Box Home Loans Review 2021

The mortgage loan process can be complicated, confusing and extremely time-consuming for homebuyers. Endless amounts of paperwork and fees from traditional lenders only compound the problem.

Box Home Loans is here to help. Box makes the home buying process more simple and transparent. They do this primarily by using technology to make the mortgage loan process easier, faster, and less expensive. Which is critical to your financial plan and your success.

Keep reading to find out how Box Home Loans can help you.

Box Home Loans Overview Rating 4.5 ★ / 5 ★ 

Box Home Loans has removed many of the costly variables associated with mortgages. Box gives their customers better rates and lower fees while conveniently delivering a great customer experience. Box has lower costs because they don’t have underwriting fees or other junk fees. They provide you with instant quotes without requiring personal information upfront. They aim for transparency to avoid any surprises. You know what you are paying and what you are getting early on in the process. 

Box Home Loans offers high-quality service through their customer portal where you can track your progress and start or stop at a moment’s notice. They give you the option of using online tools or person-to-person interaction via phone or text. This allows for a smoother process for getting to the mortgage you want with less hassle and lower rates. Box Home Loans aims to slash prices and create higher quality service while at the same time changing the status quo in the mortgage industry, similar to the way that Southwest Airlines and Ikea have done in their respective industries.  

Pros & Cons of Box Home Loans

Pros of Box Home Loans

• Convenience of loan processing through online technology 
• 50% less paperwork then most traditional lenders
• 3 to 5 day approval process 
• Transparent and low fees 
• 24/7 rate quotes online without giving up ANY personal information
• Customer-friendly portal where you can track and manage the loan process
• Rate tracking technology to notify you of rate changes and help you get you the best rate
• Personalized loan officer once you apply
• Email, chat, and phone support

Cons of Box Home Loans

• Not ideal for those with credit scores below 680
• Doesn’t currently service all states

Fees & Interest Rates 4.9 ★ / 5 ★

Box Home Loans publishes its rates daily on the web. This is unique and it allows you to compare apples to apples with other mortgage loan companies. Mortgage rates fluctuate from day-to-day. This is a powerful tool to help you to get the best interest rate on your home loan.

In Box’s Mortgage Shopping Guide they lay out what you need to look for in interest rates and fees. Their mortgage officers can walk you through the pros and cons of each of their offers. 

Box provides a display of user-friendly metrics, where you can see up to nine different interest rates and closing cost combinations per loan type. No matter what rate the competition quotes, you can find that same rate on Box’s matrix and quickly compare their closing costs with competitors.

Box is transparent with its fees and they do not charge any junk fees. Junk fees are extra fees that the lender creates to make up for the “deal” they are seemingly giving you on your other fees or interest rate. Box has no origination fees or underwriting fees. The main fee that Box has is their processing fee of $199 to $399. There are third-party fees and government fees that every lender has to charge and Box is not exempt from charging these fees either. To learn more about what fees are appropriate visit Box’s Mortgage Shopping Guide.

Box is one of the most competitive companies when it comes to mortgage and refinance rates and fees. They are similar to Costco where their margins are smaller but they make their money through selling bulk. They provide mortgage and refinance loans at a cheaper price than their competitors, helping them to generate more loans, which compensates for the smaller margins they are taking through interest rates and fees. This is what allows them to be so competitive with both fees and interest rates. 

Tools & Resources 4.7 ★ / 5 ★

Instant Quotes 

You can get instant quotes on a purchase or refinance in seconds with Box’s Instant Quote web page. The nice thing is you don’t even have to provide your email or any other personally identifiable information to get the quote. You identify the sales price and the loan amount, select occupancy type and property type, and provide your credit score. It also asks if you are a veteran or in the military and if you want to include escrow. 

The tool will then give you a variety of options such as interest rates at different term lengths such as 30, 25, 20, and 15 years. You can compare variable rates versus fixed rates and different options within selected parameters. You can filter out different interest rates, lender fees, and total monthly costs. Box displays its rates in a user-friendly matrix, where you can see up to nine different interest rates and closing cost combinations per loan program. This is a powerful tool to be able to see all of your mortgage costs in one place. This allows you to shop effectively and find the best bang for your buck. This is a great tool that you can use if you have good credit to get an accurate estimate of rates, monthly payment, lender fees, and total cost.

Customer Portal

The customer portal is convenient. It allows you to quickly start and stop the loan process. You can track your progress 24/7, check your task list, upload your documents securely, review costs and fees and more. It allows you to be able to organize all your information online in one place. 

Rate Tracker

Box has a Rate Tracker that is a valuable tool for consumers to get alerted when rates become financially advantageous to their situation, while not being spammed with marketing emails. The rate tracker is updated daily if you visit the site, but it will only alert you according to your preferences. You can set a target rate where you will be notified if rates drop below a specific level. You can get personalized rates and receive daily quotes for your unique situation. You can also see what rates have done historically or you can receive generic rates to give you a snapshot of what interest rates are doing each day. 

Mortgage Tools 

Box Home Loans has many mortgage tools to help you. They have a handy Mortgage Shopping Guide where they break down all the important things that go into shopping for a mortgage such as comparing rates and fees, apples to apples and what the lenders fees are, points and origination fees and more. This is a comprehensive overview of what you need to look for while shopping for a mortgage. It would be valuable for anyone to review this guide before taking out a mortgage, whether they use Box or not. 

Box also has a Mortgage Calculators page where they have all kinds of calculators for their users. They have the following calculators: 

HOME BUYING CALCULATORS

• Mortgage Payment Calculator
• Home Affordability Calculator
• Rent vs Buying Calculator
• Mortgage Tax Savings Calculator

MORTGAGE REFINANCE CALCULATORS

• Refinance Calculator

GENERAL LOAN CALCULATORS

• Credit Score Estimator
• Mortgage Comparison Tool
• Interest Rate Buy Down Estimator

GET OUT OF DEBT TOOLS

• Credit Card Payment Calculator
• Extra Payment Calculator
• Debt Restructuring Calculator

These calculators are helpful, but they are not always super intuitive to fill out and it can be hard  to understand the information that they provide. If you need additional help with these, you can always ask them on chat or over the phone.

Mortgage Terms and Definitions 

Mortgages and home loans are complex and there are many terms that are used that the everyday American wouldn’t know. Box’s terms page is helpful so you can know what lenders are talking about when they say things such as, Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM), Amortization Schedule, LIBOR Index, and much more. 

Loan Programs 

Box provides the following loan programs. They have web pages with more information on each of these programs:

• Conventional Mortgages
• FHA Mortgages
• VA
• Fixed Rate Mortgages 
• Alternative Real Estate Investor Loans
• Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM)

Employer Discounts 

Box Home Loans is unique because it partners with employers to give their employees a better rate on mortgages. With this program, the employer receives a private portal that provides special discounts to its employees. The portal is completely free for employers to create, you just have to go to this page. This can give employers an added benefit to give to their employees. To qualify for this employer perk portal, you will need to: 

• Have a minimum of 100 employees.
• Already (or at least be willing to) offer special perks to your employees.
• Have an existing system (or be willing to create one) to communicate those perks to your employees (i.e. email blast from HR, or company intranet site, etc).

Ease Of Use 4.6 ★ / 5 ★

Simple Application and Underwriting

Box Home Loans is known for its clean and easy user experience. It leverages technology to make the home buying process easier. Their technology allows for quicker loan processing and approval. They have removed 50% of the paperwork. The underwriting takes anywhere from 3 to 5 days with Box and the whole home buying experience typically takes 10 to 30 days depending on how quickly a customer can get the proper documentation in place. 

Required Documentation

Box requests the following documents from a buyer: 

• Last two years of W-2’s and 1099’s
• 30 days of pay stubs 
• Copy of driver’s license 
• 60 days of bank statements 
• Homeowners insurance contact information

These documents are needed by everyone when they apply for a mortgage or to refinance. Box occasionally requests additional documentation for more complicated situations such as being a business owner or self-employed. 

Personal Help

You are assigned a personal loan officer to walk you through the rest of the process once you have filled out your initial application. You create an account where you can track the progress of your loan and see exactly how much you will be paying. With Box’s technology, they can get you the best rates in a quick and easy process compared to most lenders.

Customer Service 4.0 ★ / 5 ★

Overall, Box Home Loans customer service is good. You can reach them through email, phone, or chat. In the chat box you put in your phone number and you can text back and forth. This is convenient if you are on the go or if you have additional questions after you have left your computer. 

Box also provides loan officers that will be assigned to you once you have your initial application filled out. These loan officers can be incredibly helpful by educating you on  the loan application, loan types, and how to structure your loan. They can answer any questions you have and walk you through the mortgage loan process. Most of Box’s customer service is top notch. Just like with any customer service, they do get some complaints from time to time as miscommunication happens, but Box seems to resolve these fairly. 

User Reviews  4.5 ★ / 5 ★

We found user reviews from other places across the internet so that you don’t need to do that separately. This is an overview of how people are rating Box. You can check out the links below to see what people are saying. 

Platform	Overall Rating	Number of Reviews
Google Reviews	4.6	431 reviews (as of 2/3/2020)
Zillow Reviews	4.5	188 reviews (as of 2/3/2020)
Customer Lobby	5.0 (Value) 4.0 (Service) 5.0 (Will Recommend)	370 reviews (as of 2/3/2020)
Lending Tree	3.5	8 reviews (as of 2/3/2020)
Yelp	3.0	22 reviews (as of 2/3/2020)
Better Business Bureau	A+	(as of 2/3/2020)

Overall, most of the user reviews are incredibly positive, with hundreds of five-star reviews across multiple platforms.

Other Limitations

Human Element  

Because buying a home or refinancing can be complicated, Box Home Loans provides a loan officer to walk you through the process. Just like with any human element, there is potential for mistakes and miscommunication. One of the complaints against Box found in some user reviews, is about misunderstandings that occasionally happen with the loan officers.

Credit Score 

Box does have some limitations when it comes to what customers they can work with. Their ideal clients are those that are financially responsible. They work really well with individuals that are W-2 employees and have great credit. They can get the most competitive pricing for these people. They can still service other individuals who are self-employed or business owners if they have good credit and consistent earnings, but it will likely be more time-intensive. Anyone above a 740 credit score is ideal, they can still service anyone with a 680 or above competitively. When individuals have below a 680 credit score Box is more limited on how competitive they can be with their pricing. The lowest credit score they can service is 550. 

Location

One other limitation Box has is that it can not service all states. Here are the states that Box services: 

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Virginia
• Washington
• Wisconsin

Is Box Home Loans Right For You?

Box Home Loans rewards individuals who are financially responsible, particularly those with a credit score above a 680.  Box is awesome for individuals that are looking to get competitive pricing in a transparent way. If you are looking for a low cost and more convenient option with no surprises, then Box is a great fit for you. 

Disclosure: Mortgages through Box Home Loans are provided by Canopy Mortgage LLC, NMLS Consumer Access #1359687.