Patriot Financial Mortgage Review: A Mortgage Broker That Takes Customer Service Seriously

Today we’ll check out “Patriot Financial,” which is a mortgage brokerage located near Raleigh, North Carolina.

Unlike some larger mortgage lenders, the owner-operator is a single individual named Matthew Alexander Hess, who says he’s funded over 20,000 mortgages in his career.

And if you call his company, he claims you’ll be dealing with him, not some other unknown employee. End of story.

Of course, he also has a team of loan processors to assist him to ensure you receive help when necessary, and close your loan quickly.

Let’s learn more about him and his company to determine if it could be a good alternative to a bigger bank or household lender.

Patriot Financial Fast Facts

A full-service mortgage brokerage
Founded in 2005, headquartered in Cary, North Carolina
Offer home purchase loans, refinances, and second mortgages
Currently licensed to do business in nine states and the District of Columbia
Often featured as a low-rate lender on the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace

As noted, Patriot Financial, Inc. is a full-service mortgage brokerage run by an individual named Matthew Alexander Hess.

The company was founded in 2005 and is located in Cary, North Carolina.

At the moment, Patriot Financial is licensed in the states of California, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

This means you’ll likely work with Matt and his team remotely to close your loan, which is the norm with just about any lender these days.

Their claim to fame might be that they’re often listed as one of the cheapest options on the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

How to Apply with Patriot Financial

You can either call them directly or visit their website first. If you go online, you’ll have the option of filling out their contact form or beginning the application on your own.

It’s probably best to speak to Matt and/or his team first to discuss loan options and pricing before moving forward with the application.

Once you’re ready to apply, you’ll be able to fill out a digital mortgage application on the Patriot Financial site and sign in after the fact to check loan status.

Because they are a mortgage brokerage, you may have to sign up with a third-party mortgage lender partner as well to review disclosures and satisfy conditions.

Either way, most of this process should be streamlined and electronic, including the ability to upload documents and eSign disclosures.

My assumption is that you’ll get a very hands-on experience if you work with Patriot Financial because they are a small shop.

This counters the big bank experience, where you might work with a call center rep who will be difficult to get in touch with once you’ve applied.

So if you’re the type who needs or wants lots of communication and guidance along the way, they could be a good fit.

Loan Programs Offered by Patriot Financial

Home purchase loans
Home renovation loans
Refinance loans: rate and term, cash out, streamline
Conforming loans backed by Fannie/Freddie
FHA loans
VA loans
Jumbo loans
Second mortgages
Reverse mortgages

One of the main advantages of working with a mortgage broker is their ability to place your loan with a variety of different wholesale banks.

As such, this gives them an expanded lending menu, based on the collective offerings of all their lender partners.

For example, if one of their partner banks offers interest-only mortgages, they can too. Same with jumbos or second mortgages.

Patriot Financial appears to offer a full-slate of loan programs, whether you’re a home buyer or existing homeowner looking to refinance.

This includes conforming loans, jumbo loans, FHA loans, VA loans, and even reverse mortgages.

They may also have access to unique loan programs like stated income doc and asset depletion, or hard-to-place loans due to recent adverse credit events.

In general, brokers can provide more flexibility than big banks, which tend to stick to more basic offerings.

Patriot Financial Mortgage Rates

While they don’t advertise their mortgage rates on their own website, you may come across Patriot Financial mortgage rates on third-party sites like Zillow.

In fact, I checked sample rates today and saw that they had the lowest APR for a 30-year fixed VA loan.

That’s pretty impressive given all the lenders listed there, many of which happen to be discount mortgage lenders.

They tend to appear at the top of the list for conforming loans backed by Fannie/Freddie as well.

As a mortgage broker, they have access to interest rates from a handful of different wholesale lenders they work with.

This means they can shop your rate on your behalf so you don’t have to lift a finger, though I also recommend comparing mortgage brokers too.

Still, the fact that they’re offering some of the lowest rates on Zillow is promising on the pricing front.

Of course, it will depend on the loan scenario in question, as they may be more aggressive for certain types of loans.

In terms of lender fees, my assumption is they can and often do structure mortgages with no fees, electing to receive lender-paid compensation instead of charging the borrower directly.

As a result, you shouldn’t have to pay out-of-pocket costs thanks to these lender credits, which can be helpful if you don’t want to pay for a refinance or home purchase loan.

Patriot Financial Mortgage Reviews

On Zillow, Patriot Financial has a superb 4.91-star rating out of a possible 5 from nearly 1,000 customer reviews.

This seems to be where the bulk of their online reviews live, so it’s a good place to check out their past performance.

After reading some reviews, it seems obvious that Mr. Hess takes his customer satisfaction ratings very seriously, and responds directly if anyone isn’t completely satisfied.

Over at LendingTree, it’s a similar 4.9 out of 5 from about 100 reviews, along with a 98% recommended rate.

Lastly, Patriot Financial is an accredited company with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and has an A+ rating based on complaint history.

At last glance, they don’t have any complaints on file, which is a good sign customer service-wise.

To sum things up, Patriot Financial could be a good choice for a home buyer or someone interested in refinancing an existing loan.

They appear to offer aggressive pricing and quality, hands-on customer service. The only potential downside might be a lack of physical branches if you prefer to do business in-person.

Patriot Financial Pros and Cons

The Good

Can apply for a home loan online in minutes
Most of the loan process is paperless/electronic
Ability to shop your rate with multiple lenders at once
Appear to offer low rates with limited or no lender fees
Tons of loan programs to choose from
Excellent customer reviews from past customers
A+ BBB rating, accredited business
Free mortgage calculators on their website

The Maybe Not

Only licensed do business in 10 states
Do not post mortgage rates or fees on their website
No physical branches
Will transfer your mortgage to a loan servicer after closing

(photo: Boston Harborfest)