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The Yahoo view: Because of its commitment to underserved borrowers, New American Funding is Yahoo’s top pick for mortgage lenders for bad credit. NAF has a variety of innovative loan programs and a “cash buyer” program for competitive housing markets.
With a deep bench of loan products, New American Funding is a worthy lender to consider. However, regarding home equity loan products, we found quite a bit of confusion among NAF representatives we spoke with.
Dig deeper: Best types of home loans for first-time home buyers
Key benefits
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The “Pathway to Homeownership” program targets first-time home buyers who need up to $8,000 in assistance for a down payment or closing costs. Additional requirements apply.
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A “cash buyer” program claims to offer a faster closing and possible savings on a home’s sale price. NAF makes a cash purchase of the house and sells it back to the borrower.
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NAF’s “I CAN” mortgage offers loan terms from eight to 30 years, which provides payment flexibility and a path to paying off your mortgage sooner.
Need to know
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Mortgage rates shown on NAF’s website seem pleasantly low but are reduced with three discount points and as much as a 40% down payment, which is only revealed when clicking through to advertising disclosures on a separate page.
Dig deeper: First-time home buyer programs — everything you need to know
Loan types offered
New American Funding for first-time home buyers
New American Funding proudly proclaims a focus to serve “minority borrowers.” Sure, other mortgage providers have similar loan programs, but it’s refreshing to see a stated commitment to such a necessary lending priority.
NAF’s CEO and co-founder Patty Arvielo has made it her mission to leverage her position as a first-generation Hispanic American. She created the Latino Focus and NAF Dream initiatives to enhance lending to underserved communities.
First-time home buyer resources on the New American Funding website are plentiful and actionable. First-time buyer and down payment assistance programs are explained, as well as the credit scores required to access such support.
It’s text-heavy but necessary information for first-timers looking to break into homeownership. Few graphics to break up the information, and it may feel like a bit of a grind to get through it all, but a phone number is prominently displayed if you’d rather talk through your options with a mortgage rep.
Learn more: First-time home buyer grants
New American Funding for home equity lending
While NAF has an entire page dedicated to home equity lines of credit, we found it odd that the language regarding qualifying for a HELOC made generic references such as “check with your mortgage lender” and “most lenders” rather than referring to New American Funding.
More disappointing: Clicking on the “Apply for a HELOC” button took us to a choice of a mortgage to “Buy a Home” or “Refinance.” That’s confusing because a home equity line of credit is not refinancing your loan; it’s a second mortgage that allows you to draw from your home’s equity.
A call to customer service required us to give some personal information to the call screener before we were “transferred to the refinancing department.” Rather than going through that, we contacted the NAF media department. It took most of the afternoon, but they insisted that there was a home equity line of credit option.
In fact, an hour or so later, they added a button that said, “Home Equity” alongside the “Buy a Home” and “Refinance” options. NAF also said via email that they offer home equity loans along with HELOCs.
The things we do to bring clarity to a complicated process.
Dig deeper: The differences between HELOCs and home equity loans
New American Funding mortgage rates
The Today’s Mortgage Rates page on the NAF website features four common loan rates: 30- and 15-year fixed and 30-year fixed FHA and VA loans.
As noted above, the rates are lowered with three discount points and 40% down payments. Oof. That will set many borrowers up for a big disappointment when they find out the rate they truly qualify for.
Applying for a mortgage with New American Funding
Clicking on “apply,” “rate quote,” or “get quote” leads you to what looks to be a four-step screening process where you choose to “buy a home,” “refinance,” or “cash out.” Submitting the property information and some loan details will take “about 3 minutes,” NAF says.
The short process and the fact that NAF says it doesn’t affect your credit score make us believe this is simply a lead generator that will land you on the company’s email or callback list. A loan application — even a prequalification — would likely take more time and information.
Dig deeper: How to get a mortgage in 2024
There are plenty of home-buying resources on the NAF website, including:
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Buying a house out of state
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Housing market news
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A mortgage glossary
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Videos
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Downloads, including worksheets for budgeting, closing costs, and a moving checklist
You’ll also find mortgage payment, amortization, refinance, and affordability calculators.
And a bonus: state calculators that provide additional information, including property taxes, home and mortgage stats, and other costs and figures related to a particular state. Some of the information was a bit dated, but it was still interesting.
Read more: See Yahoo Finance’s list of the best FHA lenders
How New American Funding compares to other mortgage lenders
New American Funding vs. Chase mortgage
With its Pathway to Homeownership program, NAF offers up to $8,000 in down payment and closing costs assistance to first-time home buyers in certain areas. Chase Home Lending has a similar program offering grants of $2,500, $5,000, or up to $7,500 that can be applied to the down payment or fees, with certain restrictions.
Both programs are worthy of consideration. Comparing assistance programs can help you find the best road to homeownership and give you leverage when considering loan offers from competing mortgage lenders.
Chase mortgage review
New American Funding vs. Rocket Mortgage
New American Funding offers 3% down conventional loans. So does Rocket Mortgage. But Rocket takes it a step further and buys down the down payment to 1% with a 2% grant you never have to repay.
While it’s important to remember that you want to put down as much money as you can comfortably afford, it’s also good to have options.
Rocket 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.