A VA Energy Efficient Mortgage, usually called an EEM, lets a veteran add the cost of approved energy saving improvements to a VA purchase or refinance loan, and VA caps that addition at $6,000. Up to $3,000 VA accepts the documented cost of the work on its own. Between $3,000 and $6,000 the lender has to document the cost and certify that the projected monthly energy savings exceed the increased cost. VA does not permit an EEM above $6,000 at all. The work has to be permanent and it has to reduce energy consumption, it generally has to be finished within six months of closing, and the money sits in escrow until the lender verifies the work and notifies VA in writing.
That is the whole program in one paragraph, and it is the part almost nobody reads before they close. The EEM is decided at the loan application, not afterwards, so a veteran who signs a Clark County purchase in June and discovers in August that the attic has no insulation worth the name has already missed the cheapest window to fix it. This guide walks the rule as VA writes it, then puts it next to what a Southern Nevada cooling season actually costs.
Key takeaways
- $6,000 is a ceiling, not an allowance. VA's own words are that VA does not permit EEMs more than $6,000, and the authority for it is 38 U.S.C. 3710(d). You still have to spend the money on qualifying work and document it.
- The paperwork changes at $3,000, not at $6,000. Below that line VA looks only at documented cost. Above it the lender must also certify that projected monthly energy savings exceed the increased cost, which means you need a bid and a savings case, not just a receipt.
- Permanent and energy reducing are the two tests. Insulation, caulking and weather stripping, storm windows and doors, vapor barriers, heat pumps and solar heating and cooling systems are on VA's list. Appliances, non-permanent fixtures, luxury items such as hot tubs and spas, and new construction are not.
- An EEM rides along with a VA IRRRL. The same two tiers apply. If the new loan's principal, interest, taxes and insurance exceed the old loan's by 20 percent or more, the lender has to certify that the veteran qualified for the higher payment.
- Nevada is where the arithmetic gets interesting. Nevada's average residential electricity price was 13.11 cents per kilowatthour in June 2026, well under the 18.34 cent national average, so the savings case here is built on how many hours the equipment runs rather than on what a kilowatthour costs.
Sources: 38 U.S.C. 3710(d); VA Loan Guaranty Service, VA News, July 21, 2026; VA Pamphlet 26-7 Lenders Handbook, Chapter 7, Topic 3a; U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, data for June 2026. Figures are illustrative only and are not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend.
- A VA Energy Efficient Mortgage adds the cost of approved energy work to a VA purchase or refinance loan. One closing, one lien, no second application.
- The ceiling is $6,000. VA does not permit an EEM above it, and the authority is 38 U.S.C. 3710(d).
- Up to $3,000, VA approves the addition on documented cost alone. From $3,000 to $6,000, the lender must also certify that projected monthly energy savings exceed the increased cost.
- The work must be a permanent fixture and must reduce energy consumption. Appliances, non-permanent fixtures, hot tubs and spas, and new construction are excluded.
- Improvements are generally due within six months of closing, and the money sits in escrow until the lender verifies completion and notifies VA in writing.
- An EEM can ride on a VA IRRRL. If the new PITI exceeds the old by 20 percent or more, the lender must certify the veteran qualified for the higher payment.
Article history
- September 1, 2026, published. Built after a search of the 74 pages then live on this site returned zero mentions of the phrase energy efficient mortgage and zero mentions of EEM. A live search-results read on the same day returned no Valley West property at all for the query, so this page enters a topic the site had never covered rather than competing with one of our own.
- September 1, 2026, the tier rules read at VA rather than from a lender summary. Several widely circulated guides describe the second tier as running from $3,001, and several describe the cap as a sum a veteran automatically receives. VA's own published wording is a range of $3,000 to $6,000, and the ceiling is a limit on what VA will permit, not a grant. The wording on this page follows VA.
- September 1, 2026, the eligible-improvement list restricted to what VA actually prints. An earlier draft of this page listed solar panels generically. VA's published example list says solar heating and cooling systems, which is not the same claim, so the sentence was narrowed and the photovoltaic question is now routed to the lender and to VA rather than answered here.
- September 1, 2026, the climate half of the Nevada argument given a source. Editorial review found the local moat half-evidenced: the electricity price leg carried a cited EIA figure while the cooling season leg was asserted with no number at all. The NOAA cooling and heating degree day normals for Harry Reid International Airport were pulled from the NCEI access API and now carry that half of the argument.
- September 1, 2026, a funding fee figure declined on compliance grounds. Editorial review asked for the fee stated in dollars at the $6,000 ceiling. The VA funding fee is a finance charge, and the amount of a finance charge is an independent triggering term under 12 CFR 1026.24(d)(1). This page carries no Reg Z disclosure set, so the section explains the mechanism instead: the percentage is fixed and the base moves.
- September 1, 2026, the Reg Z pass. The estimator on this page was rebuilt so it reports no monthly payment figure and no repayment term. Those are independent triggering terms under 12 CFR 1026.24(d)(1), and this page carries no rate or payment disclosure, so the tier test is described as the lender's certification rather than modelled in dollars of payment. The subclause was corrected on the same day it was written: (d)(1)(i) is the downpayment trigger, which this page never states, while the terms actually withheld here sit at (d)(1)(ii) and (d)(1)(iii).
What is a VA Energy Efficient Mortgage?
A VA Energy Efficient Mortgage is not a separate loan. It is an increase to a VA guaranteed purchase or refinance loan, taken at application, that pays for approved energy saving improvements to the same property. VA describes it as allowing a veteran to roll the cost of approved energy saving improvements into their VA guaranteed home purchase or refinancing loan.
Because it is an increase rather than a second loan, everything else about your file stays where it is. One closing, one lien, one servicer. VA's Loan Guaranty Service put the trade plainly in a July 2026 briefing: the addition will slightly increase the monthly mortgage payment, and that additional cost is normally offset by a reduction in utility costs over time.
Two conditions decide whether an item is in or out, and they are not about brand or price. The improvement has to be a permanent fixture, and it has to reduce energy consumption. Both have to be true. A portable evaporative cooler reduces energy consumption and fails the first test. A designer front door is permanent and fails the second.
The program applies to the property you are financing, which means it travels with the loan type you are already using. If you are still working out whether a VA purchase is the right route at all, the Nevada VA loan requirements guide covers the eligibility, credit and property side first, and the Nevada VA appraisal guide covers the minimum property requirements an appraiser is separately looking for.
How much can a VA EEM add to your loan?
A VA Energy Efficient Mortgage can add up to $6,000 to your loan, and not a dollar more. VA states the ceiling directly and cites the statute for it:
VA does not permit EEMs more than $6,000 (38 U.S.C. 3710(d)). Generally, improvements must be completed within six months of loan closing, and funds are held in escrow until the lender verifies completion and provides written notification to VA.VA Loan Guaranty Service, "Ever heard of VA's Energy Efficient Mortgages?", VA News, July 21, 2026. Source: https://news.va.gov/148268/ever-heard-vas-energy-efficient-mortgages/
Underneath that ceiling sit two tiers, and the tier you land in decides how much work the file is. The dividing line is $3,000, not $6,000, which is the detail most summaries blur.
| Improvement cost | What VA looks at | What the lender must produce | What this means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to $3,000 | Documented cost of the improvement, on its own | Evidence of the cost, such as an itemized bid or contract | The lightest path. Get a written, itemized bid before the loan is submitted and the tier looks after itself. |
| $3,000 to $6,000 | Documented cost plus a cost effectiveness test | The cost documentation, plus a certification that the projected monthly energy savings exceed the increased cost | You need a savings case, not just a price. A utility or contractor energy audit is the usual way to build one. |
| Above $6,000 | Not permitted as an EEM | Nothing. VA will not increase the loan under this program past the ceiling. | The excess has to be paid or financed some other way. Plan the scope of work around the cap rather than the other way round. |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Source: VA Loan Guaranty Service, VA News, July 21, 2026, and 38 U.S.C. 3710(d). Illustrative only and not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend. Individual lenders may apply their own requirements on top of VA's.
The statute behind the tiers says the same thing in the older language of the United States Code, and it is worth reading once because it names the test the second tier is applying:
the cost of the energy efficiency improvements, up to $3,000 ... or $6,000, if the increase in the monthly payment for principal and interest does not exceed the likely reduction in monthly utility costs.38 U.S.C. 3710(d), energy efficient mortgages, condensed to the two tier clauses. Source: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title38-section3710&num=0&edition=prelim
That is the whole logic of the second tier. VA is willing to let the loan grow past $3,000 only where the work pays for itself out of the utility bill. Your lender is the party that has to make and document that call, which is why the answer to "will VA allow it" is often really "has anyone built the savings case yet".
The estimator
VA EEM tier and documentation checker
Enter the cost of the work and, if you have one, an estimated monthly utility saving. This reports which VA tier the request lands in and what the lender has to document. It reports no interest rate, no payment amount and no loan term. Illustrative only and not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend.
Tier 2. The lender must document the cost and certify that projected monthly energy savings exceed the increased cost.
Method: 38 U.S.C. 3710(d) and VA Loan Guaranty Service, VA News, July 21, 2026. The utility saving figure is your own estimate multiplied out and is not a VA or Valley West projection. Nothing here is a quote, offer, or commitment to lend, and no figure on this page is an interest rate, annual percentage rate, payment amount or repayment term.
Find out whether your Nevada file can carry an energy improvement, current as of September 1, 2026. A short review replaces the estimate above with your own numbers: what your entitlement supports, which tier your scope of work lands in, and what documentation the file will need before it goes to underwriting.
Start my free VA review No obligation · Secure online start · Options subject to approvalWhich improvements qualify for a VA EEM?
A VA Energy Efficient Mortgage covers permanent improvements that reduce the home's energy consumption, and VA publishes an example list rather than a closed one. The examples VA prints come from Chapter 7, Topic 3a of the Lenders Handbook: solar heating and cooling systems, weather stripping or caulking, new or additional insulation, storm windows and doors, and vapor barriers.
The statute is broader than that short list and is worth knowing, because it is the authority the list is drawn from. 38 U.S.C. 3710(d) names caulking and weatherstripping of exterior doors and windows, furnace efficiency modifications including replacement burners and ignition systems, clock thermostats, ceiling, attic, wall and floor insulation, water heater insulation, storm windows and doors, and heat pumps, and it leaves room for other measures the Secretary identifies.
| On VA's list | Where it comes from | Excluded by VA |
|---|---|---|
| Ceiling, attic, wall and floor insulation | 38 U.S.C. 3710(d); VA handbook example list | New construction |
| Weather stripping and caulking of exterior doors and windows | 38 U.S.C. 3710(d); VA handbook example list | Luxury items such as hot tubs and spas |
| Storm windows and storm doors | 38 U.S.C. 3710(d); VA handbook example list | Improvements that do not reduce energy consumption |
| Heat pumps and furnace efficiency modifications | 38 U.S.C. 3710(d) | Appliances |
| Solar heating and cooling systems | VA handbook example list | Non-permanent fixtures |
| Clock thermostats and water heater insulation | 38 U.S.C. 3710(d) | Anything above the $6,000 ceiling |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Sources: 38 U.S.C. 3710(d)(6)(E) and VA Loan Guaranty Service, VA News, July 21, 2026, citing VA Pamphlet 26-7 Lenders Handbook, Chapter 7, Topic 3a. VA describes its list as examples rather than an exhaustive list. Not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend.
Read this one carefullyVA's example list says solar heating and cooling systems. That is not the same phrase as solar panels, and a rooftop photovoltaic array is a different animal from a solar water heater or a solar assisted cooling system. Plenty of guides collapse the two. If solar generation is what you have in mind, put the specific system in front of your lender and let the file get an answer from VA rather than from an article, this one included.
What will a VA EEM not pay for?
VA excludes four categories outright: new construction, luxury items such as hot tubs and spas, improvements that do not reduce energy consumption, and appliances or non-permanent fixtures. Those are VA's own categories, not a lender's interpretation of them.
Two of the four catch people out regularly in Southern Nevada. The first is appliances. A high efficiency refrigerator or a heat pump water heater that plugs in and can be wheeled out is an appliance, however good its energy label is, and it is out. The permanent fixture test is doing the work there, not the efficiency test.
The second is new construction. A brand new home in a Summerlin or Cadence phase isn't an EEM candidate under this program, because the program exists to improve an existing property rather than to upgrade a specification during a build. Builder options are negotiated with the builder, and the Nevada VA new construction guide covers how those files run differently.
The third exclusion, improvements that do not reduce energy consumption, is the one that turns a wish list into a scope of work. Dual pane replacement windows sold on quietness rather than on efficiency, or a re-roof sold on appearance, will be measured on what they do to the energy bill. If the contractor can't say what the item saves, the file can't say it either.
Can you add an EEM to a VA IRRRL or a refinance?
A VA Energy Efficient Mortgage can be added to a VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan, and the same two cost tiers apply. That is the quietly useful version of this program, because it lets a veteran who already has a VA loan address the house without opening a home improvement loan beside it.
There is one extra test attached to the refinance version. VA's guidance says that if the monthly payment for principal, interest, taxes and insurance on the new loan exceeds the same figure on the loan being refinanced by 20 percent or more, the lender must certify that the veteran qualified for the higher payment. On a streamline that ordinarily runs on very little documentation, that threshold is the thing to check early, because crossing it changes what the file has to prove.
Valley West takeIf you are already looking at a streamline, price the energy work at the same time rather than afterwards. A separate improvement loan later is a second application, a second set of costs and a second lien, and none of that is recoverable once the refinance has closed. The Nevada IRRRL guide covers the streamline's own tests, and the parent site explains what a VA streamline actually changes about the loan you already hold.
A cash-out refinance is a different instrument with different rules and its own appraisal and seasoning tests. Where the goal is a larger project than the EEM ceiling can carry, that is usually the conversation instead, and the Nevada VA cash-out guide sets out what it costs to get there.
When do the improvements have to be finished?
VA Energy Efficient Mortgage improvements generally have to be finished within six months of loan closing, with the money held in escrow until the lender verifies the work is done and notifies VA in writing. That single sentence carries three practical consequences that are easy to miss when you are focused on getting to the closing table.
- Before the loan is submittedGet an itemized written bid or contract. VA's documentation test is built on the cost of the work, and a verbal quote is not a document. If the scope is above $3,000, this is also when the savings case has to start existing.
- At closingThe improvement money doesn't come to you. It goes into escrow, which means the contractor is being paid against completion rather than against the closing date.
- Within roughly six monthsThe work has to be finished, the lender has to verify completion, and the lender has to notify VA in writing. In Southern Nevada that window is the reason to book the trade before you close rather than after, because a summer HVAC calendar in Clark County fills up.
Escrow is also a protection rather than only an obstacle. Funds sitting in escrow against completion means a contractor who doesn't finish doesn't get paid out of your loan, and the lien on your home isn't quietly funding an abandoned job.
What does an EEM change for a Las Vegas homeowner?
A VA Energy Efficient Mortgage earns its keep in Southern Nevada through run hours rather than through the price of power. Nevada's average retail residential electricity price was 13.11 cents per kilowatthour in June 2026, against a United States average of 18.34 cents, according to the Energy Information Administration's Electric Power Monthly released on August 26, 2026. Power is comparatively cheap here. The cooling season isn't.
The other half of that sentence has a number too. On NOAA's 1991 to 2020 climate normals, Harry Reid International Airport averages 3,568 cooling degree days a year against 1,951 heating degree days. Las Vegas spends close to twice as much of the year pulling heat out of a house as it does putting heat into one, and that ratio is the argument for spending the EEM on the cooling side of the envelope.
So it flips the usual national framing. In a high rate state the savings case is built on cutting the cost of each unit of energy. In Clark County it's built on cutting how many units a house needs across those 3,568 degree days, which is exactly what attic insulation, sealed ducts, weather stripping and a more efficient heat pump do.
It also explains why the second tier's certification is often easier to satisfy on an older Las Vegas house than on a newer one. A 1990s single story home with thin attic insulation and original weather stripping has more waste to remove than a 2019 build to a modern energy code, so the projected saving on the same $5,000 of work is larger.
Local footnoteVA suggests a home energy audit to identify recommended improvements and notes that in some areas utility companies offer the service. In Southern Nevada, NV Energy publishes residential efficiency rebate programs under its PowerShift banner and the Nevada Governor's Office of Energy runs state level programs. Neither is a VA program and neither changes the $6,000 ceiling, but a rebate that reduces the cost of the work can move a scope of work from the second tier down into the first, which is a real simplification of the file.
If the property in question is near Nellis and the buyer is on a housing allowance rather than a fixed salary, the interaction is worth a separate look, because the number that has to absorb both the mortgage and the utility bill is the same number. The Nellis AFB BAH guide has the current allowance by pay grade.
How does an EEM affect your funding fee and closing cash?
An EEM increases the loan amount, and the VA funding fee is charged as a percentage of the loan amount, so a larger loan carries a larger fee in dollars at the same percentage. The percentage itself doesn't change because you added an energy improvement. It is set by what kind of loan you are taking and whether you have used entitlement before.
On a purchase with less than 5 percent down, VA's published fee is 2.15 percent for a first use of the benefit and 3.3 percent for a subsequent use. On a VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan it's 0.5 percent. Those are VA's figures, current on VA's funding fee page, and they're the same figures whether or not an EEM is attached. What moves is the base, not the rate: the fee is charged on the loan amount, an EEM raises the loan amount by as much as $6,000, and the fee rises by your own tier's percentage of whatever you actually add. Your lender computes the figure on your file. This page deliberately does not state one, because a finance charge amount is an independent triggering term under Regulation Z and this page carries no rate or payment disclosure.
Some veterans pay no funding fee at all. VA's exemption list includes veterans receiving VA compensation for a service connected disability, veterans who are eligible for compensation but receive retirement or active duty pay instead, surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, veterans with a pre-discharge proposed or memorandum rating before closing, and active duty service members who provide evidence of a Purple Heart by the closing date. For an exempt borrower the fee question disappears and the EEM simply adds the cost of the work. The 2026 Nevada funding fee guide walks every tier and exemption, and the Nevada closing costs guide covers what else lands on the settlement statement.
TipAsk your lender two questions before the file is submitted: does the loan amount used to calculate my funding fee include the EEM, and does your investor accept an EEM on this loan type at all. Both answers vary by lender and neither is set by VA. Nothing on this page is a Valley West requirement, and no figure here is a quote or a commitment to lend.
Entitlement is a separate question again. A veteran with full entitlement has no county loan limit, so a modest increase for energy work has nothing to bump against. A veteran on partial entitlement is working against the 2026 one-unit conforming limit, which is $832,750 in Clark County and every other Nevada county, and there the extra few thousand dollars is worth checking rather than assuming. The Clark County VA loan guide and the entitlement guide cover the subtraction.
How do you ask for a VA EEM without slowing the closing?
A VA Energy Efficient Mortgage has to be raised at application with a written bid in hand, because it is priced into the loan before underwriting rather than bolted on afterwards. Almost every delayed EEM file is a file where the request arrived late.
A sequence that tends to work in Clark County looks like this. Decide the scope of work while you are still in inspection, not after. Get an itemized bid from a licensed Nevada contractor and, if the scope is above $3,000, ask for the projected energy saving in writing at the same time. Hand both to your loan officer before the file is submitted. Confirm in the same conversation whether the lender's investor accepts an EEM on this product, because that answer is a lender answer rather than a VA one.
Tell your insurance agent what is going in, too. A new roof, a solar heating and cooling system or a replacement HVAC changes the replacement cost picture on a homeowners policy, and that is a conversation worth having before the work starts rather than at renewal. Our sister agency, Valley West Insurance, handles the Las Vegas home and auto side, and its guide to what actually drives a Southern Nevada premium explains which upgrades move the number and which do not.
One more sequencing point that is specific to a purchase. The home inspection and the VA appraisal are answering different questions, and neither is an energy audit. An appraiser is confirming the minimum property requirements, an inspector is telling you the condition of the house, and an energy audit is the only one of the three that produces a savings estimate. If the second tier is where your scope of work lands, that third report is the one nobody has ordered yet.
The bottom line on VA Energy Efficient Mortgages in Nevada
The VA Energy Efficient Mortgage is a small, specific and underused tool: a maximum of $6,000 added to a VA purchase or refinance loan for permanent improvements that reduce energy consumption. It isn't a renovation loan and it won't redo a house. What it does well is pay for the unglamorous work that a Southern Nevada cooling season punishes you for skipping, at the moment when adding it to the loan is cheapest.
The three things worth carrying away are the $3,000 documentation line, the six month completion window with the money in escrow, and the fact that VA calls its improvement list examples rather than a closed set. The rest is timing. Ask at application, bring a bid, and let the lender build the savings case if the scope of work needs one.
VA's own framing is that this is a valuable and often overlooked benefit of the VA home loan program. That is a fair description of something that has existed for decades and that most veterans have never had raised with them by anyone.
What else do Nevada veterans ask about VA Energy Efficient Mortgages?
How much can a VA Energy Efficient Mortgage add to your loan?
Up to $6,000, and VA does not permit an EEM above that figure. Below the ceiling there are two tiers. Up to $3,000 VA approves the addition based solely on the documented cost of the improvement. Between $3,000 and $6,000 the lender must document the cost, using something like an itemized bid or contract, and also certify that the projected monthly energy savings exceed the increased cost. The authority for the ceiling is 38 U.S.C. 3710(d). These figures are illustrative and not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend.
What improvements qualify for a VA Energy Efficient Mortgage?
Permanent improvements that reduce the home's energy consumption. VA's published examples are solar heating and cooling systems, weather stripping or caulking, new or additional insulation, storm windows and doors, and vapor barriers. The statute behind the program, 38 U.S.C. 3710(d), also names heat pumps, furnace efficiency modifications, clock thermostats, water heater insulation, and ceiling, attic, wall and floor insulation. VA describes its list as examples rather than an exhaustive list, so an item that is permanent and demonstrably reduces energy use is worth putting to your lender.
Can you get an EEM with a VA IRRRL?
Yes. VA allows an Energy Efficient Mortgage with a VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan, and the same two cost tiers apply. There is one additional test on the refinance version: if the monthly payment for principal, interest, taxes and insurance on the new loan exceeds the same figure on the loan being refinanced by 20 percent or more, the lender must certify that the veteran qualified for the higher payment. Check that threshold early, because crossing it changes how much the file has to document.
How long do you have to finish the improvements?
Generally six months from loan closing. The improvement money is held in escrow rather than released to you at closing, and it stays there until the lender verifies that the work is complete and provides written notification to VA. In Southern Nevada the practical advice is to line the contractor up before closing rather than after, because a summer HVAC and insulation calendar in Clark County books out and the six month clock starts whether or not the trade is available.
Does a VA EEM pay for new appliances or a hot tub?
No. VA excludes appliances and non-permanent fixtures, and it excludes luxury items, naming hot tubs and spas specifically. It also excludes new construction and any improvement that does not reduce energy consumption. The two tests an item has to pass are that it is a permanent fixture and that it reduces the home's energy use, and both have to be true. A high efficiency appliance that plugs into a wall fails the first test no matter how good its energy rating is.
Does adding an EEM change the VA funding fee?
It changes the dollar amount, not the percentage. The VA funding fee is charged as a percentage of the loan amount and an EEM increases the loan amount, so the same percentage produces a larger figure. VA's published purchase fee is 2.15 percent for a first use with less than 5 percent down and 3.3 percent for a subsequent use, and it is 0.5 percent on an Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan. Veterans receiving VA compensation for a service connected disability are among those exempt from the fee entirely. Ask your lender to confirm how the fee is calculated on your specific file. Illustrative only and not a quote, offer, or commitment to lend.
What sources are cited in this article?
Sources
- VA Loan Guaranty Service, "Ever heard of VA's Energy Efficient Mortgages?", VA News, published July 21, 2026. The source for the two cost tiers, the example improvement list, the exclusion list, the six month completion and escrow rule, and the IRRRL 20 percent certification. news.va.gov/148268/ever-heard-vas-energy-efficient-mortgages.
- 38 U.S.C. 3710(d), the statutory authority for energy efficient mortgages, including the $3,000 and $6,000 clauses and the list of residential energy conservation measures at subsection (d)(6)(E). uscode.house.gov, 38 U.S.C. 3710.
- VA Pamphlet 26-7, Lenders Handbook, Chapter 7, Topic 3a, the chapter VA cites for its example list of eligible improvements. VA Lenders Handbook on KnowVA, and the full pamphlet as a directly readable PDF at VA Pamphlet 26-7, Revised (PDF).
- VA.gov, VA funding fee and loan closing costs, for the 2.15 percent first use and 3.3 percent subsequent use purchase tiers, the 0.5 percent Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan tier, and the exemption list. va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/funding-fee-and-closing-costs.
- VA.gov, VA home loan limits, for the treatment of full and partial entitlement. va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/loan-limits.
- Federal Housing Finance Agency, conforming loan limit values for 2026, for the $832,750 one-unit baseline that applies in Clark County and every other Nevada county. fhfa.gov, FHFA Announces Conforming Loan Limit Values for 2026.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, average price of electricity to ultimate customers by end-use sector. Data for June 2026, released August 26, 2026: Nevada residential 13.11 cents per kilowatthour against a United States average of 18.34 cents. eia.gov, Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A.
- NV Energy residential efficiency rebate programs, for the Southern Nevada utility rebate note. Not a VA program and not affiliated with VA or with Valley West Mortgage. nvenergy.com/save-with-powershift.
- Nevada Governor's Office of Energy, state energy programs. energy.nv.gov.
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, annual/seasonal normals for station USW00023169, Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas NV. ANN-CLDD-NORMAL 3,568 cooling degree days and ANN-HTDD-NORMAL 1,951 heating degree days, base 65 degrees Fahrenheit, read from the NCEI access API. ncei.noaa.gov, U.S. Climate Normals.
- 12 CFR 1026.24(d)(1), Regulation Z advertising triggering terms, the rule this page is written to avoid triggering. It states none of them: no amount or percentage of a downpayment, no number of payments or period of repayment, no amount of any payment, and no amount of any finance charge. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z section 1026.24.
Keep reading
- VA home loans in Las Vegas, the hub this guide sits under
- The Nevada VA IRRRL guide, the streamline an EEM can ride along with
- VA appraisal requirements in Nevada, the minimum property requirements an appraiser checks
- The 2026 VA funding fee in Nevada, every tier and exemption
- VA loan closing costs in Nevada, what else lands on the settlement statement
- Nevada VA loan requirements, eligibility, credit and property
- VA loan calculator, estimate the numbers on a purchase
Your next step
Find out whether your file can carry the energy work before it goes to underwriting.
Ten minutes with a local Nevada team replaces the estimate above with your real numbers, read off your own file rather than an average. Here is how it works:
- Soft credit review. It will not affect your score.
- Certificate of Eligibility. Your entitlement charged and what remains, confirmed rather than guessed.
- A written plan with the scope of work on it. So you know which tier the file lands in before you write an offer, not after.
Subject to credit, income, property, and underwriting approval. Not a commitment to lend. Educational information, not legal advice. Valley West Mortgage · NMLS #65506 · Equal Housing Opportunity. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency.