Choosing between VA Loans Pro by Duane Buziak and Veterans United comes down to two different business models, and marketing claims won’t settle it. VA Loans Pro by Duane Buziak is an independent broker with a 500 FICO floor and access to 500+ wholesale lenders. Veterans United is a large VA-focused direct lender with a published 620 minimum. Each fits some borrowers better than others.
I’m Duane Buziak, NMLS #1110647, and I serve veterans across Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia. Below are seven ways to run the comparison yourself, starting with credit flexibility and choice. I’ll say plainly where Veterans United is strong, because a fair framework has to.
1. Compare the business model: broker vs. direct lender
A direct lender funds loans with its own money and underwriting, so you get one company’s rate sheet and one company’s decision. A broker is licensed to place your file with many wholesale investors and match you to the one whose guidelines and pricing suit your profile. Duane Buziak works this way for any VA-eligible veteran, whatever the branch of service.
Veterans United’s strength is focus. It does VA lending at scale, with in-house processing built around VA files. For a borrower with a clean profile that can be a good experience. The trade-off is that you see one shelf.
For example, imagine a veteran with a thin credit file and one recent late payment. A direct lender gives one yes, no, or conditional answer. Through a broker, the same file can be quoted by several investors, and one may accept the late payment with a letter of explanation while another won’t.
How to put it into practice: ask each company how many investors it can place your loan with, and whether it underwrites and funds in-house.
Common mistake: assuming a bigger name or a VA-only focus means better pricing for your profile. Pricing depends on your score, your file, and the investor, not on brand size.
What to measure: the number of distinct investor quotes you receive. One is a decision. Several is a comparison.
2. Compare minimum credit score floors against your real score
Published floors differ. VA Loans Pro by Duane Buziak places VA loans down to 500 FICO. Movement publishes 580 on VA loans. Veterans United publishes 620. Rocket does not publish a VA-specific floor that I can verify. The VA itself does not set a minimum score. Each investor adds its own rules, called overlays, on top of VA guidelines, and that is where the floors come from.
Here is a labelled illustration. A veteran has a 585 score because of two medical collections. That score sits below one company’s floor and above another’s, so the same file gets a different answer depending on whom you ask.
- Pull your scores from all three bureaus and note the middle score.
- List each company’s published minimum next to it, with the date you checked.
- Ask what overlays apply to collections, late payments, or recent bankruptcy.
- Ask which compensating factors count, such as residual income, reserves, or a larger down payment.
Common mistake: reading a floor as an approval promise. Clearing 500 means your file can be considered, not that it will be approved. The opposite error is assuming the VA requires 620.
What to measure: whether you qualify for consideration at all, and which pricing tier you’re offered. A score near the floor usually prices higher than one well above it, so ask what a 20-point improvement would change.
3. Check the VA mechanics: COE, entitlement, and funding fee
A company can have a good rate and still mishandle the VA-specific parts. Confirm that each one can retrieve your Certificate of Eligibility (COE), which is the VA document proving you qualify. Confirm how it treats entitlement, the amount of guaranty you have available, including second-tier entitlement if you have an existing VA loan. Then ask which products it offers: purchase, cash-out refinance up to 100% LTV (many investors cap lower, so ask), and the IRRRL streamline refinance.
The funding fee is where money gets lost. Veterans with a service-connected disability rating, and certain others, are exempt under VA funding fee rules. Take a disabled veteran buying with a $400,000 loan. If the fee were charged at 2.15%, the exemption saves $8,600.
How to put it into practice:
- Request your COE from VA.gov and read the funding fee exemption line.
- Confirm remaining entitlement, especially if you still own a home bought with a VA loan.
- Ask each company, in writing, which of the products above it offers.
Common mistake: paying a funding fee you are exempt from because the exemption was never entered in the file. Check it yourself.
What to measure: the funding fee on the Loan Estimate should match your COE. If you’re exempt, the line should be zero.
4. Run a side-by-side comparison table
Put the four companies in a grid so differences are visible. Below is the layout I use, filled from published terms as of October 2026. Check each company’s current terms before relying on any line, since floors and fees change.
- VA Loans Pro by Duane Buziak: FICO minimum 500 on VA. Type: independent broker. Loan shelf: 500+ wholesale lenders plus VA, FHA, USDA, conventional, and non-QM. Fees: broker-negotiated and shop-able. Pre-approval: NoTouch Credit Pull soft-pull option.
- Veterans United: FICO minimum 620. Type: direct lender, VA-focused. Loan shelf: its own single VA-specialty shelf. Fees: includes an origination charge, so confirm the amount on your Loan Estimate. Pre-approval: confirm when its hard pull occurs.
- Rocket: FICO minimum varies, with no public VA-specific floor. Type: direct lender. Loan shelf: single shelf. Fees: confirm on the Loan Estimate.
- Movement: FICO minimum 580 on VA. Type: direct lender. Loan shelf: single shelf. Fees: confirm on the Loan Estimate.
Two facts belong beside that grid. A broker with hundreds of investors has more pricing leverage than one rate sheet, not less. And Duane Buziak is a Scotsman Guide Top Originator at #114 nationally and a VA Broker of the Year for 2024 and 2025, so scale and credentials are on record.
Common mistake: using outdated or unverified competitor data, including mine. What to measure: every cell sourced and dated, with blanks left blank instead of guessed.
5. Compare the credit pull process
A hard inquiry is a full credit check that appears on your report and can lower your score a few points. A soft pull does not. NoTouch Credit Pull is the soft credit pull mortgage pre-qualification offered by VA Loans Pro by Duane Buziak: it gives you a pre-qualification and quote with no hard inquiry, and a hard pull comes only after you choose to proceed. That differs from a standard pre-approval, which usually runs the hard pull at application.
Here is an illustration of the sequence. You request a no hard inquiry mortgage pre approval, compare quotes at your own pace, choose a path, and only then authorize one hard pull. Your report records one inquiry for the loan you actually take.
The belief that shopping hurts your credit is partly wrong. The CFPB’s credit reports and scores guidance explains that scoring models usually treat several mortgage inquiries in a short window as one. The window varies by model, so don’t count on it indefinitely.
How to put it into practice: ask each company exactly when its hard pull occurs, and start with a soft-pull quote.
Common mistake: authorizing hard pulls at several companies spread over weeks, which can fall outside the scoring window.
What to measure: the number of hard inquiries on your report after you finish shopping. Ideally it is one.
6. Price the loan with a worked dollar example
Use one hypothetical loan so the numbers can be checked. Suppose a first-use veteran buys with 0% down and a $400,000 base loan. As of the VA’s published schedule, the first-use fee at under 5% down is 2.15%, so the fee is $400,000 × 0.0215 = $8,600. Verify the current schedule on VA.gov before you rely on it. Financed, the loan becomes $408,600.
Now compare two sample rates, labelled as illustrations and not quotes, on a 30-year term:
- At 6.00%, principal and interest on $408,600 is about $2,450 a month.
- At 6.25%, it is about $2,516 a month, roughly $66 more, or about $3,960 over five years.
- For an exempt veteran at 6.00%, the $400,000 loan costs about $2,398 a month, about $52 less than the financed-fee case.
A quarter point matters, but only if the two loans are otherwise identical.
How to put it into practice:
- Give every company the same loan amount, term, and funding fee treatment.
- Ask for the rate with and without discount points.
- Line up the Loan Estimates and compare APR and cash to close.
Common mistake: comparing a rate with points to a rate without them. A lower rate bought with points is not a better deal until you’ve counted the break-even months.
What to measure: APR and total cash to close, side by side.
7. Compare total cost beyond the rate
Rate is one line in a loan that also carries origination charges, title, insurance, and often a realtor relationship. The CFPB Loan Estimate standardizes these, so use it. Section A shows origination charges, Section B shows services you cannot shop for, and Section C shows services you can. Affiliated title or referral arrangements can add cost that the rate never reveals.
Imagine two offers. One has a lower rate but higher origination and affiliated title charges. The other has a slightly higher rate and lower fees. Over five years the first can cost more overall. Duane Buziak runs a zero-kickback policy and a Total Cost Ecosystem covering title, realtor, and insurance savings, with no-out-of-pocket closing options for qualified borrowers. Those are claims you should test, not take on trust.
Dare to Compare is our pricing challenge: you bring a competing Loan Estimate, from Veterans United or anyone else, and we compare it line by line against what we can find through our wholesale network. It works because the comparison uses your numbers, not ours.
How to put it into practice:
- Request a Loan Estimate from every company on the same day.
- Compare Sections A, B, and C separately.
- Ask what is affiliated and whether any referral payments are involved.
- Submit your best competing estimate to Dare to Compare.
Common mistake: choosing on rate alone. What to measure: total closing costs and total five-year cost, meaning payments plus costs paid at closing.
Where to start, and what to do before you choose a loan partner
Begin with the credit-floor check and a soft-pull quote, since they tell you which doors are open without costing you a hard inquiry. Then run the side-by-side table, request Loan Estimates, and compare them line by line. If you clear every floor, Veterans United is a credible choice and the comparison will show it. If you’re near a floor, a broker’s range of investors matters more. Duane Buziak will compare against any estimate you bring.
Eight questions veterans ask when comparing a broker with Veterans United
What is the minimum credit score for a VA loan in 2026?
The VA sets no minimum score; investors set their own. VA Loans Pro by Duane Buziak places VA loans down to 500 FICO, Movement publishes 580, and Veterans United publishes 620. A floor means you can be considered, not approved.
Does the VA require a 620 credit score?
No, the VA does not require 620. That figure comes from investor overlays. Different investors apply different overlays to the same VA guidelines, which is why quotes vary by file.
Can I get a VA loan pre-approval without a hard credit pull?
Yes, with NoTouch Credit Pull you can get a mortgage pre approval without hard pull at the quote stage. It is a soft pull pre-qualification; a hard inquiry happens only when you move forward with an application.
Am I exempt from the VA funding fee?
Possibly: veterans with a service-connected disability rating, and certain others such as some surviving spouses, are exempt. Check your COE and the VA funding fee page. The Loan Estimate should show zero if you qualify.
What is second-tier entitlement?
Second-tier entitlement is the remaining guaranty you may have when you already hold a VA loan. It can let you buy another home with a VA loan. Confirm your remaining entitlement on your COE before you shop.
Can I do a VA cash-out refinance up to 100% LTV?
VA guidelines allow cash-out up to 100% of value, but many investors cap it at 90%. Ask each company for its limit, since it affects how much equity you can reach.
Does using a broker cost more than going direct?
Not necessarily. Broker fees are disclosed on the Loan Estimate and can be negotiated, and a broker can compare many investors’ pricing. Compare Sections A through C yourself, because a direct lender’s origination charge also shows up there.
What is the difference between a VA loan broker and Veterans United?
A broker places your loan with one of many wholesale investors; Veterans United is a direct lender that funds from its own single shelf. The broker offers more choice and a lower credit floor. The direct lender offers VA focus and an in-house process.
Disclaimer: This article is for general information and is not financial or legal advice. Rates, fees, program rules, and competitor terms are subject to change, so verify current figures before deciding. Examples are illustrations, not quotes or guarantees of rate or approval. Consult a licensed professional about your situation. Equal Housing Lender.
About the author: Duane Buziak, NMLS #1110647, is a mortgage broker with Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC, NMLS #376205, serving veterans in Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia. He is a Scotsman Guide Top Originator (#114 nationally, $51.2M), a VA Broker of the Year for 2024 and 2025, and a UWM PRO ELITE 2025 honoree, with 1,400+ five-star reviews. Read his full profile on the About page.