Where you live is my business — and for the men and women who've served, helping you use every benefit you've earned is my privilege.
I get questions about VA loans from military families relocating to Crawfordsville and West Central Indiana more than almost anything else. And I get it — the VA loan is one of the most powerful homebuying tools available, but the details (funding fees, eligibility, what's changed for 2026) aren't always explained clearly. As a Certified Appraiser of 18+ years, I don't guess on numbers — I know them. Here's what I want every veteran, active-duty service member, or military family looking at Montgomery, Boone, Hendricks, Tippecanoe, or any of our 9 West Central Indiana counties to understand before you start house hunting.
The core VA loan advantage
VA loans exist for one reason: to make homeownership achievable for those who've served, without the barriers conventional buyers face. The two biggest ones:
- No down payment required in most cases
- No monthly private mortgage insurance (PMI) — ever
That second point is bigger than it sounds. On a typical purchase, a conventional or FHA buyer is paying a monthly PMI bill for years. A VA buyer never does. Over the life of a loan, that difference adds up to real money staying in your pocket instead of an insurer's.
The VA funding fee — and how to reduce or avoid it
VA loans aren't $0-cost, even without a down payment. Most borrowers pay a one-time VA funding fee, which replaces the monthly PMI a conventional loan would charge. For 2026:
- First-time use, 0% down: 2.15% of the loan amount
- Subsequent use, 0% down: 3.3%
- 5% or more down: drops to 1.5% regardless of prior use
- 10% or more down: drops to 1.25%
On a $300,000 loan, that's roughly $6,450 for a first-time buyer putting nothing down — a number that's often financed into the loan rather than paid in cash at closing.
Here's the part I make sure every client knows: veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 10% or higher are exempt from the funding fee entirely, as are Purple Heart recipients on active duty and surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. If that's you, that's thousands of dollars you shouldn't be paying — I always confirm exemption status before we go under contract.
What just changed for Indiana veterans in 2026
This is the part I think gets missed, and it's recent enough that a lot of buyers haven't heard about it yet: Indiana overhauled how it handles property tax relief for disabled veterans this year. Governor Mike Braun signed House Enrolled Act 1210 on March 12, 2026, replacing the old assessed-value deduction system with a new tax credit structure, effective for the 2026 assessment year (bills payable in 2027).
Under the old system, an eligible veteran could deduct $24,960 or more from their home's assessed value before taxes were calculated. Under the new law:
- Veterans with a 100% disability rating (or Individual Unemployability) now qualify for a full property tax exemption, with no home value cap
- Veterans rated 10–90% disabled receive a flat $350 annual credit instead of the old value-based deduction
Whether this change helps or hurts you depends entirely on your rating and your home's value — for some veterans it's a clear win, for others it's a smaller benefit than before. Every veteran needs to register with their county auditor using State Form 12662 to receive the new credit, and you'll want your VA Award Letter and DD-214 on hand when you do. If you're buying this year, this is exactly the kind of detail I walk clients through before closing, not after.
Getting started: the Certificate of Eligibility
Before a lender can process a VA loan, you'll need a Certificate of Eligibility (COE), which confirms your entitlement. You can request it directly through VA.gov, or your lender can pull it for you — I coordinate this step for every military client I work with so it isn't a bottleneck later in the process.
A word on Military on the Move®
I'm proud to offer eligible active duty, veteran, retired, and Wounded Warrior buyers a 20% rebate of my commission at closing through the Military on the Move® program, on top of whatever VA loan benefits you're using. It's not a replacement for VA savings — it's stacked on top of them. Eligibility just requires a Military ID or DD-214 verified before we go under contract.
Bottom line
VA loans remain one of the best tools available for buying a home in West Central Indiana, and 2026 brought real changes worth understanding — the funding fee structure, exemption categories, and now a new state property tax credit system. None of this needs to be confusing. If you're relocating here, coming home after service, or transitioning to civilian life, I'd be honored to walk you through exactly what applies to your situation.
Curious what you're eligible for? Check your Military on the Move® eligibility or reach out directly — I'm here to help you make this next chapter count.
