Veterans administration loans were recently highlighted by Dough Roller as one of the three most common types of home loans available to first-time home buyers.

According to the news source, VA loans are a special type of loan available exclusively to U.S. service members past and present, as well as their families, that allows for the purchase of a home without making a down payment.

Frank Donnelly, vice president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Metropolitan Washington, told the Washington Times that these loans differ from the previous loans which required no downpayment.

"When no-down-payment loans were being offered in the past, they often included other layers of risk, such as no income verification requirements," Donnelly told the paper. "In addition, the loans themselves were riskier, such as interest-only loans or adjustable-rate mortgages that would have increased payments at some point."

What often makes these VA loans attractive is that they're guaranteed by the federal government and with more and more banks refraining from lending, experts say they are one of the few options left for those who can't put money down.

Eligible members for VA loans includes active duty personnel, veterans, surviving spouses of personnel who died as a result of duty, certain National Guard members and reservists and certain spouses of active duty personnel who are missing in action, the news source states.

---

Read More VA News