AmeriSave Mortgage Review

AmeriSave at a glance

lender	APR
Lender rating: 4.5 out of 5	Minimum credit score: 580   Minimum down payment: 0% to 3.5%   Available loan products and programs: Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, jumbo, HELOCs

AmeriSave Mortgage Corporation was founded in 2002 and offers a digital mortgage experience to customers in 49 states (New York excluded) and the District of Columbia. AmeriSave Mortgage is headquartered in Atlanta.

AmeriSave mortgage products

Conventional

• Fixed-rate, adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) and cash-out refinance are available
• 620 minimum credit score
• 3% down payment for first-time homebuyers or homebuyers who haven’t owned a home in the last three years; 5% otherwise

FHA

• 600 minimum credit score for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans
• 3.5% minimum down payment
• FHA cash-out refinancing available

VA

• ‘Regular’ and energy-efficient mortgages from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are available
• No down payment and no private mortgage insurance (PMI) required
• VA refinancing available, including cash-out refinance and the interest rate reduction refinance loan (IRRRL)
• The typical VA loan requirements set by lenders include 0% down payment and a 620 credit score

USDA

• 0% down payment and flexible credit score requirements
• The house must be in a rural area — here’s a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) eligibility map
• Applicants must qualify with low to moderate income

Jumbo

• Borrow or refinance up to $1.5 million when you put at least 20% down
• 700 credit score required for most jumbo loans; FHA jumbo loans require only a 640 credit score
• Both jumbo loans and jumbo refinance loans offer 15- and 30-year fixed-rate terms; and 5-, 7- and 10-year ARM terms

Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs)

• Borrow up to $249,000 secured by your home equity
• Use the funds for anything from debt consolidation to home improvements and education expenses

Special programs

• AmeriSave offers financing for the purchase and installation of solar energy systems in the following states: Ariz., Calif., Colo., Conn. Fla., Mass., Nev., N.J., Pa., Texas, Utah and Va.

AmeriSave mortgage rates and fees

Rates

AmeriSave publishes its starting fixed-rate mortgage interest rate online, but doesn’t share starting rates for different terms. Compared to other large national banks, AmeriSave’s rates are reasonably competitive, and on average came in around 0.34 percentage points above the average prime offer rate (APOR) in 2022. The APOR is a benchmark rate that captures what is, in effect, the lowest APR a bank is likely to offer in the current market. Mortgage loans aren’t typically considered “higher-cost” until they reach 1.5 percentage points over the APOR.

Fees

Beyond saying that it doesn’t charge an origination fee, AmeriSave doesn’t publish the typical fees that it charges as closing costs. The average total cost of taking out a mortgage with AmeriSave was $9,067 in 2022, according to data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC).

AmeriSave’s application experience

You can apply online at AmeriSave.com by clicking on “purchase” or “refinance.” Both applications ask about your current residence as part of the prequalification process that allows you to see the mortgage rates you’ll likely qualify for. From there, you can choose to submit an official loan application for approval.

How to boost your loan approval odds

AmeriSave doesn’t share the exact minimum requirements it uses to approve or deny your application. However, based on nationwide data from 2022, we can say that AmeriSave approved customers who — on average — had a 73% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio or better. Most had a debt-to-income (DTI) ratio below 40%.

In that same year, AmeriSave denied about 55% of its mortgage applications. That’s very high when compared with other large, national mortgage lenders. For comparison, some large lenders have denial rates in the low teens to mid-thirties.

AmeriSave’s customer service experience

You can contact AmeriSave by email at [email protected] by phone at 888-700-4026 during business hours, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. If you’re already a customer and have questions about your loan, you can also reach out to AmeriSave at [email protected] or call the loan servicing department at 866-865-3400, option 4.

How does AmeriSave compare to other lenders?

	AmeriSave	PenFed	Alliant
Lender rating
Minimum credit score	580	620 to 650	Not published
Minimum down payment	0% to 20%	Not published	0% to 5%
Loan products and programs	Conventional FHA VA USDA Jumbo  Refinance Cash-out refinance	Conventional FHA VA Jumbo HELOC	Conventional Jumbo Home equity line of credit (HELOC) Alliant Advantage Mortgage Alliant Home Rewards
Rate spread*	0.34%	0.11%	0.5%

*Rate spread is the difference between the average prime offer rate (APOR) — the lowest APR a bank is likely to offer any private customer — and the average annual percentage rate (APR) AmeriSave offered to mortgage customers in 2022. The higher the number, the more expensive the loan.

How we rated AmeriSave

LendingTree’s mortgage lender rating is based on a five-point scoring system that factors in several features, including digital application processes, available loan products and the accessibility of product and lending information.

LendingTree’s editorial team calculates each rating based on a review of information available on the lender’s website. Lenders receive a half-point on the “offers standard mortgage products” criterion if they offer only two of the three standard loan programs (conventional, FHA and VA). In some cases, additional information was provided by a lender representative.

AmeriSave’s scorecard: 4.5/5

⭕ Publishes rates online

  Offers standard mortgage products

  Includes detailed product info online

  Shares resources about mortgage lending

  Provides an online application