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Regions mortgage review 2024

Aly J. Yale
·Freelance writer
8 min read

The Yahoo view: Regions offers a wide array of mortgage loan products and may be a good option if you’re a buyer or homeowner in one of the 15 states the bank operates in.

Regions Bank offers financial products, loans, and banking services in the Southern and Midwestern United States. Its home loan options run the gamut, ranging from conventional and government-backed loans to more specialized options, like construction loans, medical professional loans, no-down-payment mortgages, and renovation loans. It also offers home equity loans, HELOCs, and refinancing for existing homeowners.

On the downside, this mortgage lender isn’t very up-front about its rates, which, according to government data, tend to be higher than industry medians. It also serves borrowers in only 15 states.

Read more: The best mortgage lenders right now

Regions

Key benefits

  • There are many loan options, including specialty loans and home equity options.

  • Many online tools and resources to guide borrowers along the way.

  • Low total loan costs compared to industry medians.

Need to know

  • This mortgage lender is only available in 15 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

  • No advertised mortgage rates. You must apply to get your rate quote.

  • No-down-payment mortgage option can make buying a home more affordable — however, Regions doesn’t provide information about what type of mortgage this is or who qualifies.

  • Low customer reviews on Trustpilot.

Regions offers the following types of home loans:

  • Purchase loans

  • Fixed-rate mortgages

  • Adjustable-rate mortgages

  • Conventional loans

  • Jumbo loans

  • FHA loans

  • VA loans

  • USDA loans

  • Medical and legal professional loans

  • Construction loans

  • Home renovation loans

  • Refinancing

  • Cash-out refinancing

  • Second home loans

  • Investment property loans

  • Home equity loans

  • HELOCs

Regions does not offer the following types of home loans:

  • Interest-only mortgages

  • Land loans

  • ADU loans

  • Non-QM loans

  • Energy-efficient loans

  • 1% down mortgages

  • Buydowns

  • Manufactured home loans

  • Piggyback loans

  • ITIN mortgages

Read more: 4 types of home renovation loans and how to choose

Regions Bank has many loan options for first-time home buyers, including FHA, VA, and USDA loans, and a no-down-payment mortgage option.

If you’re an aspiring lawyer or medical professional, there are also loan programs to help you get into a home more easily — and with little down.

Dig deeper: Everything you need to know as a first-time home buyer

Regions offers both home equity loans and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) for homeowners wanting to tap into their home equity.

Region’s HELOCs go up to $500,000 and have variable interest rates. You may or may not come with closing costs, depending on how much you borrow — Regions covers your closing costs if your HELOC is for $250,000 or less and pays up to $500 if your line is for more than $250,000. You can get up to 80% of your home’s value, minus existing loan balances. They come with a 10-year draw period and 20-year repayment period.

You also have the option to convert some or all of your balance to a fixed-rate term. Regions dubs this a “loan-in-a-line.”

Region’s home equity loans come in 10-, 15-, and 20-year terms and have fixed interest rates. There are no closing costs to worry about, and loan amounts go up to $250,000. Home equity loans are available on primary residences and second homes, and you can borrow up to 89% of your home’s value minus any other loan balances on the house.

Regions covers all closing costs on its home equity loans and on HELOCs of $250,000 or less. If you have a HELOC for more than $250,000, Regions may cover up to $500 in closing costs. HELOC closing costs will max out at $4,000.

You’ll pay a $100 fee to switch your HELOC from a variable rate to a fixed one. Regions’ HELs and HELOCs both charge a late fee of 5% of the payment amount, with a minimum of $29 and a maximum of $100.

Learn more: Home equity loans vs. HELOCs — Which should you choose?

Regions isn’t very transparent about its interest rates on traditional mortgage products. These aren’t advertised anywhere, and to get your quote, you’ll need to fill out a full mortgage application.

The one exception is with home equity borrowing. Regions does have estimated rate ranges for these products, though they’re very wide. For example, at the time of writing this article, its HELOC page advertises annual percentage rates (APRs) of 6.99% to 15.875%.

Learn more: Mortgage interest rates vs. APRs

Yahoo Finance uses 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data comprised of 10 million home loan applications to score mortgage lenders on issued mortgage rates and total loan costs. We score each lender on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

For example, with mortgage interest rates, a lender with a lower score charged a higher-than-median mortgage interest rate for loans issued in 2023. A higher score would indicate a mortgage lender granted lower-than-median home loan interest rates to borrowers in 2023.

With total home loan costs, a lower score would indicate that a lender charged higher-than-median total home loan costs in 2023. A high rating would mean a mortgage lender offered lower-than-median all-in home loan costs in 2023.

What this means: Regions offered a higher-than-median mortgage rate of 6.75% but a lower-than-median total loan cost of $5,536.81 to borrowers in 2023.

You can apply for a Regions Bank mortgage online using the bank’s digital lending platform, Blend. You’ll need income, banking, and personal information on hand when you start. You can also apply at a physical branch in any of the 15 states Regions serves.

Regions lets you get “prequalified” with a quick online form. This requires inputting some information about your income and debts, and then Regions will give you a rough idea of the amount you may be able to borrow. It does not pull your credit as part of this process.

To get preapproved for a mortgage, you’ll need to fill out a full loan application. This comes with conditional approval for a loan you can use to shop for a house. When you apply for preapproval, Regions does do a hard credit pull.

Regions has plenty of online tools for borrowers, including seven calculators that cover everything from buying versus renting to figuring out how your adjustable mortgage rate will work.

The Regions website also has a home loan resource center, FAQs, blog posts, and more. Help is also available via the bank’s Reggie chat system (a bot that can connect you to a live banker), the mobile app, a phone call, or an in-person branch.

Learn more: Use Yahoo Finance’s free mortgage calculator

  • Strong suite of online features. The bank offers seven calculators, lots of informational articles, step-by-step guides, and more. It gets 4 stars in this category.

  • Good for affordability. The bank offers purchase loans and refinancing, government home loans, conventional loans, a zero-down program, and home equity products, giving it 4 stars in our Affordability category.

  • Low loan costs. According to HMDA data, the region’s total loan fees are lower than the industry median.

  • Poor rate transparency. Rates are not displayed except on home equity products, and you’ll need to fill out an application to get a rate quote. We give Regions a 1 in the Rate Transparency category.

  • Limited availability. The bank only operates in 15 states.

  • High rates. Its interest rates are higher than the industry median, according to HMDA data.

Learn more: How to get the lowest mortgage rates

At the product level, Regions offers more loan options than Chase, including construction loans, home equity loans, and HELOCs, to name a few. Chase is more transparent about its rates, though, and it’s much more widely available. Regions is only an option for borrowers in 15 states.

Chase mortgage review

Bank of America doesn’t have home equity loans, though it does have a strong suite of buyer assistance programs that can help reduce your up-front costs. It’s also more transparent about its rates than Regions and is available in more states. Regions’ online tools and resources are more robust.

Bank of America mortgage review

Regions offers more loan options than Wells Fargo, including home equity loans and HELOCs, though it’s less transparent about its interest rates. Regions does have a more extensive suite of online resources, but its 15-state footprint makes it an option for fewer borrowers.

Wells Fargo mortgage review

A manager of a Regions Bank location was accused of embezzling funds from customer accounts. This is currently being investigated by several government entities, so the case is still ongoing.

No, Region Bank serves customers in 15 states throughout the Southern and Midwestern parts of the U.S.

The credit score needed to buy a house depends on what loan program you choose. Regions offers conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, and jumbo loans, among other options.

Methodology:

Yahoo Finance reviews and scores mortgage lenders with quintile scoring in five primary categories: 1) Interest rates. Using 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data comprised of 10 million home loan applications, we score mortgage lenders on issued mortgage rates below or above the annual median of reporting lenders. 2) Affordability. A measure of loan product availability and the willingness of a lender to offer government-backed loans, low down payments, down payment assistance, and consideration of nontraditional credit. 3) Loan costs. HMDA data is again analyzed, and lenders are rated based on total loan costs compared to the annual median. 4) Rate transparency. The ability of a website user to obtain a mortgage interest rate estimate. We score lenders based on whether rates are enhanced with discount points or high credit score requirements, disclaimers revealing rate assumptions, sample advertised rates, and whether adjustable or no discount point rate estimates are available. 5) Online features. An analysis of the educational material, calculators, and additional resources available to users.

Review of Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) data on regulatory actions can trigger a penalty to the score of any lender with a consumer mortgage-related administrative or enforcement action within the past five years.

Advertisers or sponsorships do not influence ratings.

Editorial disclosure for mortgages:

The information in this article has not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The details on financial products, including interest rates and fees, are accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the lender's website for the most current information. This site doesn't include all currently available offers.

This article was edited by Laura Grace Tarpley.