rate than a standard 30-yr mortgage?

I had one loan officer tell me if I were trying to secure a 30-yr mortgage last Friday that he could get me an interest rate of about 2.5%. A day before a different guy who is in the mortgage business told me he could offer me 4.0% for a construction loan. This is on the same loan amount, BTW.

Why the difference? If it matters, this is a VA (Veteran's Administration) home construction loan.

I am especially confused because a third lender told me that a VA construction loan is a "single close" loan (his phrase for it) and when we sign the construction loan paperwork it immediately begins a 30-yr process of paying off the loan, ie, it's a mortage right from the very beginning.

I gotta be missing something.....