VA loan calculators for Fort Riley
Three free tools, no personal information required and nothing submitted anywhere. They use the official 2026 housing allowance for Fort Riley, KS, where an E-5 with dependents receives $1,314 per month.
What your BAH covers at Fort Riley
Official 2026 rates. Pick your grade and see the home price your housing allowance supports.
Your 2026 BAH at Fort Riley
$1,314/mo
up $45 from 2025
Estimated purchase power
~$160,000
with $0 down, 30-yr fixed, after $179/mo property tax at the 1.315% Geary County rate, and ~$110/mo insurance
See what you qualify for2026 BAH rates published by the Defense Travel Management Office, effective January 1, 2026. O-8 and above shown at the O-7 rate. Estimate only. Not a loan offer, rate quote, or commitment to lend. Property tax is charged at 1.315% of the price, the effective rate in Geary County, KS (median taxes actually paid, Census ACS 2024 1-year, against the typical local home value), rather than a flat percentage of your allowance. Homeowners insurance is an assumption at $110 a month and varies widely, especially near the coast, and flood insurance is separate again. Your qualifying amount depends on credit, income, debts, and market conditions. Excludes any VA funding fee.
Is that the number you were expecting?
Purchase power moves with credit, debts, and what the property appraises at. Marc will tell you what your allowance really supports before you start touring.
Basic Allowance for Housing is set by duty station, paygrade, and dependent status, and it is not taxed. Lenders generally count it as qualifying income, which is why service members often qualify for more than they expect. This tool converts the published allowance into the purchase price it supports so you can see the number before you tour a house.
Does your BAH cover the rent at Fort Riley?
Your 2026 housing allowance next to what HUD says a rental actually costs in Geary County, KS.
Your allowance covers 90% of a 3 bedroom at fair market rent in Geary County, KS.
Or, put toward a home you own
~$162,000
estimated purchase price the same allowance supports, $0 down, 30 year fixed
See what you qualify forRent figures are HUD Fair Market Rents for fiscal year 2026, the 40th percentile of local rents for Geary County, KS, published at huduser.gov. BAH is the 2026 Defense Travel Management Office rate, effective January 1, 2026. Estimate only, not a loan offer, rate quote, or commitment to lend. Purchase figures assume the full allowance goes to housing and reserve roughly 22% for taxes and insurance; your own numbers depend on credit, income, debts, and the property.
Renting and buying are closer than that gap makes them look.
A payment includes taxes, insurance, and sometimes flood cover. Marc will put your actual numbers side by side so you are comparing like for like.
Every site publishes the housing allowance. Almost none put it next to what renting actually costs in the same county, which is the comparison that decides whether renting or buying makes sense. Fair Market Rent is HUD's own 40th percentile figure for Geary County, KS, drawn from the same kind of local rent data the allowance itself is built on.
Can you buy again without selling?
If you already used your VA loan and are keeping that home, this estimates what is left of your entitlement and what you could buy at the next duty station.
Geary County, KS · 2026 conforming loan limit $832,750
Most you can buy with $0 down
$582,750
Entitlement left: $145,688 of $208,188
At $350,000 you would need nothing down.
Estimate only. Not a loan offer or a commitment to lend. Entitlement is charged at 25 percent of the original loan amount, and the guaranty available in a county is 25 percent of the 2026 conforming loan limit published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Your actual entitlement comes from your Certificate of Eligibility and can differ after a restoration, a substitution of entitlement, or a prior default. A veteran with full entitlement has no loan limit at all.
Only your Certificate of Eligibility settles this.
Entitlement can be restored, substituted, or partly used in ways this estimate cannot see. Marc pulls your COE and tells you the real figure, usually the same day.
A VA loan can be used more than once, and you do not always have to sell the first home to buy the next one. When an earlier VA loan is still outstanding you are working with what is left of your entitlement, which is capped by the county conforming loan limit rather than by the benefit itself. This is the calculation most PCSing homeowners get wrong, usually by assuming they cannot buy at all.
Want your real number instead of an estimate?
Marc runs your actual scenario, with your credit, your entitlement, and the property you are looking at. No cost and no obligation.
A VA loan finances up to 100 percent of a primary residence and carries no monthly private mortgage insurance, so the payment is usually lower than a conventional or FHA payment at the same price. Estimates here cover principal and interest. Property taxes, insurance, and any association dues are separate and vary by county and neighborhood.
You may not owe the funding fee at all.
Veterans receiving VA disability compensation, and certain surviving spouses, are exempt. Marc verifies exemption status before quoting anything.
The funding fee is a one time charge that keeps the VA program running without monthly mortgage insurance. It is 2.15 percent of the loan on a first use purchase with less than 5 percent down and 3.3 percent on a subsequent use loan, it falls as the down payment rises, and most borrowers roll it into the loan rather than paying cash. Veterans receiving VA disability compensation, and certain surviving spouses, are exempt.
Buying on orders: your PCS timeline
Enter your report date and the process works backwards from it, the way a PCS purchase actually gets planned.
120 days out.
- 1
Confirm eligibility and pull your COE
Sep 10, 2026
Before you shop, know what your entitlement actually is. If you already own a home bought with your VA loan, this is when you find out what is left.
- 2
Get a real pre approval
Sep 30, 2026
Not an online estimate. A full pre approval with income and credit reviewed is what makes an offer competitive in a base town where inventory moves fast.
- 3
Set your budget against BAH
Oct 15, 2026
Your allowance at the new duty station is known the moment you have orders. Build the budget on that number, not on what you pay now.
- 4
Line up an agent who works with PCS buyers
Oct 25, 2026
Someone who has closed on orders understands terminal leave, house hunting permissive TDY, and writing an offer from three time zones away.
- 5
House hunt, in person or remotely
Nov 9, 2026
Many PCS buyers tour by video and never see the house until closing. That works when the agent, lender, and inspector are people you trust.
- 6
Offer accepted, open escrow
Nov 19, 2026
The clock from accepted offer to keys is where the real timeline pressure sits. Everything from here runs in parallel.
- 7
VA appraisal ordered
Nov 24, 2026
The appraisal confirms value and checks minimum property requirements. It is ordered early because it is the step least within anyone's control.
- 8
Inspection and negotiation
Nov 29, 2026
Findings get negotiated while the appraisal is out, not after, so a repair request does not push the closing date.
- 9
Underwriting clear to close
Dec 18, 2026
Final conditions cleared. Avoid new credit, new debt, and job changes between here and closing.
- 10
Final walkthrough and closing disclosure
Dec 29, 2026
You review the closing disclosure at least three business days before signing. That window is federal law and it does not flex.
- 11
Close and take keys
Jan 5, 2027
Closing before the report date means you move in rather than into temporary lodging, which is the whole point of starting early.
Planning guidance, not a guarantee. Real timelines move with inventory, appraisal availability, underwriting conditions, and how quickly documents come back. The three business day closing disclosure window is fixed by federal law; everything else is a target.
Tight timeline? Start with the pre approval.
It is the one step that gates everything after it, and it is the step Marc can start today.
Questions about these calculators
- How much house can my BAH buy?
- It depends on your paygrade, dependent status, and duty station. At Fort Riley, KS an E-5 with dependents receives $1,314 per month in 2026, and the calculator on this page converts that allowance into the home price it supports at current terms. It is an estimate, not a loan approval.
- How much is the VA funding fee?
- For a first use VA purchase loan with less than 5 percent down the fee is 2.15 percent of the loan amount, and for a subsequent use loan it is 3.3 percent. Larger down payments reduce it. Veterans receiving VA disability compensation, and certain surviving spouses, are exempt and pay nothing. The calculator on this page applies all of these.
- Does BAH cover the rent at Fort Riley, KS?
- Not fully, for an E-5 with dependents. 2026 BAH at Fort Riley, KS is $1,314 per month while HUD's fiscal 2026 fair market rent for a three bedroom in Geary County, KS is $1,458, a gap of about $144 per month out of pocket. The allowance covers roughly 90 percent of market rent, which is the reason many service members here look at buying instead.
- Can I use my VA loan again if I still own a home I bought with it?
- Often yes, without selling. What you have left is called second tier or partial entitlement: the guaranty available in a county is 25 percent of that county's conforming loan limit, less the entitlement still tied up in your existing loan. Four times whatever remains is the largest new loan you can take with nothing down, and a down payment covers any shortfall above that at 25 cents on the dollar. The calculator on this page runs it, and Marc can confirm the real figure from your Certificate of Eligibility.
- Do VA loans require a down payment or monthly mortgage insurance?
- No on both counts for most eligible buyers. A VA loan can finance 100 percent of a primary residence and carries no monthly private mortgage insurance, which is why a VA payment is often lower than a conventional or FHA payment on the same price.
- How much are property taxes near Fort Riley, KS?
- Owners with a mortgage in Geary County, KS pay a median of $2,780 a year in real estate taxes, about $232 a month (Census ACS 2024 1-year). The calculators on this page subtract that real figure from your housing budget instead of guessing at a flat percentage, which is why the purchase price they show may differ from other calculators.
- Will I need flood insurance near Fort Riley, KS?
- It depends on the address, not the county. 3.5% of homes in Geary County, KS sit in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, and 0.4% carry a flood policy. A VA loan is federally backed, so flood insurance is required, not optional, on a home inside one of those zones. It is a separate policy from homeowners cover and is not included in the payment estimates on this page.
- Do these calculators collect my personal information?
- No. Every tool on this page runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is submitted, stored, or sent anywhere, and no credit check or account is involved.
- Are these numbers a loan approval?
- No. They are estimates for planning. A real pre approval depends on credit, income, debts, the property, and current market pricing. Marc Arrington can run your exact scenario when you want real figures.
Official sources
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Marc Arrington
MSgt. USMC Ret. | Branch Manager
RWM Home Loans · NMLS# 2114896
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