Rocket Mortgage Review

Overview

Rocket Mortgage is fully designed for digital natives with an advanced and smooth loan platform that keeps the entire process online and on smartphones. Rocket provides:

• Detailed and personalized loan rates information
• Fast platform constantly updated in real time
• Government-backed loans for veterans, first-time buyers, and borrowers with small down payments
• 5- or 7-year ARM and 15- or 30-year fixed-rate mortgages

Who Is Rocket Mortgage Suitable For?

Rocket Mortgage is run entirely online with all of the information provided on the website or mobile apps, making it suited to digital natives who are used to running all aspects of their lives from their mobile phones. The many mortgage options make it suitable for borrowers with small down payments and lower credit scores. Users who prefer flexibility will prefer the variable ARM mortgage while the traditional fixed-rate mortgages provide reliability and certainty for anyone who likes to plan their budget in advance.

Loan Features

Rocket Mortgage has a variety of loan features.

• VA loans: Veterans are served with government-backed VA loans which aren’t always available from online lenders
• FHA loans: First-time buyers with a low credit score or less cash for a down payment can get financing to purchase a home or refinance for any purpose. Rocket Mortgage’s FHA loans require a down payment as low as 3%
• Easy online format: Rocket Mortgage’s straightforward layout helps borrowers to easily compare down payments, APR rates, and total monthly payments on different financing options. You can also adjust your down payment online to see what impact it will have on your final monthly payments
• Simple comparison: Easily compare the mortgage loan options

The Application Process

When applying for a loan via Rocket Mortgage:

• Create an account which takes about 5 seconds.
• Complete the guided online questionnaire. It’s very simple and straightforward with support along the way, and will include your financial and personal information
• Get your quotes. You can customize them by adjusting your down payment, monthly payments, or loan term until you’re happy with the funding option before you.
• Click the button to request approval online.
• Come back and log in again the next day or every day for as long as you’d like to check on the changing rates, then only click the button to lock in rates once you’re happy.
• E-sign all of the relevant paperwork online and closing can happen where and when you want it.

Deep Dive into Pros and Cons

The platform for Rocket Mortgage is advanced. Both the apps and the website are easy to use and smooth to navigate from every device. It’s possible though that anyone who isn’t fully comfortable making major financial decisions online will feel nervous about this entirely digital platform. Rocket Mortgage offers a full range of mortgage, refinancing, and home equity loan options that include government-backed loans, rivaling that of a traditional bank. Thanks to real-time rate updates, new borrowers can stay in control of their financing options by logging on as often as they want to check for the newest rates before locking in the right deal.

That said, the number of loan options can be overwhelming. It’s not really possible to browse loan terms and rates without creating an account and inputting your full financial information, making it difficult for the casual browser to compare loan options. If you’re serious about taking out a mortgage, it’s worth it to go to this trouble. However, anyone who just wants more information about their options is likely to shrink away from having to share details just to get better loan rate information.

Loan Terms – The Bare Basics

It’s difficult to share exact terms of Rocket Mortgage loans and mortgages because APR rate information can only be accessed by sharing all of your financial details and getting a personalized quote. You also can’t find out how much of a down payment you need to make without going through the entire application process, although Rocket Mortgage does offer FHA loans which require a down payment of as low as 3%.

Rocket Mortgage does reveal that terms range from 8 to 30 with the YOURgage loan and that variable rate mortgages have terms of 5 or 7 years. Rocket Mortgage only gives loans for owner-occupied homes, not for investment properties. Fortunately, Rocket Mortgage uses advanced automated tools to make it faster and easier to import your full financial information.

Repayment Terms

Rocket Mortgage offers traditional fixed-rate mortgages of 15- or 30- year terms. The variable ARM loans have terms of either 5 or 7 years. Somewhere in between, in terms of both repayment period and the level of flexibility, are the unique YOURgage mortgage loans, which allow the borrower to choose any term between 8 and 30 years and lock in to a fixed-rate mortgage.

APR rates aren’t available until you complete a full application.

Help & Support

Rocket Mortgage gives support, particularly through the live chat, which is accessible at the touch of a button from the mobile apps and the website.

Live chat isn’t quite round-the-clock but it is open from 7am to midnight ET on weekdays and 9am to midnight on weekends. There’s also telephone support for more traditional borrowers from 9am to midnight on weekdays, 9am to 8pm on Saturdays, and 9am to 7pm on Sundays.

Summary

Rocket Mortgage is a fast and digitally advanced mortgage loan provider that offers a range of refinancing and mortgage options including VA and FHA loans which can be hard to find online. The application process is entirely online and speeded up thanks to advanced automated tools. Between a functional website and effective mobile apps, Rocket Mortgage makes it easy to keep coming back and checking up on real time APR rates until you find the exact deal you want. Fast application times and responsive customer service add to the attraction of this loan provider.

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