November 11, 2026 marks 108 years since the armistice that ended the First World War — the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918. Since 1954 the day has carried a wider meaning. It honors everyone who has served in the United States armed forces, in war and in peace, living and deceased. Memorial Day remembers those who died in service. Veterans Day thanks those who came home.

For a real estate team working across New York City and Long Island, the day also has a practical heart. The most valuable financial benefit attached to military service is not widely understood by many of the people who earned it. Most veterans know the VA home loan exists. Far fewer know what it actually permits in this market, where a Manhattan co-op, a Brooklyn brownstone, and a Nassau County colonial each meet the rules differently.

Key takeaways

  • Veterans Day falls on November 11 every year, not on a Monday, because it marks a specific moment in history. It honors all who served; Memorial Day honors those who died serving.
  • The VA home loan allows eligible veterans, service members, and some surviving spouses to buy with no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance, backed by a federal guaranty instead.
  • In New York, property type decides the outcome. Co-ops are generally not financed with a VA loan, and condos must be in an approved project before an offer makes sense.
  • A VA purchase includes a VA appraisal with minimum property requirements. Homes in rough condition may need repairs before closing — a constraint to plan around, not a reason to give up.
  • New York's veteran property tax exemptions are separate from the loan benefit, are administered locally, and require an application many people never file.

A fixed date, and a broader meaning

On the eleventh hour of November 11, 1918, the fighting on the Western Front stopped. Armistice Day was established to remember it, became a federal holiday in 1938, and in 1954 President Eisenhower signed the law renaming it Veterans Day so that it would honor every American veteran rather than the dead of one war.

For a few years in the 1970s, the holiday was moved to the fourth Monday in October under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The public disliked it, states kept observing the original date, and in 1975 the law was changed back. Veterans Day has been November 11 ever since — a date with meaning, not a long weekend.

What the VA home loan actually is

The Department of Veterans Affairs does not lend money. It guarantees a portion of a loan that a private lender — a bank, credit union, or mortgage company — makes to an eligible borrower. Because the federal government shares the loss if the loan fails, lenders can offer terms that conventional financing usually cannot match.

  • No down payment. Borrowers with full entitlement can finance the entire purchase price, subject to lender approval. This is the provision that changes lives: a household without a large cash reserve can still buy.
  • No monthly mortgage insurance. Conventional loans with a small down payment generally require private mortgage insurance. VA loans do not, because the guaranty stands in its place.
  • A funding fee, not insurance. Most borrowers pay a one-time VA funding fee, typically financed into the loan. The amount varies with the down payment and prior use of the benefit. Veterans who receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability are generally exempt.
  • No county loan limit with full entitlement. Since 2020, borrowers with full entitlement are not capped by county loan limits, though lenders apply their own standards at higher loan amounts.
  • The loan is assumable. A future buyer may be able to take over the existing loan, which matters more if rates are higher when you sell than they are today.
  • Underwriting looks different. The VA itself does not set a minimum credit score; lenders do. VA underwriting also weighs residual income — what is left after housing and obligations — rather than relying only on a debt-to-income ceiling.

Eligibility generally comes from 90 consecutive days of active duty during wartime, 181 days during peacetime, six years of service in the National Guard or Reserve, or the status of an unremarried surviving spouse. Your lender can pull a Certificate of Eligibility, and it is worth doing before you start looking rather than after.

Where New York makes it complicated

In most of the country, the VA loan conversation is about money. Here, it is about the building.

Co-ops. Large parts of Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn are cooperative: you buy shares in a corporation and a proprietary lease, not real property. Co-ops are generally not acceptable security for a VA loan. If a veteran's search points toward co-ops, that part of the market usually requires a conventional loan — which makes the down payment question central again, and makes targeting the right building types a strategy rather than a preference.

Condos. VA maintains a list of approved condominium projects, and lenders can submit projects for review. Approval is a property-level question, not a neighborhood-level one: two buildings on the same block can have different answers. Confirm the specific project before you fall for the apartment.

Houses, townhouses, and small multifamily. Single-family homes, townhouses and planned-unit developments, and two-to-four-unit buildings where the veteran occupies one unit are all workable. The last category is quietly one of the best uses of the benefit in this region: rental income from the other units can carry much of the mortgage, which is why a number of first-time investors on Long Island start this way.

The appraisal. A VA purchase is assigned a VA appraisal, which includes minimum property requirements: a roof with remaining life, sound structure, working utilities, no active water intrusion, safe stairs and handrails, and attention to hazards including lead-based paint in older homes. Wood-destroying insect reports are common in this region. A house that needs a new roof will usually not close with VA financing until the work is completed or funds are escrowed. Sellers sometimes read that as a penalty. It is closer to a warranty: the appraisal protects both the buyer and the price.

None of this argues against the benefit. It argues for knowing the answer before you make an offer, because the difference between a condo that qualifies and one that does not is the difference between a purchase and a wasted month.

Sellers: what a VA offer means on the other side

If you are selling in New York and a VA offer arrives, the terms are usually ordinary and the requirements are specific.

  • Expect a VA appraisal assigned through the VA system, generally paid for by the buyer. It takes time, and it can return a repair list.
  • Minimum property requirements may need to be addressed before closing, sometimes through an escrow holdback.
  • VA rules allow a seller to contribute toward the buyer's closing costs, within limits — confirm the current figures with the lender before you negotiate, rather than after.
  • A VA buyer is not a discount buyer. The appraisal protects the contract price as much as the property, and veterans are frequently among the most qualified buyers in a competitive field because their financing is guaranteed.
  • Assumability can become a selling point later. If your existing loan is assumable and today's rates are higher than your rate, that is a marketing asset, not a footnote.

If you served, start here

  1. Get your Certificate of Eligibility. Your lender can pull it, usually the same day. Everything else depends on it.
  2. Talk to a lender who closes VA loans regularly in New York. Not every loan officer does. Ask how many VA purchases they closed in this market over the last year.
  3. Decide which property types you are actually shopping. Approved condos, townhouses, single-family homes, and two-to-four-unit buildings keep the full benefit available. Co-ops are a different conversation.
  4. Budget past the mortgage. New York taxes, common charges, insurance, and any repairs the appraisal identifies all belong in the number, not beside it.
  5. After closing, apply for the property tax exemption. New York offers an Alternative Veterans Exemption and a Cold War Veterans Exemption, and New York City and many Long Island towns also provide a disability exemption. They are administered by your local assessor, they apply to a primary residence, and they require an application with a filing deadline that varies by municipality — usually late winter or early spring. This is the benefit veterans most often leave on the table because nobody told them it existed.
  6. Work with an agent who reads the building rules as carefully as the listing. In this market, that is most of the job.

A closing thought

We do not treat Veterans Day as a marketing moment. But if the day prompts a real question — about a co-op that will not take a VA loan, a house whose roof may not survive an appraisal, a Long Island two-family that could carry itself, or an exemption you were never told to file for — that is a conversation worth having, and one we are glad to have.

If you served, the benefit was earned. Using it well is the part that takes a strategy.

Nothing in this article is legal, tax, or lending advice. VA eligibility, funding fee status, appraisal outcomes, and municipal exemption rules should be confirmed with an approved lender, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and your local assessor.