Actually I made a down payment because these days any 0% offer gets round filed … and VA is much cheaper than conventional with PMI. But I hear the cries of anguish from younger veterans of modest means, who find themselves locked out of the market. And they’re the ones who truly sacrificed … the closest I came to harm’s way was crossing busy streets while doing the Panamanian Pub Crawl.
I think most buyers will be better off with no fees and a slightly higher rate. In my case USAA gave me the same rate as a local lender without the junk fees … of course that’s just one data point. Unfortunately there’s a persistent belief that VA loans always come with $3000 or more in seller-paid non-allowables.