Around Pinellas Park
Stationed at MacDill, Home in Pinellas Park
Military members already live at Latitudes in the Park, using the VA benefit they earned. For anyone at MacDill weighing a home on this side of the bay: what full entitlement buys, who never pays the funding fee, and the ownership move worth knowing before the next set of orders.
The short answer
- Military members already live at Latitudes in the Park, having purchased with their VA loan benefit.
- Veterans with full entitlement face no VA loan limit. The 2019 Blue Water Navy Act eliminated the caps effective January 2020.
- Buyers receiving VA disability compensation at any rating pay no funding fee at all.
- MacDill Air Force Base is eighteen to twenty-two miles away by the Gandy Bridge, realistically thirty to forty-five minutes outside peak traffic.
- After occupying the home, a service member who receives PCS orders may rent it out and keep the loan.
You would not be the first
Military members already live at Latitudes in the Park, and they bought the way most military families buy their first Florida home: with the VA benefit they earned. We mention it first because it answers the question every relocating family quietly carries into a new community. Not whether the numbers work, but whether people like you are already here. They are.
The rest of this page is the context, for anyone at MacDill weighing a home on the Pinellas side of the bay. If you are renting right now, your housing allowance is covering a mortgage every month. It is simply not yours.
What full entitlement actually buys
Zero down. Not low down. The VA program finances one hundred percent of a primary residence purchase for a qualified buyer with full entitlement, and it is the only major loan program that does.
No mortgage insurance, ever. A conventional buyer putting less than twenty percent down pays private mortgage insurance every month until the equity allows them to drop it. Most FHA buyers pay their version for the life of the loan. VA buyers pay neither, and over a three-year tour that difference goes to principal instead of to an insurer.
No loan limit. The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 eliminated VA loan limits for veterans with full entitlement, effective January 1, 2020. The ceiling is set by underwriting and the appraisal, not by a county cap. County limits still bind buyers with partial entitlement, meaning an active VA loan elsewhere or a prior loan not yet restored. For 2026 the Federal Housing Finance Agency set that baseline at $832,750 for one-unit properties, and Pinellas County uses the standard baseline. A purchase between $650,000 and $800,000 sits comfortably inside it, subject to underwriting.
The funding fee, and who never pays it
The funding fee is the VA program's one-time cost in place of mortgage insurance, and it can be rolled into the loan.
The exemptions matter more than the schedule. There is no funding fee at all for buyers receiving VA disability compensation at any rating, for active-duty Purple Heart recipients, or for eligible surviving spouses. Any rating, not a threshold rating. A meaningful share of the buyers who budget for this fee never owe it.
| Situation | Fee |
|---|---|
| First use, no money down | 2.15% |
| First use, 5 to 9.99% down | 1.50% |
| First use, 10% or more down | 1.25% |
| Subsequent use, no money down | 3.30% |
| Subsequent use, 5% or more down | 1.50% / 1.25% |
| IRRRL or assumption | 0.50% |
The move nobody explains at a first duty station
A VA loan requires you to certify intent to occupy the home as your primary residence, generally within sixty days of closing. That rules out buying purely as a rental, and anyone telling you otherwise is wrong.
Occupancy is a starting condition, though, not a permanent one. Once you have lived in the home and you receive PCS orders, you may rent it out. You keep the property, you keep the loan and its terms, and the residence shifts from where you live to an asset with a tenant covering the note.
The service members who do this deliberately finish a career owning several homes. The ones who rent every tour finish owning none. The difference is rarely income. It is whether anyone explained this at the first duty station.
New construction and the VA, in the right order
VA financing works on new construction, and the process got simpler when the VA Builder ID requirement was eliminated in March 2025. For a home a builder is constructing, the normal path is a standard VA purchase loan that closes at completion, once the residence can be appraised and meets the VA's Minimum Property Requirements.
If you are considering a Phase III reservation here, that sequencing matters. The reservation comes first. The formal loan application comes closer to delivery, and rate locks attach to the closing window rather than the reservation date, so you are not committing to financing terms months before you need them.
One question worth asking any lender early, on any attached home anywhere: confirm the property's ownership form from the legal description on the title commitment. It is a five-minute question at the start and a schedule problem if it surfaces late, and a lender who works regularly with VA buyers will know to check.
The commute, measured honestly
MacDill occupies 5,695 acres on the Interbay Peninsula in south Tampa. From here the route runs east on Park Boulevard to Gandy Boulevard, across Old Tampa Bay on the Gandy Bridge, then south on Dale Mabry to the gate. Eighteen to twenty-two miles.
You will find listings claiming under thirty minutes. That is achievable in light traffic, and it is not the typical morning. Plan around forty and you will rarely be wrong. What the bridge buys you in exchange is a different housing market, meaningfully more square footage per dollar, and the Gulf ten to fifteen minutes the other direction.
| Destination | Typical drive |
|---|---|
| MacDill AFB, via the Gandy Bridge | 30 to 45 minutes |
| Treasure Island | 10 minutes |
| St. Pete Beach | 15 minutes |
| Downtown St. Petersburg | 20 minutes |
| Tampa International Airport | 25 minutes |
A base that supports owning here
MacDill supports 16,799 people: 7,608 military, of whom 6,652 are active duty, and 8,147 civilians including 4,539 contractors, with roughly 240,000 TRICARE beneficiaries in the region. It hosts U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command alongside the 6th Air Refueling Wing, and it is transitioning from the KC-135 to the KC-46 Pegasus.
That stability matters to an owner more than to a renter. A large joint-command installation with a modernizing mission is what supports the rental market you will lean on the day you PCS out.
The residences here are built with solid block construction and hurricane impact-rated windows and doors, approximately twenty-one feet above the floodplain. Twenty-five at full build-out, priced from $649,999, with tours Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 4 and private appointments on request. Bring your questions about entitlement. We will point you to a lender who works with VA buyers regularly rather than answer past our depth.
Common questions
Can I use a VA loan at Latitudes in the Park?
Yes. Military members already live in the community, having purchased with their VA benefit. Work with a VA-experienced lender, who will confirm the property details early in the process.
How far is Latitudes in the Park from MacDill Air Force Base?
Eighteen to twenty-two miles by way of the Gandy Bridge, realistically thirty to forty-five minutes outside peak traffic.
Is there a VA loan limit in Pinellas County in 2026?
Not for veterans with full entitlement; the Blue Water Navy Act eliminated loan limits effective January 2020. Buyers with partial entitlement use the 2026 baseline conforming limit of $832,750.
Who is exempt from the VA funding fee?
Buyers receiving VA disability compensation at any rating, active-duty Purple Heart recipients, and eligible surviving spouses pay no funding fee.
Can I rent out a home I bought with a VA loan?
After occupying it as your primary residence, receiving PCS orders allows you to rent the home out while keeping the loan and its terms.
Can a VA loan be used on new construction at Latitudes in the Park?
Yes, typically as a standard VA purchase loan closing at completion. The VA Builder ID requirement was eliminated in March 2025.