Mortgage lenders, comparedMortgage lenders compared on what each one publishes: minimum credit score, down payment, loan types, fees and where it lends. We do not quote personal rates.
Independent research. Every number is checked against the provider's own page and dated. Some links may earn us a commission, which never changes a ranking. How we make money
7 mortgage lenders compared; 7 of 7 in the main list were re-read in the last 14 days (newest read Oct 14, 2026). Ranking rule: Lenders are shown by how much of their own terms we could verify and how plainly they publish fees, then alphabetically. It is not a ranking of who is cheapest or best for you, because no list can know that: your rate depends on your credit, down payment, property and state. Lenders cannot pay to change their position or what we say about them. How we rate
Each pick is one fact about a lender's own published terms, with the rule written on its label. It is not a verdict on who is best for you: that depends on your credit, down payment and state, and only an official offer from a lender shows your rate.
Online lender with FHA, VA and jumbo loans, 1% down on ONE+, and a published rate table with its assumptions
ONE+ by Rocket Mortgage (1% down, Rocket adds 2% up to $7,000; income at or below 80% of area median, loans up to $350,000)…
VA-loan specialist with $0 down, a published daily VA rate table and a typical 620 minimum score
Eligibility for VA loans depends on military service and a Certificate of Eligibility.…
Also: A rate lock of 60 days or more
Online bank mortgages with 3% down for first-time buyers, a published $1,495 origination fee and a 90-day rate lock
Standard origination fee of $1,495 on SoFi Bank purchase and refinance mortgages, less a one-time $500 member discount…
1 other we list also qualify; this one ranks first in our order.
Seven mortgage lenders are on this page as of October 14, 2026, and every figure was read from the lender's own pages that day. Lenders do not agree on what to publish. Four state a minimum credit score (Rocket Mortgage, Better Mortgage, Chase and Veterans United) and three do not (SoFi, Bank of America and Navy Federal). Five publish an example rate with its assumptions, and every one of those examples includes discount points, which is why each APR sits above its rate. None of this is a rate for you. The only number that counts is the official offer a lender gives you after you apply, so use this page to decide whom to ask, not whom to pick.
| Mortgage lenders | Min. credit score | Min. down (non-VA) | Loan types | Fees stated | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 580 | 3.5% | Conventional, FHA, VA, Jumbo | Origination fee not published | Oct 14, 2026 |
 | 620 | 3% | Conventional, FHA, VA, Jumbo | Processing fee not published | Oct 14, 2026 |
| 580 | 1% | Conventional, FHA, VA, Jumbo | Applying is free; fee not published | Oct 14, 2026 |
| 620 | 0% (VA) | VA, USDA, FHA, Conventional | VA funding fee 2.15% on first use | Oct 14, 2026 |
| See terms | 3% | Conventional, FHA, VA, Jumbo | $1,495 origination fee | Oct 14, 2026 |
 | See terms | 0% | Conventional, VA, Jumbo… | 1% origination; 1.75% Choice fee | Oct 14, 2026 |
 | See terms | 3% | Conventional, FHA, VA, Jumbo | Fee amounts not published | Oct 14, 2026 |
Each date is when we last checked the provider's own page. Rates and terms can change, so confirm with the provider before you apply.
In ranking order. Each one lists the numbers that decide the choice, its main strengths and its main catches.
All-digital direct lender in all 50 states with 3-minute online pre-approval and FHA, VA and jumbo loans
Better Mortgage is an online direct lender that offers loans for buying a home, refinancing and cash-out refinancing. Where it lends: all 50 states and DC. On its own site it lists Conventional, FHA, VA and Jumbo loans.
Watch out
Big-bank lender with 3% down, FHA, VA and jumbo loans to $9.5 million, plus homebuyer grants in eligible areas
Chase Home Lending is a bank that offers loans for buying a home, refinancing and cash-out refinancing. On its own site it lists Conventional, FHA, VA and Jumbo loans.
Watch out
Online lender with FHA, VA and jumbo loans, 1% down on ONE+, and a published rate table with its assumptions
Rocket Mortgage is an online lender that offers loans for buying a home, refinancing and cash-out refinancing. Where it lends: all 50 states and DC. On its own site it lists Conventional, FHA, VA and Jumbo loans.
Watch out
VA-loan specialist with $0 down, a published daily VA rate table and a typical 620 minimum score
Veterans United Home Loans is a mortgage banker that offers loans for buying a home, refinancing and cash-out refinancing. Where it lends: all 50 states (not every loan type is available in every state).
Watch out
Online bank mortgages with 3% down for first-time buyers, a published $1,495 origination fee and a 90-day rate lock
SoFi Mortgage is an online bank that offers loans for buying a home, refinancing and cash-out refinancing. Where it lends: all states, with an exception for purchase loans in New York (its eligibility page wording is ambiguous).
Watch out
Credit union mortgages for military members and families: VA and $0-down loans, no PMI and a free 60-day rate lock
Navy Federal Credit Union Mortgage is a credit union that offers loans for buying a home, refinancing and cash-out refinancing. On its own site it lists Conventional, VA, Jumbo, Homebuyers Choice (0% down) and Military Choice (0% down) loans.
Watch out
National bank with 3% down programs, FHA and VA loans, jumbo loans, and down payment grants in select markets
Bank of America Home Loans is a bank that offers loans for buying a home, refinancing and cash-out refinancing. On its own site it lists Conventional, FHA, VA and Jumbo loans.
Watch out
Buying a home is a big step and the vocabulary is unfamiliar. Take it in order. You can stop at any step and come back.
Work backwards from the payment, not the price. On a $400,000 home with 20% down at 7.4% (the Freddie Mac national average on October 8, 2026, used only as an example), principal and interest is about $2,216 a month, and about $2,732 once you add property tax and insurance at placeholder values. Try your own numbers in the mortgage payment calculator.
Your credit score, how much you can put down, and your debt-to-income ratio (your monthly debt payments divided by your monthly income) shape every offer. Lenders publish different floors: Rocket Mortgage says 580 for FHA and 620 for most conventional loans, Better Mortgage 580 for FHA, and Chase and Veterans United 620. SoFi, Bank of America and Navy Federal publish no minimum, which is not the same as having none. Ask.
Every lender that offers VA loans lists 0% as its lowest figure, which only helps if you are eligible. Without VA eligibility, the lowest figures published are 0% on Navy Federal's Homebuyers Choice (members only), 1% on Rocket Mortgage's ONE+ program (income limits), 3% at SoFi (qualifying first-time buyers), Chase and Bank of America, and 3.5% on FHA at Better Mortgage. With less than 20% down on a conventional loan you usually also pay private mortgage insurance (PMI). On the same $400,000 home with 10% down, PMI adds roughly $165 a month on top of a $277 higher principal-and-interest payment, and you could ask to drop it in about 8 years 9 months if you pay on schedule. That PMI figure is our rule-of-thumb estimate, not a quote.
The rate is the yearly cost of the loan. The APR adds in points and some fees, so it is usually higher and better for comparing two offers of the same kind. Points are money paid at closing to lower the rate; one point is 1% of the loan. Rocket Mortgage's own example shows it well: a $350,000 30-year loan at 7.5% comes with 1.75 points, or $6,125 at closing, and a principal-and-interest payment of $2,448 on its table. That is how the rate got to 7.5%, and it is why the APR is 7.793%. A lower rate with more points is not automatically cheaper unless you keep the loan long enough.
Fees are where lenders differ most and publish least. SoFi states a $1,495 origination fee (less discounts it lists). Navy Federal states a 1% origination fee on its advertised Choice rates, which you can waive for a 0.25% higher rate, plus a 1.75% funding fee on Choice loans. Rocket Mortgage, Better Mortgage, Chase, Bank of America and Veterans United do not publish an origination fee amount, and Chase's sample APR leaves out a processing fee. Ask each lender for its fees in writing before you compare rates.
After you apply, a lender must give you a standard form called a Loan Estimate that lays out the loan's terms and costs. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau tells buyers to request several of them and compare. Ask each lender for the same loan type, the same loan amount and the same points so the offers line up. Asking does not commit you to anything.
Mortgage lenders and loan officers are generally licensed or registered state by state. Look up the lender, or your individual loan officer, on NMLS Consumer Access. Each lender page here lists the NMLS ID the lender prints on its own site.
Products that do one thing unusually well, with the catch we would want to know before applying.
A VA specialist with $0 down, including jumbo, and a daily VA rate table that shows its points. Eligibility depends on your service and a Certificate of Eligibility, and the VA funding fee is 2.15% on a first-use purchase unless you are exempt.
Read the reviewHomebuyers Choice and VA loans with no down payment, no PMI, and a free 60-day rate lock with float-downs. Membership is limited to the armed forces, the Department of Defense, veterans and their families. Its advertised rates include points and a 1% origination fee.
Read the review3% down for qualifying first-time buyers, a $1,495 origination fee it states plainly, and a 90-day rate lock. No minimum credit score is published.
Read the reviewDown payment grants of up to 3% of the price (up to $10,000) for first-time buyers in select markets, and a 3% down program with income limits. Bank of America ranked second in JD Power's 2025 U.S. Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study, with a score of 792 on a 1,000-point scale. No minimum credit score or fees are published.
Read the reviewLenders are shown by how much of their own terms we could verify and how plainly they publish fees, then alphabetically. It is not a ranking of who is cheapest or best for you, because no list can know that: your rate depends on your credit, down payment, property and state. Lenders cannot pay to change their position or what we say about them.
Providers cannot pay to change this order. If a paid placement ever appears in a list, it is labeled Sponsored and never carries a “best for” label.
Minimum scores, down payments, fees and limits are read from the lender's own pages and dated. We leave out anything we could not confirm.
Whether the lender says what it charges: origination fees, rate-lock terms, closing costs. A fee that is not published is flagged, not guessed.
Membership rules, eligibility (such as VA), state coverage and loan types, written on each lender page.
Written risk flags, and any CFPB enforcement action we can see on the CFPB's own site.
Date of the newest lender-page stamp
There is no single best lender, because the right one depends on your credit, down payment, loan type and state, and the cheapest offer on any given day changes. This page shows what seven lenders publish about their own loans, each checked on the date shown, so you can pick a few to ask for an official offer. Compare those offers side by side before you choose.
It depends on the loan type and the lender. Among the lenders here that publish a minimum, Rocket Mortgage and Better Mortgage state 580 for FHA loans, and Chase and Veterans United state 620. SoFi, Bank of America and Navy Federal do not publish one. A minimum is not a guarantee: lenders also look at your income, debts, savings and the property.
Less than many people think, but it depends on the loan. Published minimums on this page run from 0% (VA loans, and Navy Federal's Homebuyers Choice for members) to 3% or 3.5% on conventional and FHA loans. With under 20% down on a conventional loan you usually pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) until you have built enough equity. Closing costs are separate from the down payment.
No. Where a lender publishes an example rate, we show it with the lender's own assumptions and the date. Those examples assume strong credit and, in every case here, include discount points. Your rate depends on your credit, down payment, property, state and the day you lock. Only an official offer from a lender is your rate.
We list lenders we could verify against their own published pages, and we leave out any figure we could not confirm. Lenders cannot pay for a place on this page or for what we say about them. Lenders are shown by how much of their own terms we could verify, then alphabetically, which is not a ranking of who is cheapest.
Best Mortgage Lenders was last updated in October 2026 and uses rates and fees we verified against each provider's own page. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
