One of the older and more established mortgage brands out there is Sierra Pacific Mortgage, which has been around for nearly 35 years.
That’s a lifetime in the mortgage industry, which has lots of young debutants looking to shake up what many feel is a stale process.
They’re a direct lender that offers a wide assortment of home loan products, including conventional loans, FHA, USDA, and VA loans.
The company offers home loans in 49 states via the retail, correspondent, and wholesale lending channels. Let’s learn more about them.
Sierra Pacific Mortgage Fast Facts
- Direct mortgage lender based in Folsom, California
- Privately held company founded in 1986 by Jim Coffrini
- Originated more than $3 billion in home loans via retail channel in 2019
- Nearly half of their loan volume comes from the state of California
- Also operates a correspondent and wholesale lending division
- Licensed to do business in 49 states
- A top-25 mortgage company nationally
As noted, Sierra Pacific Mortgage is a direct-to-consumer lender that also operates both a correspondent lending division and a wholesale lending division for mortgage broker partners.
They are an approved seller/servicer for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae, meaning they originate loans and retain them for loan servicing.
Last year, they funded over $3 billion in home loans via the retail channel, with nearly half of that total volume coming from the state of California.
So if you’re a California homeowner or home buyer, there’s a good chance you’ll come across Sierra Pacific if shopping your mortgage.
Many of their loan officers actually work for DBAs of Sierra Pacific Mortgage, meaning you may see a different lender’s name, such as 1st Choice Mortgage of Oregon or Cornerstone Mortgage.
Other DBAs include Agape Mortgage, Churchill Financial Group, Haven Lending, Mortgage Bankers Acceptance Company, Northwest Mortgage Lending, NW Capital Mortgage, PDX Homeloan, Silverado Mortgage Company, The Kuling Group, and Yosemite Mortgage.
Applying for a Home Loan with Sierra Pacific Mortgage
- You can apply for a mortgage directly online or via their mobile app
- But you need to select or get matched up with a loan officer first
- They offer a digital loan process that allows you to securely scan and upload documents
- Loan processing, underwriting, and funding are all done in-house to streamline origination
When it comes to applying for a home loan, Sierra Pacific Mortgage makes it easy.
You can apply directly online after selecting a loan officer to work with.
There is a loan officer directory on their website, which you’ll find after clicking “Apply Now.”
From there, you’ll need to choose a loan officer, which you can do by name, location, or by state.
If you’ve already been referred to someone, simply enter their name in the form. If you haven’t, you can search for a branch location near you, then browse the loan officers who work there.
Once you find someone you like, you can apply directly from their website, or alternatively download the Sierra Pacific Mortgage app.
They offer a digital loan application process that puts consumers in charge of their home loan from start to finish.
And everything is completed under one roof, including in-house loan processing, underwriting, and funding.
The free smartphone app SPM GO! allows you to complete the loan application via mobile, calculate payments, securely scan and upload documents, message your loan officer directly, and receive loan updates as you move through the process.
So you get the option to do most things yourself, or you can lean on your loan officer if you want a more personal touch.
Sierra Pacific Mortgage Loan Options
- Home purchase, refinance, renovation, and construction loans
- Conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
- Government-backed loans including FHA, USDA, and VA loans
- Jumbo loans and non-conforming loan products
- Home equity lines of credit
- Fixed and adjustable-rate loan options available
Sierra Pacific Mortgage offers both home purchase loans and refinance loans, including rate and term and cash out refis.
You can also get a home renovation loan, such as a FHA 203k loan or a Fannie Mae HomeStyle loan, or a construction loan.
Additionally, they offer jumbo home loans for properties located in more expensive regions of the country, along with non-conforming loans for outside-the-box scenarios.
You can even get a home equity line of credit (HELOC) with Sierra Pacific Mortgage if you want to break up your loan into a first and second to avoid mortgage insurance.
They offer all the usual loan types, including conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with government loans backed by the FHA, USDA, and VA.
As you might expect, you get the choice of a fixed-rate mortgage or an adjustable-rate mortgage, with various terms to choose from.
Sierra Pacific Mortgage Rates
One slight negative to Sierra Pacific Mortgage is the fact that they do not post their mortgage rates on their website.
So if you want to get pricing, you’ll need to contact a loan officer first for a free mortgage quote.
It’s unclear how competitive they are relative to other lenders, and you won’t know unless you shop your rate with other mortgage companies.
The same goes for lender fees, which aren’t posted anywhere on their website to my knowledge.
Be sure to compare both the interest rate and lender fees to other mortgage lenders when conducting your home loan shopping to see where they stand.
Sierra Pacific Mortgage Reviews
They say over 97% of their customers would refer friends and family, which is a good sign. But it’s hard to find reviews for the company as a whole.
Your best bet is to look up individual loan officer reviews who work for Sierra Pacific Mortgage, then choose one that way.
You should be able to find their reviews on Zillow and other websites like Yelp and Google.
Sierra Pacific Mortgage is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau, but they do enjoy an A+ BBB rating regardless.
At last check, they only had one customer review on the BBB website, and it wasn’t positive.
All in all, not too many reviews out there, but as noted, search by individual instead of company since they’re so large and operate under several DBAs.
Sierra Pacific Mortgage Pros and Cons
The Good Stuff
- Can apply online or via mobile
- Digital mortgage application process
- Offer lots of different loan types
- They service their own loans
- Have a free smartphone app
- Free mortgage calculators on site
The Maybe Not Good Stuff
- Mortgage rates not featured on their website
- No mention of lender fees
- Not licensed via retail channel in the state of New York
- Not accredited with the BBB
- Limited customer reviews
One bad review??? I would give this company no stars if I could. They have absolutely the worst customer service imaginable!!! If you ever experience an insurance claim, or try t re-finance your mortgage with another lender, you will find out what I mean. Unfortunately, after we sign the paper work, we have no control over who our paper is sold to. If it is this sorry group, refinance the loan as soon as you can. If you think I am just complaining over ‘late fees’…I have a credit score of over 800, pay my mortgage on time with additional principal payments, and don’t normally write bad reviews of any company. However, this sorry group deserves recognition. I recently refinanced my loan with another lender, and these folks somehow could not even find, much less, process the payoff wire transfer, and my closing attorneys could not even get a live person on the phone to fix it. All the while, they were wracking up ‘daily interest’ payments. Exactly my experience when I was waiting for them to countersign my insurance checks, so I could keep contractors working to put my flooded basement back together! Awful!!!!
They deserve less than one star!!! STAY AWAY!!!! Go read BBB reviews or Yelp reviews do NOT believe a word they say!! I was contacted by my county that my 2020 real estate taxes were not paid and now in collections. I contacted Sierra Pacific in September to question this situation as they were responsible to pay them out of my escrow. I was told it could take up to 2 weeks for the investigation and I would be contacted. After the 2 weeks was up I contacted them again and at this point I was told they concluded they were at fault. They told me they were going to overnight the check and there was nothing I had to do. That proved to be completely false information. I contacted my county and collection agency to see if it was rectified which to my surprise it wasn’t. I contacted them again and had to explain everything over again, once again told they were handling this ASAP. Well they didn’t… I contacted them numerous times since, asked to speak directly to supervisors which once again required the entire story and they would “look into it”. All asking me to submit paperwork again that I had already submitted. I asked them numerous times to give me something in writing stating they had sent payment out all of which was denied with explanations that was something do not do. I spoke to a supervisor named Judith who promised me a return call which also did not happen. When I called back again and asked to speak to her I was told there was no way to talk to her but they would put me through to a supervisor…. This situation with me contacting them has happened close to a dozen times. On November 29th I was told once again they were going to overnight the check. Only to call 11/30 and be told by a different employee they DO NOT overnight checks ever and best case would be handled by Dec 6th but if it was going to impact my closing I could contact a lawyer. I have been lied to over and over and over again. This is impacting my credit, impacting me refinancing which will put me right back in this circle of frustration with this untrustworthy, unreliable and fraudulent mortgage company. I had a closing to refinance this property set for Dec 5th which had to be delayed until Dec 16th to give them time to fix this issue which ended up with me being required to pay their fees that were in collection…. I have a letter from them dated Oct 19th saying they would handle this. This has been ongoing since Sept and as of today 12/20 they still have not paid their fees incurred by their irresponsible actions. I have filed a complaint with the BBB which is currently open and communication has ceased on their part. Their only replies were stating that they would contact me ASAP which hasn’t happened. I have also filed a complaint with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and their response was “we are still working on it” They have all my information, they have all the required documents I have wasted hours upon hours talking to different people only to be given the complete run around. This has now gone from possibly a mistake to malicious intent for them not paying their fees.