Texas Veterans Land Board Land Loan

The Veterans Land Board land loan is the oldest piece of the program and the only one of its kind in the country. It lends a veteran or military member money to buy raw land in Texas, which ordinary mortgage lenders are reluctant to finance. The Land Office's page: Texas veterans and military members may "borrow up to $200,000 to purchase land at competitive interest rates while typically requiring a minimum five percent down payment for tracts of one acre or more", and "Two veterans who are spouses and are individually eligible ... may borrow up to $275,000, with a minimum requirement of five percent down." The same page's rate panel still says the Board finances "tracts up to $150,000", an older ceiling; ask the Board which figure governs a large tract. The loan is a fixed-rate 30-year term; the land loan rate was 7.25% in October 2026, and rates change. A $325 appraisal and contract service fee is collected after the application, there is no prepayment penalty, and a land loan may be assumed after three years. All loans are subject to credit approval. The tract has to be at least one acre, wholly in Texas, with legal and usable road access at least 60 feet wide (or the county's width if greater), not zoned strictly commercial, and not owned by the buyer or spouse in the previous three years; debris and dilapidated structures must be cleared before closing and improvements are given no value. The acre is measured net: the Land Office excludes any portion under a dedicated public roadway or a navigable waterway, any portion subject to frequent inundation, and any portion otherwise unusable. A tract that reads as an acre on a plat can fall short once those exclusions come out. Eligibility follows the same list as the VLB home loan. The borrower has to be at least 18 and a bona fide Texas resident on the date of application, and has to be an active duty member, a Texas National Guard member, a reserve component member with 20 qualifying years, a veteran with at least 90 days of active duty (or discharged sooner for a service-connected disability) who was not discharged dishonorably, or the surviving spouse of a veteran missing in action or whose death was service connected (40 Texas Administrative Code 175.2 sets the detail). There is no disability rating requirement. Separately from the loan, the Land Office holds sales of tracts the Board owns, open to veterans and military members, who may then finance the tract with a VLB land loan; the Land Office posts the sale calendar and terms.