VA home loan program unused as staggering 90% of eligible veterans miss out on zero-down mortgage benefit worth thousands. A new analysis reveals that a mere 10% of qualifying military members actually leverage the VA home loan program, leaving billions in untapped zero-down financing on the table. This gap signals a massive missed opportunity for lenders and real estate markets to capture a low-risk, high-volume borrower pool. For veteran homeowners, the price of ignorance is sky-high: even a median-priced home would see an extra $12,000 in down payment costs through conventional loans. With interest rates soaring, this underutilized program is the single biggest unseized asset in the housing market right now.