Posted on June 12th, 2020
One mortgage lender making a big splash of late is NewRez, short for New Residential Investment Corp.
Thanks to their 2019 acquisition of Shellpoint Partners LLC, which was the parent company of New Penn Financial, they now have a robust loan origination platform to flank their expansive loan servicing business.
They are a publicly-traded company worth billions of dollars that has quickly become a top-20 mortgage lender nationwide.
The company also has joint ventures in place, including one with Shelter Mortgage known as Homeowners First Mortgage.
It provides mortgage financing to home buyers represented by real estate brokerage First Team Real Estate in Southern California.
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NewRez and Shelter also have a partnership in place with a San Francisco-based company called Landed, collectively known as Landed Home Loans, which offers down payment assistance to teachers and other school employees.
NewRez Fast Facts
- Founded in 2008, originally known as New Penn Financial
- A direct-to-consumer mortgage lender based in Fort Washington, PA
- Also runs a correspondent lending and wholesale division
- Licensed to lend in 49 states and DC (pending approval in NY state)
- Funded nearly $4.5 billion in 2019 (a top-20 lender nationwide)
- 2,600+ employees and 616,000+ customers served
How to Get a Mortgage with NewRez
They say they’ve got cutting-edge technology and proprietary systems, including the NewRez app and “ezhub,” which is their digital mortgage offering.
It allows you to document income and assets electronically and take advantage of various automated underwriting tools.
Their smartphone app lets you to apply for a mortgage and make monthly mortgage payments once your loan is closed, assuming they service it too.
It’s also possible to get the loan process started online by filling out a short form on their website, at which point a loan advisor will make contact to guide you along.
You can also simply call them up directly or use their loan advisor directory to get in touch with someone specific if you’ve been referred.
Either way, you’ve got options when it comes to applying for a loan with NewRez.
Loan Types Offered by NewRez Mortgage
- Home purchase and refinance loans (rate/term and cash out)
- Home renovation loans and construction loans
- Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA loans
- Specialized products for self-employed borrowers
- Jumbo loans that exceed the conforming loan limit
NewRez offers home purchase loans, refinance loans, and construction loans on all property types, including primary homes, vacation homes, and investment properties.
The company’s 2019 volume consisted of roughly 85% mortgage refinance and 15% home purchase, with 37% of their loans involving cash out to the borrower.
This is probably due to their massive loan servicing portfolio that allows them to get in contact with their many existing homeowners.
They offer both conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with government home loans including FHA loans, USDA loans, and VA loans.
You can also get a jumbo home loan from NewRez if the loan amount exceeds the conforming loan limit for your county.
Nearly 60% of their 2019 retail loan volume was conventional, with 25% FHA loans, 15% VA loans, and the remainder jumbo and USDA.
Those looking for a construction loan are in luck because they offer both FHA and VA construction loans, such as FHA 203k, and conventional construction loans like Fannie Mae HomeStyle.
You can get a fixed-rate mortgage, such as a 30-year fixed or 15-year fixed, and possibly other terms in between.
They also offer a variety of adjustable-rate mortgage options, including 5/1, 7/1 and 10/1 ARMs for those looking for a cheaper monthly payment.
NewRez Mortgage Rates
NewRez does not openly advertise its mortgage rates, which is a shame because it’s difficult to know how they stack up relative to other lenders.
You’ll only know their pricing if you fill out a mortgage quote request and/or speak with a loan specialist. Until then, you’re basically in the dark pricing-wise.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t competitive, it just remains an unknown at the moment until more data is collected on that front.
As such, be sure to take the time to shop around – do this regardless of whether they advertise their mortgage rates. You never know if there’s a better rate out there unless you put in the time.
The same goes for lender fees – it’s unclear how much or what they charge, so compare interest rate and fees (mortgage APR) when shopping your loan.
NewRez Mortgage Reviews
Unfortunately, NewRez mortgage reviews are scant at the moment, perhaps because they only recently launched after acquiring New Penn Financial.
The only information I could find was on Yelp, where they had 1.5 stars out of 5, which is obviously pretty dire.
However, if you go to Zillow and search their lender directory by inputting “NewRez” into the bank name field, you’ll see lots of individual reviews for NewRez loan officers.
From there, you can sift through the many names to find the loan officer with the best reviews, then contact that person directly if you want to work with NewRez.
This might be the best way to go for any large mortgage lender because ultimately customer experiences will vary widely when dealing with thousands of different employees.
I took a look at the NewRez loan officer reviews and found that several had perfect 5 out of 5-star ratings or very close to it. Many also indicated that mortgage rates and fees/closing costs were lower than expected.
Let me add that the company has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since 2009, and has an A+ rating at the moment.
Their customer reviews on the BBB website aren’t favorable, with a star rating just over 1 out of 5. Of course, the BBB customer review rating system is based on complaints, so the rating is typically never very good.
Pros and Cons of NewRez Mortgage
The Good
- Digital mortgage process
- Expansive suite of loan programs to choose from
- They have a free smartphone app
- Lots of mortgage calculators on site
- Loans are serviced by NewRez instead of being sold off
What to Watch Out For
- Do not advertise mortgage rates
- No information on lender fees or closing costs
- Very limited review information (unclear how well-liked they are)
- Not licensed in the state of New York
