How a VA home loan payment works
This VA loan calculator handles the two things that make a VA home loan different from every other mortgage. First, there is no PMI — ever. Conventional borrowers who put down less than 20% pay private mortgage insurance of roughly 0.3%–1.5% of the loan per year; VA borrowers pay $0 for mortgage insurance even with nothing down. Second, there is a one-time VA funding fee, which nearly everyone finances into the loan rather than paying in cash at closing — so your loan balance is slightly larger than the price minus your down payment.
The 2026 funding fee for purchase loans depends on your down payment and whether you've used the benefit before:
| Down payment | First use | Subsequent use |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5% | 2.15% | 3.3% |
| 5% – 9.99% | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| 10% or more | 1.25% | 1.25% |
Veterans receiving VA disability compensation (and certain surviving spouses and Purple Heart recipients) are exempt — the fee is waived entirely, which is why the calculator has that toggle.
The formula
The base loan (price minus down payment) gets the funding fee percentage added on top, and that total is what actually amortizes. M is the monthly principal & interest payment, r the monthly rate (annual ÷ 12 ÷ 100), and n the number of payments (years × 12). At 0% interest the payment is simply Loan ÷ n.
Worked example
A first-time VA buyer purchases a $400,000 home with $0 down at 6.5% for 30 years. The funding fee is 2.15% of the $400,000 base loan = $8,600, financed in for a total loan of $408,600.
Monthly principal & interest: $2,582.63. Lifetime interest over 30 years: $521,146.78. Monthly PMI: $0 — a conventional borrower at this down payment simply couldn't get this deal, and even at 3–5% down would typically add $150–$400 a month in mortgage insurance.
Eligibility, the COE, and why $0 down actually works
To use the benefit you need a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) from the VA, based on your service history — generally 90 days of active wartime service, 181 days peacetime, 6 years in the Guard or Reserves, or being the surviving spouse of a veteran who died in the line of duty. Lenders can usually pull your COE electronically in minutes, so don't let a missing piece of paper stop you from getting pre-approved.
Zero-down lending sounds reckless until you see the mechanics: the VA guarantees a chunk of every loan, so the lender's risk on a default is dramatically lower — that guarantee is what the funding fee pays for, replacing PMI as the system's insurance. It's also why you can use the benefit again and again: sell the home, restore your entitlement, and the "subsequent use" fee tier (3.3% with less than 5% down) is the only extra cost of coming back. If you can put down 5% or 10%, the fee drops fast — sometimes enough to be worth it even when you don't have to.