Flagstar Bank Mortgage Review 2025
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- 50+ mortgage lenders reviewed and rated by our team of experts.
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Our Take
5.0
Flagstar Bank stands out for having a wide variety of home loan options, including harder-to-find products. But take note that Flagstar has reduced its mortgage business as part of corporate restructuring. Executives have indicated that the lender will rebuild its home lending operations by focusing on the needs of banking clients. For now, Flagstar is most likely to appeal to existing customers.
Pros
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Offers down payment assistance programs to borrowers in qualifying areas.
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Reported average time to close is 30 days, faster than the national average.
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Conventional loan terms extend to 40 years, which is unusually flexible.
Cons
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Branches are only available in nine states.
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Interest rates and fees don’t stand out among competitors.
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Sold its mortgage servicing business last year, meaning you’re likely to make payments with a different company.
Lender | Min. credit score | Min. down payment | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Visit Lenderat NBKC at NBKC | 620 | 3% | Visit Lenderat NBKC at NBKC |
 Visit Lenderat New American Funding at New American Funding | 580 | N/A | Visit Lenderat New American Funding at New American Funding |
 Visit Lenderat Rocket Mortgage, LLC at Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 580 | 3.5% | Visit Lenderat Rocket Mortgage, LLC at Rocket Mortgage, LLC |
 4.0 Visit Lenderat GO Mortgage at GO Mortgage | 620 | 3% | Visit Lenderat GO Mortgage at GO Mortgage |
 Visit Lenderat Veterans United at Veterans United | 620 | 0% | Visit Lenderat Veterans United at Veterans United |
Full Review
At a glance: Flagstar Bank mortgage options
Flagstar Bank is a large, regional bank based in Troy, Michigan. Mortgages are available nationwide, but branches are limited to nine states: Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
In addition to conventional and government loans, Flagstar Bank offers a wide variety of harder-to-find mortgages. The lender also offers a proprietary “Destination Home” mortgage, which has no down payment or mortgage insurance requirements for qualifying borrowers.
🏠 Common mortgages
Conventional mortgages (fixed-rate and adjustable)
Refinancing (rate-and-term and government)
Jumbo loans
FHA loans
VA loans
🔑 Specialty loans
Destination Home Mortgage
USDA loans
Interest-only mortgages
Co-op loans
Nonwarrantable condo loans
Mortgages for second homes
Mortgages for self-employed borrowers
Physician loans
Construction mortgages
Mortgages for manufactured homes
Mortgages for borrowers without Social Security numbers (ITIN loans)
💵 Home equity
HELOCs
Home equity loans
Cash-out refinancing
» MORE: How to choose a mortgage lender
Flagstar Bank special offers and discounts
Flagstar’s down payment assistance programs and partnerships can be attractive to borrowers who are short on savings. These things stood out in our research.
Flagstar Gift Program: A credit up to $3,500 for down payment and closing costs for borrowers in qualifying locations, or $7,500 for borrowers in Arizona, California, New Jersey and New York.
MSHDA Down Payment Assistance Program: A $10,000 no-interest down payment assistance loan through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
What mortgages does Flagstar Bank specialize in?
A lender’s experience with your loan type can make a big difference. We looked at the latest federal data to find the types of mortgages Flagstar Bank handles most often.
While conventional purchase loans made up most of Flagstar Bank’s originations last year, more than 30% of its total loans went to borrowers looking to refinance their mortgages. Additionally, FHA loans and VA loans accounted for nearly a third of Flagstar’s overall loan volume.
How we score Flagstar Bank mortgages
Each year, NerdWallet writers and editors dig into the latest data and independent research on mortgage lending. Then, we rate lenders based on categories that matter most to mortgage borrowers.
Flagstar Bank has a NerdWallet home loans rating of five stars overall. Here’s a breakdown of this year’s score.
Category | Star rating |
|---|---|
Average mortgage rates and fees | |
Mortgage rate transparency | |
Variety of loan types | |
Customer experience | |
Overall star rating |
Ah, so you’re the “read the fine print” type? We got you. Here’s how our scoring rubric works.
Average mortgage rates and fees (30%)
We review federal data (as reported by the lenders) and analyze mortgage lenders’ average fees and interest rates across all loan types. Lenders with the lowest average costs get the highest star ratings. Keep in mind: Loans that are easier to qualify for, like FHA loans, usually have higher rates and fees because lenders see them as a higher risk. Pro tip: Paying some fees upfront can sometimes lower your interest rate.
Mortgage rate transparency (25%)
We look at how easy it is to compare mortgage rates online. Lenders get higher transparency ratings if they show sample rates on their website. (Not all lenders do!) The best ratings go to lenders that offer interactive tools that let you customize a rate quote on your own.
Variety of loan types (25%)
There’s no one-size-fits-all mortgage. Lenders earn top ratings in this category when they offer a large variety of mortgage types. The more variety, the higher their score. A lender earns points for purchase and refinance; fixed and adjustable rates; FHA, VA or USDA loans; renovation or construction loans; and home equity loans or HELOCs.
Customer experience (20%)
How easy is it to work with this lender? Top-rated lenders offer helpful features like online applications, multiple ways to get support, a user-friendly mobile app and clear updates about the loan closing timeline.
Flagstar Bank bonus points
Flagstar Bank earned bonus points for its first-time home buyer programs; for offering loans to borrowers with credit scores below 600; and for offering mortgages for manufactured homes.
Flagstar Bank mortgages reputation and customer experience
NerdWallet’s star ratings look at objective factors like rates, fees and loan options. To give you a sense of what the borrower experience is really like, we pulled the latest customer satisfaction scores from Zillow, and we contacted the lender’s customer support.
Zillow Mortgage Lender Customer Rating
4.97
out of 5
Excellent rating as of the date of publication.
Rating reflects more than 3,000 customer reviews.
Flagstar Bank customer service options
Here’s how you can get in touch with Flagstar.
Ways to reach Flagstar
Physical branches . . . . . . ✅ Phone support . . . . . . . . . ✅ Mobile app . . . . . . . . . . . . ✅ Online chat (bot) . . . . . . . 🚫 Online chat (human) . . . . 🚫
🤓 Our Nerds say... in-person experience is limited
Taylor Getler, lead writer, mortgages
Borrowers can get customer service over the phone, via mobile app or — if you live in one of the nine states with branch locations — in person. When we called, we navigated a short phone tree and then waited on hold before connecting with an agent who was able to answer our questions. It took us just over five minutes to reach a live representative.
The phone tree allows users to direct their call depending on the type of loan they want, with separate lines for construction loans, purchase loans, refinances and home equity products.
» MORE: How to apply for a mortgage
Alternatives to a Flagstar Bank mortgage
Our biggest tip: Get offers from at least three different mortgage lenders. Comparison shopping can save you thousands of dollars. You can get rate quotes yourself, or work with a mortgage broker to shop around on your behalf.
Nontraditional borrowers looking for harder-to-find loans may be interested in CrossCountry Mortgage, which offers many of the same products.
FHA borrowers should consider applying with Pennymac, which was NerdWallet’s Best of Award winner in that category in 2025.
Both cash-out refinancers and first-time home buyers could consider applying with Rocket Mortgage, which won NerdWallet awards in both categories in 2025. In a sequence of mortgage company shakeups, Rocket is acquiring Mr. Cooper, which in turn acquired Flagstar’s servicing (or loan payment) business.
» MORE: Best FHA lenders
More from NerdWallet
NerdWallet’s overall ratings for mortgage lenders are evaluated based on four major categories: variety of loan types (purchase, refinance, fixed and adjustable, for example), ease of application, rates and fees and rate transparency. Among the factors we consider when scoring these categories are options to apply for and track loans online, the level of detail about mortgage rates on lender websites and our analysis of the rates and fees lenders reported in the latest available Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. These scores generate ratings from 1 star (poor) to 5 stars (excellent).
