Mortgage Lenders Rating Methodology

Choosing to buy or refinance a home is a big financial decision, so it’s important to choose the right lender. These days, there are plenty of mortgage lenders to consider, each one offering similar products but with slightly different terms and details. So how do you find the right lender for your needs? 

That’s where we come in. We strive to provide accurate and objective information to help you choose the right mortgage lender for you. Per our editorial guidelines, we rate and review all lenders and home loan products independently, with no influence from financial institutions or advertisers. Additionally, our ratings and review team operates independently from the newsroom.

We reviewed dozens of mortgage lenders, including many of the largest mortgage lenders by volume in the United States. The lenders we reviewed included traditional banks, credit unions, and online lenders. We assessed lenders on quantifiable attributes, including interest rates, fees, minimum required credit scores, minimum down payment requirements, and average approval and closing times. 

We also analyzed other factors that are important to customers, including the variety of loan types offered, nationwide availability, online application availability, and customer satisfaction ratings.

From there, we gave each lender a score between one and five stars (with five stars being the best score). We review our ratings and scores quarterly to ensure you’re getting the latest analysis of a particular lender’s strengths and weaknesses.

We break down our score into four main categories:

Choosing to buy or refinance a home is a big financial decision, so it’s important to choose the right lender. These days, there are plenty of mortgage lenders to consider, each one offering similar products but with slightly different terms and details. So how do you find the right lender for your needs? 

That’s where we come in. We strive to provide accurate and objective information to help you choose the right mortgage lender for you. Per our editorial guidelines, we rate and review all lenders and home loan products independently, with no influence from financial institutions or advertisers. Additionally, our ratings and review team operates independently from the newsroom.

We reviewed dozens of mortgage lenders, including many of the largest mortgage lenders by volume in the United States. The lenders we reviewed included traditional banks, credit unions, and online lenders. We assessed lenders on quantifiable attributes, including interest rates, fees, minimum required credit scores, minimum down payment requirements, and average approval and closing times. 

We also analyzed other factors that are important to customers, including the variety of loan types offered, nationwide availability, online application availability, and customer satisfaction ratings.

From there, we gave each lender a score between one and five stars (with five stars being the best score). We review our ratings and scores quarterly to ensure you’re getting the latest analysis of a particular lender’s strengths and weaknesses.

We break down our score into four main categories:

• The variety of loan types offered
• Required credit score
• Loan minimums and maximums

• Down payment requirements
• Interest rates compared to national averages
• Fees

• Average preapproval time
• Average closing time
• Online application
• Nationwide availability

Conventional or Fixed-Rate Mortgage: With a fixed-rate mortgage, your interest rate stays consistent for the life of the loan, which helps make your monthly payment more predictable. Fixed-rate mortgages commonly come in 15-year and 30-year terms. 

Adjustable Rate Mortgage: The interest rate on adjustable rate mortgages is fixed during the introductory period, and then after that adjusts based on the market. The initial period can last six months to ten years. The most common type is a 5/1 ARM, which features a fixed rate for the first five years of the loan. The interest rate may then change every year after that.

Jumbo Loans: A jumbo mortgage is a home loan for an amount greater than the conforming loan limit, which varies by county. For 2023, the baseline conforming loan limit is $726,200, but you can borrow more in high-cost areas.

FHA Loans: The Federal Housing Administration insures FHA mortgages. That makes these loans easier to qualify for with a lower credit score and a down payment as low as 3.5%.

VA Loans: VA loans are backed by the Department of Veteran Affairs. VA loans are only available to eligible service members, veterans, and their spouses. There’s no down payment required in most cases, no prepayment penalty, and no mortgage insurance requirement. 

USDA Loans: USDA mortgages are issued or insured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They’re only available to borrowers seeking a home loan for a property in an eligible rural area. There are also household income limits that vary depending on the type of USDA mortgage. 

Refinance Mortgage Loan: When you refinance, you replace your existing mortgage with a new loan that offers different terms. This allows you to potentially lower your interest rate and, as a result, your monthly payments.

We are a team of journalists and researchers who are dedicated to helping you find the right answers to all of your most important home and personal finance questions. We operate independently from Hearst newsrooms.

Our mission is to make pivotal decisions easy. We are dedicated to breaking down complicated topics in ways everyone can understand. Our advice is rooted in deep research, but is always approachable and practical — we want to save you time and money by giving you straightforward answers to big questions. Ultimately, our goal is to empower you to make confident decisions about your home, money, and happiness.

We are trustworthy: We strive to be fair and honest. We will always disclose our selection methodology and how we make money.​

We are savvy: Our content is smart and practical — we save you time and money by giving you straightforward answers to big questions.​

We are approachable: We break down complicated topics and decisions in ways everyone can understand.​​

We are rooted in service: Our content empowers readers to make confident decisions for their money, homes, and more. 

We make independent decisions about what we cover and recommend. Some of the products featured on this page are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may influence how and where these products appear on the page, such as the order in which they appear in a comparison table, list or advertisement, but it does not influence our editorial choices on what we write about a company or product, or whether to include or exclude any company or product from our editorial content. You may also see traditional advertising on our site, which will be clearly labeled. This site does not include all card companies or all card offers available in the marketplace. Terms Apply.

All articles are prepared by staff and contributors. Opinions expressed therein are solely those of the ratings and reviews editorial team and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including rates and fees, presented in this article is accurate as of the date of the publish. Check the lender’s website for the most current information. We operate independently from Hearst newsrooms.