Nothing down, and no county ceiling
With full entitlement there is no down payment and no VA loan limit. That is the part people underuse in Chester County, because the conforming ceiling of $832,750 that shapes every other program simply does not apply here, and the size of the loan comes down to income, credit and the appraisal (va.gov, August 2025). Berwyn’s July 2026 sold median of $1,197,450 is not automatically out of reach, though a loan that size is very much subject to lender approval.
Entitlement gets more complicated when part of it is already committed, on another VA loan still open or one that was never restored. In that case the calculation keys off the same $832,750 figure, and a down payment may come back into the picture. The lender orders the Certificate of Eligibility and reads it, which takes a day or two and settles the question before you are house-hunting on a guess.
No monthly mortgage insurance, one fee instead
A VA loan carries no monthly mortgage insurance, at any down payment. In its place there is a one-time funding fee, usually financed into the loan, set by how much you put down and whether you have used the benefit before (va.gov, January 2026).
| Down payment | First use | After the first use |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5% | 2.15% | 3.30% |
| 5% to 9.99% | 1.50% | 1.50% |
| 10% or more | 1.25% | 1.25% |
A cash-out refinance runs 2.15% on a first use and 3.30% after; an Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan is 0.50%. Veterans receiving VA disability compensation, surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, and Purple Heart recipients on active duty pay no funding fee at all. On a $500,000 loan with nothing down, 2.15% is $10,750, so the exemption is not a rounding detail.
What the appraiser has to see
VA appraisals check value and then check the house against minimum property requirements. In practice the list is short and specific: safe, sound and sanitary condition; a roof with remaining life; a working heating system; a safe water supply and sanitary waste disposal. On a house built before 1978, peeling paint the appraiser can see has to be dealt with. Pennsylvania adds a termite inspection to every VA purchase.
None of that is unusual on a 1990s colonial in Uwchlan. It gets more interesting on a stone farmhouse in West Bradford where the last roof went on during a different presidency. Items get corrected before closing, or handled through an escrow the lender sets up, and who pays is a negotiation in the agreement of sale.
Acreage, a well and a septic system
A farmette is a real listing category in this county, and it brings two more inspections along with the barn. The property needs a safe water supply and sanitary waste disposal for the appraisal to clear, and in Chester County those words point to the county health department’s standards.
The county’s Rules and Regulations, Chapter 500, require a permit to drill a well and a county-licensed contractor to do it, set 100 feet as the minimum distance from sewage absorption areas, cesspools and seepage pits and 50 feet from septic, aerobic, pump and holding tanks, and allow water samples to be drawn only by a state-certified laboratory employee or a county-licensed driller or pump installer. On-lot sewage is permitted by the county under the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, with a soil probe and a percolation test on new systems and a published evaluation procedure for existing ones. Several townships, Kennett, Pennsbury and London Grove among them, also require proof that the tank has been pumped every three years.
Confirm the current text with the health department before you rely on any of it, and ask the lender early which tests the appraiser will want for that address. The sequence matters: a well that has to be re-drilled is a six-week problem, and a settlement date will not wait for it. More in the wells and septic guide.
A VA loan through PHFA
The state housing agency runs VA first mortgages through its Keystone Government Loan, which carries no first-time buyer rule and no PHFA income or purchase-price caps, with a homebuyer course when the score is under 680. It pairs with the Keystone Advantage second mortgage, the lesser of 4% or $6,000 at 0% over ten years, which on most Chester County purchases covers the funding fee and a share of the closing costs (phfa.org, read August 2026). Ask the lender whether the combination is available on your file.