When shopping around for mortgages, it’s always a good idea to find mortgage lenders of different types, including large national banks, local lenders, and online lenders.
There are literally hundreds of mortgage lending companies to choose from when shopping for mortgage lenders. The following is not a complete list of all mortgage lenders in the state of Michigan, but a list of some of the most popular mortgage lenders that do business in the state of Michigan.
Michigan Mortgage Companies
The following companies are based exclusively in the state of Michigan, or have locations only in Michigan and the surrounding North-Midwest regional area. If you are a business owner seeking a loan, refer to this financing options for Michigan businesses article.
Michigan Mortgage Solutions
Michigan Mortgage Solutions provides both purchase loans and refinancing loans for home buyers and owners. They offer great customer support, and they make it a priority to meet with you to ensure you know exactly what you will be purchasing.
If you’re looking for someone to provide you with mortgage advice and help you throughout the process, and value in person meetings from a local Michigan company, this is a great option.
5/3
Headquartered in Cincinnati, 5/3 Bank offers mortgage loans to real estate owners throughout the state of Michigan and across much of the Midwest.
They offer a wide range of 15, 20 and 30 year mortgages with either fixed rates or adjustable rates. They also offer specialty new construction loans, physician and dentist mortgages, VA mortgage loans, and other specialty mortgage loans.
National Companies Operating in Michigan
There are many companies that have nation-wide offices or locations in most US states. The following lenders provide Michigan residents with mortgages and mortgage refinancing across the entire state and have offices in all major cities in Michigan.
PNC Mortgage
As one of the nation’s largest commercial and retail banks, many Michigan businesses and home owners use PNC for mortgages.
It is likely a great place to start when shopping around for mortgage lenders, especially if you already have a PNC account set up. Applying is fairly simple and can be done online, over the phone, or in person at a PNC location.
PNC is a great option if you have not built up a strong traditional credit history, such as financing a car or paying off student loans, but have a strong history of other nontraditional methods of establishing credit that do not show up in a credit score, such as such as consistently making rent payments or paying a monthly public transportation cost.
Chase
If you have an account already set up through Chase, you may be able to make use of discounts and promotions for a mortgage. Chase has a great website and app interface that allow you to keep track of important documents and submit information electronically. They also have great options for those looking to refinance their existing mortgage.
While their rates are good, keep in mind that there may be other fees that you will need to pay in order to set up the mortgage. It’s best to get in touch with a Chase mortgage banker to get details on the rates that you qualify for and other costs tied into your specific mortgage.
PrimeLending
PrimeLending is a good option for borrows who may have had previous credit issues and those in need of finding assistance with finding down payment and closing cost programs. Their float-down interest rate lock is a nice way of ensuring that you have a good interest rate, even if rates go down before closing. Additionally, you can lock in a set interest rate, which will be valid for 45 days, even if rates go up.
Flagstar Bank
If you are strongly considering a FHA loan, Flagstar is know as a bank that makes it easy for their customers to get FHA loans for new homes, renovation projects, new construction, and more. If you are looking to qualify for your loan with nontraditional credit sources like apartment rental payments, car loan payments, or utility bill payments, they help make it easier to get qualified for a FHA loan.
They are also well known for renovation and construction loans, where you may only need to pay interest on the loan during the construction phase of the project, and then you get to choose the right mortgage that is best suited for your needs.
Online Mortgage Lenders
The following is a list of mortgage lenders that have few or no brick and mortar locations. They provide mortgages to residents and businesses across all of Michigan in most major cities including Metro-Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Lansing, and Kalamazoo.
Guaranteed Rate
If you don’t highly value face to face meetings with a representative, prefer to operate independently with online support when you need it, and enjoy using an online platform for viewing and managing your mortgage information, Guaranteed Rate is a great option for home loans of many different types.
Guaranteed Rate is a relatively new mortgage lender, and they are built on providing a great online customer experience with great rates for individuals with good credit scores. Without the need to pay for brick and mortar locations, they have been able to keep their interest rates at very competitive levels. They also provide you with the ability to upload and sign documents digitally, and offer a great mobile app and website experience with a 98% customer satisfaction rate.
Rocket Mortgage
Rocket Mortgage is a great self-service resource to find loans that you qualify for and to compare their rates with other major players in the industry. They make it easy to import bank and investment account statements, which can save you a ton of time while comparing rates, so Rocket Mortgage is definitely a great online mortgage company to check out.
If you are looking for home equity loans, it should be noted that Rocket Mortgage does not offer HELOCs. They also do not consider non-traditional credit data and primarily consider your credit score and debt to income ratio when determining what you are approved for and the interest rate that you will get.
Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans offers a hybrid online mortgage service with an easy to use online application process and great resources as well as readily available mortgage advisers that are a phone call away.
They make it quick and easy to verify income, offer government backed loans like USDA and FHA loans, and a wide range of fixed rate loans between periods of 8 to 30 years. Many would consider Quicken Loans’ main competitor to be Rocket Mortgage, so if you are considering them then you should definitely take a look at Quicken Loans, and vice versa.
A few tips before picking a mortgage company
Before setting on a mortgage lender, there are a few guidelines that you should follow.
Focus on your credit score
The terms of your mortgage, or whether or not you quality for a mortgage or not, are dependent on your credit history, which takes a quantitative form of a credit score.
Before shopping around for mortgages, you should figure out your credit score and what steps you can take to improve it.
Don’t settle on a few lenders
You should try to compare at least ten different mortgage lenders to get an idea of the type of loan that works best for you, the different types of mortgage lenders, and the differences in terms for each provider.
Get Pre-approved
Even if you haven’t settled on one mortgage lender, you can still get pre-approved for a loan, which gives you leverage against other home buyers bidding on the same property who are not approved for a mortgage loan yet.
You may also need to act quickly when closing on a home, so having a loan lined up and ready to go may be necessary to ensure that you get the home you want.
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