VA Loan Calculator for Northwest Ohio

It's a one-time fee the VA charges on most VA-backed purchase loans, which helps keep the program running at no cost to taxpayers. For loans closed on or after April 7, 2023, the fee is 2.15% of the loan amount on a first-time VA loan with less than 5% down (3.3% on a subsequent use), dropping to 1.5% with at least 5% down and 1.25% with at least 10% down, regardless of first or subsequent use. The VA updates this schedule periodically, so confirm the current rate on VA.gov or with your lender.

Per VA.gov, you're generally exempt if you're receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability, you're eligible for that compensation but receiving retirement or active-duty pay instead, you're a surviving spouse receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, you have a pre-discharge claim rating on file before closing, or you're an active-duty member who provided evidence of a Purple Heart by closing. Your lender confirms your exact exemption status.

No. Unlike most conventional loans with less than 20% down, VA loans don't require private mortgage insurance — that's one of the real financial advantages of the benefit, and this calculator doesn't add a PMI line for that reason.

In most cases, yes — it's typically rolled into the loan amount rather than paid out of pocket at closing, which is the default this calculator assumes. You can also choose to pay it upfront if you'd rather not finance it.

Dave isn't a veteran himself, but he works with veteran and active-duty buyers regularly and has handled a lot of VA-financed transactions — so he knows how VA appraisals, Minimum Property Requirements, and the funding fee play out in a real deal, and how sellers tend to react to a VA offer.

VA appraisals include Minimum Property Requirements (MPRs) covering safety, soundness, and sanitation. A property on a private well and septic system — common outside Bryan, Defiance, and other Williams, Defiance, Fulton, and Henry county communities — typically needs water quality and septic testing to satisfy those requirements, an extra step a home on municipal water and sewer doesn't need. Dave flags this during the offer stage so it doesn't stall your closing later.