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About Discover Home Loans
Discover only offers conventional mortgage refinancing and home equity loans. Its home loans are available everywhere in the US except Iowa and Maryland.
Discover makes it quick and easy to submit an online application. You can also get started over the phone Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to midnight ET, or 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Is Discover Trustworthy?
Discover has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. The BBB evaluates companies by looking at responses to customer complaints, honesty in advertising, and transparency about business practices. Discover has no recent public scandals.
Discover Home Loans Interest Rates and Fees
Discover says its rates start at 6.24% and go up to 13.99% for its refinances and home equity loans. To get a better idea of what rate you might get based on your finances, you'll need to start an application or talk to a loan officer over the phone.
Discover doesn't charge any origination fees on its mortgages, and you won't need to bring any cash to closing, since the lender will also pay any third-party costs you incur. The data backs up this claim: according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, conventional borrowers getting a mortgage from Discover paid $0 in origination charges in 2022.
Discover Home Loans: Overall Lender Rating
| Feature | Insider rating (out of 5) |
| Loan types | 2 |
| Affordability | 5 |
| Customer satisfaction | 4 |
| Trustworthiness | 5 |
| Total | 4 |
Discover Home Loans: Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
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Discover Home Loans FAQs
You'll need at least a 620 credit score and a CLTV of 90% to qualify for a Discover home equity loan (this means all of the loans on your property combined can't exceed 90% of the property value). This actually makes Discover relatively easy to qualify with, since many home equity loan lenders require higher credit scores.
According to the Discover website, it could take as little as 30 days for you to get your home equity loan funds. But it says the average time it takes to close is 55 days.
Discover's home equity loans are a good option if you're looking to keep your costs down, since Discover doesn't charge any closing costs and pays for any third-party fees you incur.
If you pay off your Discover home equity loan within 36 months of closing, you'll need to reimburse Discover for the third-party fees it paid on your behalf, up to $500. Residents of Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, or Texas won't have to repay these costs.
How Discover Home Loans Compare
Discover Home Loans vs. U.S. Bank Home Loans
U.S. Bank Mortgage is a strong lender overall, and like Discover, it's one of our favorite home equity loan lenders.
U.S. Bank offers home equity loans in amounts from $15,000 to $750,000, so you might prefer it if you need a larger loan amount, since Discover only lends up to $300,000.
U.S. Bank also offers conforming, jumbo, FHA, VA, and construction mortgages, as well as HELOCs. You can use its mortgages for either a purchase or refinance, while Discover currently only offers a mortgage refinance.
Discover Home Loans vs. Bank of America Home Loans
If you're looking for a HELOC rather than a home equity loan, you might like Bank of America Mortgage, which is one of the best HELOC lenders out there. A HELOC is a line of credit that borrows from your equity and may be a better option if you're not exactly sure how much you need to borrow (like if you're doing a home improvement project that will have ongoing costs).
Bank of America also offers conforming, jumbo, FHA, and VA mortgages, plus its Community Affordable Loan Solution. The Community Affordable Loan Solution is a zero-down, zero-closing-cost mortgage aimed at first-time homebuyers in certain areas.
Though its competitors generally have many more mortgage options, Discover still stands out thanks to its affordability.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Discover Home Loans
To review Discover Home Loans, we used our methodology for reviewing mortgage lenders.
We look at four factors — loan types, affordability, customer satisfaction, and trustworthiness — and give each a rating between 1 and 5, then average these individual ratings for the overall lender rating. Lenders get higher ratings if they offer a high number of loan types with affordable features, have positive customer reviews, and don't have any recent public controversies.