VA Loan Calculator

A VA loan is a mortgage guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, available to eligible active-duty service members, veterans, National Guard/Reserve members, and certain surviving spouses. The VA guaranty replaces private mortgage insurance, letting qualified borrowers finance up to 100% of the home price with no down payment in most cases. Eligibility requires a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) from the VA based on service history — this calculator assumes eligibility and focuses on the payment math.

The VA funding fee is a one-time charge paid to offset the cost of the VA loan program to taxpayers, since there's no monthly mortgage insurance. It's calculated as a percentage of your base loan amount (home price minus down payment), with the rate set by your down payment tier and whether it's your first or a subsequent use of VA loan benefits. For example, a first-time user with 0% down pays 2.15%; that same borrower with 10%+ down pays only 1.25%.

No — one of the defining features of a VA loan is that eligible borrowers can finance up to 100% of the purchase price with $0 down. A down payment is not required, but making one lowers your funding-fee rate tier and reduces your loan amount, monthly payment, and total interest paid.

Borrowers exempt from the VA funding fee include veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability, veterans who would be entitled to disability compensation if not for retirement pay, Purple Heart recipients on active duty, and surviving spouses eligible for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). Exempt borrowers pay $0 funding fee — the VA determines exemption status on your Certificate of Eligibility.

Yes. Most borrowers choose to finance the funding fee by adding it to the loan amount rather than paying it in cash at closing. Financing it means you pay interest on the fee over the life of the loan, increasing your total interest cost, but it reduces the cash you need at closing. This calculator lets you toggle between financing the fee and paying it upfront to compare both scenarios.

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) protects the lender against default risk on conventional loans with less than 20% down. VA loans don't need PMI because the VA guaranty itself protects the lender — the government guarantees a portion of the loan, serving the same risk-mitigation purpose. This is a major cost advantage: a conventional borrower with 5% down might pay $100–$300/month in PMI, while a VA borrower pays none, only the one-time funding fee.

After your first use of VA loan entitlement, the funding fee rate rises for the lowest down-payment tier: from 2.15% to 3.3% for less than 5% down. However, at 5% or more down and at 10% or more down, first-use and subsequent-use borrowers pay the exact same rate (1.5% and 1.25% respectively) — so a larger down payment eliminates the subsequent-use penalty entirely.

Your total monthly payment combines principal & interest (the amortizing loan payment), 1/12 of your annual property tax, and 1/12 of your annual homeowner's insurance premium — held in escrow by your lender. Unlike a conventional PITI payment, there is no PMI line item to add, since VA loans don't carry mortgage insurance.

If you finance the funding fee (the default and most common choice), your cash due at closing is simply your down payment — which can be $0. If you choose to pay the funding fee in cash instead of financing it, add the funding fee amount to your down payment. Note this calculator covers only the down payment and funding fee; other closing costs (appraisal, title, origination) are separate and not modeled here.

FHA loans charge an upfront mortgage insurance premium (currently 1.75% of the loan) PLUS an ongoing annual MIP for most or all of the loan term. VA loans charge only a one-time funding fee (typically 1.25%–3.3% depending on down payment and use) with no recurring insurance premium at all — often making VA loans meaningfully cheaper over time for eligible borrowers, despite a similar-looking upfront charge.

Yes. Even though VA loans don't require a down payment, contributing one still reduces your base loan amount (lowering P&I), drops you into a cheaper funding-fee tier (from 2.15%/3.3% down to 1.5% at 5%+ down, or 1.25% at 10%+ down), and cuts your total interest paid over the loan term — the same benefits a down payment provides on any mortgage, just optional here.

This calculator models a VA purchase loan, which uses the standard purchase funding-fee table (1.25%–3.3%). A VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan (IRRRL) — a 'VA streamline refinance' for borrowers who already have a VA loan — carries a much lower flat funding fee of 0.5%, reflecting its lower risk. VA cash-out refinances use the same table as purchase loans (2.15% first use / 3.3% subsequent). Those refinance scenarios are outside the scope of this purchase-focused calculator.

The minimum service length depends on when you served. For the Gulf War era (August 1990–present), an active-duty service member typically needs 90 continuous days of service; a discharged veteran usually needs 24 continuous months (or the full period called to active duty, at least 90 days). National Guard and Reserve members generally qualify with 90 days of active-duty service (30+ of them consecutive) or 6 creditable years of service. Earlier service eras use different day counts, and a service-connected disability discharge can shorten or waive these minimums entirely — the VA verifies your specific case on the Certificate of Eligibility.