Credit score needed to refinance with quicken loans

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What Rocket Mortgage Offers

Rocket Mortgage operates in all states and the District of Columbia, except in Puerto Rico. Its interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate conventional conforming purchase loans are comparable to national averages. You can check Rocket Mortgage’s rates for the most common mortgage types on its website.

Loan Types

Rocket Mortgage offers the following types of mortgages:

In addition to fixed-rate mortgages, Rocket Mortgage offers adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs).

• You can get a five-, seven- or 10-year ARM with a conventional loan.
• You can get a five-year ARM with an FHA or VA loan.

If you want a less-common loan type, like a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loan or a nonqualified mortgage, you’ll need to find a different lender. USDA loans help lower-income borrowers in rural areas; nonqualified mortgages help borrowers who don’t meet conventional loan requirements.

Loan Minimum

Rocket Mortgage does not have a minimum loan amount, which is good news. Some lenders do not offer small mortgage loans, which can make it harder for people to purchase less-expensive homes.

Loan Maximum

Loan maximums depend on mortgage type and your qualifications. You can borrow up to $2.5 million on a jumbo loan, and up to $2 million with a VA loan through Rocket Mortgage. These are relatively high limits, but some lenders offer even larger loans.

Loan Servicing

Unlike many lenders, Rocket Mortgage services most of the loans it originates, except for jumbo loans. So, if you get your loan from Rocket Mortgage, there’s a good chance you’ll also make your payments to Rocket Mortgage. It also services some other originators’ loans. Even if you take out your loan from a different company, you might end up making your payments to Rocket Mortgage.

How Does Rocket Mortgage Work?

Rocket Mortgage is a direct lender that’s become popular for its speedy and convenient fully-digital application process. The company claims to be the largest originator of mortgages in America as of 2021 and the $351 billion of loans it closed shows that many borrowers prefer to complete the entire mortgage process online.

Minimum Borrower Requirements

Here are the basic criteria Rocket Mortgage requires borrowers to meet.

Minimum Credit Score

Rocket Mortgage’s minimum credit score requirements are:

• 620 for a conventional loan
• 580 for an FHA loan
• 580 for a VA loan
• 680 for a jumbo loan

If your score is lower and you want to get a mortgage with bad credit, one option is to look for lenders who offer nonqualified mortgages.

Another is to participate in Rocket Mortgage’s free Fresh Start program, which has no minimum credit score requirement. According to a company spokesperson, participants work with a licensed mortgage banker who specializes in credit for the purpose of a mortgage.

The banker will look at your credit report to identify the most impactful actions you can take to improve your credit to qualify for a home loan, such as paying down debt or paying off collections. While it will be your responsibility to call your creditors, the Fresh Start program can work with the credit bureaus to update your credit score quickly and remove accounts in dispute from your credit report.

Minimum Down Payment

Down payment requirements are minimal: 0% for VA loans, as little as 3% for certain conventional loans, and 3.5% for FHA loans.

Maximum Debt-to-Income (DTI) Ratio

The maximum DTI that Rocket Mortgage allows depends on the type of loan you’re applying for and the other aspects of your finances.

What Fees Will You Pay?

Most lenders charge fees, but some charge higher fees than others. Lenders with no origination fee often make up for it by charging borrowers a higher interest rate. Here’s what Rocket Mortgage charges.

Origination Fees

Rocket Mortgage charges around $1,200 for mortgage processing and underwriting. The appraisal and other services from different vendors will add to your closing costs, as is the case with any mortgage. With any lender, you’ll be able to evaluate the fees for your specific loan on your loan estimate before you commit, and there will be certain mortgage services you can shop for to look for lower fees.

Rate Lock Fees

Rocket Mortgage will lock your rate for 15, 45, 60 or 90 days, with some restrictions. Rocket Mortgage offers a five-day lock extension that costs 0.125 points ($125 per $100,000 borrowed) and a 15-day extension that costs 0.25 points ($250 per $100,000 borrowed). Rocket Mortgage allows up to two 15-day extensions.

Once you’ve locked your rate with Rocket Mortgage, there’s no standard float-down option. This means that if rates drop after you lock your rate, you’d have to cancel your application and start over with a new lender, delaying your closing. Some lenders do offer a float-down option, and you’ll often pay a fee to exercise it.

If you’re still shopping for a home and want to lock your rate so you know exactly how much house you can afford, you can use Rocket Mortgage’s Rate Shield program. For a fee of 0.75 basis points ($750 per $100,000 borrowed), you can lock your rate for 90 days without a purchase agreement. If interest rates are lower when you go under contract, Rocket Mortgage will float your rate down.

Prepayment Penalties

Rocket Mortgage does not charge prepayment penalties, which is typical for first mortgages on a primary residence. Rocket Mortgage also does not charge borrowers any monthly payment fees on its loans.

How to Apply with Rocket Mortgage

Rocket Mortgage allows you to submit a complete mortgage application online, including uploading documents like bank statements and pay stubs. By submitting this information before you shop for a home, you can get a verified approval letter showing that an underwriter has checked out your finances and you’re a serious buyer.

This efficient process means there’s no need to submit your personal information first just to get a callback from a loan officer. In fact, back in 1998, Rocket Mortgage (then under the Quicken Loans brand) was one of the first companies to embrace the convenience the internet could bring to mortgage applicants. The company has offered electronic mortgage document signing since 2002, a service some other lenders still do not do.

Approval, Underwriting and Closing Timelines

No matter what type of mortgage you apply for, you can expect to get preapproved (or declined) in as little as eight minutes, and usually within 24 hours of submitting your request.

Once you apply, the company can underwrite your loan in as little as one hour, but more commonly within two days.

Rocket Mortgage says it can close a loan in eight days in a best-case scenario. On average, Rocket Mortgage closes its loans in 26 days, according to a company spokesperson. The company’s average time to close a conventional refinance is 21 days, and the average time to close a conventional purchase loan is 36 days.

You can sign your loan disclosures and closing documents electronically with Rocket Mortgage, which can help speed up the process.

What to Do If You Get Turned Down

While the company has long been a technological innovator, it mainly offers inside-the-box financing. There’s a good chance you’ll need to take steps to improve your credit score, reduce your debt or increase your income to qualify with Rocket Mortgage if your application is denied. The more you can accomplish in these areas, the more likely you are to not only get approved but get a better rate. Don’t forget to look into the Fresh Start Program.

If you’re in a hurry, however, you may be able to get approved with a different lender that has looser criteria. A lender that offers non-QM loans may be able to meet your needs if you’re willing to pay a higher interest rate.

Getting a co-signer or co-borrower may be an option, but asking someone to take on a mortgage with you is no small commitment, especially if this person is not residing in the home. To get an idea of what you can afford without help, use our mortgage calculator.

Before you figure out your next steps, it’s a good idea to apply with several mortgage lenders to see where you stand. Don’t worry about hurting your credit score: Submitting multiple applications within 45 days will have the same impact on your score as submitting a single application, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

What People Are Saying about Rocket Mortgage

Rocket Mortgage’s Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating is 2.85 out of 5 stars based on 1,778 reviews in early February. The BBB had closed 398 complaints about the company in the last 12 months, and 862 complaints in the last three years.

The BBB gives Rocket Mortgage an A+ rating, but this rating isn’t based on customer reviews. It’s based on how the company responds to complaints, its time in business, size and other factors.

The CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database shows 1,451 mortgage complaints about Rocket Mortgage from December 2018 through January 2022. Here’s how they break down:

Most complaints were about conventional mortgages or FHA mortgages and their application process. The company provided a timely response to nearly all complaints. The CFPB does not verify the accuracy of consumers’ complaints.

While these numbers may seem high, they are insignificant compared to the number of customers utilizing Rocket Mortgage’s services.

Methodology 

We graded Rocket Mortgage based on elements that have a meaningful impact on the cost of the mortgage; borrower eligibility requirements; the variety of loan options; and loan features that can impact the homebuying process. Our scoring method is based on the following categories:

• Interest rate: 20%
• Down payment requirements: 20%
• Credit score minimum requirements: 20%
• Alternative credit data considered: 10%
• Preapproval time: 10%
• Closing timelines: 10%
• Loan types: 10%
• Lender discounts offered: 5 bonus points

While there are certainly more features that lenders offer, we chose not to include these in our scoring in order to bring forward lenders that have the most competitive rates and are among the most accessible for borrowers of all financial backgrounds.

Our focus on affordability, accessibility and key features that can impact the homebuying process (like preapproval time and closing timelines) is what we consider reflective of today’s consumer’s top priorities when comparison shopping for mortgage lenders.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What credit score do I need to get approved by Rocket Mortgage?

In general, you’ll want a credit score of 620 to borrow from Rocket Mortgage. However, Rocket says they approve mortgages for borrowers with a credit score of just 580—and in some cases, those with an even lower score may still qualify assuming you meet other criteria. The company also offers a program that helps you improve your credit.

Related: What Credit Score Is Needed To Buy A House?

How long does Rocket pre-approval take?

Rocket’s pre-approval process is called “Verified Approval.” and it usually takes about 24 hours. However, as Rocket notes on its web site, there are times when a lender needs to ask for additional information before completing the process, which can add some time.

How long does it take to refinance with Rocket Mortgage?

Rocket doesn’t make any promises about how quickly you can refinance your mortgage with them. However, they note on their website that, though every situation is different, a refinance typically takes 30 to 45 days.

That said, Rocket does offer several varieties of streamlined refinances, including for VA loans, USDA loans and FHA mortgages. Refinancing loans apply to homeowners who already have a mortgage backed by one of those government entities and want to get the same type of loan again.

Will applying for a mortgage with Rocket Mortgage hurt my credit?

Applying for a mortgage with Rocket, like with any lender, will likely make a small dent in your credit score. That’s because the credit bureaus that set your scores assume any inquiry means you’re taking out more debt. However, if you start paying a new mortgage on time and in full, any effect from those inquiries will quickly fade away.

What credit score do you need to refinance with Quicken?

What is the lowest credit score rocket mortgage will accept?

What credit score do you need for rocket loans?

Can I refinance with a 600 credit score?