VA Loan Calculator

One fee, charged once

funding fee = base loan × fee percentage

That is a single charge at closing, and it is normally added to the loan rather than paid in cash. It is not a monthly cost and it is not mortgage insurance.

This is worth stating because a widely used national calculator bills the funding fee as a recurring monthly charge inside its affordability tool. That understates what a veteran can afford, on the one product where affordability is least likely to be the binding constraint.

The fee ladder, all of it

• 2.15% on a first use with less than 5% down.
• 1.5% with 5% to 10% down.
• 1.25% with 10% or more down.
• 3.3% on a subsequent use with less than 5% down. Putting 5% or more down brings it back to the same 1.5% and 1.25% a first-time user pays.
• 0.5% on a VA streamline refinance (IRRRL).
• Nil for a borrower receiving compensation for a service-related disability, those rated 10% or more, and surviving spouses receiving dependency and indemnity compensation.

Every one of those is reachable on the slider above, which is why it is a slider rather than something this page tries to infer from two other questions.

No mortgage insurance at all

This is the largest financial difference between a VA loan and every other low down payment route, and it is easy to underweight because it is an absence rather than a feature.

An FHA borrower pays an annual premium every month, for the life of the loan on most loans opened since June 2013. A conventional borrower below 20% down pays until the balance reaches 78% of the original value. A VA borrower pays the funding fee once and then nothing, forever. Over ten years that gap is usually much larger than any rate difference between the three.

What the fee actually buys

The Department of Veterans Affairs covers part of a lender's loss if the loan defaults, which is what allows a lender to write a mortgage with nothing down and no insurance premium. The funding fee is what keeps that programme funded rather than sitting on the taxpayer. It is not a fee to the lender and it is not negotiable.

Entitlement, and using it more than once

Entitlement is restored once a previous VA loan is paid off, so the benefit is reusable rather than a single lifetime event. It is also possible to hold two VA loans at once with remaining entitlement, which is how people move without selling. Both cases have real paperwork attached and neither is something a calculator can settle. What this page can tell you is what each fee tier does to the payment, which is the part that is arithmetic.

What the fee tier does to the payment

Frequently asked questions

Is the funding fee a monthly cost?

No, and a widely used calculator gets this wrong: it bills the fee as a recurring monthly charge in its affordability tool, which understates what a veteran can afford. It is one charge, taken at closing, and almost everybody adds it to the loan rather than paying it in cash.

Is there mortgage insurance on a VA loan?

None at all, which is the largest financial difference between this and every other low down payment option. An FHA borrower pays an annual premium every month for the life of most loans; a VA borrower pays the funding fee once and then nothing.

Who pays no funding fee?

Borrowers receiving VA compensation for a service-related disability, those rated 10% or more, and surviving spouses receiving dependency and indemnity compensation. The fee is waived entirely, which is why the slider goes down to nil rather than stopping at the smallest fee tier.

Can I use a VA loan more than once?

Yes. The fee is higher on a later use below 5% down, at 3.3% rather than 2.15%, and putting 5% or more down brings it back to the same 1.5% or 1.25% a first-time user pays. Entitlement can also be restored once a previous VA loan is paid off.

Sources

• Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, national weekly average mortgage rates, retrieved 2026-08-24
• US Department of Veterans Affairs, VA funding fee rates and exemptions, retrieved 2026-08-24