VA Loan Calculator

The VA loan is a powerful benefit available to eligible veterans and service members, including surviving spouses. Backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, it allows qualified borrowers to buy a home with no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance. These are two features that can make it cheaper than comparable conventional or FHA financing.

This calculator computes the VA funding fee from your down payment, usage, and exemption status, rolls it into the loan if you finance it, then builds the payment, total interest, and full amortization schedule, while tracking your home's value against the balance so you can watch equity build over the life of the loan.

How does this calculator work?

Start with the VA Funding Fee panel: enter the loan amount before the fee, pick your down-payment tier and whether this is your first VA loan, and check the exemption box if it applies. The panel computes the fee, which most borrowers finance, so it's added to the amount borrowed, and the “Apply to calculator” button loads that total into the loan below. Then set the rate and term (or solve for any field) to get the monthly payment, total interest, and full payoff schedule, with the home's value tracked against the balance.

Adjust the monthly payment or add an extra monthly payment to see how much faster you'd pay off the loan.

Worked example

Buy a $350,000 home with a $0-down, first-use VA loan at 6.25% over 30 years, financing the funding fee.

Home price / down payment

$350,000 / $0

Funding fee (first use, 0% down)

2.15% = $7,525

Amount financed

$357,525

Term / rate

30 yrs / 6.25%

Monthly P&I

$2,201.34

Monthly mortgage insurance

$0

How the numbers work

With no money down on a first-use loan, the funding fee is 2.15% of $350,000 = $7,525. Financed into the loan, the amount borrowed becomes $357,525, and the payment is the amortization result for that total at 6.25%, or about 0.521% per month, over 360 months.

Without the fee the same loan would cost $2,155.01 a month, so financing the $7,525 adds $46.33 a month.

The real advantage is what's missing from the payment: no monthly mortgage insurance. A comparable low-down conventional loan would charge roughly $150 to $250 a month in PMI until you reached 20% equity on the loan. These are insurance savings that can reach tens of thousands of dollars over the loan, far outweighing the $46.33 the funding fee adds.

Veterans receiving VA disability compensation, active-duty Purple Heart recipients, and qualifying surviving spouses are exempt from the fee. By checking the exemption box, the panel drops it to $0. Subsequent-use loans with less than 5% down pay a higher 3.30% fee, which is one reason to compare carefully before reusing the benefit.

What makes VA loans different

Beyond zero down and no monthly mortgage insurance, VA loans offer competitive rates and limit certain closing costs the borrower can pay. The main trade-off is the VA funding fee, which varies with your down payment and whether it's your first VA loan, and can be financed into the balance. Disabled veterans, Purple Heart recipients, and qualifying surviving spouses are typically exempt.

VA loans are for primary residences, not investment properties, and the home must meet the VA's minimum property requirements. The benefit is also reusable: as you pay down or sell, your entitlement can be restored for a future VA loan.