Top 5 Mortgage Lenders This Week (Apr 28)

Tideline Mortgage's 30-year fixed at 6.79% APR was the lowest quote we got this week on a vanilla conforming refi. It is not, however, the lowest cost loan. Here's the difference.

Underwriting reality check

Tideline Mortgage 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.

Lock policy

Tideline Mortgage'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.

How we tested the rate

We pulled three identical scenarios through Tideline Mortgage's rate engine and against two competing retail desks at the same time of day. Scenario A: 760 FICO, 80% LTV, $400K conforming, owner-occupied, no escrow waiver. Scenario B: 720 FICO, 90% LTV with PMI. Scenario C: 760 FICO, $1.2M jumbo. Tideline Mortgage's 6.79% APR held in scenarios A and C. Scenario B priced about 0.20 above headline, which is roughly what we expected.

Closing costs and lender credits

Tideline Mortgage's rate sheet at 6.79% 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.

What's next on the floor

Tideline Mortgage's 6.79% 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 Tideline Mortgage recently and your experience differed from what we wrote here, drop a comment below — we read everything that lands on the floor.