Almost never. For the vast majority of veterans the VA loan is the right choice, and anyone steering a veteran toward FHA as a general rule is giving bad advice. The VA benefit was built for this: no monthly mortgage insurance, competitive rates, flexible qualifying, and strong appraisal protections. FHA charges both an upfront and a monthly mortgage insurance premium, so as a default it is usually the more expensive path for someone who holds VA entitlement. The genuine edge cases point to conventional, not FHA. A property type the VA will not approve, a veteran who wants to preserve entitlement for another purchase, a specific qualifying wrinkle. Those are rare, a handful of scenarios, and conventional wins them far more often than FHA does. If someone presents FHA as the smarter move for an eligible veteran, make them show you the side-by-side numbers and the specific reason. The burden is on them to justify walking away from the VA benefit. We will gladly run VA against the alternatives on your actual scenario so you can see the difference in dollars before deciding.