.

The two benefits that matter most

The VA loan gives you two things almost no other mortgage does. First, no down payment. Eligible buyers can finance the full purchase price, which means you are not waiting years to save up before you can buy. Second, no private mortgage insurance. Conventional buyers who put down less than 20 percent pay PMI every month, sometimes for years. VA buyers never do, which…

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Buying a home in Colorado Springs looks different depending on who you are and why you're here. For military families PCS'ing to one of the city's five installations — Fort Carson, Peterson SFB, Schriever SFB, the Air Force Academy, or Cheyenne Mountain — the process has a fixed timeline, a specific set of financial tools, and a set of neighborhood decisions that civilian buyers don't face the same way. This guide is written for that buyer: someone working with orders, a report date, BAH as a housing budget, and a VA loan as the most powerful financing tool available. Here's how to approach the process from start to finish.

Step 1: Know Your Numbers Before You Start Looking

The most common mistake military buyers make is starting with the home…

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Colorado Springs consistently ranks as one of the more affordable major military markets in the country — but affordable is a relative term, and the actual cost of living picture for military families depends heavily on pay grade, family size, and lifestyle choices. Here's an honest breakdown of what to actually expect when you land in Colorado Springs in 2026.

Housing — The Biggest Variable

Housing is where military families feel the cost of living most acutely, and Colorado Springs sits in a genuinely favorable position relative to other major military markets. The median home price in Colorado Springs is approximately $476,000 as of 2026 — significantly below Denver's median of around $571,000 and well below coastal military markets like San…

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School district is one of the top three factors military families consider when choosing where to live near a Colorado Springs installation — and it's also one of the most confusing, because the city is served by five separate public school districts with boundaries that don't align neatly with neighborhood names or zip codes. Here's a clear breakdown of every district serving military families in the Colorado Springs metro so you can make the right call for your kids before you sign a lease or make an offer.

Academy District 20 — Highest Rated in Colorado Springs

Academy District 20 covers the north side of Colorado Springs, including neighborhoods near the Air Force Academy, Monument, and Briargate. It consistently rates as the top traditional…

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The rent vs. buy question comes up for almost every military family PCS'ing to Colorado Springs — and the honest answer is that it depends on factors specific to your situation rather than a universal rule. Tour length, pay grade, family size, risk tolerance, and long-term plans all factor in. Here's how to think through it clearly so you can make the right call for your family rather than defaulting to what everyone else seems to be doing.

The Case for Renting After PCS

Renting makes the most financial sense when your tour is short — two years or less — or when you're genuinely uncertain about the area and want time to learn the neighborhoods before committing. Real estate transaction costs run 6% to 8% of the purchase price when you add up closing…

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