NBKC Bank Mortgage Review 2025
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Our Take
4.5
NBKC stands out for its attractive interest rates and fees. While NBKC is primarily an online lender, its app does not have mortgage features and chat support is not geared toward mortgage borrowers. Most likely to appeal to borrowers in the Kansas City area, as well as VA borrowers.
Pros
- Competitive interest rates and fees.
- Offers most common loan types, as well as a handful of specialty loans.
- Payouts are available to borrowers whose loans don’t close on time.
Cons
- Customer service is only accessible over the phone for many mortgage customers.
- Does not offer renovation loans.
- Home equity products are not a lending priority.
Lender | Min. credit score | Min. down payment | |
|---|---|---|---|
4.5 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: NBKC mortgage options
NBKC is a community bank based in Leawood, Kansas. Mortgages are available nationwide.
NBKC offers most common mortgage types, as well as a few harder-to-find mortgages. However, you won’t find renovation loans, and the lender isn't currently prioritizing HELOCs and home equity loans.
🏠 Common mortgages
Conventional loans (fixed-rate and adjustable)
Refinancing (rate-and-term and government)
Jumbo loans
FHA loans
VA loans
🔑 Specialty loans
Mortgages for second homes
Mortgages for self-employed borrowers
Mortgages for borrowers without Social Security numbers (ITIN loans)
💵 Home equity • Cash-out refinance
» MORE: How to choose a mortgage lender
NBKC special offers and discounts
NBKC offers a few attractive perks for prospective borrowers. These things stood out in our research.
Close-on-time guarantee, which pays out $5,000 (split between you and the seller) if the loan doesn’t close on time.
1-0 Buydown, where the mortgage rate is lowered by 1% for the first year of the loan. This is aimed at borrowers who hope to refinance soon after purchasing.
What does NBKC 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 NBKC handles most often.
Conventional loans are the most common, but NBKC issues a good amount of VA loans, too. VA loans accounted for more than a quarter of the lender’s mortgage originations last year.
How we score NBKC
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.
NBKC has a NerdWallet home loans rating of 4.5 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.
NBKC bonus points and penalties
NBKC earned bonus points for offering mortgages to borrowers with credit scores below 600.
NBKC mortgage 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
4.94
out of 5
Excellent rating as of the date of publication.
Rating reflects more than 14,700 customer reviews.
NBKC mortgage customer service options
Here’s how you can get in touch with NBKC. While customer service is available through all of these avenues, you may not necessarily get in touch with a mortgage officer.
Ways to reach NBKC
Physical branches . . . . . . ✅ Phone support . . . . . . . . . ✅ Mobile app . . . . . . . . . . . . ✅ Online chat (bot) . . . . . . . ✅ Online chat (human) . . . . ✅
» MORE: How to apply for a mortgage
🤓 Our Nerds say... chat options are limited
Taylor Getler, lead writer, mortgages
NBKC has some branches in the Kansas City area, but the bank is primarily an online lender. While NBKC has a mobile app, representatives from the bank reported that it doesn’t have mortgage features. Similarly, while NBKC offers chat support with both bots and live agents, we were told that it was only for retail banking when we began asking mortgage-related questions.
Alternatives to an NBKC 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.
VA borrowers should check out Navy Federal Credit Union, which was our pick for Best VA Lender in 2025. Borrowers enticed by NBKC’s low interest rates may be a fit for Andrews Federal Credit Union, which also offers low rates relative to competitors.
Finally, borrowers interested in an online-only lender may want to explore loan options from Better.
» MORE: Best mortgage lenders
More from NerdWallet
NerdWallet’s overall ratings for mortgage lenders are evaluated based on four major categories: average mortgage rates and origination fees, rate transparency to consumers, variety of loan types (purchase, refinance, fixed and adjustable, for example) and customer experience. Among the factors we consider in these categories are: options to apply for home loans online, typical time to close, mobile app experience, level of detail about mortgage rates on lender websites, and NerdWallet’s own analysis of the rates and fees lenders reported in the latest available Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. These and other items inform detailed rubrics, which generate ratings from 1 star (poor) to 5 stars (excellent). Read more about how we rate mortgage lenders here.
