Do VA loans come with any extra charges I should know about?

The short answer is, yes. But VA fees are a little different than for conventional loans so here’s what you need to know:

• With VA loans, you don’t need to pay something called private mortgage insurance (PMI), which is what you usually need to pay when your payment is less than 20%. Repeat, no PMI!
• But you do need to pay a VA Funding Fee.
• You can pay the funding fee upfront in cash, or have it rolled into your loan principal.

If you’re wondering what the fee is for, it’s to help with that government guarantee we talked about earlier. The fees are a way for you to split the bill with U.S. taxpayers (like yourself!).