Hello all, I am early in the process of trying to purchase a home in NE Florida and I need some advice.

I am 25 years old, my finance is 22, we will be married by the time we purchase(If that is relevant), and we will be purchasing together. I make roughly $60k a year and she makes around $40k, we both have 680-710 credit. Our budget is $180k-$230k

I am in the military reserves and work full time in law enforcement, so I qualify for the VA loan and I could use home for hero’s program but I haven’t researched that at all.

Although we make ~$100k a year and are not in crippling debt, we’re struggling to make ends meet paying $2k a month for rent on top of all the other normal (ever increasing) expenses. We don’t plan to put anything down because our savings is minimal and for emergencies.

I am pre-approved for $250k using the VA loan and planned to use that because I’ve always been told it’s best and it required no down payment.

When getting approved for the VA loan, we were told to expect to pay ~$17k for closing costs. Thats not even remotely an option for us.

We need to buy a house with no down payment and pay as little as possible when closing, even if that means rolling closing costs into the loan.

What is better for our situation, VA loan, homes for hero’s, or a USDA loan?