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finder.com’s rating: 3.6 / 5.0
★★★★★
If you’re in the military now or have been in the past, Navy Federal could be a strong option to consider for your home loan needs. It offers a wide array of products and mortgages with 0% down and no PMI. Getting these benefits can take time though, and some say the approval process can be slow.
Loan products offered | Conventional, Jumbo, FHA, VA, HELOC, Refinance |
---|---|
Minimum credit score | Conventional: 620 Other loans: 580 or higher, depending on the loan type |
Minimum down payment | 0% |
State availability | Available in all states |
NMLS # | 399807 |
You must be a member to apply for a mortgage with this bank. Navy Federal Credit Union membership is open to:
Eligible applicants must meet standard mortgage requirements that include a low debt-to-income ratio and steady employment.
Other requirements include:
When applying for a loan, you’ll submit standard personal and financial details:
Navy Federal doesn’t appear to charge the majority of fees other banks and lenders might.
You won’t pay a fee for underwriting, documents or applying for most loans. An exception is the 100% financing, 0% down “Choice” line of loans, which require a 1% origination fee and 1.75% funding fee. These fees are waived by agreeing to pay 0.25% more on the interest rate.
You must first become a member of the Navy Federal Credit Union to apply online:
Navy Federal offers additional loans that members can take advantage of if they already own a home.
NFCU offers a standard menu of mortgage products with a special focus on VA and other military loan programs. Members have access to loans that require no down payment and FreedomLock, a rate lock program that allows you to relock your interest rate for a lower rate if interest rates go down within 60 days of your initial rate lock.
This lender also offers a special program called HomeSquad to help you through the mortgage application process. HomeSquad allows you to upload all your loan documents, connect your bank accounts to verify your assets, track the status of your application and get updates when you hit milestones.
Member reviews for Navy Federal are generally positive. The credit union has a 4.7-star rating from 621 reviews on Trustpilot as of October 2020, where most customers say they felt the company was empathetic and met their needs. Others say they received loans through Navy Federal that they wouldn’t have been approved for elsewhere.
NFCU has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has responded to 889 complaints in the last three years. But out of 116 customer reviews, the lender only scores 1.19 stars. Most negative reviews focus on poor customer service experiences and slow responses from the loan department.
Based in Vienna, Virginia, Navy Federal Credit Union began with seven members in 1933 and has since grown to serve more than 8 million members. It manages more than $100 billion in assets and is the largest credit union in the United States by number of members and size of assets.
All numbers based on 2019 nationwide data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.
Loan type | Applications denied | Loans originated | $ Amount (originated loans) |
---|---|---|---|
Conventional | 29,812 | 45,344 | $8,982,570,000 |
FHA | 1,145 | 1,187 | $270,825,000 |
VA | 10,575 | 35,399 | $10,525,605,000 |
USDA | 0 | 0 | $0 |
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We analyze top home loan providers and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. These factors include: rates and fees, product selection and borrower experience.
Read the full methodology of how we rate home loan providers.
Review by
Kelly Larson is a writer and editor at finder, where he currently spearheads the effort to make office sloths a thing. Prior to that all-important role, he led editorial newsrooms in the creation of award-winning content as a managing editor in the digital space.
NFCU is good for service members, offering loans with low down payments and fewer fees than other lenders. However, don’t expect a quick turnaround — customers report long approval processes.