Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, greets veterans in D.C. on an honor flight. Bost is a co-sponsor of the VA Home Loan Affordability Act, a Republican-led bill introduced in the House. (Office of Rep. Mike Bost)
WASHINGTON — Vietnam veteran Mike Archer took out a VA home loan in 2016 to buy a one-bedroom wood frame home, accessible only by dirt road, in the remote desert town of Benson, Ariz.
Archer in 2026 is planning to tap the VA home loan program again to buy another home — this time in Lubec, Maine, at the easternmost tip of the continental U.S., an end-of-the-road destination with no traffic lights.
At 74, Archer said he is eager to fulfill a dream to buy a lakeside cabin in a rural location, even as high home prices constrain many buyers on moderate incomes.
He is counting on the VA home loan program to cut thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs when he purchases a new primary residence.
“I want to live out my life relaxing and fishing. Yes, high home prices are a problem, but not at these locations,” said Archer, who is disabled and lives on a fixed income.
This week Republican lawmakers on the House Veterans Affairs’ Committee introduced a reform package that aims to make VA home loans even more attractive to buyers — by capping closing fees and increasing seller concessions to align with Federal Housing Administration standards.
Seller concessions are a strategic arrangement in a real estate transaction where the seller covers certain costs or fees associated with purchasing a home, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The VA home loan program helps veterans, service members, and eligible surviving spouses purchase, build, repair and refinance homes, usually without a down payment or private mortgage insurance, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The VA Home Loan Affordability Act, led by Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., would cap closing fees at 1.5% of the loan amount — which is significantly lower than closing costs for non-VA home loans.
As of early 2026, closing fees for non-VA home loans typically ranged from 2% to 6%, according to Rocket Mortgage.
“This bill would cut through needless regulations and processes in the VA home loan program, reduce closing costs, and bring the VA home loan program in line with other federal housing programs to get veterans, service members, and their families in their new homes faster,” said Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., a bill co-sponsor and chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “This is a common-sense bill to modernize this incredible VA benefit that has unleashed economic opportunities for millions of veteran families.”
In fiscal 2025, more than 528,000 veterans and service members used the VA home loan program, with the majority taking out VA-backed loans for an initial purchase, Van Orden said at a recent hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on economic opportunity. Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL, is the subcommittee chairman.
Levi Rodgers, shown at left, is a retired Green Beret who served for more than two decades in the Army. He is pictured with John Sherbert, a fellow Green Beret, in 2009 in Afghanistan. Rodgers today leads the Levi Rodgers Real Estate Group and is co-founder of the VA Loan Network. “The VA loan gives veterans a real advantage, but it doesn’t change the reality of higher prices and rates. What we’re seeing is veterans having to make tougher choices just to stay in the game,” Rodgers said. (Levi Rodgers)
“Affordability is the biggest challenge right now,” said Levi Rodgers, a retired Green Beret and chief executive officer of the Levi Rodgers Real Estate Group, in Texas. “The VA loan gives veterans a real advantage, but it doesn’t change the reality of higher prices and rates. What we’re seeing is veterans having to make tougher choices just to stay in the game.”
More than 58,000 VA loans go “untapped” annually across metropolitan areas, which represented nearly $28 billion in unused VA loan volume in 2024, according to an analysis by Veterans United Home Loans published in October 2025. The market share of VA home loans was lowest in areas with some of the highest purchase prices, which included New York, Los Angeles and Boston.
“Most veterans don’t fully understand how powerful the VA loan really is,” Rodgers said. “It’s one of the best benefits they’ve earned, but if they don’t have the right guidance, they either don’t use it or don’t use it correctly.”
Army Capt. Marvin Smith presents the Bronze Star to Mike Archer, an Army specialist, in 1971 at Fort Knox, Ky. Archer, a 75-year-old Vietnam veteran, is planning to take out a VA home loan to purchase a cabin in Lubec, Maine, as his primary residence. Republican-led legislation introduced in the House aims to make VA home loans even more attractive to buyers. (U.S. Army)
Archer, a former Army specialist who fought in Vietnam in 1970, said the VA home loan program not only helped him afford a home purchase but enabled him to build assets over time.
The new legislation also would shorten the time for appraisers to obtain VA certification. The effort aims to address a shortage of appraisers and ease delays in completing a home purchase, lawmakers said.
“The bottom line is that these reforms will help veterans buy homes more easily and affordably so they can put down roots and raise their families in our communities,” said Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., an Army veteran who sits on the House VA Committee and is backing the bill.
Rodgers described the national shortage of VA-certified appraisers as a “friction point” in the home buying process.
“Delays, limited appraiser availability, and added costs are slowing veterans down in a market where speed matters. Any effort to modernize that and bring it in line with other loan programs is a step in the right direction,” Rodgers said.
