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Wells Fargo offers a variety of low-down-payment mortgage options and features like down payment assistance to help first-time and low-income borrowers get into a home. Overall, Wells Fargo is a very affordable lender for first-time homebuyers. But the lender ranks extremely low in trustworthiness.
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Conforming, jumbo, VA, FHA, USDA, new construction, cash-out refinance, Dream. Plan. Home. Mortgage
- Offers several types of home loans
- Dream. Plan. Home. Mortgage has more flexible credit requirements
- Down payment and closing cost assistance available
- Current customers could get a discount on a jumbo loan
- No home equity loan, HELOC, or reverse mortgage
- Ranks low in J.D. Power’s Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study
- Ranks low in trustworthiness
Wells Fargo Mortgage offers a wide variety of mortgages, including the Dream. Plan. Home. Mortgage, which offers assistance and grants to people who make below 80% of the area median income. But it ranks extremely low in trustworthiness.
Wells Fargo Mortgage- Offers mortgages in all 50 US states and Washington, DC
- Dream. Plan. Home. Mortgage has more lax credit score requirements and is for people who earn less than 80% of the median area income
- Minimum credit score and down payment displayed are for conforming mortgages
Understanding Wells Fargo Mortgages
Nationwide Lending With Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo is a national bank with branches throughout the U.S. It lends mortgages in all 50 states.
Wells Fargo Loan Options
At Wells Fargo, you can get a variety of mortgages, including:
- Conforming loans
- Jumbo loans
- VA loans
- FHA loans
- New construction loans for completed new construction homes or ones that are nearly complete
If you have a thin credit file or an imperfect credit history, Wells Fargo has the Dream. Plan. Home. Mortgage. This mortgage has more flexible credit standards and was created for people who are at or below 80% of the area median income. It allows down payments of just 3%.
Wells Fargo Homebuyer Assistance
Eligible borrowers can utilize Well's Fargo's Dream. Plan. Home. closing cost credit of up to $5,000 to lower their closing costs. The lender also has a Homebuyer Access grant that offers $10,000 in down payment assistance to conventional loan borrowers.
Wells Fargo Mortgage Interest Rates and Fees
In our review of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, we found that Wells Fargo's mortgage rates were slightly lower than average.
Wells Fargo provides a handful of sample rates on its website to give you an idea of how much you could pay if you got a mortgage with this lender. But to see personalized rates based on your situation, you'll need to talk to a loan officer.
In 2022, the average borrower getting a conventional mortgage from Wells Fargo paid $2,376 in origination charges, according to HMDA data. This is on the low end compared to other mortgage lenders.
Wells Fargo Mortgages Overall Rating
Loan Types: 3.5 out of 5
Wells Fargo offers a good range of loans that should meet most borrowers' needs, including both conventional and government-backed mortgages, though it doesn't have home equity options or more niche loan types.
Affordability: 4 out of 5
This lender offers a variety of features that can help first-time and low-income borrowers afford homeownership. If you meet eligibility requirements, you could get up to $5,000 in closing cost assistance and a $10,000 down payment grant. Its average rates and fees are also on the low end.
Customer Satisfaction: 3.48 out of 5
On its Zillow lender page, Wells Fargo has a 4.96 out of 5-star rating, based on over 4,000 online customer reviews. However, it ranks below the industry average for customer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power's 2023 US Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study.
Trustworthiness: 1 out of 5
Wells Fargo has dealt with several public controversies in the past few years.
- In December 2022, Wells Fargo settled allegations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau claiming that the bank "repeatedly misapplied loan payments, wrongfully foreclosed on homes and illegally repossessed vehicles, incorrectly assessed fees and interest, charged surprise overdraft fees, along with other illegal activity affecting over 16 million consumer accounts."
- In September 2021, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency required Wells Fargo to pay a $250 million fine when the OCC claimed the bank engaged in unsafe practices in home lending.
We use ratings from the Better Business Bureau to see how a lender may deal with customer issues. Currently, Wells Fargo has an F rating from the BBB due to government action against the business and failure to respond to multiple customer complaints.
Wells Fargo Mortgages Pros and Cons
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Dream. Plan. Home. and Homebuyer Access Assistance Programs
Wells Fargo offers both closing cost and down payment assistance to borrowers who qualify.
With the Dream. Plan. Home. closing cost credit, borrowers who earn 80% or less of their area's median income could get up to $5,000 in closing cost assistance. The Homebuyer Access grant offers $10,000 in down payment assistance to borrowers who earn no more than 120% of the area median income.
These programs are only available in certain areas.
Jumbo Loan Discounts for Current Wells Fargo Customers
If you have an account with Wells Fargo, you may be able to get a discount on your jumbo loan rate if you have at least $250,000 in eligible assets with the bank.
Serious Trustworthiness Issues
Though once a highly respected financial institution, Wells Fargo's reputation has suffered in recent years due to various scandals that involved government agencies taking action against the business. It currently has an F rating from the BBB.
What Borrowers Are Saying About Wells Fargo Mortgages
Business Insider looked at positive and negative customer reviews, online forums, BBB complaints, and other sources to understand what borrowers think about Wells Fargo's mortgage process.
Quick Process, Helpful Mortgage Pros
In spite of its low trustworthiness rating and low ranking in J.D. Power's 2023 Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study, we found that previous borrowers generally had positive things to say about Wells Fargo's mortgage experience.
In online reviews, borrowers said the process with Wells Fargo was smooth and fast. They also said that the loan officers they worked with were communicative and knowledgeable.
How Wells Fargo Mortgages Compare
Wells Fargo vs. Bank of America
Bank of America has low rates and fees and down payment assistance, making it one of the best mortgage lenders available. You may qualify for a closing cost credit up to $7,500 and a down payment grant up to $10,000 with this lender.
Bank of America also earns high customer satisfaction ratings, and it ranked No. 5 in J.D. Power's 2023 satisfaction study.
Bank of America Mortgage review
Wells Fargo vs. Chase mortgages
Chase is one of the best mortgage lenders for first-time homebuyers, particularly if you're a low-income borrower. Like Wells Fargo and Bank of America, Chase's average rates and fees are on the low end compared to other lenders.
The Chase DreaMaker mortgage allows down payments of 3% with PMI at a reduced cost. It also provides grants of up to $7,500.
Wells Fargo Mortgage FAQs
You'll need at least a 620 credit score to get a conforming mortgage from Wells Fargo, though it has more lenient credit requirements if you're eligible for its Dream. Plan. Home. Mortgage.
Wells Fargo was founded in 1852, making it one of the oldest banks in the US. It's a legitimate mortgage lender and has many good reviews on its Zillow lender page, but it has an F rating from the BBB.
Wells Fargo announced in January 2023 that it will be scaling back its mortgage business to focus on current Wells Fargo customers and borrowers in minority communities. It's not leaving the mortgage business, and it's still possible to get a mortgage from Wells Fargo if you aren't a current customer or a borrower in a minority community.
Wells Fargo's average mortgage rates are slightly low compared to other lenders, according to our review of the latest HMDA data.
Wells Fargo has had trustworthiness issues in the past, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll personally have a bad experience with the bank. If you're worried about Wells Fargo's issues, you might want to look for a different lender.
You might want to explore some smaller alternatives, like a local bank or credit union, since Wells Fargo is a very large bank. Getting quotes from a variety of different types of lenders will help ensure you get the best deal.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Wells Fargo Mortgages
To review Wells Fargo, we used our methodology for reviewing mortgage lenders.
We look at four factors — loan types, affordability, customer satisfaction, and trustworthiness — and give each a rating between 1 and 5, then average these individual ratings for the overall lender rating. Lenders get higher ratings if they offer a high number of loan types with affordable features, have positive customer reviews, and don't have any recent public controversies.
Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards.
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.
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