Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of the U.S. home-buying season. Listing inventory generally peaks over the summer, which means more choice, more competition, and more pressure to make a financing decision quickly.
For first-time buyers, the summer surge is both an opportunity and a trap. More homes come to market, but so do more bidding wars, and rates can move week to week. The practical defense is to be pre-approved before you fall in love with a listing rather than after.
For owners weighing a refinance, the arithmetic does not care about the season. Take the total closing costs of the new loan and divide by the monthly saving. That gives the number of months you have to stay in the home before the refinance is worth doing. If you expect to move before then, it is not.
For veterans, Memorial Day is a reasonable moment to look again at VA loan rules. There is no monthly mortgage insurance on a VA loan. Instead there is a one-time funding fee: 2.15% of the loan on a first use with nothing down, 1.50% with 5% down, 1.25% with 10% down, and 3.30% on a subsequent use with nothing down. An interest rate reduction refinance loan carries 0.50%. Borrowers receiving compensation for a service-connected disability are exempt from the fee entirely. Entitlement can also be reused, and partial entitlement rules are more flexible than most people expect.
The VA publishes the current fee tables and eligibility rules at va.gov, and it is worth reading the source rather than a summary before you plan around it.