As Mortgage Rates Rise, Many Veterans Are Overlooking a Major Benefit

In late 2025, Barbara and Robbie McBroom were juggling two households, caring for their nephew, and trying to keep it all afloat when Barbara, 76, suffered a fall.For Robbie, that was the breaking point.“Look, that’s enough,” he recalls telling her. “We've got to get somewhere where we can all be together.”But however necessary the move had become, affording it still seemed out of reach. The couple had burned through much of their savings maintaining two households and needed a bigger home closer to family.That kind of move has only gotten harder as mortgage rates climbed back above 7%. But the McBrooms had an edge: Thanks to Robbie’s service in the Navy, they were eligible for a Veterans Affairs loan.The average locked rate on a 30-year VA mortgage was 6.90% as of Oct. 15, compared with 7.29% for a conforming loan, according to Optimal Blue. For a $415,000 loan balance, that rate difference saves about $109 a month in principal and interest, or more than $1,300 a year.VA loans can also allow eligible borrowers to buy with no down payment and do not require monthly private mortgage insurance, reducing both upfront and monthly costs.Yet many veterans may not fully understand what th...