AnnieMac Home Mortgage Review: Hidden Mortgage Gems Could Qualify More Borrowers
Review
Updated
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AnnieMac Home Mortgage is a great fit for borrowers who need something other than a typical conventional mortgage. Typical conventional loan borrowers are welcome here, but so is just about everyone else. AnnieMac offers many specialty mortgage options that can meet more borrowers' needs, including a variety of programs to help lower income borrowers become homeowners.
They can also serve self-employed borrowers who don't have traditional income documentation, and borrowers who need a construction loan for a brand new home. That said, some shoppers will be turned off by the lack of specific information on AnnieMac's website (namely, rates). Also, since AnnieMac isn't nationwide, not everyone can apply here.
Check out our full AnnieMac Home Mortgage review to learn more.
AnnieMac Home Mortgage
Bottom Line
AnnieMac Home Mortgage offers more kinds of mortgages than most of its competitors. That includes special mortgage programs to help lower-income borrowers become homeowners, even if they don't have a pile of cash at the ready. Customers say they have a great experience here.
Min. Credit Score
550 FHA, 620 Conventional
Min. Down Payment 0% USDA and VA 3% Conventional 3.5% FHA
0%-3.5%
Key Features
Loan Types
Fixed Rate Terms
15, 20, 25, 30 years
Adjustable Rate Terms
N/A
It's important to consider multiple mortgage lenders to find a good fit for you. We've listed one of our favorite lenders below so you can compare your options:
| Lender | Min. Down Payment | Credit Score | Next Steps |
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Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.
4.5/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
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1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
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This mortgage lender is a good fit for: Lower-income borrowers, people who need to buy a home before selling their current home, and anyone looking for a specialty loan that's hard to find.
AnnieMac offers a 1% down payment mortgage called OneUp. The lender kicks in a 2% non-repayable grant to bring your down payment up to 3%, and you get a conventional loan.
You can apply if your before-tax income is no more than 80% of the area median income for your county. Find out what your limit is by doing an internet search for "AMI" plus your county and state and the current year. At least one applicant must be a first-time home buyer, which means you haven't owned a home in the past three years.
If you qualify, AnnieMac will give you up to 2% of the purchase price. This grant is free money that you don't have to pay back. There's a $2,000 limit on the grant, so in reality, most people will need to make a down payment bigger than 1% (because the down payment can't be lower than 3%). Even so, the program has the potential to help a lot of aspiring homeowners.
Here's an example of how it could work for a family of four in Des Moines, Iowa, with two working adults and two children.
| Des Moines Iowa 80% AMI for a family of four in 2024 | $90,400 |
|---|---|
| Your income ($21/hr full-time) | $43,680 |
| Your partner's income ($21/hr full-time) | $43,680 |
| Home price | $190,000 |
| Required down payment (3%) | $5,700 |
| OneUp grant | $2,000 |
| Your part of the down payment | $3,700 |
| Loan amount | $184,300 |
| Interest rate | 7.5% |
| Monthly payment including property taxes, homeowners insurance, and private mortgage insurance | $1,789 |
This payment is significant, but doable. A general rule of thumb is to limit your housing payment to 25% of your income, and for this couple, the payment comes in at about 24.5%.
If they manage their budget well and keep up with their payments, the amount they have to pay should eventually go down. That's because a big part of it ($233 per month) is private mortgage insurance.
Most lenders require PMI until you have at least 20% equity in the home. Home equity is the difference between your home's market value and the balance you still owe on your mortgage. Your equity grows as you pay down your balance and as your home's value rises.
At AnnieMac, you can apply for an FHA loan with a FICO® Score of at least 550 as long as you can make a 10% down payment.
The FHA loan program allows applicants with a credit score of at least 580 to apply if they can make a 3.5% down payment. Technically, the program also allows applicants with a score between 500 and 580 to apply if they can make a 10% down payment. The problem is, many lenders turn away applicants with scores under 580, even for FHA loans. AnnieMac opens the door to more buyers.
AnneMac offers many specialty mortgages that not all lenders offer. Here are a few worth mentioning:
AnnieMac offers a program called Cash2Keys that gives you more flexibility and power in the home-buying process. It calls the program "cash offer," "buy now, sell later," or "cash bridge." AnnieMac buys the home for you, and then sells it to you when you're ready.
This allows you to compete with other cash offers, and to avoid losing out on the home you want because your current home hasn't sold yet. You can move right in and sell your former home comfortably.
Buying a home is like an Olympic sport in markets where there are many buyers for each affordable house, and cash offers help you compete. If your family can afford the home, so can investors with deep pockets and the ability to move fast. If you're like most people and only have one home to live in, controlling the timing may be impossible and you could find yourself in a short-term rental or hotel between transactions.
AnnieMac offers a home equity line of credit. A HELOC lets you turn a portion of your home's value into cash you can spend. It's a great alternative to a mortgage refinance, which is a new mortgage that replaces your old one.
For instance, if you have a great interest rate on your current mortgage and you don't want to replace it with a loan that has a higher rate, a HELOC may be a better choice to get those additional funds you need.
AnnieMac doesn't reveal its mortgage interest rates. The only way to check rates is to connect with a loan officer, and that generally means giving up your contact info and ending up on marketing lists.
Sometimes it's nice to get a sense for a lender's best offer without having to reveal personal details, but at AnnieMac you would need to make that phone call.
Although customers who leave reviews overwhelmingly have a great experience with AnnieMac, a closer look at bad reviews reveals a pesky problem. A number of past applicants complain that AnnieMac employees asked for the same documentation multiple times (including right up to the scheduled closing date).
That's not just annoying. It also calls into question AnnieMac's ability to safely store private financial documents in a central location.
AnnieMac scores 4.97 out of 5 stars on Zillow. The document storage issue is concerning, but statistically, you're more likely to have a good experience.
AnnieMac serves most U.S. borrowers, but is not yet licensed in Hawaii, Iowa, North Dakota, Vermont, or any U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico or Guam.
To apply for a mortgage at AnnieMac, you should have a credit score of at least 550 for an FHA loan, a 580 for a USDA loan, or a 620 for a 3% down conventional loan. You may need a higher credit score for other loans. A super jumbo or construction loan both require a 680.
You might be able to lower the cost of your loan if you have a higher credit score when you apply. It's a good idea to check your own credit score and get a sense for where you stand.
At the same time, talk to the lender and ask what credit score is needed for a lower interest rate. If you're close, work on improving your credit before you apply. If you can lower the rate by even a fraction of 1 percentage point, you could save a lot of money over the life of the loan.
The down payment requirement depends on the loan you want. USDA and VA loans don't require a down payment at all.
FHA loans require 3.5% down if your credit score is at least 580. The OneUp program requires at least 1% down. Other programs offered by AnnieMac require 10% to 15% down.
Your debt-to-income ratio, or DTI, is the percentage of your before-tax income that you spend on debt payments, and it includes the payment on the home you want to buy.
To calculate this number, add up all of your loan payments, the minimum payments on your credit cards, payments such as child support that you're legally required to make, and the proposed new housing payment. Divide that number by your before-tax income. Ideally the result would be under 36%, but you can qualify for a mortgage even if the result is over 50%.
AnnieMac can give you an idea of whether you'll qualify, and at what interest rate, if you're willing to give them a call and share some details with a loan officer. It can do this with a soft credit check, which doesn't affect your score.
AnnieMac Home Mortgage doesn't disclose its mortgage refinance rates. When we checked, its refinance rates were about the same as what other major national lenders charge
AnnieMac's mortgage rates trend about the same as the national average, but you'll have to apply to find out what rate you might pay.
If you want to, you can pay for mortgage discount points to permanently lower the rate. Discount points are prepaid interest that you buy when you get your loan. The fee for one point is 1% of your loan amount, so if you're borrowing $200,000, one point would cost $2,000.
In exchange for that fee, the lender permanently reduces the interest rate on your loan, typically by about one-eighth of 1%.
AnnieMac Home Mortgage deserves your consideration if your income is low and you can qualify for the OneUp down payment grant, or if your credit score is below 580 but you can afford to make a 10% down payment on your home. AnnieMac is also a great choice for borrowers who need a specialty loan.
AnnieMac doesn't disclose its interest rates. When we called, AnnieMac's rates were in line with what other major lenders charge.
AnnieMac is a great choice for a mortgage because it offers such a large selection of loans to fit just about anyone's situation.
AnnieMac may be a good choice for refinancing if the cost of the loan is competitive. But you can't find out about loan costs without talking directly to a loan officer.
You'll need at least a 550 credit score with a 10% down payment, or a 620 credit score with a 1% down payment and household income below 80% of the median income for your area. Some loan programs require a higher credit score. Debt-to-income ratio limits vary from loan to loan, and can exceed 50%.
AnnieMac's loan lineup includes:
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