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The Yahoo view: An early mover in digital mortgages, Rate is a good choice if you’re looking for a quick loan approval or want to access your home’s equity. However, it is rated well below J.D. Power’s average in customer satisfaction.
Rate (previously Guaranteed Rate) rose to national recognition as an online mortgage lender. But unlike many of its web-only competitors, it expanded with a network of local offices. Now, with some 500 branches around the nation, it offers a rare non-bank lender combination of online convenience with face-to-face options.
With a commitment to quick loan approval, a compelling home equity line of credit offering, and well-tested online capabilities, Rate should be on your short list of mortgage lenders and mortgage refinance lenders.
Dig deeper: Best VA loan lenders
Key benefits
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A “Same Day Mortgage” promises loan approval — but not loan funding — within 24 hours of locking in a mortgage interest rate and submitting financial documents.
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For a personal service option, Rate has hundreds of branch locations across the nation.
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The lender offers non-qualified mortgages for self-employed borrowers or those who want to get a loan using alternative credit standards.
Need to know
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A 1% down program is apparently available but is not shown on its loan options page.
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Advertised rates factor in more than one discount point, and they are based on a 20% down payment and a FICO score well above the national average.
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Rate scores significantly below average in customer satisfaction, according to the latest J.D. Power Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study.
Learn more: How to get a mortgage
Rate offers the following types of home loans:
Rate does not have the following home loan types:
Learn more: What are physician mortgage loans, and who qualifies?
Unlike many lenders, Rate does not aggressively promote low-down-payment loans for first-time homebuyers.
While others are pushing 3% down conventional loans — or even 1% down programs — Rate seems to downplay that option. We finally found mention of a 1% down payment program called OneDown among article resources, but not on the first-time home buyer page or on its loan options page.
However, Rate also offers FHA and VA loans, which certainly cater to buyers wanting low or no down payments.
As for resources, it’s good to see a lender give first-time home buyers some common sense considerations. Rate does that, with an entire page dedicated to discussing the loan process, the steps to buying a house, and FAQs.
The section called “What you need to consider before buying a house” is particularly on point, including questions like:
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Are my finances sufficient and stable enough to afford a monthly mortgage payment?
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Do I have enough saved up for a down payment?
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Do I have additional money available to cover closing costs and unforeseen repairs?
It’s good stuff to ask yourself.
However, in a closing paragraph of all the reasons “why buying a house right now makes sense” is this line:
“On top of all of those reasons to buy a house, keep in mind that, as of 2020-2021, mortgage lending rates are at or close to historic lows. There’s no telling when interest rates will go back up, so now’s a good time to take advantage of these buyer-friendly conditions.”
Oops. Time to update the website.
Learn more: See Rate in Yahoo’s list of best lenders for first-time home buyers
While Rate originates mostly conventional loans, it does a fair amount of FHA-backed mortgages. On its website, Rate shows FHA mortgage rates based on a FICO 680 credit score.
Lenders often add additional credit score hurdles or other loan qualifications on top of the basic FHA standards. For example, Rate says that a minimum FICO 620 is required for a 3.5% down FHA loan. FHA says 580. Scores below 620 require a Rate down payment of 10%. FHA says 500.
On its FHA loan page, Rate highlights FHA benefits, including 203(k) renovation loans with a minimum 620 credit score, and it states that sellers are allowed to pay up to 6% of closing costs.
Dig deeper: Definitions, requirements, and limits of FHA loans
Loans backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs are also an option at Rate. VA loans are an exclusive benefit for active duty service members, veterans, and their families.
Rate’s VA loan page highlights that VA loans often allow lower interest rates, no down payment, and no mortgage insurance.
Dig deeper: What is a VA loan, and what are the requirements to qualify?
For homeowners looking to access their house’s equity, Rate makes a good pitch for its home equity line of credit (HELOC).
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You may be able to take out a line of credit for up to 85% of your home’s current market value.
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An online application takes about five minutes, and you can get your money as quickly as in five days.
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Rate offers a fixed interest rate. HELOCs are often variable-rate products. A fixed-rate can be a good option in a rising interest-rate environment. When rates are falling — not so much.
Rate is also very clear about what it takes to qualify for its HELOC: a minimum 620 FICO score and a debt-to-income ratio of no more than 50%.
Rate charges an origination fee on fixed-rate HELOCs that is a percentage of the line of credit balance. Examples of HELOC fees on the Rate website range from 1.99% to 4.99%.
Dig deeper: The differences between HELOCs and home equity loans
Mortgage rates are easy to find on Rate. Just click on “Current rates” on the top nav bar. The resulting page shows a list of “national average rates.”
Some sample rates on various loan options are below that.
We were excited to see a “How low will your rate be?” calculator, too. Until we read the fine print.
Once you put in your information and click on the “I agree, get my personalized rate” button, you agree to be contacted by a rep, “including via auto-dialed and/or prerecorded or artificial voice calls and text messages (SMS and MMS), or email even if your telephone number is a cellular number or on a corporate, state or the National Do Not Call Registry (DNC) or other do not contact list.”
We read the fine print, so you don’t have to. But you should.
Read more: How to get the lowest mortgage rates
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, regarding 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.
What this means: Rate offered a lower-than-median mortgage rate of 6.6% and a near-median total loan cost of $6,444.75 to borrowers in 2023.
You can apply with Rate online, by phone, or at a branch location. The website shows seven steps to applying:
It would be helpful if there were more details on the page about the process, the information, and the documentation you’ll need to complete each one. It could save a lot of time and frustration.
Imagine starting to fill out the online form or hopping on the phone to begin an application and realizing you’ll need a lot more than off-the-top-of-your-head answers to the questions.
Rate promotes “five-minute approvals” and an “easy process” using the app. The Rate app has a 4.7 rating in Google Play and a 4.8 in the Apple Store.
Dig deeper: How to get a mortgage in 2025
There are a handful of calculators on Rate, not counting the mortgage payment calculator at the top of the “Mortgage tools” page. The other calculators are:
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Closing costs
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Refinance
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Home affordability
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Extra payment
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Mortgage points
That’s a lot of calculators.
There are also tips for home buyers on the page, including improving your credit score and knowing the different mortgage loan types available. At the bottom of the Tools page are some good FAQs, as well.
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Rate earns our highest Affordability rating of 5 stars for having a large portfolio of loan options and down payment assistance for borrowers.
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Rate receives high marks for offering a lower-than-median interest rate to borrowers.
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Online features and learning resources are ample.
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Loan costs are about average. That’s not a “con” as much as a heads-up.
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Rate’s mortgage rate transparency would be improved by offering a sample personalized interest rate without having to provide contact information.
If you are tight on savings, a low-down-payment loan might be important to you. Rate soft pedals low down payment loan programs. It took us a while to find its OneDown loan — and that was by accident. Guild Mortgage has a 1% down payment loan program and offers 2% grants for additional assistance. Guild also provides a 1% interest rate buydown for one year. So Guild might be worth your time to compare.
If you want to unlock home equity, both Guild Mortgage and Rate offer HELOCs. Guild looks for a credit score of 660 or better and lends up to 95% of a home’s value. Rate allows a qualifying credit score as low as 620 but has an 85% maximum loan-to-value. That gives you a choice: a lower credit score to qualify — or a higher credit line to tap.
Guild Mortgage review
Bank of America mortgages are another option to consider if you seek down payment and closing costs assistance. BofA offers grants of up to $7,500 toward closing costs and up to $10,000 toward down payment assistance for qualified buyers in many, but not all, states.
For homeowners with equity, Rate has an impressive HELOC offer with an application they claim takes only five minutes. BofA says its HELOC application takes about 15 minutes. So, if you’ve got 10 minutes to spare, you might want to see which lender gives you the best deal.
Bank of America mortgage review
Victor Ciardelli is the founder, president, and CEO of Rate. He started the company in June 2000 in Chicago as one of the first digital mortgage platforms.
Rate is among America’s top 20 mortgage lenders based on loan volume. It originated over 136,000 home loans in 2023 — and that was in a year when mortgages were not a particularly hot commodity.
Rate scores below average in customer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power, but gets an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
It is. The company rebranded in July 2024 to be simply Rate. The CEO, Victor Ciardelli, said the change represented “a new era of growth and innovation.” The aim was to simplify and modernize the company’s image. The transition to the new name is still unfolding. For regulatory reasons, the company will still be known as Guaranteed Rate in Louisiana, New York, and Tennessee.
Most likely, yes. Rate will sell your loan to free up more capital to lend. It’s a common practice, especially among nonbank lenders. It’s also a good bet that you will be making payments to another company within 30 to 60 days.
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.