Headquartered in Chicago, Guaranteed Rate is a direct mortgage lender operating in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. It has streamlined the mortgage process with digital solutions while offering personalized service to ensure borrowers can navigate the often complex home financing journey with ease and confidence.
About Guaranteed Rate Mortgage
Guaranteed Rate is a well-established mortgage lender that has built a strong reputation for providing a variety of mortgage products to meet the diverse needs of borrowers nationwide. With a commitment to offering competitive rates while putting the customer first, Guaranteed Rate caters to a wide audience. This includes those looking for conventional loans and those needing more flexibility or specialized offerings like government-backed FHA or VA loans and reverse mortgages.
Guaranteed Rate is currently the second-largest retail mortgage lender in the U.S., with over 500 branches nationwide.
What Does Guaranteed Rate Mortgage Offer?
Guaranteed Rate Mortgage features affordable purchase, refinance, home equity, and personal loans.
Mortgage Purchase
Guaranteed Rate offers a variety of purchase loan options:
- Fixed-loans: A fixed-rate mortgage gives you a set interest rate and predictable monthly payment over a 15- or 30-year term.
- ARM Loans: Choose from a five, seven, or 10-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) to meet your home lending needs.
- FHA Loans: Backed by the Federal Housing Administration, these mortgage products are ideal for prospective buyers with lower credit scores or minimal savings.
- VA Loans: VA loans, insured by the Department of Veterans Affairs, are a 100% financing option with competitive rates for military service members, veterans and their families.
- Jumbo Loans: A jumbo loan may be ideal if you’re looking to buy a home with a purchase price that exceeds conforming loan limits.
- Interest-only Loans: At the beginning of the loan term, you get interest-only payments to make your monthly payments more affordable.
HELOCs
A Guaranteed Rate home equity line of credit (HELOC) operates like a credit card. You can withdraw against it as needed during the two to five-year draw period. And as you repay the principal, the line replenishes for repeat use. It’s a flexible way to tap into your home equity to consolidate debt, cover home renovation costs, make big-ticket purchases or meet other financial goals.
HECMs & Reverse Mortgages
You can use a reverse mortgage to supplement your income in retirement. The FHA-backed Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) is offered through Guaranteed Rate. If you are at least 62 years old, it lets you pull from your home equity without racking up debt. Funds are accessible in a lump sum, as a line of credit or in monthly payments.
Home Renovation Loans
If you’re having trouble finding the perfect home, a home renovation loan can help bring your visions to life. Guaranteed Rate has the following options to choose from:
- Conventional Renovation Mortgages: HomeStyle or CHOICERenovation Mortgages are offered by Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both are convenient options as you can bundle the purchase price and renovation costs into one loan instead of taking out a second mortgage.
- FHA 203(k) Loans: insured by the Federal Housing Administration, FHA 203(k) loans also let you take out a single mortgage to purchase a home and fund renovation costs.
- VA Renovation Loans: These mortgages provide up to $50,000 to active service members and veterans to help cover home repair and renovation costs.
Cash-out Refinance
A cash-out refinance lets you convert your home equity into cash and roll the amount you borrow into a new loan, possibly with a different rate and term. The new loan is used to pay off your existing mortgage, and you receive the difference in cash.
Personal Loans
Mortgages aren’t the only loan product accessible through Guaranteed Rate. The lender also offers personal loans of up to $50,000. There are no origination or early repayment fees, and loan terms range from one to five years. Most loans are funded in one to two business days.
How Do You Qualify for a Mortgage with Guaranteed Rate?
To qualify for a mortgage with Guaranteed Rate, you generally need to meet specific credit score, income, employment and down payment criteria. It varies by the loan type you select, so it’s best to consult with a loan officer to learn more.
What Other Services Does Guaranteed Rate Mortgage Provide?
Guaranteed Rate has you covered in the mortgage department with a variety of loan types to choose from. On the website, you’ll also find mortgage calculators, a home valuation and housing market research tool, and financial education courses to provide even more valuable insight you’ll need on the homebuying or refinancing journey.
Mortgage Calculators
Below is a list of mortgage calculators from Guaranteed Rate to help you understand the costs associated with homeownership:
- Affordability Calculator: It provides an estimate of how much home you can afford without stretching your budget thin.
- Mortgage Calculator: You can compute the estimated monthly mortgage payment based on the purchase price, down payment, term and interest rate.
- Closing Cost Calculator: It estimates closing costs you can expect to incur when purchasing a home.
- Mortgage Points Calculator: Use this calculator to determine how much you could save by purchasing points to buy down the mortgage rate.
- Refinance Calculator: By estimating the cost of refinancing your home and viewing estimated monthly mortgage payments, you can decide if it makes financial sense.
- Extra Payment Calculator: View the impact of additional mortgage payments on your loan term and borrowing costs.
Home Valuation Tool
If you aren’t sure what your home is worth, use the free home valuation estimator. It takes less than two minutes and only requires you to input your address to view the estimated value.
Housing Market Research
Real estate agents are valuable if you want to learn more about a specific market. Guaranteed Rate also makes it simple to stay in the know about market trends with the Housing Market Research tool. You can input a city, town or zip code to view population and housing cost trends, along with the area’s tax data and school ratings.
The tool also gives the location you select an overall grade based on the cost of living, commute, education, housing, lifestyle and unemployment rates.
Financial Education Courses
Guaranteed Rate offers free financial education courses and guides as a part of their commitment to community engagement through financial wellness. You can enroll in the first-time homebuyer, building credit or home retention online workshops free of charge.
What are the Pros and Cons of Using Guaranteed Rate Mortgage?
Pros:
- User-friendly mobile app
- Fast digital online application
- Several purchase and refinance options
- Five-minute mortgage pre-approvals
- Same-day mortgage approvals
- HELOCs are funded within five to 10 business days
Cons:
- Brief draw period for HELOCs
- Live support not offered through online chat
How Does Guaranteed Rate Mortgage Differ from Other Mortgage Lenders?
Guaranteed Rate offers a few features that may set it apart from other lenders. For starters, the lender has an online tool that helps borrowers find a suitable loan product based on their unique situation, simplifying the process of comparing different loan types and terms.
The lender also adopts a mortgage model that surrounds each of its top-performing loan officers with a team of highly-trained specialists. This ensures that customers get a collaborative approach to their mortgage process, which can enhance efficiency and customer service.
Plus, Guaranteed Rate offers specialized niche programs to support borrowers with unique circumstances that might not be a good fit for a traditional mortgage.
Is Guaranteed Rate Mortgage a Good Lender?
Guaranteed Rate Mortgage is a viable option for a home loan. That said, it can be particularly ideal for tech-savvy borrowers who prefer an online, digital-first mortgage application process. It’s also suitable for diverse home loan product seekers looking for a wide array of loan products and first-time homebuyers who need extra assistance and access to educational resources while navigating the lending process.
How to Get Started with Guaranteed Rate Mortgage
The mortgage process begins with securing a pre-approval letter. Guaranteed Rate makes it easy to do so through the Digital Mortgage tool. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete and is accessible on your computer or mobile device. Or you can call Guaranteed Rate directly for additional assistance. Upon approval, you can retrieve a copy of the pre-approval letter from your loan officer.
