Direct Home Lending Mortgage Review 2024

How Bankrate scored Direct Home Lending

To determine Direct Home Lending’s Bankrate Score, Bankrate’s editorial team rated it and other lenders on a scale of one to five stars based on a variety of factors relating to the lender’s products and services. (Bankrate’s partners compensate us, but our opinions are our own, and partner relationships do not influence our reviews.) We derived its overall score by considering three basic factors:

• Affordability: Direct Home Lending’s website offers an online quote tool outlining rates and fees for various loan terms. As of this review, the rates were very competitive compared to Bankrate’s averages (provided you’re a well-qualified borrower).
• Availability: This lender works with borrowers in a limited number of states, so check before you apply.
• Borrower experience: You can initiate a request for a rate quote and apply for a mortgage via the Direct Home Lending website.

Affordability: 9.6/10

You can see purchase or refinance rates and fees through Direct Home Lending’s online quote tool simply by filling out fields with the ZIP code of the property, the purchase price, down payment amount and your credit score range.

Availability: 6.8/10

Direct Home Lending isn’t available in all states; it currently operates in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Washington. The lender offers conventional mortgages, jumbo loans and VA and FHA mortgages. It also offers loans on investment properties as well as reverse mortgages for older homeowners.

Borrower experience: 7.9/10

Direct Home Lending isn’t accredited by the Better Business Bureau, but has an A+ rating from the organization. In the online application process with this lender, you can look through the details of each loan, including fees and points, apply directly and get conditionally approved within minutes. The lender offers 24-hour approvals and closes most loans within 30 days, and also advertises 14-day purchase closings.

How to apply for a mortgage with Direct Home Lending

You can apply for a mortgage with Direct Home Lending online or by phone at 800-575-3648. Here are some tips to prepare for the process:

1. Check your credit report. It’s important to check your credit report before your lender does, in case there are errors that could impact not only whether you get preapproved but also your ability to get the best mortgage rate. Knowing your credit score also helps you decide what type of loan to apply for. If your score is in the very low 600s, for instance, an FHA mortgage might be best for you, as its standards are more lenient than those for conventional loans.
2. Gather personal and financial documents. With any lender, you must supply documentation about your income, assets and debts. This includes pay stubs and W-2s and account and loan statements.
3. Provide details about the property. You’ll need to provide the address of the home and submit to an appraisal. (If you’re refinancing, you might or might not need an appraisal.)

Refinancing with Direct Home Lending

Direct Home Lending offers both rate-and-term and cash-out refinancing options. You can use the lender’s online refinance quote tool to see rates and fees, or call or email the lender’s Fast Lending team, who can advise you on which mortgage refinancing program meets your needs.

• Methodology

  To determine a mortgage lender's Bankrate Score, Bankrate rates lenders on a scale of one (1) to five (5) stars — with five (5) the highest rating — based on a variety of factors relating to the lender's products and services. To assign our ratings, we assessed each mortgage lender across three core areas:

  • Affordability. Annual percentage rate (APR) - 80%; assistance for first-time homebuyers - 10%; down payment - 10%

  • Availability. Loan products - 50%; licensing - 40%; credit score - 10%

  • Borrower experience. Rate transparency - 45%; customer service - 25%; convenience - 10%; days to close - 10%; rate locks - 10%; reputation (bonus)

  Learn more about our methodology.

  How we suggest lenders to compare

  To help you make the most informed decisions, our editorial team suggests two (2) alternative mortgage lenders for each lender reviewed in our comparison table. In most cases, these alternatives 1.) share the same strength (affordability, availability or borrower experience) as the lender reviewed; and 2.) rate highly for Bankrate Score. In the event more than two lenders meet these standards, we suggest the ones with the lowest APRs.