Cash News
The Yahoo view: An FHA lender that charges no origination fees, AmeriSave is recommended for home buyers looking for the benefits of a government-backed loan.
AmeriSave Mortgage splashes its credentials on its homepage: 20 years of mortgage experience, $130 billion in loan volume, with loans issued to over 733,000 borrowers. That’s a pretty impressive roster of achievements.
Whether or not they “set the standard for online mortgage lending,” as they claim, AmeriSave has the chops to please a wide variety of home buyers and refinancers. Yet, there are a few service nuances you should know about, including a higher-than-required credit score for FHA loans.
Dig deeper: Best types of home loans for first-time home buyers
Key benefits
Need to know
-
Originates loans in 49 states, with New York as the only exception.
-
A minimum FICO 600 credit score is required for AmeriSave FHA loans.
-
Advertised mortgage rates are based on a 720 FICO score with a 20% down payment.
-
You can’t get mortgage rates or ask a question through chat without providing contact information.
-
AmeriSave ranked just below average in the 2023 customer satisfaction study by J.D. Power.
Dig deeper: The credit score needed to buy a house
AmeriSave home loan product offerings
AmeriSave offers the following types of home loan types:
-
Conventional loans
-
FHA
-
VA loans
-
USDA loans
-
Purchase
-
Refinance
-
Cash-out refinance
-
Fixed rate
-
Adjustable rate
-
Buydown loans
-
HELOCs
AmeriSave does not offer the following types of home loans:
-
Interest only
-
Jumbo loans
-
Lot loans
-
Construction
-
Guest house
-
Second home
-
Non qualified
-
Investment properties
-
Energy efficient
-
Renovation
-
1% down
-
Bridge loans
-
Manufactured home
-
Piggy-back loans
-
ITIN mortgages
-
Medical professional
-
Home equity loans
Learn more: How a mortgage rate buydown program works
AmeriSave Mortgage for FHA home buyers
AmeriSave dedicates a big chunk of its time to making FHA loans. Allowing only 3.5% down and with relaxed credit score requirements, it’s no surprise these government-backed loans are so popular.
The FHA requires a minimum credit score of at least 500 with a 10% down payment. If you’re looking to make the minimum down payment of 3.5%, the FHA wants a score of 580 or better. However, AmeriSave bumps that credit score minimum to 600 — 640 for loans over $700,000.
FHA mortgage loans are limited to 115% of your area’s median home value. What does that mean? Using this HUD tool, you can enter your county and metro name to see the loan limits where you live. For example, we entered Harris, a county in Houston, Texas, and found the single-family loan limit was $498,257.
AmeriSave has a link to the same tool on its FHA loan page.
Learn more: Understanding FHA mortgage insurance
AmeriSave Mortgage for home equity lending
AmeriSave does not offer a fixed-interest-rate home equity loan but does provide a HELOC, which gives homeowners some flexibility regarding how much home equity they can tap.
AmeriSave Mortgage home equity line of credit
Accessing the accrued value in your home with the flexibility to draw it as you need it — that is the power of a home equity line of credit. A HELOC lets you draw from that pool of money over time, paying interest only on the amount you’ve borrowed.
AmeriSave’s HELOC has a variable rate, like most do, and allows you to borrow up to 80% of your home’s equity — including any other mortgages, of course. The line of credit limit is typically $249,000 but can vary by state.
AmeriSave Mortgage HELOC fees
Fees include a $195 application charge, an $800 funding fee, and third-party charges that typically range from $0 to $2,500.
Dig deeper: The differences between HELOCs and home equity loans
AmeriSave Mortgage home loan rates 2024
Mortgage rates are not readily available on AmeriSave’s website. If you click on a “Quick Quote” for a purchase or refinance loan, you’ll be asked the amount of the loan, where the property is located (even though AmeriSave already knew where I was — kind of creepy), and “Who will be on the loan?”
It continues to ask loan profile questions — and your mobile phone number for a text verification — before providing a “Quick Quote.”
We never got past that.
Read more: How to get the lowest mortgage rates
How AmeriSave scores on mortgage rates and loan costs
Yahoo Finance uses 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data comprised of 10 million home loan applications to score mortgage lenders on issued mortgage rates and total loan costs. We score each lender on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).
For example, with mortgage rates, a lender with a lower score charged a higher-than-median mortgage interest rate for loans issued in 2023. A higher score would indicate a lender granted lower-than-median home loan interest rates to borrowers in 2023.
With total home loan costs, a lower score would indicate that a lender charged higher-than-median total home loan costs in 2023. A high rating would mean that a mortgage lender offered lower-than-median all-in home loan costs in 2023.
AmeriSave Mortgage home loan rates score: 5 out of 5 stars
AmeriSave Mortgage total loan costs score: 1 out of 5 stars
What this means: AmeriSave Mortgage offered a much lower-than-median mortgage rate of 6.125% but a much higher-than-median total loan cost of $10,393.10 to borrowers in 2023.
AmeriSave mortgage application
While AmeriSave says the prequalification application process is a “quick” task, we couldn’t test that claim. Every click to get started led to the “Quick Quote” lead form, where you must provide personal information.
AmeriSave mortgage preapproval
The preapproval process couldn’t be explored, either. The Quick Quote workflow stands in the way of any test drive by sparking a contact.
Dig deeper: How to get a mortgage in 2024
A home loan lender staple — the mortgage calculator — seems missing from the AmeriSave website.
We finally found a link called “mortgage calculators” at the bottom of a random page, but when we clicked on it, we were taken to the Quick Quote page. Ack! Not that again!
Then we found the Knowledge Center. Finally, this will be the place for all the helpful home loan calculators, right? There were some educational articles, and right there, in the middle of the page, was a huge banner saying “Mortgage Calculators & Tools.”
We’ll let you guess where that went. Hint: Not to a mortgage calculator.
AmeriSave Mortgage pros and cons
Pros
-
AmeriSave earns our highest score of 5 stars for offering borrowers a well below-median interest rate in 2023. The other side of the coin is high fees, as noted below.
-
Another above-average rating of 4 stars is awarded for Affordability, which is our measure of available loan products. AmeriSave falls short of our best score because it does not offer down payment assistance or a 1% down payment program.
Cons
-
AmeriSave’s high total loan cost, earning the lender a 1-star rating, is apparently the price you pay for a lower-than-median interest rate. Try to strike a balance between the two for a better loan offer.
-
With no way to see sample interest rates without being contacted by a loan officer, AmeriSave scores 1 star for rate transparency.
-
Online resources are limited on the AmeriSave website. That’s another 1-star score.
How AmeriSave compares to other mortgage lenders
AmeriSave Mortgage vs. Guild Mortgage
We’ve established that, despite its 600 minimum credit score, AmeriSave is a good choice for an FHA loan. The 3.5% down payment appeals to many home buyers who lack large savings account balances.
Guild Mortgage is another FHA lending specialist, but Guild takes the down payment option even lower with a 1% down loan program. It’s not an FHA loan, so qualifying may be harder if your credit history is less than perfect, and the Guild 1% down loan is subject to income limits. But still, it’s worth looking into.
Guild Mortgage review
AmeriSave Mortgage vs. New American Funding
The Lock & Drop loan program gives AmeriSave borrowers a 1% interest rate discount for the first year of their loan. This can save you money on monthly payments as you make the transition to homeownership.
However, New American Funding helps you buy a new place with up to $8,000 in assistance to apply to your down payment or closing costs.
Shopping for the best mortgage lenders can uncover offers you never knew existed before.
New American Funding review
AmeriSave FAQs
Is AmeriSave a reliable mortgage company?
AmeriSave has been in business for more than 20 years and has financed nearly three-quarters of a million borrowers. It has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and is responsive to customer reviews and complaints. So yes, AmeriSave is a reliable mortgage company.
Is it hard to get approved at AmeriSave Mortgage?
Like just about all lenders today, AmeriSave follows underwriting standards set by government-sponsored enterprises and federal agencies. The FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac guarantee loans and set lending parameters. Getting a loan approved by AmeriSave is very much the same as with any lender.
How long does it take to close with AmeriSave Mortgage?
Closing a mortgage can take 30 to 60 days. On average, AmeriSave says loans are funded within six days of approval. Just remember, it’s the underwriting process that takes weeks to complete.
What is the lawsuit against AmeriSave?
It’s been more than five years since AmeriSave was involved in any major consumer litigation. Yahoo Finance tracks regulatory records and penalizes the star rating of any lender facing significant legal action in the past five years. AmeriSave did not receive a penalty.
Is AmeriSave Mortgage closing down?
AmeriSave Mortgage Corporation, based in Atlanta, has had some employee layoffs in the last two years and shuttered its wholesale loan operation in 2022. The retail division that offers home loans directly to individual buyers is still in operation.
Methodology:
Yahoo Finance reviews and scores mortgage lenders with quintile scoring in five primary categories: 1) Interest rates. Using 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data comprised of 10 million home loan applications, we score mortgage lenders on issued mortgage rates below or above the annual median of reporting lenders. 2) Affordability. A measure of loan product availability and the willingness of a lender to offer government-backed loans, low down payments, down payment assistance, and consideration of nontraditional credit. 3) Loan costs. HMDA data is again analyzed, and lenders are rated based on total loan costs compared to the annual median. 4) Rate transparency. The ability of a website user to obtain a mortgage interest rate estimate. We score lenders based on whether rates are enhanced with discount points or high credit score requirements, disclaimers revealing rate assumptions, sample advertised rates, and whether adjustable or no discount point rate estimates are available. 5) Online features. An analysis of the educational material, calculators, and additional resources available to users.
Review of Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) data on regulatory actions can trigger a penalty to the score of any lender with a consumer mortgage-related administrative or enforcement action within the past five years.
Advertisers or sponsorships do not influence ratings.
Editorial disclosure for mortgages:
The information in this article has not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The details on financial products, including interest rates and fees, are accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the lender’s website for the most current information. This site doesn’t include all currently available offers.
This article was edited by Laura Grace Tarpley.