Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Review 2024

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage overview

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, part of the namesake bank, offers home loans for a variety of needs, including home purchases and new builds, investment properties and refinancing. The bank’s time from mortgage application to closing ranges between 30 days and 90 days depending on a range of factors, according to a bank spokesperson, and the time to obtain a preapproval also varies. If you’re a highly-qualified borrower, however, you could receive a PriorityBuyer preapproval letter as soon as you apply online.

Pros and cons of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

How Bankrate scored Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

• Affordability: The mortgage rates Wells Fargo advertises on its website are overall competitive compared to Bankrate’s averages (as of this review), but you might find lower-rate offers elsewhere. As with many lenders, the bank offers the option to buy down your rate at closing.
• Availability: Along with banking services, Wells Fargo offers mortgages to borrowers, including real estate investors, in every state. However, it has pivoted its mortgage operation to working mostly with borrowers who are banking customers.
• Borrower experience: J.D. Power ranked Wells Fargo below average for mortgage customer satisfaction in 2023. Still, as one of the largest banks in the country, it offers multiple convenient channels to obtain a loan.

Affordability: 10/10

Wells Fargo displays its latest mortgage rates on its website, and as of this review, they were slightly lower than Bankrate’s averages. The bank’s lender fees vary. You can get a complete estimate of closing costs, including origination charges, by inputting a few details about your credit score, the property you want to buy and the down payment you plan to make in the bank’s online customized rate calculator.

Availability: 10/10

Wells Fargo operates nationwide, although it has indicated it’s focusing more on borrowers who have bank accounts at this time. Its loan options include conventional, FHA, VA and USDA mortgages. The bank also offers several flexible jumbo loan options for those buying or refinancing higher-priced homes. You’ll need a 620 credit score, at minimum, to qualify for a conventional mortgage.

Borrower experience: 8.5/10

Wells Fargo has been around since 1852, but in recent years, the bank has run afoul of regulators and become associated with some disreputable practices. In J.D. Power’s latest study of mortgage origination customer satisfaction, the bank scored below the industry average. It isn’t accredited by the Better Business Bureau and has a “Bad” rating on Trustpilot based on more than 1,000 customer reviews. Still, if you’re looking to obtain a loan with the bank, its website offers helpful resources for borrowers, including the My FirstHome digital education experience to help you determine if you’re ready to stop renting. There are also calculators and comparison tools to help you understand the costs of purchasing or refinancing.

How to apply for a mortgage with Wells Fargo

You can apply for a mortgage with Wells Fargo in person at a branch location, online or by phone at 877-937-9357. Its customer service hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET. Here are some tips to prepare for the process:

1. Check your credit report. It’s important to check your credit report before your lender does, in case there are errors that could impact not only whether you get preapproved but also your ability to get the best mortgage rate. Knowing your credit score also helps you decide what type of loan to apply for. If your score is in the very low 600s, for instance, an FHA mortgage might be best for you, as its standards are more lenient than those for conventional loans.
2. Gather personal and financial documents. With any lender, you must supply documentation about your income, assets and debts. This includes pay stubs and W-2s and account and loan statements.
3. Provide details about the property. You’ll need to provide the address of the home and submit to an appraisal. (If you’re refinancing, you might or might not need an appraisal.)

Refinancing with Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo offers both rate-and-term and cash-out refinancing options. You can compare refinance rates and get an estimate of your closing costs with the bank’s calculator online.

Special homebuying programs from Wells Fargo

Homebuyer Access Grant

Wells Fargo’s Homebuyer Access Grant provides some homebuyers $10,000 to help with a down payment. The grant doesn’t have to be repaid. To be eligible, you must be buying a home in a designated area within Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Dallas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., and your income can’t exceed area-specific limits.

Dream. Plan. Home. closing cost credit

For borrowers with incomes at or below 80 percent of their area’s median income, Wells Fargo offers up to $5,000 in closing cost credits. These credits can be used to cover expenses like the appraisal or recording fees. The closing cost credit can also be used in conjunction with the Homebuyer Access down payment grant.

Interest rate discount on jumbo loans

If you’re an existing Wells Fargo customer and are applying for a jumbo loan, you could receive an interest rate discount depending on how much money you have with the bank. As of March 29, 2024, the discounts break down as follows:

• At least $250,000 in assets: 0.125% off your rate
• At least $500,000: 0.250%
• At least $750,000: 0.375%
• At least $1 million: 0.500%
• At least $2.5 million: 0.625%
• At least $5 million: 0.875%
• At least $10 million or more: 1.00%

• Methodology

  To determine a mortgage lender's Bankrate Score, Bankrate rates lenders on a scale of one (1) to five (5) stars — with five (5) the highest rating — based on a variety of factors relating to the lender's products and services. To assign our ratings, we assessed each mortgage lender across three core areas:

  • Affordability. Annual percentage rate (APR) - 80%; assistance for first-time homebuyers - 10%; down payment - 10%

  • Availability. Loan products - 50%; licensing - 40%; credit score - 10%

  • Borrower experience. Rate transparency - 45%; customer service - 25%; convenience - 10%; days to close - 10%; rate locks - 10%; reputation (bonus)

  Learn more about our methodology.

  How we suggest lenders to compare

  To help you make the most informed decisions, our editorial team suggests two (2) alternative mortgage lenders for each lender reviewed in our comparison table. In most cases, these alternatives 1.) share the same strength (affordability, availability or borrower experience) as the lender reviewed; and 2.) rate highly for Bankrate Score. In the event more than two lenders meet these standards, we suggest the ones with the lowest APRs.