The VA's official home loan hub and the starting point for any First Coast military buyer: no down payment, no PMI, competitive rates. The strongest homebuying benefit you earned in uniform.
The COE is step one, proving to your lender you qualify. Request it online, by mail, or through your lender in minutes; have your DD214 ready.
Active duty, veteran, Guard, Reserve, and surviving spouses each have different documentation paths to the COE. This official page maps them all, worth five minutes before you apply.
Florida's program adds up to $35,000 in down payment and closing cost help on top of a VA loan, and veterans are exempt from the first-time-buyer requirement. For a Mayport or NAS Jax family, that can mean keeping your savings intact at closing.
Free HUD-approved homebuyer education across Northeast Florida, useful for first-time military buyers working out BAH budgets, and required by some assistance programs. Jacksonville's HUD field office is downtown on West Bay Street.
The paper route for requesting a COE if you'd rather not apply online, though most Jacksonville buyers let their lender pull it electronically and skip the wait.
VA appraisals carry minimum property requirements, and near Mayport and the Beaches the flood zone shapes both approval and your insurance bill. Look up any address before writing the offer.
After closing, Jacksonville veterans with a 10%+ service-connected rating get $5,000 off assessed value, and 100% permanent-and-total veterans pay zero ad valorem property tax on their homestead. File with the Duval Property Appraiser by March 1.