Best-Of Awards 2026 Methodologies

Best Mortgage Lender for Second Home Loans

Methodology:

All reviewed mortgage lenders are evaluated against the criteria below. The lender with the highest raw score is our Best Mortgage Lender for Second Home Loans.

1. Second home loan rates and fees.
2. Market share of second home loans.
3. Portion of lender’s overall mortgage business devoted to second home loans.
4. Second home product accessibility.
5. Customer experience.
6. Rate transparency for consumers.

Tiebreaker:

1. Lender with the lowest origination fees.

How we picked the companies to evaluate:

NerdWallet reviewed more than 40 mortgage lenders, including the majority of the largest U.S. mortgage lenders by annual loan volume (measured among lenders with at least a 1% market share), lenders with significant online search volume and those that specialize in serving various audiences across the country. We rated them on criteria including rates and fees, product accessibility, customer experience and more.

Some of the providers are NerdWallet partners, but this did not influence our selection of the winner.

How we chose the winner:

The winner is the mortgage lender that had the highest raw score when evaluated against NerdWallet's second home loans lender star-rating rubric: second home loans rates and fees (50%), second home loans market share (15%), portion of business devoted to second home loans (10%), second home loans product accessibility (10%), customer experience (10%), and rate transparency for consumers (5%). When available, NerdWallet network performance is included as a factor in a lender’s customer experience score. If NerdWallet does not have network performance data for a lender, the customer experience score is calculated using the remaining factors, with weights redistributed proportionally so lenders without this data are not penalized. Points may be deducted for any recent regulatory action pertaining to the company’s mortgage lending business. In the event of a tie, the winner must charge the lowest origination fees.

How we verified our data:

NerdWallet solicits information from reviewed lenders on a recurring basis throughout the year. Lender-provided information is verified through lender websites and interviews. We analyzed 2025 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for APR spread, market share, product distribution, and loan type information, and we referenced internal performance data when available.


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