VA Loans in Killeen Near Fort Hood

Yes. It’s the same installation. The post was renamed Fort Cavazos in May 2023, and the Army redesignated it Fort Hood effective June 11, 2025 (Department of the Army General Orders 2025-14), this time honoring Col. Robert B. Hood, a World War I Distinguished Service Cross recipient. Your housing allowance area hasn’t changed: Fort Hood is still Military Housing Area TX286. Older orders, LES statements or listings that say “Fort Cavazos” mean the same place.

Fort Hood is Military Housing Area TX286. Look up your exact 2026 rate by pay grade and dependency status on the Defense Travel Management Office’s BAH Rate Lookup, or check your LES.

BAH is set by your duty-station ZIP code, not by where you buy, so a home in Copperas Cove or Harker Heights uses the same rate.

Lenders can count BAH as qualifying income along with base pay. How each lender calculates it varies, which is one reason comparing lenders matters. We don’t post a sample monthly payment here. Ask us for a written estimate based on your own numbers.

Most of Killeen, Harker Heights and Nolanville sit in Bell County. Copperas Cove is in Coryell County, which has its own rates.

• Bell County’s adopted rate for tax year 2026 is $0.3463 per $100 of value ($0.2995 county plus $0.0468 road district), adopted August 24, 2026, per Bell County and the Tax Appraisal District of Bell County’s 2026 tax rate table. On Killeen’s $226,244 median sold price, the county portion alone is roughly $784 a year before exemptions. This is an estimate of one line of your bill, not your total tax.
• Your full bill also includes the city, the school district (Killeen ISD, Copperas Cove ISD and others) and any special districts. Check Bell CAD’s adopted rates for the exact stack on a given address.
• Texas homeowners can claim a $140,000 school-district homestead exemption on their main home.
• Disabled veterans: a veteran with a 100% service-connected disability rating, or individual unemployability, may qualify for a total exemption on their homestead under Texas Tax Code §11.131. Partial exemptions for other ratings exist under §11.22. Eligibility is decided by the appraisal district, so check the Texas Comptroller’s guidance and apply with Bell CAD.

Many buyers start before they arrive. Your PCS orders help show that you intend to live in the home, which VA loans require. You generally need to move in within a reasonable time after closing, and your lender will confirm what that means for your report date. Practical tips:

• Have a local agent walk homes with you on video.
• Ask the title company early whether it allows remote or mail-away closing.
• If one spouse will sign alone, line up a power of attorney the lender and title company will accept.

Fort Hood moves people on a regular cycle, so plan for the next set of orders. Many owners keep their Killeen home and rent it out after they’ve lived in it. Whether you can buy with a VA loan at your next base depends on how much entitlement stays tied up in the Killeen home. Read can I use the VA loan more than once, and we’ll run the entitlement math with you.

With full entitlement, there is no VA loan limit. You can borrow what a lender approves you for, without a down payment, as long as the appraisal supports the price (VA.gov).

Loan limits matter only if part of your entitlement is still tied up in another VA loan. In that case, VA uses the FHFA conforming loan limit. For 2026 that’s the $832,750 baseline one-unit limit, which FHFA announced November 25, 2025. Bell and Coryell counties use that baseline. Your remaining entitlement, based on that limit, sets how much you can borrow without a down payment.

Per VA.gov, you don’t pay the VA funding fee if you:

• receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability, or are eligible for it but get retirement or active-duty pay instead
• are a surviving spouse receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation
• are a service member with a proposed or memorandum rating before closing, based on a pre-discharge claim
• are on active duty and show proof of a Purple Heart on or before closing

Everyone else pays a one-time fee that can be financed into the loan. The rate depends on your down payment and whether it’s your first VA loan. The current chart has been in effect since April 7, 2023 and is on VA.gov. Your Certificate of Eligibility shows your funding fee status, so confirm it before closing.

VA loans can be assumed. A qualified buyer takes over the seller’s existing loan and its terms. VA’s funding fee on an assumption is 0.5%. For sellers, the key question is entitlement: unless the buyer is an eligible veteran who substitutes their own entitlement, the seller’s entitlement can stay tied to that loan. Ask the listing agent whether a seller’s VA loan is assumable, and we’ll help you sort out the steps with the loan servicer.

Every VA purchase gets a VA appraisal that checks the home against VA’s Minimum Property Requirements, covering things like safe utilities, a sound roof and working systems. Older homes may need repairs flagged before closing, while newer homes in the city’s growth areas often clear more easily. A VA appraisal isn’t a home inspection, so get a separate inspection either way. If a builder offers incentives tied to its preferred lender, ask for the offer in writing. We can show you how it compares to other approved lenders.

• Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB): offers a Veterans Housing Assistance Program for eligible Texas veterans.
• TSAHC Homes for Texas Heroes: a state program that includes veterans and service members.
• Down payment assistance: CapFi offers down payment assistance programs through approved lenders. See our Texas down payment assistance guide.

• VA IRRRL: a streamlined refinance of an existing VA loan. See our VA IRRRL page.
• VA cash-out in Texas: subject to Texas home equity rules (Texas Constitution, Article XVI, Section 50(a)(6)), which add their own limits and waiting periods.

CapFi Lending is licensed statewide in Texas and places VA loans through its lenders across Texas. No lender fees on agency loans (conventional, FHA, VA). Third-party costs may apply. The VA funding fee may also apply unless you are exempt.

1. Call or book a video meeting. Office visits are by appointment only.
2. Send your documents: Certificate of Eligibility, LES, PCS orders if you have them, and ID.
3. We compare VA loans from approved lenders and walk you through each Loan Estimate.
4. You close with a Bell County title company or by remote closing where the title company allows it.