If you’ve got your eye on a Taylor Morrison home, you may have come across their affiliated lender “Taylor Morrison Home Funding.”
As with many other home builders, they’ve got their own in-house mortgage lender to streamline the home buying process.
This affords them better control, ideally boosting customer service, and gives them the ability to offer special pricing incentives.
With fewer parties involved, they should be able to get you from application to closing quicker than the other guys.
And if they can throw in a big mortgage rate buydown as well, it might be a win-win. Read on to learn more about the company.
Taylor Morrison Home Funding Fast Facts
- Affiliated lender for home builder Taylor Morrison
- Offers home purchase financing to new home buyers
- Founded in 1982, headquartered in Maitland, Florida
- Has 84 licensed mortgage loan officers
- Parent company is publicly traded (NYSE: TMHC)
- Licensed to lend in 11 states nationwide
- Funded over $3 billion in home loans in 2022
- Most active in Texas, Florida, Arizona, and California
Taylor Morrison is one the largest home builders in the United States, serving home buyers and renters in 19 markets across 11 states.
Only a handful of builders are larger, including D.R. Horton, Lennar, Pulte, NVR, and Toll Brothers.
The company was formed in 2007 after Taylor Woodrow Inc. and Morrison Homes Inc. merged. Dispute this recent development, their building operations date back to the early 1900s.
They are now headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and build new homes in 11 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington.
These are also the states where they are licensed to lend, as their primary focus is extending financing to the buyers of their new homes.
Taylor Morrison Home Funding is most active in the state of Texas, which accounts for about 25% of total loan production.
At last glance, there were 84 licensed mortgage loan officers working for the company throughout the country, per the NMLS.
They also own Inspired Title Services, which is a full-service title insurance and real estate settlement provider operating in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and Texas.
How to Apply
To get started, you can either visit a new home sales office and get connected to a sales rep, or simply navigate to their website.
If you go online, they have the option to pre-apply via “Dorothy,” which is their “state-of-the-art mortgage technology that can take you home with just a few clicks.”
A play on the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy works alongside a human Taylor Morrison Home Funding team to get you to the finish line quicker and easier.
The process includes a digital loan application with automated verifications to reduce the need for paperwork and documentation, powered by fintech company Blend.
Applicants can eSign disclosures and take advantage of secure document uploading to ease the burden.
Once complete, you will be presented with tailored mortgage solutions based on the information you provide.
And a licensed loan officer will then provide solutions and “market-competitive rates” with your goals and budget in mind.
Those who prefer more guidance can simply click on “Contact a Loan Consultant,” where they’ll find contact information for loan officers near their market.
After your loan is submitted, you’ll be able to check loan status via the online portal, satisfy outstanding conditions, and get in touch with your lending team if and when you have questions.
Able Ready Own (ARO)
Those who need help qualifying for a home purchase can take advantage of their complimentary program called Able Ready Own (ARO).
In a nutshell, ARO Consultants work with prospective home buyers to strengthen their credit profiles and boost their chances of getting approved for a home loan.
The goal is to educate consumers about the home buying and mortgage process, and create tailored plans that produce better qualified home buying candidates.
If successful, they might be able to boost your credit scores and fine tune other areas that are key for mortgage qualification.
In the end, these changes could put you in a stronger position when it comes to buying and financing a home.
If they’re able to increase your credit scores, you may also qualify for a lower mortgage rate.
Available Loan Programs
- Home purchase loans
- Conforming loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
- Jumbo loans
- FHA loans
- VA loans
- Fixed-rate and adjustable-rate options
- Temporary buydowns including 3-2-1
- Permanent buydowns for life of loan
Taylor Morrison Home Funding has a limited menu of loan programs, but still all the main stuff to satisfy the needs of most home buyers.
They are fully focused on providing home purchase loans to their customers, meaning no mortgage refinances here.
In terms of loan choice, you can get a conforming loan backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or a jumbo loan if purchasing an expensive new home.
Government-backed loans are also available, including FHA loans and VA loans.
They don’t appear to offer USDA loans or second mortgages, including any sort of home equity loans or lines.
However, you can get both a fixed-rate mortgage, such as a 30-year fixed or 15-year fixed, or an adjustable-rate mortgage, such as a 5/6 ARM or 7/6 ARM.
Additionally, buydowns might be offered, including temporary and permanent buydowns, to help reduce payments for the first couple years or for the life of the loan.
Taylor Morrison Home Funding Rates and Fees
While they don’t have a page dedicated to their mortgage rates and lender fees, my guess is they provide special financing if you use them to buy a Taylor Morrison home.
This is a common setup for home builders with their own financing departments. They’re able to structure deals that include big mortgage rate buydowns.
Not only does this help the home buyer qualify, it also allows them to avoid price reductions if affordability is strained.
If you visit the Taylor Morrison Homes website, you’ll be able to see special offers by clicking on a particular market they serve.
I came across some pretty spectacular deals, including a combination of a temporary and permanent buydown where the interest rate started as low as 2.75%. This makes the lender’s builder hard to beat.
Just pay attention to closing costs and the mortgage APR, which factors in the lender fees and the interest rate.
And always take the time to gather outside mortgage rate quotes so you can negotiate with the builder’s lender.
Taylor Morrison Home Funding Reviews
There don’t seem to be a ton of reviews online for Taylor Morrison Home Funding, though I was able to track down a handful.
Their Irvine, CA location currently has a poor 1.0/5-star rating on Yelp from 32 reviews. Poor communication seems to be the main gripe.
You might also be able to find individual loan officer reviews on Zillow and other websites.
Or you can search their many home builder locations and check out their Google reviews. Granted, those might combine the home builder and lender experience.
Over at the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website, the company has an ‘A-‘ rating based on customer complaint history. There don’t appear to be any complaints on file at the moment.
Their parent company has an ‘A+’ BBB rating, but over 200 complaints filed over the last three years. And over 100 in the past 12 months.
But the high letter grade should indicate that they handle those complaints in a timely and professional manner.
At the same time, the customer reviews for the parent company on the BBB website aren’t great, with a 1.15/5 rating at last glance.
So be sure to take a gander to determine what customers are complaining about, and how you can avoid those same issues.
To sum things up, Taylor Morrison Home Funding could be a good option if you’re buying a Taylor Morrison property.
The biggest incentive being the special mortgage rate offers that are hard to beat, especially from an outside lender.
However, you should still take the time to comparison shop as you would any other lender.
While they might make things easier, and have better communication between builder and lender, their mixed reviews indicate some hiccups too.
Taylor Morrison Home Funding Pros and Cons
The Good Stuff
- Can apply online via a digital mortgage application
- Mostly paperless process with the latest technology
- Plenty of loan programs to choose from including ARMs
- Offer temporary and permanent buydowns
- Can get a long mortgage rate lock
- Big mortgage rate incentives on Taylor Morrison properties
- Complimentary ARO service
- Free mortgage calculator and mortgage glossary online
The Perhaps Not
- Only offers home purchase loans
- No refinance loans, USDA loans, or second mortgages
- Do not list rates/fees online
- Mixed customer reviews
- Not licensed in all states
- May not service your loan after funding