An Ohio VA Purchase in the Order It Actually Happens
Program and regulatory figures verified October 10, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Most Ohio VA mistakes are sequencing mistakes rather than eligibility mistakes. This is the order that avoids them.
1. Get the Certificate of Eligibility and find out which entitlement you have
This determines whether a loan limit exists for you at all. Full entitlement: the VA says "you don't have a loan limit". Remaining entitlement: the 25% guaranty arithmetic can bring a deposit back. How to tell.
★ Do this first, because it changes what you can shop for.
2. ★★ Settle the funding-fee question before you fix a closing date
The fee runs 2.15% first use and 3.3% subsequent under 5% down, 1.5% at 5% down, or nothing at all if you are exempt.
★★ The timing trap: a proposed or memorandum rating dated before the closing date is in the VA's own exempt list. So if a claim is in progress, where that paperwork sits is a closing-date question, not a paperwork question. All five exemptions.
3. ★★ Apply to your county auditor for the homestead reduction — separately
This is a different application to a different body with different criteria: a total disability rating or TDIU, an honorable-conditions discharge, and the property as your homestead. No wartime service. No income test on that branch.
★★ Nobody at the lender does this for you and no part of the loan file triggers it. Every condition · The two tests compared.
4. Shop with the right numbers in the payment
Your escrowed property tax depends on whether you hold the reduction, and the payment depends on the escrow. Why we will not publish a dollar saving.
★ Price the market you are actually in. Columbus is dearest and slowest at $330,327 and +1.4%; the cheap end is moving fastest. All 40 metros.
5. Know what the closing costs look like in Ohio
A 10¢ per $100 auditor fee under ORC 319.54(G)(3) plus a county permissive tax of up to 30¢ per $100 that ORC 322.02(A) levies upon the grantor. At the 0.40% ceiling that is 11.4× smaller than Philadelphia's 4.578%. The statutory incidence.
6. ★ Let the residual-income test be run before you are under contract
It is a VA-only test on what is left in the household after the payment. It is also where the homestead reduction quietly helps, because a lower escrowed tax means a lower payment. How it works.
★★ The sequencing mistake we see most
Shopping first, closing, and applying to the auditor afterwards. You do not lose the exemption by doing that, but you spend the whole purchase budgeting against the wrong escrow figure, and a payment that looked tight was never the real payment. Get the auditor question answered while you are still looking.
★ Our lane
We are a lender. We underwrite and close the loan. We do not issue your COE, rate your disability, grant your fee exemption, approve your county exemption, or advise on purchase-contract terms, tax or law. We are not affiliated with the VA or any government agency.
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555. (480) 296-6513 · mcerto@cfmtg.com. Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #173855.
Frequently asked questions
What order should an Ohio veteran do things in when buying?
Get the Certificate of Eligibility and establish which entitlement you have, settle the funding-fee exemption question before fixing a closing date, apply separately to your county auditor for the homestead reduction, then shop with the right escrowed tax figure in the payment.Does my lender apply for the Ohio homestead exemption?
No. It is a separate application to your county auditor with its own criteria: a total VA disability rating or TDIU, an honorable-conditions discharge, and the property as your homestead. Nothing in the loan file triggers it.What is the most common sequencing mistake on an Ohio VA purchase?
Shopping and closing first and applying to the county auditor afterwards. The exemption is not lost, but the whole purchase gets budgeted against an escrowed property-tax figure that was never the real one.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about VA home loan financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax or financial advice. Cornerstone First Mortgage is a private lender and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency. VA entitlement, funding-fee exemption and disability ratings are determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Ohio homestead exemption for disabled veterans is governed by Ohio Revised Code sections 323.151 and 323.152 and is administered by county auditors, not by Cornerstone; the statutory amounts are adjusted annually by the Ohio Tax Commissioner and the tax effect depends on local assessment and effective tax rates. Figures here carry the date we verified them against primary sources. All loans are subject to borrower, property and program qualification.