Right now we’ll take a tough have a look at “HomeAmerican Mortgage,” one more residence builder affiliated mortgage lender.
They provide residence buy financing to Richmond American Properties prospects, which is a top-10 residence builder nationally.
As a result of they’re operated by the identical mum or dad firm, they will provide a streamlined course of and residential shopping for expertise.
And maybe extra importantly, prolong particular financing presents like massive mortgage charge buydowns.
Learn on to see should you ought to use their in-house lender or look elsewhere for a greater deal.
HomeAmerican Mortgage Quick Details
- The affiliated mortgage lender of Richmond American Properties
- Affords residence buy financing on newly-built houses
- Based in 1983, headquartered in Denver, Colorado
- Licensed to do enterprise in 16 states and Washington D.C.
- Funded $2.75B in residence loans final yr
- Most energetic in Arizona, California, and Colorado
- Additionally function a title/escrow firm and insurance coverage company
HomeAmerican Mortgage is a full-service, direct lender primarily based out of Denver, Colorado.
They bought their begin approach again in 1983 and are a subsidiary of MDC Holdings, Inc., which is a publicly-traded firm (NYSE: MDC).
MDC additionally owns Richmond American Properties, which builds single-family residences in additional than a dozen states all through the nation.
Merely put, HomeAmerican Mortgage exists to serve these residence patrons, providing buy loans solely (no refinances).
That is much like Lennar Mortgage and DHI Mortgage, which exist to serve Lennar and D.R. Horton residence patrons, respectively.
They’re at the moment licensed to do enterprise in 16 states and D.C., together with Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
These are additionally the states the place their new residence communities are positioned.
Eventually look, they’ve about 50 sponsored mortgage mortgage officers working on the firm, per the NMLS.
And like many different builder-affiliated lenders, additionally they function associated subsidiaries to regulate your entire residence shopping for course of.
This features a title and escrow firm, American House Title and Escrow Co., together with an insurance coverage company, American House Insurance coverage Company, Inc.
Final yr, HomeAmerican Mortgage funded about $2.75 billion in residence loans, per HMDA information.
They’re most energetic of their residence state of Colorado and in California, with the 2 states accounting for almost half of whole mortgage manufacturing.
The corporate additionally does loads of lending in Arizona, Florida, and Nevada.
Tips on how to Apply
To get began, you’ll be able to go to a brand new residence gross sales workplace at one among their communities or just head to their web site and click on on “Apply.”
Earlier than you apply, you might wish to focus on pricing and mortgage choices with a licensed mortgage officer.
Their digital mortgage utility is powered by fintech firm Mix. It permits you to full the app from any gadget, whether or not it’s a pc, pill, or smartphone.
And you may hyperlink monetary accounts to avoid wasting time, add obligatory paperwork, and eSign disclosures.
As soon as your mortgage is submitted, you’ll be requested to offer supporting documentation to generate a dedication letter, which can be topic to ultimate underwriting approval.
You’ll have the ability to test mortgage standing 24/7 and get in contact together with your mortgage group if and when you could have questions.
It’s additionally attainable to generate a mortgage pre-approval letter through their on-line utility, although if shopping for a brand new residence through their mum or dad firm this is probably not obligatory.
Mortgage Applications Provided by HomeAmerican Mortgage
- House buy loans
- Conforming loans backed by Fannie/Freddie
- FHA loans
- VA loans
- Homebuyer help
- Fastened-rate and adjustable-rate choices
As famous, HomeAmerican Mortgage is a purchase-only mortgage lender. In order that they’re completely targeted on getting residence patrons into new houses.
There are not any mortgage refinances supplied, however they’ve a big selection of obtainable mortgage applications to swimsuit completely different preferences and wishes.
You may get a conforming mortgage backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or a jumbo mortgage if buying a costlier property.
As well as, they provide each FHA loans and VA loans, although USDA loans seem like absent from their lending menu.
After all, their new houses is probably not positioned in rural areas anyway, so that is moot.
Additionally they point out the supply of bond loans and rural housing loans, which appears like homebuyer help through state, metropolis, and municipal housing companies.
They provide each fixed-rate and adjustable-rate loans, together with a 5/1 ARM on FHA loans, and a 7/6 ARM for typical loans.
HomeAmerican Mortgage Charges
Whereas they don’t checklist their day by day mortgage charges on-line, they do say they provide aggressive charges
That is apparently as a result of they don’t depend on brokers or a intermediary.
After all, the actual purpose they could have the ability to beat the competitors is as a result of residence builders typically provide large incentives should you use their affiliated lender.
The Richmond Properties web site sometimes options particular financing presents should you get below contract and shut your mortgage by a sure date.
Eventually look, I noticed charges as little as 4.875% on choose adjustable-rate mortgages, and 5.75% for 30-year mounted charges.
These offers are sometimes exhausting to beat as a result of the builder can provide a considerable amount of closing value help that may be towards a everlasting rate of interest buydown.
Nonetheless, make sure to take note of all lender charges and the mortgage APR, which takes under consideration all (or most) of the mortgage prices.
And put within the time to collect different quotes from third-party lenders and unbiased mortgage brokers as nicely.
Except for doubtlessly discovering a greater deal, having different quotes might help you negotiate extra successfully.
HomeAmerican Mortgage Evaluations
Whereas they seem to have the most recent expertise, a wide variety of mortgage applications, and low mortgage charges, their opinions are rather less convincing.
They’ve bought a poor 1.4/5-star ranking from about 120 Google opinions, which clearly is questionable.
A equally low rating of 1.5/5 might be discovered at Yelp, although it’s from a smaller pattern measurement of about 30 opinions.
In the end, they don’t have a ton of opinions on-line. So take the time to learn via them to see what the problems had been.
However they do maintain an ‘A+’ ranking with the Higher Enterprise Bureau (BBB) and have been an accredited enterprise since 2009.
And there are solely seven buyer complaints over the previous three years on the BBB web site, with only one within the final 12 months.
To summarize, HomeAmerican Mortgage may very well be a great possibility should you’re shopping for a Richmond American House as a result of they provide below-market mortgage charges.
But it surely sounds just like the service can generally expertise some hiccups. Nonetheless, should you can abdomen it, the financial savings could be value it.
Simply make sure to collect exterior mortgage charge quotes as nicely to see what else is on the market, and to present your self leverage when negotiating.
HomeAmerican Mortgage Professionals and Cons
The Good Stuff
- Digital mortgage utility powered by Mix
- Can apply for a house mortgage on-line through their web site
- Particular mortgage charge offers for Richmond American Properties prospects
- A+ BBB ranking and few buyer complaints
- Mortgage guidelines and glossary on their web site
- Affiliated title/escrow/insurance coverage corporations for one-stop purchasing
The Maybe Not
- Don’t checklist charges and charges on-line
- Aren’t licensed in all states
- Solely provide residence buy loans
- Poor buyer opinions