Making a VA offer in the Main Gate price band
The towns closest to NAS JRB Fort Worth have 2026 appraisal-roll medians between $194,000 and $288,000. At those prices the VA rules that shape an offer come out to modest dollar amounts: a funding fee of roughly $4,200 to $6,200 with nothing down, and a cap on seller concessions of about $7,800 to $11,500. The part of a VA offer most likely to call for the buyer's own cash in this band is an appraisal that comes in under the contract price.
General information, not advice on a particular offer and not a loan quote. Sources and dates are listed at the end.
The band around the gate
This site does not print sale prices. The yardstick is the Tarrant Appraisal District 2026 certified residential roll: the middle half of single-family market values in each place, and the median.
| Place | Middle half | Median | Accounts | Median year built |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Settlement | $154,000 to $240,000 | $194,000 | 5,049 | 1960 |
| River Oaks | $160,000 to $244,000 | $199,000 | 2,738 | 1946 |
| Lake Worth | $160,000 to $252,000 | $203,000 | 1,784 | 1960 |
| Benbrook | $208,000 to $348,000 | $271,000 | 8,244 | 1979 |
| Westworth Village (on the White Settlement page) | $218,000 to $625,000 | $285,000 | 859 | 1957 |
| Ridgmar, Western Hills, Ridglea | $176,000 to $452,000 | $288,000 | 5,723 | 1958 |
An appraisal-roll value is not what a seller will take or what a VA appraiser will find. Use the band to see where a listing sits against its own town, not to set an offer.
Source: Tarrant Appraisal District 2026 certified residential roll, via TAD data downloads, checked 2026-10-03. Figures as stated on each neighborhood page.
Reservists can hold the benefit too
Many people at this installation are in the Reserve or the Guard, and the VA purchase benefit is not limited to active duty. VA's minimum-service rules for Reserve members are at least 90 days of non-training active-duty service, or 6 creditable years in the Selected Reserve while still serving (or with an honorable discharge or placement on the retired list). National Guard members have parallel rules, including 6 creditable years or 90 days of non-training Title 10 service. The Certificate of Eligibility settles it for any one person.
VA's funding fee chart for purchase loans applies the same percentages to veterans, active-duty members, and National Guard and Reserve members. A VA purchase loan also requires that the buyer will live in the home.
Eligibility: VA home loan eligibility, updated 2026-09-22, checked 2026-10-05. Fee chart: VA funding fee and closing costs, updated 2026-09-22, checked 2026-10-05. Occupancy: VA purchase loan, updated 2026-01-07, checked 2026-10-05.
The funding fee at Benbrook's median
The fee is a percentage of the loan amount, not the price. Its rate depends on the down payment and on whether the buyer has used the benefit before. At a $271,000 price:
| Down payment | Loan amount | Fee rate | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| None, first use | $271,000 | 2.15% | $5,826.50 |
| $13,550 (5%) | $257,450 | 1.5% | $3,861.75 |
| $27,100 (10%) | $243,900 | 1.25% | $3,048.75 |
| None, after first use | $271,000 | 3.3% | $8,943.00 |
On a purchase loan the funding fee is the only cost that can be rolled into the loan; every other charge is paid at closing. With nothing down at first use, the $271,000 purchase becomes a $276,826.50 loan, the figure the Benbrook page uses. The fee is waived for buyers receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability and for several other groups VA lists, including surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation.
Source: VA funding fee and closing costs, updated 2026-09-22, checked 2026-10-05. Benbrook median: TAD 2026, checked 2026-10-03.
How much the seller can be asked to cover
VA does not limit seller credits toward ordinary closing costs. It does cap seller's concessions at 4% of the home's reasonable value, the number on the VA Notice of Value. A concession is anything of value added at no extra cost to the buyer; VA's examples are paying the buyer's funding fee, paying off a buyer's debt, and prepaying the buyer's hazard insurance.
| Place | Value used | 4% cap |
|---|---|---|
| White Settlement | $194,000 | $7,760 |
| River Oaks | $199,000 | $7,960 |
| Lake Worth | $203,000 | $8,120 |
| Benbrook | $271,000 | $10,840 |
| Westworth Village | $285,000 | $11,400 |
| Ridgmar, Western Hills, Ridglea | $288,000 | $11,520 |
In this band, a request that the seller pay the whole first-use funding fee fits under the cap with room left. At Lake Worth's median the 2.15% fee on a $203,000 loan is $4,364.50, leaving $3,755.50 of the $8,120 cap. Items the buyer and seller can negotiate between themselves include the real estate professional's commission and fees, the loan origination fee, discount points or buydown funds, the VA appraisal fee, title insurance, and the recording fee.
Source: VA funding fee and closing costs, updated 2026-09-22, checked 2026-10-05.
When the appraisal comes in low
The largest VA loan on a property is the lower of the appraised value and the purchase price. Illustration only: a contract at $271,000 that appraises at $262,000. With nothing down, the loan base stops at $262,000; the 2.15% fee is $5,633, for a loan of $267,633. The $9,000 difference has to be settled by a price cut, buyer cash, or a split. The concession cap follows the lower value too, down to $10,480.
Older housing is common close to the gate. River Oaks has the oldest median year built on this site, 1946, and Ridgmar, Western Hills, and Ridglea sit at 1958. Age is not an appraisal result, but it is a reason to keep some cash in reserve rather than committing all of it to concessions or price.
Loan ceiling: VA entitlement and limits, updated 2025-08-12, checked 2026-10-05. Year built: TAD 2026, checked 2026-10-03.
Tarrant County's loan limit rarely binds here
The 2026 one-unit conforming loan limit for Tarrant County is $832,750. VA uses a county limit only when a buyer has entitlement still tied up in another VA loan; a buyer with full entitlement has no VA loan limit, though the lender still decides what that buyer can afford from credit, income, debts, and assets. Every median in the table above is far under the county line. A buyer who kept a house elsewhere with a VA loan on it can find the remaining room with the method on the loan assumption guide.
Limit: FHFA 2026 conforming loan limit values, all counties, checked 2026-10-05. Entitlement and lender approval: VA entitlement and limits, checked 2026-10-05.
One week of rate movement on the Benbrook loan
Freddie Mac's 30-year average was 7.28% for the week of October 1, 2026, up from 7.03% a week earlier. On the $276,826.50 Benbrook loan that is principal and interest of about $1,894 at 7.28% against about $1,847 at 7.03%, a difference of roughly $47 a month. The PMMS number is a national conventional average, not a VA rate; a lender sets the actual rate and points. VA has no minimum credit score, but some lenders do, which is one reason VA suggests contacting more than one lender.
Rates: Freddie Mac PMMS, checked 2026-10-05. Credit score: VA entitlement and limits, checked 2026-10-05.
The tradeoff
A buyer short on cash can lean on the seller, and in this band the 4% cap leaves real room. A buyer with savings can ask for less and promise to cover part of a low appraisal, which reads as a stronger offer but spends cash that a short tour may need at the exit. The rent-or-buy guide shows how thin three-year equity is at these prices, which is the case for keeping a reserve.
Related pages
- Compare the neighborhoods on drive time, district, and tax rate.
- 2026 BAH for TX356.
- Selling or renting out when orders come.
Sources and dates
- Bands, medians, accounts, year built: Tarrant Appraisal District 2026 certified residential roll, checked 2026-10-03.
- Reserve and Guard eligibility: VA.gov, updated 2026-09-22, checked 2026-10-05.
- Funding fee chart, exemptions, financing rule, negotiable costs, 4% concession cap: VA.gov, updated 2026-09-22, checked 2026-10-05.
- Loan ceiling, full entitlement, lender approval, credit score: VA.gov, updated 2025-08-12, checked 2026-10-05.
- Occupancy: VA.gov, updated 2026-01-07, checked 2026-10-05.
- Tarrant County one-unit limit $832,750: FHFA 2026 county file, checked 2026-10-05.
- 7.28% and 7.03%: Freddie Mac PMMS, week of 2026-10-01, checked 2026-10-05.