SunTrust Mortgage Review: Home Loans With Low Down Payments

SunTrust is a regional bank that predominantly serves the Southeast region of the United States. Among its personal finance products, the bank offers a wide range of mortgage options, specializing in home loans with little down and great customer service.

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Mortgage Options & Rates

SunTrust Bank offers a wide variety of home loan products:

Fixed-Rate Mortgage	Interest rates remains the same for the life of the loan. A popular choice for buyers who plan to stay in their homes long-term.
Adjustable-Rate Morgage (ARM)	In the introductory period (5, 7 or 10 years), your interest rate is lower than it would be with a fixed-rate loan. After the period expires, your interest rate varies, which means your monthly payments will fluctuate. A good choice for those who plan to move in a few years or flip the home they’re buying.
Doctor Loan Programs	Available as fixed-rate or ARM with up to 100% financing and no monthly mortgage insurance payments. Only available to doctors, physicians, licensed residents and fellows in MD and DO programs.
FHA Loan	Available as fixed-rate or ARM with down payment as low as 3.5%. A hundred percent of gifted funds can be used to pay the down payment. Designed to help those with tight finances or first-time homebuyers.
USDA Loan	A government-backed loan for borrowers buying homes in rural or underdeveloped areas who don’t qualify for a conventional loan. Down payments can be as low as 0%.
VA Loan	A government-backed loan for military-affiliated individuals. Available as fixed-rate or ARM with 0% down.
HomeReady  Loan	A Fannie Mae program for buyers with limited incomes. Down payments can be as low as 3% and can be paid by gift funds or your employer.
Home Possible Loan	A Freddie Mac program for borrowers with minimum credit scores of 620. Down payments can be as low as 3%. Homebuyer education is required for first-time buyers.
Agency Plus Financing	For one-unit properties up to $636,150 in certain high-cost areas. Available as fixed-rate or ARM.
Jumbo Loan	Non-conforming loans with a minimum borrow amount of $424,100. SunTrust offers 80% maximum financing of jumbo loans for up to $1.5 million.
Refinance Loan	Choose from a variety of options: cash out refinances, VA IRRRL, and more.

“Agency” loans are SunTrust’s way of labeling the HomeReady and Home Possible loan programs. Both are designed for lower- to moderate-income families who might have nontraditional credit histories and only 3% to 5% for down payment.

SunTrust Bank carves out a niche for itself with customers who want lower down payment requirements by offering agency loans, along with the more popular government-backed loans. In fact, SunTrust is so focused on these programs, that its website does not list mortgage rates for conventional loans.

Unlike its peers, SunTrust Bank does not publish its informal rate and fee estimates on its website, nor does it provide any information on closing costs. This lack of transparency makes it hard to judge the effect of discount points on mortgage options.

Customer Satisfaction

In the J.D. Power 2018 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study, SunTrust Bank came in at #5, after Quicken Loans, TD Bank, Huntington National Bank and Regions Mortgage. This study measured customer experience in six factors:

• New customer orientation
• Billing and payment process
• Escrow account administration
• Interaction
• Mortgage fees
• Communication

SunTrust’s high survey score indicates that it does significantly better than its peers at managing its relationship with customers.

Availability

SunTrust Bank has almost 1,500 branches spread throughout the Southeastern United States with its headquarters in Atlanta. Besides Georgia, you can also find SunTrust branches in Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

SunTrust originates mortgages in all states except Hawaii and Alaska.

Application Process

With the launch of SunTrust’s SmartGUIDE, a digital mortgage application platform, you can now apply for a mortgage loan with SunTrust Bank and complete it entirely online.

The process will only need half the time it takes to finish a typical mortgage application. SmartGUIDE accomplishes this by pre-populating and validating a lot of the application, pulling data from documents and bank statements which traditionally would’ve been scanned and uploaded by the applicant. The paperless process is complete with electronic signature capabilities.

If at any point, you need to speak to a representative, a loan officer is just a chat away.

My Impressions

If you’re looking to buy a home, but you don’t have a stash of cash put away for a down payment, you should consider SunTrust Bank. It offers a variety of mortgage options with little to no down payment. Customer service is top-notch and the application process can be done online, quickly and easily.

However, keep in mind that SunTrust’s physical branches are located primarily in the Southeast region of the United States.

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