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Citibank mortgage review 2024

E. Napoletano
·Contributor
Updated 10 min read

The Yahoo view: With top customer satisfaction scores, Citibank offers a variety of loans that include options for low down payments, no PMI, and closing cost assistance for qualified buyers. It is one of the best mortgage lenders for first-time home buyers right now.

Citibank comes to the mortgage table with a well-rounded set of online tools, loan options, and the potential for closing cost assistance — all of which can put homeownership within reach for first-time home buyers. However, the bank has two areas that could stand improving: relatively high HELOC rates and a click-heavy website experience that could fatigue even savvier buyers.

Learn more: The best types of mortgages for first-time home buyers

Citibank

In this article:

Key benefits

  • Citi’s HomeRun Mortgage offers an attractive 3% down payment and no private mortgage insurance requirement.

  • Qualified buyers could use Citi’s Lender Paid Assistance Program to cover up to $7,500 in closing costs.

  • Current Citi customers can access Relationship Pricing to save on closing costs or interest rates.

Need to know

  • Citibank scores near the top (No. 3) of the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study for customer satisfaction.

  • Citi currently offers a $500 discount on closing costs. Terms apply, and you’ll need to mention code 10818 when you first speak to a loan officer.

  • The HomeRun Mortgage program is only available in select U.S. cities.

Citibank offers the following types of home loans:

  • Conventional loans

  • FHA loans

  • FHA construction loans

  • VA loans

  • Jumbo loans

  • Citi’s HomeRun Mortgage (3% down payment with no PMI)

  • Purchase loans

  • Fixed-rate mortgages

  • Adjustable-rate mortgages

  • HELOCs

  • Refinance loans

  • Cash-out refinance

Citibank does not offer the following types of home loans:

  • USDA loans

  • Interest-only loans

  • Lot loans

  • Construction loans

  • Guest house/ADU loans

  • Non-qualified mortgages

  • Energy efficient loans

  • Renovation loans

  • Buydown loans

  • Bridge loans

  • Manufactured home loans

  • Piggyback loans

  • ITIN mortgages

  • Medical professional loans

  • Home equity loans

Learn more: FHA vs. conventional loans

First-time home buyers can start with Citi’s online guide that simplifies the buying process — a powerful tool, despite taking a few clicks to get there. Once on the page, you can navigate six steps to homeownership and access helpful resources like calculators, Citi’s SureStart? Pre-Approval tool, a document checklist for your loan application, and a closing costs primer.

Since getting to the first-time buyer’s page isn’t obvious, here’s how to do it:

  1. Navigate to “Lending” on Citi’s main website.

  2. Click “Buy a Home” in the lending drop-down menu.

  3. Scroll down the next page to “The steps to buying a house.”

  4. In that block, click “Check out the Citi home buyer’s guide.”

  5. Voilà! You’ve arrived at the first-time buyer landing page.

If you prefer a more personal touch, you can also connect with a loan officer on this page. Citi partners with Home Captain, a site that lets you search for homes and connect with a real estate agent in your area.

But wait — there’s more (and in a good way). Qualified buyers in Atlanta, Austin, Cambridge, Dallas, Denver, Houston, and Philadelphia could skip the PMI when using Citi’s HomeRun mortgage. These loans have a low 3% down payment, flexible credit guidelines, and homeownership counseling that can be useful for first-time buyers. Income limits apply, so check with Citi for the details.

Dig deeper: Everything you need to know about first-time buyer programs

Citibank offers a home equity line of credit (HELOC) as a way to maximize your home equity. HELOCs may offer some borrowers substantial savings over credit cards or unsecured personal loan options. Why? Your credit line is secured by your home, which reduces lender risk.

Citi offers two types of HELOCs: those with required principal and interest payments during the draw period and those with interest-only payments. To qualify for interest-only payments, you must have at least $200,000 in assets with Citi or $1 million in personal assets outside the bank. The bank offers the best HELOC rates to those with excellent credit and a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 70% or less.

Citi’s a bit murky on whether its HELOCs have a one-time origination fee. For all our digging, we couldn’t find anything. A call to Citi would be the savvy move before you apply. However, all borrowers pay a $50 annual fee during the draw period unless your collateral property is in Texas. In that case, the fee doesn’t apply.

Learn more: Should you choose a cash-out refinance or HELOC?

To find sample Citi mortgage rates, visit the respective product pages. Fortunately, Citi publishes sample rates for purchase and refinance on its website. Unfortunately, the rates and monthly payments shown are … well … unrealistic.

On the day we visited the site, we could easily see sample rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages. However, the rates posted were based on substantial discount points and unrealistic home loan amounts. How unrealistic? Well, if you can find a home in the Los Angeles area for $200,000, we’re all ears. We also couldn’t see published rates for VA loans or FHA loans.

We searched and searched, but we also couldn’t find assumptions for Citibank mortgage rates. That means we can’t tell you the credit score range, debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, or a required down payment used to calculate rates.

Dig deeper: Strategies to score the lowest mortgage rates

Yahoo Finance uses 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data made up 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).

Regarding 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 lender granted lower-than-median home loan interest rates to borrowers.

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.

What this means: Citibank offered a low mortgage rate of 5.75% but a roughly average total loan cost of $7,121.90 to borrowers in 2023.

We wish we could say that applying for a mortgage with Citi was an easy-breezy process, but it’s not. To get started, you’ll either need to sign into your existing Citibank account or create one. We were about to bite the bullet but stopped when the account creation form required a phone number and consent to have Citi and its “authorized third parties” call us. That was a solid “nope,” and we hit the eject button.

If you want to keep your phone quiet, your best bet is to contact a loan officer and have a single point of contact.

To get preapproved for a mortgage with Citi, you’ll use its SureStart? Pre-Approval tool. What’s unique is that Citi says preapproval through the tool is a commitment to lend — a huge plus for buyers. Most lenders’ preapproval letters don’t guarantee they will approve you for a mortgage in the end. The only downside is that you can only receive preapproval by speaking to a loan officer. While Citi isn’t clear on its site, you’ll typically need documents like bank statements, tax returns, proof of income and employment, and identification to get started.

Number crunchers will likely be delighted with Citi’s calculator offerings. You can find calculators for buying and refinancing from a single page (that’s incredibly easy to find). Thanks, Citibank.

  • Monthly mortgage payment calculator. See what your monthly payment might look like based on interest rate and loan amount.

  • Home affordability calculator. Plug in numbers for income and expenses to see how much home you can afford.

  • Loan amount calculator. Use your preferred monthly payment to see how much you can afford to borrow.

  • Additional payment calculator. Explore the impact of extra payments on your loan payoff and total interest costs.

  • Refinance calculator. Find out if refinancing can save you money.

Learn more: How much house can I afford? Use Yahoo Finance’s free home affordability calculator.

  • Citibank scores a high rating (5) in our Affordability category for its selection of home loans (including HELOCs for you to tap your home equity) and closing cost assistance program.

  • Citi mortgage gives buyers a wide range of resources for the home-buying process, earning an excellent (4) score in our Online Resources category.

  • Citi scores Yahoo Finance’s top rating (5) for its below-average home loan rates.

  • Citi gets a 2-star rating for Mortgage Rate Transparency. Sadly, the bank uses discount points when showing rates and doesn’t allow you to see sample rates without points. It also uses unrealistic home prices to estimate sample rates and payments.

  • Citi only scores a middle-of-the-road (3) rating for its total loan costs — you may be able to save money at closing with other lenders.

Bank of America comes out ahead of Citibank for its generous options for first-time buyers. Citi caps closing cost assistance at $7,500, but Bank of America goes above and beyond with $10,000 in down payment assistance for qualified buyers in participating states.

For medical professionals in the market for a home, Bank of America will likely be the better option since it offers medical professional mortgages. These loans let buyers exclude student loan debt from their DTI calculations and let residents and fellows close on a home up to 90 days before their employment start date.

Bank of America mortgage review

When it comes to loan variety, Rocket Mortgage comes out ahead. Rocket offers a 1% down payment option, whereas Citibank’s mortgage offerings only go as low as 3% down. The only exception at Citi is a VA mortgage, which has a 0% payment option for those who qualify.

While both lenders offer up to $7,500 in closing cost assistance, only Rocket allows buyers to earn up to $10,000 in closing costs credit when buying a home through with an agent through its partner company, Rocket Homes.

If you want to leverage your home equity, only Citi offers HELOCs with flexible draws. At Rocket, you’re limited to a home equity loan that requires a lump-sum draw.

Rocket Mortgage review

You can contact the Citi mortgage department by calling them directly at 1-800-248-4638. You can also request that a representative from Citibank call you.

Citibank doesn’t publish required credit scores for most of its mortgage products. However, you’ll need a minimum 620 score for its VA loans.

Citi mortgage scores top ratings in customer service. It’s currently ranked No. 3 in customer satisfaction in the 2023 J.D. Power Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study. Nearly 4,000 customers have rated Citibank 4.84 out of 5 stars on Zillow as well.

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.