Watermark Home Loans Review
See how often this lender's Bankrate auction price beats comparable loans from 2025.
Bankrate verified lender
This lender is a Bankrate Auction Participant, meaning we verify their offer authenticity and hold them to high standards to ensure you get the best possible rate offer.
How Bankrate scores Watermark Home Loans
- Price competitiveness
How often this lender's borrowers pay at or below the typical price for a comparable loan.
5 out of 5 - Amount of overpayment
How much extra borrowers ended up paying with this lender compared to the best price for a comparable loan. A higher percentile score is always better.
5 out of 5 - Customer complaints
How often consumers complain about this lender, and whether they get relief.
Clean5 out of 5 - Where and what they lend
How many states and loan types this lender serves.
74%4 out of 5
No lender can pay for a higher Bankrate Rating. Every score comes from the same data and criteria.
2025 ratings, across all four measures
A few more details worth knowing
Though these don't affect the star rating, we show them so you have the full picture.
For applicants age 62 and older, we measure two things: whether this lender denies them more often than its own lending patterns would predict after accounting for loan size, income, debt-to-income ratio, and loan type; and whether it lends to them at rates similar to comparable lenders. One of those two measures fell outside the expected range. Credit scores are not available in this dataset, so they are not included in the analysis. Because that variable is held constant across all lenders, it should reduce the extent to which missing credit-score data affects comparisons between them.
We looked at how often a lender's applications end up as closed loans, not counting any that were denied or the applicant withdrew. At this lender, fewer than 90% did, which might mean quoted terms changed before closing, applicants stepped away, or both.
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What Bankrate's editors think
Watermark Home Loans is a direct, online-only lender with a wide menu of traditional and non-QM options. Its non-QM programs qualify self-employed borrowers on bank statements, 1099s or asset depletion instead of tax returns, and qualify real estate investors off a rental property’s own cash flow instead of personal income. But the tradeoff is that non-QM loans typically require 10% to 20% down and carry higher rates than traditional loans. Watermark is licensed in 47 states plus Washington, D.C., and the lender offers rate-drop alerts, e-closings and remote online notarization.
Watermark also earns a 5-star Bankrate Rating on top of its 4-star Overall Rating — the bids it wins through Bankrate’s auction beat the price paid on comparable loans, and its overall pricing shows that this isn’t just a one-off: about 60% of its mortgages were priced below comparable loans in 2025, and it charges less in added costs than roughly 60% of lenders, a strong pricing story, not just a Bankrate-specific one. Watermark doesn’t post rates, fees or assistance programs online, so you’ll need to talk to a loan officer to learn much of anything. It holds an A+ accredited rating from the Better Business Bureau, but it pulls only an average score on Trustpilot.
It had no origination-related complaints with the CFPB in 2025, which earns it a top score there. About 1 in 7 approved loans here don’t make it to closing, a worse rate than most lenders we review. Remember that closing can fall through for reasons beyond a lender’s control, such as an applicant walking away.
At a glance
Good for borrowers who don’t fit traditional mortgage criteria, thanks to a genuinely wide non-QM menu including bank statement and DSCR investor loans. Not a good fit if you want a physical branch or upfront rate information, since it’s online-only and doesn’t disclose its rates and fees.
What consumers say
Summary: Watermark Home Loans reviewers, a limited sample to date, most often cite prompt responses and a closing that occurred on schedule, consistent throughout.
Excellent, smooth refinance experience.
I had an excellent experience refinancing my home with Watermark. Ron and Stephanie were responsive, patient, and incredibly helpful throughout the process, including navigating some additional complexities following a divorce. They kept things moving, answered my questions quickly, and ultimately secured a great outcome for me. I’m very grateful to both of them and would highly recommend Watermark.
Craig S. · Maryland
Great team !
Mike and Dana provided excellent service throughout the loan process. They made every step easy to understand and navigate, and were responsive, knowledgeable, and professional from start to finish. Their guidance made what could have been a stressful experience feel seamless. I highly recommend them to anyone seeking a mortgage.
Kim P. · Newport Beach
Great customer service
I'm glad I found watermark because they have very competitive rates and they stayed patient while we were shopping around for lenders. Mike Greenberg answered all of our questions and provided advice throughout the process. Great experience overall!
Jacqueline G. · Texas
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Figures are drawn from public lending and complaint data and weighted by loan volume.
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