FHA on the Floor: Apex Home Loans vs the Big Three at 6.73% APR

We pulled three identical scenario quotes through Apex Home Loans this week — 760 FICO, 80% LTV, owner-occupied, single-family. Their 30-year fixed at 6.73% APR held all three days. Most retail desks didn't.

Who shouldn't use {lender}

If your scenario is a low-down FHA, a manual-underwrite VA, or anything with a non-traditional income source (royalties, K-1 distributions, foreign income), Apex Home Loans is not where you start. They will eventually approve the file, but it'll take longer than at a portfolio lender. For those scenarios we'd send borrowers to a credit union or a manual-underwrite mortgage banker.

Underwriting reality check

Apex Home Loans is consistently fast on plain-vanilla W-2 files: about 21–24 days to clear-to-close. They slow down on self-employed (1099) borrowers — expect roughly 30 days, with two rounds of document requests. If your file has anything unusual (gift funds, recent job change, IRA distributions used as reserves), build in an extra week.

Closing costs and lender credits

Apex Home Loans's rate sheet at 6.73% APR carries an origination fee of 0.625 points. They will buy that down with a lender credit at the cost of about 0.125 in rate, which we ran the math on for a 10-year hold. For most refis the lender-credit version wins; for purchases held longer than 7 years, the lower rate wins. We've put the breakeven model in the body of the article.

Lock policy

Apex Home Loans's standard lock is 30 days at no cost, 45 days for 0.125 in rate, and 60 days for 0.25. They will float-down if rates drop more than 0.25 within the lock period — but only on request. We confirmed the policy with two of their loan officers; both quoted the same answer.

What's next on the floor

Apex Home Loans's 6.73% APR stays on the mortgage watchlist for the next two weeks. We'll re-pull rates Sunday night and post any meaningful change in the next Weekly Rate Floor. If you've used Apex Home Loans recently and your experience differed from what we wrote here, drop a comment below — we read everything that lands on the floor.