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
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Originates loans in 49 states, with New York as the only exception.
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A minimum FICO 600 credit score is required for AmeriSave FHA loans.
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Advertised mortgage rates are based on a 720 FICO score with a 20% down payment.
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You can’t get mortgage rates or ask a question through chat without providing contact information.
Dig deeper: The credit score needed to buy a house
Loan types offered
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 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
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.
Fees include a $195 application charge, an $800 funding fee, and third-party charges that typically range from $0 to $2,500.
AmeriSave does not offer a fixed-interest-rate home equity loan.
Dig deeper: The differences between HELOCs and home equity loans
AmeriSave Mortgage rates
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 number for a text verification — before providing a “Quick Quote.”
We never got past that.
Read more: How to get the lowest mortgage rates
Applying for a mortgage with AmeriSave
While AmeriSave says a prequalifying application is a “quick” process, 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 ranked just below average in the 2023 customer satisfaction study by J.D. Power.
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.
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.
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.
New American Funding is one of Yahoo Finance’s best lenders for first-time home buyers, and it 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.
This article was edited by Laura Grace Tarpley