Update: Eagle Home Mortgage is now known as Lennar Mortgage.
If you’re thinking about buying a home or refinancing an existing mortgage, you may have come across Eagle Home Mortgage on your journey.
They’re more likely to come up if purchasing a home since they are a direct mortgage lender owned by Lennar, which is now the nation’s largest homebuilder thanks to its acquisition of CalAtlantic in April 2018.
In short, Eagle Home Mortgage acts as the home builder’s financing department, though if you buy a home from Lennar you don’t have to use them.
It’s just that borrowers often use the builder’s finance department as opposed to an outside mortgage lender seeing that it’s the easiest and most obvious choice, and usually the path of least resistance.
There may also be some synergies to using affiliated companies, whether it’s a special incentive or just a faster loan process, knowing a home purchase with their builder is on the line.
In 2019, they provided home loan financing to more than 34,000 families looking to purchase a home. Let’s discover more about Eagle Home Mortgage.
Eagle Home Mortgage Is Lennar’s Captive Lender
- Retail consumer-direct mortgage lender founded in 1981
- Subsidiary of Lennar Corp., nation’s largest homebuilder
- Company headquarters located in Miami, Florida
- Closed more than 34,000 home purchase loans in 2019
- More than 1,500 employees nationwide
- A top-30 mortgage lender overall that specializes in new home purchase financing
- Does most of their business in Florida and Texas
Where Is Eagle Home Mortgage Licensed?
First things first, you should make sure the company is actually licensed to do business in the state where you reside, or are purchasing a home.
Unfortunately, they are only licensed in less than two dozen states and not nationwide. This clearly has to do with Lennar and its communities, which are located in just 21 states.
As suspected, Eagle Home Mortgage is licensed in 21 states, including: AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, MD, MN, NJ, NV, NC, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA.
Now if Lennar decides to build new homes in additional states, there’s a good chance Eagle Home Mortgage will move into those states as well.
So if and when you’re interested in buying a Lennar home, expect Eagle Home to be a potential mortgage provider.
Eagle Home Digital Mortgage and Eagle Express Close
- You can apply online or by phone with their digital mortgage app powered by Blend
- Or visit a local branch office if you prefer a face-to-face meeting
- Use their loan officer directory if you’ve been referred to someone specific
- And take advantage of their Eagle Express Close with e-signing capabilities to fund your loan quickly
The company has the tagline, “Paperless. Effortless. Awesomeness.” It’s in reference to their digital mortgage experience, which I assume is both fast and easy on the environment.
They say you can get pre-qualified in as little as 10 minutes via their digital mortgage process that is powered by fintech company Blend.
You simply fill out a loan application on their website as opposed to having a loan officer walk you through it. Of course, you can do that too if you need a helping hand.
Their digital process also allows you to link bank accounts and other financial information so it can be securely added to your application for more accurate figures and faster processing.
Those who are more old school have the option of using the company’s branch directory to find a local office for a phone call or face-to-face meeting.
And if you’re already working with someone or have been referred, you can use the loan officer directory on their website to find that individual.
When it comes to closing your home loan, Eagle Home also offers a digital process known as “Eagle Express Close” that includes online closings and remote signatures for documents.
You can review and e-sign many of your closing documents before attending your closing appointment, and download them instead of printing them all out.
The process can be faster while also giving you time to review everything with your loan officer, instead of feeling overwhelmed at the closing table.
Eagle Home Mortgage Loan Options
- Mainly focused on home purchase financing but also offer refinance loans
- Loan types include conventional and government (FHA, VA, USDA)
- Offer fixed-rate mortgages and adjustable-rate mortgages in varying terms
- Jumbo loans and reverse mortgages are also available
- Their loan officers are well-educated on available down payment assistance (DPA) programs
Eagle Home Mortgage has tons of available loan options, including both conventional loans and government loans.
You can get a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or an FHA loan, USDA loan, or VA loan.
With regard to home purchase financing, their loan officers are well-versed in the many down payment assistance (DPA) programs that may be available via your local or state government.
Eagle Home Mortgage says it has many DPA options available to help customers become homeowners, seeing that down payment is often the biggest hurdle toward homeownership.
These may be in the form of a second mortgage (or even a third mortgage), or a grant that might not need to be repaid and can typically be used toward both the down payment and closing costs.
Those purchasing or refinancing a more expensive property can also get approved for a jumbo loan via Eagle Home Mortgage.
In the refinance department, they offer both rate and term refinances and cash out refinances, the latter of which can be used to tap into home equity if you need money for other purposes.
They also offer the “Student Loan Debt Mortgage Program,” where they will contribute up to 3% of the purchase price to pay off a borrower’s student loans when they buy a new home from Lennar.
Lastly, they offer reverse mortgages to borrowers aged 62 or older who wish to tap equity without taking on monthly mortgage payments.
The only loan options they seem to be lacking are renovation loans and home equity loan/line programs.
With regard to loan type, you can get a fixed-rate mortgage or an adjustable-rate mortgage with various loan terms, and they offer financing on primary residences, second homes, and investment properties.
They mostly seem to originate 30-year fixed mortgages, with some 15-year fixed mortgages and a smaller proportion of ARMs.
Eagle Home Mortgage Rates
In terms of how competitive they are, they don’t make many mentions of their mortgage rates or lender fees on their website.
However, they recently posted a limited-time promotion pitching “our lowest historic rate,” which was a 2.5% mortgage rate.
It’s unclear what type of mortgage it is, but I assume it’s a 30-year fixed since that seems to be their go-to loan program for their customers.
Now that promotion aside, I can’t say with any certainty how they stack up against other mortgage lenders out there.
Ultimately, you’d have to take the time to shop around. But as mentioned, many Eagle Home Mortgage customers are likely buying Lennar-built homes, so they may want to keep everything in-house, no pun intended.
Remember, you can always use an outside lender if buying a new home from a developer, so it’s wise to set aside some time for comparison shopping.
Eagle Home Mortgage Reviews
The company seems to be very well regarded, with a 4.94 rating out of 5 on Zillow based on roughly 1,600 reviews.
Many of the customer reviews indicate the interest rate was lower than expected, and lots say the fees/closing costs were also lower than anticipated.
So they seem to be well-liked and competitive pricing-wise, assuming these customers shopped around with other lenders.
While they aren’t an accredited business, they do have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, which appears to be based on the lack of customer complaints currently filed against the company.
As always, customer experiences will vary, especially at a very large company. But as noted, their loan officers will likely be highly incentivized to close your loan if it’s also a Lennar-built home.
That means there’s a good chance they’ll do all they can to get your home loan to the finish line.
Eagle Home Mortgage Pros and Cons
The Good Stuff
- Can apply directly online via a digital mortgage application
- Lots of loan options and down payment assistance (DPA) programs to choose from
- If also buying a home from Lennar they might be quick and dedicated to closing on time
- Eagle Express Close allows you to e-sign many loan documents
- Great customer reviews on Zillow
- Free mortgage calculators on site
The Possible Bad Stuff
- No mention of mortgage rates or lender fees
- Not licensed in all states
- No home equity loan products available
- Might be better suited for purchases rather than refinances
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Why are you not an accredited company?
Why don’t you advertise rates?
Marci,
Some mortgage companies choose not to list their rates because it’s a chore and requires constant updating. As for accreditation, I believe it costs money so not all businesses are willing to pay.