Skip to content

Homeside Financial Review: Tons of Loan Programs to Choose From, Even HELOCs

homeside

If you’re looking for a wide selection of home loan options, you may want to check out “Homeside Financial.”

The Columbia, Maryland-based mortgage lender offers a ton of different options for home buyers and existing homeowners looking to tap equity or snag a lower rate.

Aside from their goal of providing the highest level of customer satisfaction, they also strive to be #1 in employee satisfaction.

Hopefully that translates to a pleasant experience for all involved. Let’s learn more.

Homeside Financial Fast Facts

  • Retail direct-to-consumer mortgage lender
  • Offers home purchase financing, construction/renovation loans, and refinances
  • Founded in 2013, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland
  • Licensed to do business in 42 states and the District of Columbia
  • Has 500+ employees and 40+ branch locations nationwide
  • Goal is to become a top-20 home purchase lender
  • Sister company of Lower.com

Homeside Financial is a retail, direct-to-consumer mortgage lender, meaning you can work remotely online or visit a local branch.

They offer a very large variety of mortgage options, from home purchase loans to construction loans to refinances and HELOCs.

Their goal is to be a top-20 home purchase lender nationally, so they could be an especially good choice for home buyers.

But they are also big on mortgage refinances, with such loans accounting for two-thirds of their 2020 volume.

Last year, the company funded a healthy $5.1 billion, putting them close to the top-100 lenders nationally.

While they’re licensed in 42 states and D.C., they’re most active in Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia.

They don’t appear to lend in Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, or Wyoming.

How to Apply with Homeside Financial

  • Call them up, visit a branch, or browse their online loan officer directory
  • Connect with a loan officer to discuss loan pricing and eligibility
  • Then you can apply online via their digital mortgage application powered by ICE
  • You’re able to manage your loan 24/7 via the online borrower portal

To begin, simply navigate to their website, visit a local branch office, or call them up on the phone.

You’ll need to get acquainted with a human being (loan officer) before you can proceed to the digital loan application.

This is generally a good first step to discuss loan pricing and eligibility to ensure you don’t waste your time or theirs.

Once you determine your path, you’ll be able to apply online via their digital app powered by ICE Mortgage Technology.

Simply select your loan officer from the “Find a Loan Officer” tab on their website and you’ll be able to search for that individual by name or location. Then you can get started.

The application allows you to link financial accounts, scan/upload docs, eSign disclosures, and start and stop from any device as you see fit.

After your loan is approved (hopefully!), you’ll be able to manage it via the online borrower portal.

Easily check loan progress, get status updates, and connect with your lending team at any time along the way.

Loan Programs Offered by Homeside Financial

  • Home purchase loans
  • Refinance loans
  • Home renovation loans
  • Construction-to-perm loans
  • Conforming loans backed by Fannie/Freddie
  • Jumbo loans
  • FHA/VA/USDA loans
  • Manufactured home loans
  • Fixed-rate mortgages and ARMs

One of Homeside Financial’s major strengths is its vast product menu. They offer pretty much everything under the sun.

If you’re a prospective home buyer, they’ve got home purchase loans, renovation loans, and one-time close construction loans.

Existing homeowners can take advantage of a mortgage refinance or even tap their equity via a HELOC.

They offer all major loan types from conforming loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to jumbo loans and government options including FHA, VA, and USDA.

It’s also possible to get a manufactured home loan, a student loan cash out refinance, and much more.

Both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate options are available, including 5/1, 7/1, and 10/ ARMs.

The Homeside HELOC

Homeside Financial is also one of the new nonbank lenders out there to offer a home equity line of credit (HELOC) product.

They refer to it as “The Homeside HELOC,” which is a line of credit that lets you borrow up to 95% of your property value. That’s very high by industry standards.

There is no prepayment penalty or annual fee, and you can borrow up to $350,000, with a minimum loan amount of $15,000.

A 1% loan origination fee is charged, so you’ll only want to draw what you need to avoid being hit with excessive costs.

For example, if you draw $25,000, you’ll be assessed a $250 fee, along with whatever interest is charged.

Homeside Financial Mortgage Rates

Like many other lenders, Homeside Financial doesn’t post mortgage rates on their website.

As I always say, this doesn’t mean they’re good, bad, or otherwise. It’s simply an unknown.

You’ll need to speak with a licensed loan officer to get pricing. However, a decent number of their Zillow reviews indicate lower-than-expected interest rates.

And while they have a page dedicated to lender fees on their website, they don’t list dollar amounts. They just explain what certain fees are. It’s more of a glossary than a pricing guide.

As such, it’s unclear if they charge an application fee, a loan origination fee, and so on. Be sure to inquire about those all when you obtain your rate quote.

Homeside Financial Reviews

On Zillow, the company has an excellent 4.89-star rating out of 5 from over 2,000 customer reviews.

That’s where the bulk of their reviews exist online. Take the time to filter by loan officer to find someone really fantastic to work with.

They’ve also got a 3.3-star rating on Google, though it’s only based on tiny sample size of 12 reviews.

Homeside Financial is not an accredited company with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), but does hold an ‘A+’ rating based on customer complaints.

To sum things up, Homeside Financial excels when it comes to loan choice. They have basically everything you can think of and more.

They also have brick-and-mortar branches if that’s your thing, but still offer the latest technology as well.

The possible downsides might be pricing and fees, though we’re in the dark when it comes to that.

Ultimately, you should take the time to shop around regardless, or check out their sister company Lower, which may offer even cheaper mortgage rates.

Homeside Financial Pros and Cons

The Pros

  • Offer a digital mortgage application
  • Can apply apply in a matter of minutes
  • Most loan tasks can be completed electronically from any device
  • Also have physical branch locations in several states
  • Excellent reviews from past customers
  • Tons of loan programs including renovation/construction loans and HELOCs
  • Free mortgage calculator and how-to guides on their website

The Cons

  • Mortgage rates and lender fees aren’t listed online
  • Need to speak with someone before you apply
  • Not licensed in all states

(photo: Indrid Cold)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *