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The Yahoo view: Truist is a competitive mortgage lender for first-time home buyers, with down payment assistance and lender credits to eligible borrowers. But it has only an average score for customer satisfaction.
Truist is a study in contrasts, excelling in some areas and then disappointing in others. Its home equity line of credit is easy to apply for — but only available to customers in about half of the nation.
It sets the standard for showing mortgage rates with or without discount points, then falls short in revealing the credit approval standards on which the interest rates are based.
Still, Truist deserves to be considered among your choices of potential mortgage lenders and mortgage refinance lenders.
Dig deeper: Best types of home loans for first-time home buyers
Key benefits
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A Community Homeownership Incentive Program offers low or no down payments, lender credits, and no mortgage insurance to eligible borrowers in qualifying areas. These perks make Truist Bank one of Yahoo’s picks for the best mortgage lenders for first-time buyers.
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Medical professionals may qualify for lower down payments, waived mortgage insurance, and the exclusion of student loans from debt-to-income requirements.
Need to know
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Published mortgage rates default to one discount point to show a more favorable interest rate but can be adjusted to zero points.
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Scores near the average for customer satisfaction, according to the latest J.D. Power Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study.
Dig deeper: How to buy a house in 2024
We couldn’t find a page dedicated to first-time home buyers, but Truist has an “Affordable Lending Options” tab that is a decent place to start. The “Buy a home” selection under the “Personal mortgage” link sends you to a page with an up-top splash promoting 3% down payment loans, so that’ll work, too.
Truist takes a simple layout, combined with logical jumping-off points, to guide you through the learning process.
We particularly like the “Homebuyer’s guide,” which promises to help you “See what’s ahead in 10 minutes.” The two downloadable PDFs let you think through the home-buying process and how to apply for and close on a mortgage.
One guide is 25 pages long, the other 18. It’s probably much more than a 10-minute read.
Learn more: First-time home buyer programs
With an application that takes “less than 15 minutes to fill out” and a closing date within 30 to 35 days after the paperwork has been received, a Truist home equity line of credit seems easy enough.
However, a Truist HELOC is only available in less than half of U.S. states.
Payments can be structured with interest-only, variable-rate, or fixed-rate charges.
Dig deeper: The differences between HELOCs and home equity loans
This is one of the best mortgage rate pages we’ve seen. The reason? Right at the top of the page, you can choose whether your estimated rate will include one discount point — or zero points. Smart. Very smart.
When shopping lenders, we suggest asking for zero discount points in any loan estimate. That way, you’re comparing equal offers. You can always decide to buy points later if you wish.
Truist shows rates for a handful of mortgage terms — literally, five. That’s plenty to get a sense of where rates are.
The disclaimers for these advertised rates are at the bottom of the page but don’t really divulge much. You’ve selected the points, so that’s a given. However, we couldn’t find mention of a credit score, debt-to-income ratio, or even the down payment used to formulate the interest rates.
Without knowing that, these rates aren’t very useful.
Read more: How to get the lowest mortgage rates
Many prospective homeowners like to get things started with an online mortgage preapproval. However, for a preapproval — an essential first step these days — you’ll need to fill out a contact form or call a Truist mortgage loan officer to get things started.
When you’re ready to submit an official application, you’ll find a fully online experience. Truist uses the online loan application service many lenders use. You can get a personalized interest rate estimate, upload documents, and check on the progress of your application.
Dig deeper: How to get a mortgage in 2024
A home affordability calculator is linked midway down the “Personal Mortgage” page, and a mortgage payment calculator is at the bottom. Other calculators and resources are scattered around the site and a bit hard to find.
A “Money and Mindset” page addresses more than buying a home — it’s a broad personal finance guide, though worth a look.
Truist offers low or no down payments to eligible borrowers in certain areas, plus lender credits and no mortgage insurance.
PNC Bank has a Community Loan program that offers a down payment as low as 3% with no PMI. PNC also has grants of up to $5,000 that can be applied to closing costs or the down payment.
Both Truist and PNC have compelling loan programs for medical professionals. Putting lenders in a head-to-head competition for your business can give you benefits you haven’t uncovered before.
PNC Bank mortgage review
If you’re looking to unlock some of your home equity, Truist has an easy-to-apply-for home equity line of credit. Unfortunately, it’s only available in less than half of U.S. states.
It took us a while to uncover, but New American Funding also has HELOCs and home equity loans, which are available in most states.
New American Funding mortgage review
Methodology:
Yahoo Finance identified the best mortgage lenders for first-time home buyers by grading leading national lenders on a five-star scale from scores compiled from and averaged from public reviews. Criteria included interest rate, fees and loan costs, ease of application, rate transparency, loan product availability and options, customer experience, minimum down payment, minimum FICO scores, online features, time to approval, trustworthiness. 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.