Quicken Loans vs Wells Fargo

Quicken Loans and Wells Fargo are both well-known mortgage lenders, offering similar mortgage products and services. 

Let’s take a look at some important mortgage factors to consider between both companies, to see how they line up side-by-side.

Rates and Fees
Loan Types
Approval Process
Specialized Products and Programs
Company Reputation
Customer Reviews

Rates and Fees

Both Quicken Loans and Wells Fargo provide daily-updated mortgage rates. This is a helpful feature, allowing borrowers to have some idea of what they could pay in interest on their mortgage.

However, these rates are generally the lowest available rates, which aren’t guaranteed for all borrowers. The rate you will receive on your mortgage loan will be dependent on various financial factors, such as your credit score and debt-to-income ratio (DTI). In most cases, you will need an excellent credit score (700+) and be able to make a significant down payment to secure a lower rate, if not the lowest available rate.

Loan Types

Quicken Loans and Wells Fargo both offer a variety of loan products to serve a wide range of homebuyer needs:

Wells Fargo offers a new construction loan, providing financing for new home constructions, which is not a common loan option offered by mortgage lenders.

Approval Process

Both companies have an online application process, making it quick and easy to apply for a mortgage.

Neither company discloses its closing timeline, but the industry average is 45 to 60 days.

One advantage of working with Wells Fargo is that the company has hundreds of brick-and-mortar locations across the country. Thus, if you prefer to work with a company representative face-to-face you have the opportunity to do so throughout the Wells Fargo mortgage process.

In addition, both companies have mobile apps, available for iOS and Android devices, through which you can track your applications and manage your mortgage and payments.

Specialized Products and Programs

Quicken Loans offers a variety of specialized products and programs:

• RateShield℠ Approval — Through the RateShield Approval program, Quicken Loans will lock your rate for up to 90 days. This rate lock is available for a 30-year fixed conventional loan, an FHA loan, or a VA loan.
• Quicken Loans Good-Faith Deposit — Make a deposit between $400 and $750 to cover all lender fees. Your deposit can be paid by credit card, debit card, or prepaid Visa or MasterCard gift card.
• PMI Advantage Program — If you make a down payment less than 20% you will be required to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI). This can be a large additional expense, but Quicken Loans provides options to either raise your interest rate to cover the overall cost of PMI or to pay PMI as a one-time payment at closing. These options can save you from paying even more money upfront on your mortgage.

Wells Fargo also has a rate lock program: Builder Best Extended Rate Lock. This program locks your rate for up to 24 months on a variety of loan types, but is specifically designed for those taking out a new construction loan.

Company Reputation

Quicken Loans and Wells Fargo are both big names in the mortgage industry, while Wells Fargo is also a well-known banking institution.

In recent years Wells Fargo has been accused of opening fake deposit and credit accounts, in addition to wrongfully foreclosing on mortgage borrowers in order to meet excessive company sales goals. Because of this behavior, the company has been charged large federal and state fines. Wells Fargo has been working hard to recover from these setbacks and regain consumer confidence and trust.

Customer Reviews

Quicken Loans and Wells Fargo both have mixed 5-star and 1-star reviews, making it difficult to predict the quality of your experience with either lender based on past customer sentiment.

Here is a breakdown of what we know from positive and negative reviews for both companies:

Due to mixed reviews, it is important to read both 5-star and 1-star reviews to gain a more complete picture of each company.