The Short Answer
A VA purchase in Bexar County typically closes in about 21 days from a complete file, and the two steps that decide whether you hit that are the VA appraisal assignment and how fast you return underwriting conditions. Nothing about the VA program itself is slow — the delays are almost always documentation and scheduling.
The realistic timeline
From a complete application to keys, our San Antonio VA purchases average about 21 days. That assumes you have a Certificate of Eligibility or we can pull it, your income documents are in hand, and the appraisal gets scheduled without a scramble.
- Days 1-2: Application, credit, COE, and a pre-approval you can shop with.
- Days 3-7: Contract executed, appraisal ordered, title opened, disclosures signed.
- Days 7-14: VA appraisal completed and returned; underwriting issues conditions.
- Days 14-19: Conditions cleared, final approval, closing disclosure delivered.
- Days 19-21: Three-day CD waiting period, final walkthrough, funding and keys.
Where Bexar County files actually slow down
The VA appraisal is assigned through the VA's portal to an approved appraiser, and you do not get to pick. In busy stretches, appraiser capacity across Bexar, Guadalupe and Comal counties is the single biggest variable in your timeline.
The second variable is you. Underwriting conditions — an updated LES, a letter explaining a deposit, a homeowners insurance binder — sit idle until they come back. Files that return conditions the same day close roughly a week faster than files that take three days per request.
What does not slow it down
There is a persistent myth in San Antonio real estate that VA offers close slower than conventional. They do not, and listing agents who work near JBSA know it. If a seller pushes back on your VA offer over timing, that is a conversation we will have with the listing agent directly.
If you are on PCS orders
Work backward from your report-no-later-than date, not forward from today. Our PCS timeline planner does the math and shows you the date you need a signed contract in hand to close comfortably before you report.
Written and reviewed by Jonathan Mullins, Founder & Chief Mortgage Officer at Valor Home Mortgage · NMLS #94015 · U.S. Army Veteran · 23+ years in mortgage lending.
Last updated .