Direct Home Lending Mortgage Review 2021

Direct Home Lending overview

Direct Home Lending, founded in 2006, is an online and brick-and-mortar lender that offers loans in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Oregon and Washington. Legally known as PIC Capital, Inc., the lender offers 24-hour approvals and closes most loans within 30 days, and also advertises 14-day purchase closings. Direct Home Lending focuses highly on customer service, such as allowing you to pay off your loan at any time with no penalty or helping investment property loan borrowers find a real estate agent. “Our company mission is to make lending a better experience,” says Direct Home Lending President and CEO Brian Sardarizadeh. “To accomplish this, our focus is on technology and customer service. We also pride ourselves in helping borrowers to clear obstacles that can challenge their ability to secure a loan.”

Good for

Borrowers looking for low-down payment loan options and online convenience

Loan types

• Conventional
• Jumbo
• FHA
• VA
• Fixed-rate
• Adjustable-rate
• Rate-and-term, cash-out and streamline refinancing
• Investment property
• Reverse mortgages

Lender fees 

Direct Home Lending’s lender fees vary depending on loan type and can include an underwriting fee. 

Rates

You can see purchase or refinance rates and fees through Direct Home Lending’s online quote tool simply by filling out the zip code of the property, the purchase price, down payment amount and your credit score range. From there, you can look through the details of each loan, including fees and points, apply directly and get conditionally approved within minutes.

Reputation

Direct Home Lending has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, but it is not accredited by the organization.

Online services

Direct Home Lending offers a digital mortgage experience that allows you to get prequalified and apply for a loan online. You can also get a free quote online to see rates and fees with no personal information necessary, and the lender also offers a free mortgage calculator. If you’re ready to apply, you can complete an online application in as little as 15 minutes and upload bank statements, eSign disclosures and communicate with all parties involved in the transaction through Direct Home Lending’s digital mortgage platform.

Minimum borrower requirements

Direct Home Lending adheres to the conforming loan requirements and underwriting guidelines for mortgages approved by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as those backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Requirements vary based on the loan and borrower. In general, minimum FICO scores, minimum down payment and maximum debt-to-income ratio (or DTI, the percentage of your monthly gross income used to pay debts) can range from, respectively:

• Conforming loans up to $548,250: 620 credit score minimum, 5% down, 50% DTI
• Jumbo loans: 680 credit score minimum, 5% down, 43% DTI
• FHA loans: 600 credit score minimum, 3.5% down, 55% DTI
• VA loans: 600 credit score minimum, zero down, 55% DTI

Refinancing with Direct Home Lending 

You can use Direct Home Lending’s refinance quote tool to see rates and fees, or call or email the Fast Lending team to advise you on which mortgage refinancing program meets your needs and help you refinance with minimal hassle and work.

Not sure if Direct Home Lending is right for you? Consider these alternatives 

• Movement Mortgage review: Offers no-PMI loans
• Allied Mortgage Group review: Has flexible mortgage options like interest-only loans and loans for the self-employed
• Optimum First Mortgage review: High approval ratings
• LowRates.com mortgage review: Offers a variety of loan types
• Ally Bank mortgage review: Preapproves qualified borrowers in as little as three minutes

Breakdown of Direct Home Lending overall review score

• Affordability: 14.75/15
• Availability: 15/15
• Borrower experience: 10/10

Review methodology

To determine a mortgage lender’s Bankrate Score, Bankrate’s editorial team rates lenders on a scale of one to five stars based on a variety of factors relating to the lender’s products and services. Bankrate’s partners compensate us, but our opinions are our own, and partner relationships do not influence our reviews. Here is our full methodology.