Personal Finance Mortgages
Written by Molly Grace; edited by Laura Grace Tarpley
Updated
- Overall lender rating
- Pros and cons
- BMO mortgage interest rates and fees
- Compare to other mortgage lenders
- How BMO mortgages work
- Is BMO a reputable lender?
- BMO mortgage FAQ
- Why You Should Trust Us
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BMO Mortgages
Recommended Credit
620
Minimum Down Payment
3%
Types of Loans Offered
Conforming, FHA, jumbo, construction, physician, cross border-mortgage program, Neighborhood Home Loan Product, home equity loan, HELOC
Pros
- Offers multiple affordable mortgage options
- Closing cost discount for BMO accountholders
- Has a mortgage for Canadians buying in the US
Cons
- Must speak with a loan officer to get prequalified
- No VA or USDA loans
Product Details
- Charges a $1,150 underwriting fee
- Available in all 50 states and Washington, DC
- Minimum credit score and down payment displayed are for conforming mortgages
BMO Mortgage: Overall Lender Rating
| Feature | Personal Finance Insider rating (out of 5) |
| Loan types | 4 |
| Affordability | 4.50 |
| Customer satisfaction | 2.90 |
| Trustworthiness | 5 |
| Total | 4.10 |
BMO Mortgage Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
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BMO Mortgage Interest Rates and Fees
BMO displays a few sample purchase and refinance rates for its mortgages online. You can see mortgage rates for both conforming and jumbo loans.
Your interest rate isn't the only thing you should be thinking about when getting a mortgage. While your rate will impact what you pay each month, lender fees can make a big difference in what you pay in closing costs.
BMO charges a $1,150 underwriting fee to borrowers.
Compare BMO to Other Mortgage Lenders
BMO vs. Chase Mortgages
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|
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Types of mortgages Conforming, FHA, jumbo, construction, physician, cross border-mortgage program, Neighborhood Home Loan Product, home equity loan, HELOC | Types of mortgages Conforming, jumbo, FHA, VA, HELOC, Chase DreaMaker |
Standout feature Neighborhood Home Loan Product | Standout feature DreaMaker mortgage |
| Compare rates | Compare Rates |
BMO and Chase are both strong options for borrowers looking for affordable mortgage products.
Chase's DreaMaker mortgage is geared toward low-income borrowers and allows low down payments with reduced mortgage insurance costs. It can also be combined with its Chase Homebuyer Grant, which offers up to $5,000 in closing cost or down payment assistance. Thanks to this affordability, Chase is one of Personal Finance Insider's best mortgage lenders.
BMO's affordable offering, its Neighborhood Home Loan Product, allows low down payments with no mortgage insurance, and comes with up to $7,500 in down payment and closing cost assistance.
Which of these lenders is right for you depends on your needs and your finances. Because they have similar offerings, it might be worth getting preapproved with both to see who can offer you the best deal.
BMO vs. Bank of America Mortgages
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Types of mortgages Conforming, FHA, jumbo, construction, physician, cross border-mortgage program, Neighborhood Home Loan Product, home equity loan, HELOC | Types of mortgages Conforming, jumbo, FHA, VA, HELOC, Community Affordable Loan Solution |
Alternative forms of credit Neighborhood Home Loan Product | Alternative forms of credit Community Affordable Loan Solution |
| Compare rates | Compare Rates |
Bank of America also offers an affordable mortgage product, called the Community Affordable Loan Solution. For those who are eligible, this mortgage is a great deal, with no down payment required, no minimum credit score, and no mortgage insurance. However, this mortgage is currently only available in a handful of cities.
If you aren't in an eligible area for Bank of America's affordable mortgage or BMO's offerings work better for your situation, you might prefer BMO over Bank of America. But both are solid lenders.
How BMO Mortgages Work
BMO is available in all 50 states and Washington, DC. If you're ready to submit an application, you can get started online or over the phone. But if you're just looking to get an idea of what you can afford, you'll need to speak with a loan officer about prequalification.
BMO offers both basic and more unique mortgage types. Its basic offerings include conforming, FHA, and jumbo mortgages. It also offers physician mortgages for doctors who are early in their careers, construction loans, a cross-border mortgage for Canadians buying a house in the US, and a Neighborhood Home Loan Product.
The Neighborhood Home Loan Product requires that borrowers contribute at least 1% of the purchase price from their own funds, and offers between $1,000 and $7,500 in down payment or closing cost assistance. No mortgage insurance is required. You'll need a 640 credit score to qualify.
BMO also offers a conforming 3%-down mortgage with down payment assistance of up to $9,000 and a minimum credit score of 620. This lender also works with state housing finance agencies to provide affordable mortgages in states that offer them.
If you're looking for home equity options, you can get a home equity loan or HELOC with this lender.
Current BMO customers can potentially get a $100 or $200 discount off their closing costs if they set up auto pay from an eligible BMO checking account.
Is BMO a Reputable Lender?
BMO has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. The BBB measures trustworthiness based on response to customer complaints, honesty in advertising, and transparency about business practices.
On WalletHub, BMO currently has a 2.9 out of 5 star rating, based on over 1,500 customer reviews.
BMO Mortgage FAQ
What are BMO's current interest rates?
You can view sample mortgage rateson BMO's website for its 30- and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, and its 5- and 7-year ARMs.
Is BMO a good bank?
Personal Finance Insider gives BMO a 4.3 rating out of 5. But whether this is the right mortgage lender for you depends on a few different factors, including if it has the type of loan you need and what kind of interest rate it can offer you.
Who owns BMO?
BMO is a subsidiary of Bank of Montreal.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed BMO Mortgage
For our review of BMO, 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 we average these individual ratings for the overall lender rating. Lenders get higher ratings if they offer a large number of loan types with affordable features, have positive customer reviews, and don't have any recent public controversies.
Mortgage Reporter
Molly Grace is a mortgage reporter for Business Insider with over six years of experience writing about mortgages and homeownership.ExperienceIn addition to her daily mortgage rate coverage, Molly also writes mortgage lender reviews and educational articles on homebuying and analyzes data and economic trends to give readers actionable and up-to-date information about the housing market.She also tracks affordable mortgage and down payment assistance programs offered throughout the country to keep her readers informed of homebuyer programs available to them.Before Business Insider, Molly was a blog writer for Rocket Companies and helped to create Rocket Mortgage’s Shorty Award-winning podcast Home. Made.Molly is passionate about covering personal finance topics with empathy. Her goal is to make homebuying knowledge more accessible, especially for groups that may think homeownership is out of reach.ExpertiseMolly is an expert in the following topics:
- Mortgages and mortgage lenders
- Home equity
- The housing market
- The economy and the forces that impact mortgage rates
- Budgeting and saving
- Credit
- Insurance
- Retirement savings
EducationMolly earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University.She is based in Michigan and has a dog and two cats.
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