Mortgage Va Calculator
A VA home loan lets eligible veterans, service members and some surviving spouses buy with 0% down and no monthly private mortgage insurance. The trade-off is a one-time VA funding fee set by federal rate tiers. This calculator applies those tiers from your down payment and loan-use history, handles the fee financed or paid in cash, and amortizes the result with the standard mortgage formula.
Principal and interest only. Property taxes, homeowners insurance and HOA dues are not included, and the fee tiers follow the VA schedule effective April 7, 2023: confirm current figures with the VA or your lender.
Quick Answer
A $400,000 home with $0 down at 6.5% over 30 years, first VA use, fee financed: the base loan is $400,000.00, the funding fee at the 2.15% VA tier is $8,600.00, and the total loan of $408,600.00 costs $2,582.63 a month in principal and interest, $521,146.78 in lifetime interest, $929,746.78 all in. An exempt borrower pays no fee: same loan, $2,528.27 a month.
Key takeaways
- The funding fee is a percentage of the loan amount (price minus down payment), not the price: on a $400,000 purchase with $40,000 down, the 1.25% tier applies to $360,000, a $4,500 fee.
- The fee tiers in this calculator match the VA schedule effective April 7, 2023: 2.15% first use under 5% down, 3.30% subsequent use under 5% down, 1.50% at 5% or more, 1.25% at 10% or more.
- Financing the fee is the common choice, but it costs interest on the fee for the life of the loan. Paying $8,600 in cash at closing keeps the loan at $400,000.
- This tool covers principal, interest and the funding fee only. Property tax, homeowners insurance and HOA dues are not included, so add them for the true monthly housing cost.
- Quick Answer
- How to use the VA mortgage calculator
- The VA funding fee tiers, from the official schedule
- Worked example: $400,000, $0 down, 6.5%, 30 years
- Finance the fee or pay cash at closing?
- Who is exempt from the VA funding fee
- What this calculator does not do
- What competing calculators miss
- Frequently asked questions
- Add This Calculator to Your Website
How to use the VA mortgage calculator
Enter the purchase price, down payment, rate and term, tell the tool whether this is your first or a subsequent VA loan, pick how the funding fee is handled, and press Calculate. Results stay hidden until you calculate.
- Home price and down payment: pre-filled with $400,000 and $0. VA loans allow zero down; a blank down payment is treated as zero.
- Interest rate and loan term: pre-filled with 6.5% and 30 years. The rate is set by your lender, not by the VA.
- VA loan use: first use or subsequent use. The fee jumps from 2.15% to 3.30% under 5% down on a second or later VA loan.
- Funding fee mode: Auto applies the official tiers; Exempt zeroes the fee for qualifying disabilities; Manual lets you type a lender-quoted rate, which reveals the extra rate field.
- Fee handling: finance the fee into the loan or pay it in cash at closing, then compare the two totals side by side.
The VA funding fee tiers, from the official schedule
The VA publishes the fee as a percentage of the total loan amount. The current schedule, effective April 7, 2023, is what this calculator applies in Auto mode. Down payment bands are measured against the purchase price.
| Down payment | First use | Subsequent use |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5% | 2.15% | 3.30% |
| 5% or more | 1.50% | 1.50% |
| 10% or more | 1.25% | 1.25% |
Two details from the VA’s funding fee page that most summaries skip: the fee applies only to the loan amount, not the purchase price, and on a purchase you may finance only the funding fee into the loan, never the other closing costs. Separate flat rates apply to other loan types: 0.50% for interest-rate-reduction refinances, 2.15%/3.30% for cash-out refinances, 1.25% for Native American Direct Loans, which is why this calculator is scoped to purchase loans only.
Worked example: $400,000, $0 down, 6.5%, 30 years
The calculator is pre-filled with this exact scenario. Press Calculate and every figure below reproduces to the cent: the fee lands first, then the loan, then the amortization.
Switch the funding fee mode to Exempt and the same loan reprices instantly: the loan stays at $400,000 and the monthly payment drops to $2,528.27, about $54 a month less before interest effects. Put $40,000 down (10%) as a subsequent user and pay the fee in cash, and the picture changes again: a $4,500 fee at the 1.25% tier, a $360,000 loan, $2,158.38 a month at 6%. Three runs of the same tool, three honest totals.
Finance the fee or pay cash at closing?
Most borrowers finance the fee because it preserves cash at closing, but financing means paying interest on the fee for up to 30 years. There is no universally right answer; it depends on your cash position and how long you keep the loan.
Finance the fee into the loan
- Nothing extra due at closing for the fee
- Preserves cash for moving, repairs, reserves
- You pay interest on the $8,600 for the full term
- Slightly higher monthly payment ($2,582.63 vs $2,528.27)
Pay the fee in cash at closing
- Loan stays smaller; less lifetime interest
- Lower monthly payment from day one
- $8,600 more cash needed at closing
- Cash tied up that could earn or buffer elsewhere
Run both: select “Finance fee into loan”, note the total of all payments, then switch to “Pay fee in cash at closing” and compare. On the worked example the financed path costs more over 30 years by roughly the interest on $8,600 at 6.5%, which is the real price of keeping that cash.
Who is exempt from the VA funding fee
You owe no funding fee at all if any of these descriptions fit you, per the VA. Select the Exempt option in the calculator and every figure reprices with the fee at zero.
Receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability, or eligible for it but taking retirement or active-duty pay instead.
Receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) as the surviving spouse of a veteran.
A service member with a proposed or memorandum rating before closing, showing eligibility from a pre-discharge claim.
Active-duty members who provide evidence of a Purple Heart on or before the closing date.
One more VA rule worth knowing: if you are awarded VA disability compensation after closing with an effective date before the closing date, you may be eligible for a refund of the fee. Your Certificate of Eligibility and VA paperwork confirm whether an exemption applies; check VA home loan eligibility before you assume.
What this calculator does not do
Honest limits matter more than extra features. This tool estimates principal, interest and the funding fee on a VA purchase loan. It does not add property taxes, homeowners insurance or HOA dues, so your true monthly housing payment will be higher; add those yourself or run the mortgage payment calculator with tax and insurance figures. It does not model IRRRL or cash-out refinance fee tiers (0.50% and 2.15%/3.30% respectively, per the VA), and it produces no amortization schedule: the amortization schedule calculator covers payment-by-payment breakdowns. Approval also depends on your debt-to-income ratio, which this tool does not check. If you itemize deductions, the mortgage interest deduction calculator estimates the tax effect of the interest this loan generates. VA fee tiers can change, so confirm current figures with the VA or your lender, and note the VA sets no minimum credit score while individual lenders typically require 620 or higher. Nothing here is a loan offer or approval.
What competing calculators miss
VA calculators cluster around the same few weaknesses. Against the top results for this keyword:
- Single-rate calculators (several affiliate pages): hard-code 2.15% for everyone, which overcharges subsequent-use borrowers at 5%+ down and undercharges first-use borrowers who should be at 1.50% or 1.25%. The tier logic is the whole point of a VA calculator.
- Payment-only tools: show a monthly number with no fee line, no financed-vs-cash comparison and no lifetime totals, so the fee’s real cost stays invisible.
- Refinance-blurred pages: mix purchase tiers with IRRRL’s 0.50% fee in one form, inviting wrong inputs. This page is scoped to purchase loans and says so.
- Lead-gen calculators (vetcalc-style and lender pages): decent tools buried under rate-quote forms. No account, no form, no call-back here.
- The gap this page fills: the full official tier table applied automatically, subsequent-use pricing, the exempt path with an instant repriced comparison, financed-vs-cash totals you can actually compare, and lifetime interest and total-of-payments figures most competitors hide.
Frequently asked questions
It is a percentage of your loan amount, which is the home price minus your down payment. The rate comes from the VA’s tier table: your down payment band and whether it is your first or a subsequent use of the VA loan benefit decide the percentage.
For purchase loans under the schedule effective April 7, 2023: first use, less than 5% down, 2.15%; subsequent use, less than 5% down, 3.30%; 5% or more down, 1.50%; 10% or more down, 1.25%. The calculator applies these tiers automatically in Auto mode.
Yes. Most borrowers roll the fee into the loan balance instead of paying it at closing. On a purchase loan the funding fee is the only closing cost the VA lets you finance. Financing raises the loan amount and the monthly payment, and you pay interest on the fee over the life of the loan.
Veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability (or eligible for it but taking retirement or active-duty pay instead), surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, service members with a qualifying pre-discharge rating, and active-duty Purple Heart recipients with evidence on or before closing.
No. Private mortgage insurance is a monthly charge on conventional loans with less than 20% down. The VA funding fee is a one-time charge, and VA loans never carry monthly mortgage insurance. That missing monthly line is one of the VA loan’s biggest advantages.
The loan amount. A 2.15% fee on a $400,000 purchase with $10,000 down applies to the $390,000 loan, an $8,385 fee, not to the full $400,000 price. Your down payment shrinks the fee twice: once through the smaller loan, once through the lower tier.
Property taxes, homeowners insurance and HOA dues. The tool shows principal and interest plus the funding fee only, so add your local tax and insurance figures for the true monthly housing cost.
No. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is sent to a server or saved. Your inputs disappear when you leave the page.
Add This Calculator to Your Website
Embed this calculator on your own site with the code below. Pick a size to preview it live, then copy the code.
Powered by Calculator Zilo
References
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA funding fee and loan closing costs. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA home loan eligibility. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA home loan limits. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan: IRRRL facts. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What is a debt-to-income ratio? Ask CFPB. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What is a qualified mortgage? Ask CFPB. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service. Publication 936: Home Mortgage Interest Deduction. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Find a housing counselor. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- Freddie Mac. Am I financially prepared to take out a home loan? My Home by Freddie Mac. Accessed October 23, 2026.