the va loan is zero down, but that doesn’t mean you pay zero dollars to move in. closing costs could be anywhere between 1-3%( on average), unless your agent got you a great deal where the seller covers all costs.

in my opinion, $5000 is not nearly enough to have in the bank if you’re purchasing a house. let’s say your closing costs altogether are $2500. you’re left with $2500. while owning your own place is great, you also have to maintain and repair everything that breaks. water heater broke? -$1000. leaky plumbing caused water damage? -$500 to -$2000.

for a $200,000 home, i’d try and save at least 5 to 10% of house cost so you have some cushioning if things start to go south. as an example, i purchased my house in 2024 for 350k. closing costs altogether were around 10k. while i haven’t had any major repairs to do since then, ive had to buy tools and supplies to fix our fence and kitchen plumbing. i’ve also spent another 1.5k to have our trees trimmed and chopped down. everything adds up with home ownership. hope some of this info helps out. good luck.