VA Loans in Memphis, TN
Memphis is the most affordable big city in Tennessee, with a typical home selling for about $215,000 as of May 2026 per Redfin, and that single number changes who gets to own here. Pair it with a VA loan’s zero down payment and a 500 minimum credit score, and homeownership opens to sailors at NSA Mid-South, first-time buyers, and Veterans a coastal market would have priced out years ago. We help buyers across Memphis, Millington, and Shelby County purchase and refinance.
- Fast 2 to 3 week closings
- 3,000+ Veterans helped
- 35+ wholesale lenders
The Cheapest Big-City Median in Tennessee
At $215,000, the Memphis median buys an actual house, and the monthly math is friendlier than rent in much of the city. Principal and interest at a 6.5 percent example rate run about $1,360 a month with nothing down, before taxes and insurance. Demand has noticed, with values up 9.1 percent over the past year and homes selling in about 40 days, among the fastest in the state. For a Veteran or a young sailor, this is the rare market where the first home and the affordable home are the same house.
NSA Mid-South, the Navy’s Personnel Hub
Twenty minutes north of downtown in Millington sits Naval Support Activity Mid-South, where roughly 7,500 sailors and civilians run the Navy’s human resources operations. It is a different kind of base town, heavy on long tours and office commands rather than deployments, which makes buying even more sensible since families tend to stay put. Sailors buy in Millington itself for the five-minute commute or across north Memphis and the suburbs for the schools, and the market data on this page covers both, with Millington’s 38053 right in the ZIP selector below.
Built for the First-Time Buyer
Memphis prices plus VA terms remove almost every excuse for renting, and our guidelines were shaped for exactly the files this city produces.
- Nothing down on a primary home, where even 5 percent conventional down means finding close to $11,000
- No monthly mortgage insurance, keeping the full payment near what landlords charge for less house
- A 500 minimum credit score, which keeps a first-enlistment sailor or a rebuilt credit file in the running
- A one-time funding fee, waived for Veterans with a 10 percent or higher service-connected disability rating and for surviving spouses
The Honest Word on Shelby County Taxes
Shelby County carries the highest effective property tax rate in Tennessee, around 0.89 percent, and you deserve that number up front rather than at the closing table. Two things soften it. The low purchase prices mean the dollar amount stays manageable, with the tax on a median home running around $160 a month, and Tennessee charges no state income tax, so the total tax picture still beats most states. We build the real Shelby County figure into your pre-qualification from the first call, so the payment you plan around is the payment you get.
VA Financing Across Memphis and Millington
Four programs handle nearly everything we see in Shelby County.
VA purchase
A primary home anywhere from Midtown and East Memphis to Bartlett, Raleigh-Frayser, and Millington, financed in full with zero down.
One-time close construction
Build new on a Shelby County lot with the land, the build, and the permanent loan wrapped into a single closing through our Tennessee VA construction loan program.
VA IRRRL
A streamline rate cut on an existing VA loan with no appraisal and no income paperwork, including on a former home you now rent out.
VA cash-out
Equity out for repairs or debt payoff at up to 100 percent of value, with credit considered down to 500.
Who Qualifies in Shelby County
The benefit reaches the sailors and civilians mobilized through NSA Mid-South, the Veterans settled across Memphis and its suburbs, Guard and Reserve members with six years of service or 90 days of federal activation, and surviving spouses of service members lost in the line of duty. Active-duty minimums run 90 days in wartime or 181 in peacetime. We handle the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) ourselves, review your income and credit honestly, and with 35-plus wholesale lenders behind the file, one bank’s no is rarely the final answer.
Refinancing a Memphis VA Loan
Memphis owners refinance for two reasons, and we handle both. When your rate is above the market, the IRRRL streamline cuts it with no appraisal and no income documents, worth about $63 a month per half point on a $200,000 balance, and the No Score version asks no credit minimum at all when the mortgage has stayed clean for a year. When the goal is cash, the VA cash-out reaches up to 100 percent of value, useful in a city where rental-property projects and family repairs are everyday reasons to tap equity.
Why Memphis Veterans Work With PBT Bancorp
PBT Bancorp pairs an FDIC member bank with a wholesale brokerage, licensed in all fifty states, with more than 3,000 military families closed. Your loan funds in house or ships out to more than 35 competing lenders, and one VA specialist keeps the file from the first call through the closing table.
Memphis files often need the flexibility the big lenders advertise but rarely deliver, and that is our lane. The 500-score floor on purchases is real, the No Score IRRRL closes refinances that get declined elsewhere, and we will lay out VA, FHA, and conventional numbers side by side whenever you want the comparison. Call 800-697-4371 or get pre-qualified online and we will run your numbers, Shelby County taxes included.
VA Loan Limit in Shelby County
The 2026 VA loan limit in Shelby County is $832,750, which is the most an eligible Veteran can typically finance locally with no money down and no monthly mortgage insurance (PMI). We keep this figure current as the county loan limits update each year, and your loan officer will confirm the exact entitlement for your file.
Memphis VA Loan FAQs
What do homes cost in Memphis for a VA buyer?
The typical Memphis home sold for about $215,000 as of May 2026 per Redfin, the most affordable big-city median in Tennessee, though values are up 9.1 percent on the year and homes are moving in about 40 days. That price sits far under the $832,750 Shelby County limit, so VA buyers finance the full amount with nothing down and entitlement to spare.
Can sailors at NSA Mid-South use a VA loan?
Yes, active-duty sailors and eligible civilians mobilized through Millington’s NSA Mid-South qualify under the same federal rules as everyone else, generally 90 days of continuous active service. Many buy in Millington for the short commute and others spread across north Memphis and Bartlett, and we run files for both every year. The ZIP selector on this page includes Millington’s 38053 so you can check that market directly.
Are Shelby County property taxes a problem for VA buyers?
They are the highest in Tennessee at roughly 0.89 percent, but on Memphis prices the dollar figure stays manageable, around $160 a month on a median home, and the state’s lack of income tax offsets a good piece of it. We include the real tax figure in your pre-qualification so the payment never surprises you.
Ready to start your Memphis VA loan?
Talk with a PBT Bancorp VA specialist about buying or refinancing in Memphis. We pull your Certificate of Eligibility (COE), shop your loan across more than 35 wholesale lenders, and most of our borrowers close in two to three weeks. Call 800-697-4371 or get pre-qualified online.
Hero photo of the Memphis skyline by Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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