While perhaps not a major household name yet, there’s a good chance you’ll stumble upon AmeriSave if actively shopping your home loan.
They have quite a presence online and are a top-rated mortgage lender with LendingTree, despite a lack of physical branches and national advertising campaigns.
In August 2021, the company inked its first partnership with a professional sports organization, the Miami Dolphins.
They will receive prominent branding at Hard Rock Stadium, along with marketing spots on radio broadcasts and team content.
Let’s get some more background on AmeriSave to see if they could be a good choice for you.
Table of Contents
– Who Is AmeriSave?
– What Does AmeriSave Mortgage Offer?
– AmeriSave Rate Match Guarantee
– $500 Application Fee
– AmeriSave Mortgage Rates
– AmeriSave Reviews
– AmeriSave Pros and Cons
– AmeriSave vs. loanDepot
Who Is AmeriSave Mortgage Corp.?
- Direct-to-consumer mortgage lender that offers home purchase and refinance loans
- Founded in 2002, based in Atlanta, Georgia
- Has originated over $55 billion in home loans on over 230,000 properties
- Claims to have pioneered digital loan origination process
- Licensed in 49 states and D.C. (not available in NY)
AmeriSave Mortgage Corp. is a direct-to-consumer mortgage lender lender based in Atlanta, Georgia that has been around since early 2002.
They refer to themselves as a fintech company responsible for “pioneering the first truly digital mortgage experience,” a claim Rocket Mortgage might disagree with.
Regardless, they are a mortgage lender that lives online, which hopefully means they can pass the savings of brick and mortar expenses on to you.
Over the past decade, AmeriSave has “invested heavily in its proprietary technology” to create a “highly automated” loan process, similar to other fintech lenders like Better Mortgage and Figure.
The company says many of its customers choose to go the “self-serve” route for all or most of their transaction thanks to the intuitive loan origination platform in place.
AmeriSave is licensed in 49 states and the District of Columbia, with New York the only state they don’t lend in.
Since inception, they have funded over $55 billion in home loans on over 230,000 properties nationwide.
In January 2019, they acquired the origination business of The Money Source (TMS), which had been a growing force online as well.
AmeriSave took on some TMS employees and their Plano, Texas and Chandler, Arizona offices via the acquisition, with expected volume of $1.5 billion for 2019.
They also have a wholesale lending arm that works directly with mortgage brokers, so it’s possible your loan could come from AmeriSave if you use a broker.
What Does AmeriSave Mortgage Offer?
- Home purchase or refinance loans
- Conventional (Fannie/Freddie) and jumbo loans
- Government loans including FHA, USDA, and VA
- Fixed-rate loans: 30-year, 15-year, 25-year, 20-year, and 10-year fixed
- ARMs: 5/1, 7/1, and 10/1 varieties
- Home equity lines of credit (HELOC)
- Personal loans
AmeriSave has all the typical loan options you’d expect from a national direct lender, including home purchase, rate and term, and cash out refinances.
They recently launched a suite of home buyer perks including a certified approval letter, certified closing promise, and a lock & shop option.
All three can make you a stronger candidate in a bidding war, or simply give you peace of mind that you qualify for a mortgage if and when you find your dream home.
In terms of loan type, they offer both conforming and jumbo loans, along with government loans such as FHA, USDA, and VA loans.
You can get a fixed-rate mortgage in 30- or 15-year terms, along with less common loan terms of 10, 20, and 25 years.
With regard to their adjustable-rate mortgages, they offer the 5/1, 7/1, and 10/1, which are the most popular available.
They have caps of 2/2/5, meaning the most they can adjust initially is 2%, then 2% periodically, and up to 5% during the life of the loan.
The company also offers a home equity line of credit (HELOC) if you need cash, but don’t want to lose the low fixed interest rate on your first mortgage.
Lastly, they just launched personal loans up to $50,000 loan amounts that come with a fixed rate and a 3-, 5-, or 7-year term.
AmeriSave Lock & Drop Program
In February 2023, AmeriSave launched the “Lock & Drop Program,” which a temporary mortgage rate buydown.
The way it works is simple. You get a 1% rate reduction the first year of your mortgage term. So if you qualify for a rate of 6%, you’ll get a rate of 5% in year one.
This is known as a 1-0 buydown. And it is a lender-paid buydown, meaning AmeriSave covers the cost.
Of course, be sure to compare their mortgage rates to competitors, as the cost could be passed along to consumers.
In conjunction with this new offer, they are extending a $750 credit that can be applied towards a future refinance transaction.
If mortgage rates drop and you refinance with them, you can qualify for that credit as well.
AmeriSave Rate Match Guarantee
Like some other mortgage lenders, AmeriSave offers a Rate Match Guarantee if you find a better deal elsewhere.
Here’s how it works. Once your mortgage rate is locked with AmeriSave, you are given three calendar days to shop around with other lenders to find a better deal.
If you’re able to locate a better deal for the same loan terms in which you locked, they will either match it or give you $500 if you go with the other lender.
The guarantee applies to both purchase loans and refinances, but excludes jumbo loans and ARMs.
It’s a tricky situation though because you aren’t given much time to shop, and they seem to charge a $500 non-refundable application fee.
So if anything, you’d maybe get that fee back if you found a more competitive lender to work with.
$500 Application No Longer Charged
At last glance, AmeriSave had an A+ Rating with the Better Business Bureau, but it doesn’t take into account customer reviews.
In terms of customer reviews, they have 4.09/5 stars on the BBB website. A good share of their negative reviews seem to stem from their non-refundable deposit taken at loan application.
As of August 10th, 2022, they no longer charge this fee.
Prior to this change, they used to collect the $500 non-refundable application fee to cover loan processing and other “miscellaneous costs” incurred by the company.
Assuming you closed your loan with AmeriSave, they would refund the fee at closing and it would be reflected on the Closing Disclosure (CD).
For the record, it’s not uncommon for lenders to charge these fees, either for rate locks or appraisals, but not all lenders impose them.
Other complaints are related to the home appraisal fee they charge, which varies in cost by loan.
It appears that those who complained on the BBB about either the $500 deposit or the appraisal fee received a refund in many cases.
AmeriSave Mortgage Rates
Another plus is that AmeriSave openly advertises their mortgage rates on their website. Or at least a couple sample rates.
In order to view their daily rates, simply click on “rates” from the top navigational menu.
If you want a more personalized quote, you have to complete a short questionnaire that is akin to a mortgage lead form.
It should be noted that the sample rate comes with loan assumptions, but on the day of this review, it was a 30-year fixed loan set at 2.125%, which is pretty ridiculously low.
Digging into the fine print, it was based on a hypothetical loan with a $250,000 loan amount set at 80% LTV with a 740 FICO score.
Oh, and it was for a refinance on an owner-occupied, single family home with lots of discount points being paid.
Still, it sounds pretty competitive relative to what else is out there. But your rate will vary based on your own unique loan parameters.
By the way, you should actively shop your mortgage if you want to save money – there are legitimate studies that prove you can save real money by doing so.
AmeriSave Reviews
AmeriSave comes highly rated on the LendingTree platform, with a 4.7 out of 5 score from nearly 11,000 customer reviews.
Not only that, but they also claimed the #1 spot for customer satisfaction for home lending in the first quarter of 2021. And also the #1 spot in Q4 2020 and Q3 2020.
On Zillow, they have a 4.66-star rating out of 5 from about 2,000 customer reviews, which is pretty solid.
It’s possible to see who the customers worked with if you want to fine-tune the reviews and perhaps ask to work with the highest-ranking individual.
Over at Google, they have a less convincing 3.9-star rating from about 1,700 reviews, which I’d consider average-to-good. Somewhat of a mixed bag.
The company is also accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has been since 2020. They currently hold an ‘A+’ rating based on customer complaint history.
AmeriSave has a 4.09/5 rating on the BBB website from roughly 3,100 reviews, which is pretty good for a more complaint-driven site.
AmeriSave Pros and Cons
The Good
- Offer what appear to be competitive mortgage rates
- Can apply online in minutes and close quickly
- Digital process – can link financial accounts via AccountChek by FormFree
- Plenty of loan options to choose from including HELOCs
- May retain and service your loan (as opposed to selling it to a third party)
- Could be a good choice for those with straightforward loan scenarios (good credit, lower LTVs, W-2 employment)
- Mostly excellent reviews from past customers
- Claimed top spot for customer satisfaction on LendingTree in Q1 2021, Q4 2020, and Q3 2020
- A+ BBB rating
The Potential Bad
- Numerous customer complaints on BBB website
AmeriSave vs. loanDepot
| AmeriSave | loanDepot | |
| Digital application | Yes | Yes |
| Branch locations | No | Yes |
| Loan types offered | Conventional, FHA, USDA, VA, jumbo | Conventional, FHA, VA, jumbo |
| Minimum FICO score | 600 | 580 |
| Application fee | n/a | n/a |
| Will service your loan? | Yes | Yes |
| Loyalty program | No | Yes |
| Licensed to do business in… | 49 states and D.C. | All 50 states and D.C. |
| BBB rating | A+ | A+ |
| Zillow rating | 4.7/5 from 2,000 reviews | 4.88/5 from 4,700 reviews |
If you’ve been shopping your home loan, you may have also come across loanDepot.
They are similar to AmeriSave in that they’re a direct lender, but they also have physical branches across the country.
Another differentiating factor is that AmeriSave offers USDA loans, while loanDepot does not.
However, AmeriSave isn’t licensed in the state of New York.
At loanDepot, you can get a mortgage with a slightly lower credit score, and they offer a loyalty program to customers who refinance in the future.
Other than that, both come highly-rated and are BBB accredited with A+ ratings.
Source: thetruthaboutmortgage.com