Information Courtesy of the Texas Veterans Land Board
https://vlb.texas.gov/loans/land-loans/
The VLB Veterans Land Loan Program is the only one of its kind in the nation, giving Texas Veterans the opportunity to borrow up to $125,000 to purchase land at competitive interest rates while typically requiring a minimum 5% down payment for tracts one acre or more.
The program is easy to use and offers Texas Veterans exclusive financing towards purchase of their own piece of Texas. The bonds used to fund the program are retired from loan repayments and the cost of administering the program is financed through a small fee charged on each loan.
LAND LOAN REQUIREMENTS
To be eligible for VLB financing, the land must:
- Be wholly within the state of Texas
- Contain at least one acre, excluding any portion beneath a dedicated public roadway or navigable waterway or subject to frequent inundation or otherwise unusable.
- Have legal, usable access to a public road. Access must be a minimum of 60 feet wide or meet the county public road width requirements, whichever is greater. “Usable” means that it can be driven on by a standard passenger car in inclement weather.
- Be properly described by either a Field Note description of the tract with the Surveyor’s Official Seal and Signature (original or copy), or a complete copy of the recorded subdivision plat if the description is by Lot & Block.
- Not be zoned strictly for commercial use.
- Not have been owned by you or your spouse within the previous three years.
No value will be given to any improvements on tracts. Multiple, contiguous tracts may be combined under one financing instrument provided each share is not less than 60 linear feet of common boundary or tracts are adjacent to one another and separated solely by the actual width of the public right of way.
LAND LOAN FINANCING
Land Loans
VLB provides financing on tracts up to $125,000 with a minimum 5% down-payment and a fixed-rate 30-year loan term. A $325 appraisal and contract service fee is due at the time of application. There is no pre-payment penalty.
Once a Veteran, or his or her successor, has successfully paid off a VLB land loan s/he may apply for another VLB land loan. The same applies to our home and home improvement programs. All VLB programs are self-funded, using no public taxpayer funding. VLB programs are financed with bonds, which are serviced by loan payments from Veteran participants.
VETERAN ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for VLB programs, Veterans, military members and their spouses must be:
- At least 18 years of age
- A bona fide and legal resident of Texas on the date of application and meet one of the following service criteria:
- An active duty military member
- A member of the Texas National Guard
- A reserve component military member having completed 20 qualifying years for retirement
- A Veteran having served at least 90 active duty days unless discharged sooner due to service connected disability and not discharged dishonorably
- A surviving spouse of a Veteran listed as missing in action or whose death was service connected