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Cornerstone Home Lending Review: Mortgage and Mortgage Refi | 2022

Cornerstone has overwhelmingly positive consumer reviews for simplifying the mortgage loan process, but could have more transparency into terms and responsive customer service.

Daria Uhlig Daria Uhlig Edited by Chris Jennings Updated March 31, 2022

Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances. Although we receive compensation from our partner lenders, whom we will always identify, all opinions are our own. Credible Operations, Inc. NMLS # 1681276, is referred to here as "Credible."

Cornerstone Home Lending offers the usual roundup of mortgage purchase loans, plus a construction-to-permanent loan that you won’t usually find at other mortgage companies. They also offer special assistance to first-time buyers.

Cornerstone’s reviews from Google and Facebook are mostly positive, too. But positive reviews aren’t the only factor to consider when you’re looking for a mortgage lender. You’ll also need to determine whether the lender has a loan product that meets your needs.

In this review:

  • Cornerstone mortgage review
  • Cornerstone mortgage refinancing review

Cornerstone Home Lending mortgage review

Best for:

  • First-time homebuyers
  • Buyers with imperfect credit
  • Tech-savvy buyers comfortable with online transactions
  • Buyers purchasing a home in need of repairs
  • Buyers having a new home built

Cornerstone has offices in 22 states and is licensed to operate in 41 states. They also offer many types of mortgage loans for home purchase.

Here are the different types of loans Cornerstone offers:

  • Conventional: You’ll need a 5% down payment and a credit score of 640 for a conventional mortgage from Cornerstone. Putting 20% down lets you avoid mortgage insurance premiums.
  • FHA: Buyers with less than 5% to put down and those who don’t qualify for conventional funding might get financing from a loan backed by the Federal Housing Authority. If you go the FHA route for a Cornerstone loan, you’ll pay an upfront funding fee, which you can roll into the loan, plus a mortgage insurance premium.
  • 203(k) Rehab: The 203(k) rehab loan is another FHA-backed product Cornerstone offers. This loan piggybacks your mortgage loan to cover the cost of renovations.
  • USDA: The U.S. Department of Agriculture guarantees loans for lower income buyers purchasing a home in locations the USDA designates as being rural. It’s a loose definition that includes many suburban locations. Although you can buy with no money down, you’ll have to pay an upfront guarantee fee plus an annual fee.
  • VA: Veterans Affairs-backed loans are a good choice for vets and their qualified family members. You can buy with $0 down once you have your Certificate of Eligibility.
  • Jumbo: Cornerstone offers jumbo loans for buyers who need to borrow more than a conventional loan allows. Although the “conforming” limit varies somewhat by location, it generally refers to loans up to $50,400. Above that, you’ll need a jumbo loan.
  • Construction-to-Permanent (C2P): Cornerstone’s construction-to-permanent loan begins as a construction loan to finance the cost of building your new home. The loan converts to a regular mortgage near the end of the construction process.

Although Cornerstone doesn’t have special home loans for first-time homebuyers, its loan officers will investigate whether you qualify for assistance from a state program. The Maryland Mortgage Program, for example, provides down payment assistance and tax credits for eligible first-time buyers.

Here’s a look at Cornerstone Home Lending mortgage purchase loans:

Mortgage
purchase programs
Conventional, FHA, 203(k), USDA, VA, jumbo, construction-to-permanent
Fixed-rate
loan terms
10, 15, 20, 30 years
Variable-rate
loan terms
10, 15, 20, 30 years
Rates and feesAPRs and fees vary by loan, term, amount, and location, plus buyer's qualifications.
  • FHA: 1% funding fee
  • USDA: 1% upfront guarantee fee plus 0.35% annual fee
  • VA:1.40% to 2.30%, depending on down payment amount
Min. down payment
  • Conventional: 5%
  • FHA: 3.5%
  • 203(k): 3.5%
  • USDA: $0
  • VA: $0
  • Jumbo: Consult with a loan officer
  • Construction loan: Consult with a loan officer
Cornerstone Home Lending isn't our partner, but you can use Credible to compare prequalified rates from other mortgage lenders all at once.

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Cornerstone Home Lending mortgage refinancing review

Cornerstone Home Lending doesn’t offer home equity loans, but you can refinance your home with a new first mortgage, and in the process, reduce your interest rate or change the term of your current loan.

Although Cornerstone does offer mortgage refinancing, they don’t mention the details on their website and never got back to us when we reached out about specific refinancing products. But to make things easier, you can use Credible to quickly compare options from other refinancing lenders without having to reach out to them individually.

Find out if refinancing is right for you

  • Actual rates from multiple lenders – In 3 minutes, get actual prequalified rates without impacting your credit score.
  • Smart technology – We streamline the questions you need to answer and automate the document upload process.
  • End-to-end experience – Complete the entire origination process from rate comparison up to closing, all on Credible.

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Trustpilot

How Cornerstone Home Lending can improve

Because the lender issues your mortgage pre-approval and processes, underwrites, and funds its own loans, Cornerstone can help you avoid unnecessary delays to help you close on time. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have flaws.

Here are a few things Cornerstone can improve on to help customers:

  • Focus more on transparency: Cornerstone’s main website gives no details about purchase loan terms, requirements, or rates. You won’t even find a list of refinance loans offered. It would be better if they made these more widely and publicly available.
  • Improve customer service: You’ll get to speak with an operator right away when you call Cornerstone. But once your call is transferred, you might wind up in limbo. When we reached out, our messages left with the corporate office and several branch offices were never returned.
  • Offer home equity loans: Although home equity loans often have higher interest rates, they don’t have the closing costs refinance loans have — so they can be a better choice for many homeowners.

Learn: How to Refinance Your Mortgage in 4 Easy Steps

Compare multiple lenders first

Whether you’re just learning how to buy a house or you’re an experienced homeowner looking to refinance, it makes sense to take the positive reviews of Cornerstone Home Lending into account. But you’ll need to shop around to make sure you’re getting the best loan for your needs, at the best rate available.

Although Cornerstone is not one of our partner lenders, Credible makes it easy to compare mortgage rates from other lenders on our platform. You can compare all of our partner lenders in the table below at the same time (with just one form) instead of having to fill out a form for every lender.

About the author
Daria Uhlig
Daria Uhlig

Daria Uhlig is a contributor to Credible who covers mortgage and real estate. Her work has appeared in publications like The Motley Fool, USA Today, MSN Money, CNBC, and Yahoo! Finance.

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The interest rates depicted on Credible represent the APR. The fixed interest rate is set at the time of application and does not change during the life of the loan. The variable interest rate is calculated based on the 3-Month LIBOR index plus the applicable Margin percentage. The margin is based on your credit evaluation at the time of application and does not change. For variable interest rate loans, the 3-Month LIBOR is 2.375% as of July 1, 2018. Discover Student Loans will adjust the rate quarterly on each January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 (the “interest rate change date”), based on the 3-Month LIBOR Index, published in the Money Rates section of The Wall Street Journal 15 days prior to the interest rate change date, rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of one percent (0.125% or 0.00125). This may cause the monthly payments to increase, the number of payments to increase or both. Please visit http://www.discover.com/student-loans/interest-rates.html for more information about interest rates.

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Student Loan Rate Disclosure

Variable rate, based on the one-month London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) published in The Wall Street Journal on the twenty-fifth day, or the next business day, of the preceding calendar month. As of July 1, 2018, the one-month LIBOR rate is 2.10%. Variable interest rates range from 4.07%-12.04% (4.07%-11.94% APR) and will fluctuate over the term of the loan with changes in the LIBOR rate, and will vary based on applicable terms, level of degree earned and presence of a cosigner. Fixed interest rates range from 5.25%-12.19% (5.25% – 12.09% APR) based on applicable terms, level of degree earned and presence of a cosigner. Lowest rates shown requires application with a cosigner, are for eligible applicants, require a 5-year repayment term, borrower making scheduled payments while in school and include our Loyalty and Automatic Payment discounts of 0.25 percentage points each, as outlined in the Loyalty Discount and Automatic Payment Discount disclosures. Subject to additional terms and conditions, and rates are subject to change at any time without notice. Such changes will only apply to applications taken after the effective date of change. Please note: Due to federal regulations, Citizens Bank is required to provide every potential borrower with disclosure information before they apply for a private student loan. The borrower will be presented with an Application Disclosure and an Approval Disclosure within the application process before they accept the terms and conditions of the loan.

Citizens Bank - Refi - Disclosures

Education Refinance Loan Rate Disclosure:

Variable rate, based on the one-month London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) published in The Wall Street Journal on the twenty-fifth day, or the next business day, of the preceding calendar month. As of July 1, 2018, the one-month LIBOR rate is 2.10%. Variable interest rates range from 2.75%-8.20% (2.75%-8.20% APR) and will fluctuate over the term of the borrower’s loan with changes in the LIBOR rate, and will vary based on applicable terms, level of degree earned and presence of a cosigner. Fixed interest rates range from 3.50%-8.69% (3.50% – 8.69% APR) based on applicable terms, level of degree earned and presence of a cosigner. Lowest rates shown require application with a cosigner, are for eligible, creditworthy applicants with a graduate level degree, require a 5-year repayment term and include our Loyalty discount and Automatic Payment discounts of 0.25 percentage points each, as outlined in the Loyalty and Automatic Payment Discount disclosures. The maximum variable rate on the Education Refinance Loan is the greater of 21.00% or Prime Rate plus 9.00%. Subject to additional terms and conditions, and rates are subject to change at any time without notice. Such changes will only apply to applications taken after the effective date of change. Please note: Due to federal regulations, Citizens Bank is required to provide every potential borrower with disclosure information before they apply for a private student loan. The borrower will be presented with an Application Disclosure and an Approval Disclosure within the application process before they accept the terms and conditions of their loan.