The VA Ladder Projector

How this works, and its limits. This is an educational planning model, not financial, tax, or investment advice, and not a promise of returns. Home values, rents, and BAH come from the PCS map (Zillow typical home value for the county members near each base buy in, elevateMLS or Zillow rent, and 2026 BAH with your dependent status). Each purchase amortizes a 30-year VA loan at the rate for that station: set a Default rate, and override any station with the rate you would actually lock in when you buy there, since homes bought years apart catch different rates. Rate stays fixed for that loan for its full life. While you live in a home, your BAH offsets the payment: the Lived-in cost column and the summary show what you would pay out of pocket to occupy it (payment minus BAH), and you can set a different paygrade per station in its Overrides to reflect promotions over the career. BAH is not counted as income once the home becomes a rental. Property taxes and insurance scale with value. Appreciation applies the rate you pick; the Flat setting is the bear case. A home bought later in the journey is not priced at today's number: it is today's value grown by that appreciation rate to its purchase year, so later purchases cost more, carry larger loans, and use more entitlement, and their starting rent is likewise the market rent grown to that year. Conforming loan limits are grown the same way so the entitlement math stays consistent. With appreciation set to Flat, every home is bought at today's price. You can also type an exact purchase price on any buy station to reflect what you actually paid or plan to pay; the home then appreciates from that figure, and the placeholder shows the computed market price it replaces. Rentals assume the rent growth you select (3% to 5% a year, compounded over the whole hold), one month per year of vacancy, 1% of value per year in maintenance, and, if you check it, 10% property management. The rent figure is a conservative blended market rent (Zillow for most counties, live elevateMLS where we have it, or a local figure we have set by hand). It blends apartments and condos with houses, so it usually sits below what a single-family home actually rents for; a house near the gate often rents for more, which improves cash flow. You can type a real rent on any buy station to reflect what the house would actually fetch (the placeholder shows the market default it replaces); this is the single biggest lever on whether the rentals cash-flow. That is exactly the number worth checking on a call. The "Hold the rentals" control projects the portfolio to separation, or a chosen number of years after, holding every home as a rental (the last one included) past your service. Because the mortgage payment is fixed while rent rises, cash flow that is negative at separation often turns positive years later; that crossover is the point of the ladder, and it usually lands after you separate.

VA entitlement. Your first VA purchase uses full entitlement, so zero down with no loan limit. Once you keep that home and buy again, the first loan keeps using entitlement, so later homes can require a down payment. The model computes it the way a VA lender would: remaining entitlement is 25% of the county conforming loan limit minus 25% of the loans you still hold; the zero-down ceiling is remaining entitlement times four; above that, the down payment is 25% of the excess. The VA funding fee is financed in at 2.15% on the first use and 3.3% on later uses, unless you mark the disability waiver. You can also put money down on any home (dollars or a percent, in its Overrides): a down payment lowers the loan, improves cash flow, and cuts the funding fee (5% down drops it to 1.5%, 10% down to 1.25%), and it counts toward your total out of pocket. It is a real lever in a high-rate market, but the cash you put down is not invested elsewhere, so a down payment that fixes monthly cash flow also ties up capital that could have compounded; that opportunity cost is not modeled here. County loan limits are the 2026 FHFA figures. This is a planning estimate; your lender and the VA determine your actual entitlement.

Not modeled in this version: selling a home mid-career, income taxes and depreciation, the capital-gains primary-residence exclusion clock, HOA dues, rising BAH as you promote, and the reality that a rental which does not cash-flow is a liability. Occupancy rules are real: VA loans require you to intend to occupy the home, generally within 60 days, for about 12 months before converting to a rental. Read our VA buyer data page before acting.

Sources: 2026 DFAS BAH tables; Zillow Research (ZHVI, ZORI); elevateMLS leased rentals; FHFA 2026 conforming loan limits; Freddie Mac average rate. Analysis: Rob Thompson, Realtor, Iconic Colorado Properties. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs.