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Planet Home Lending review 2025
The Yahoo view: Planet Home Lending is a mortgage superstore with a vast array of affordable loan options, but its website is clunky to navigate.
Based in Connecticut, Planet Home Lending offers a wide variety of mortgage and refinance loans with a bit of something for every type of borrower and owner. According to company data, the lender originated $25 billion in loans in 2023, a figure that’s nothing to sneeze at.
One thought before we start: This lender’s website is a hot mess. You likely want to ignore the main navigation and go for the hamburger menu (the three horizontal lines in the top right corner of the website). You'll get more options when you click on the links in that menu. Also, the links in the main navigation and the hamburger navigation for the same text (like “buy a home,” where one lands on a form and the other lands on loan options) don’t match up. It’s infuriating to say the least, and we’d like a word with the lender’s web dev team.
But for now, let’s get you into our Planet Home Lending review, which includes tips on their mortgage and home equity lending options. Plus, we have the inside scoop on the company’s fees compared to other lenders.
Learn more: Mortgage lender fees — How they differ from other closing costs
Key benefits
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Offers a wide range of affordable loan options, including FHA, USDA, and VA loans.
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Its Cash 4 Homes lending program can help buyers using conventional, FHA, and VA loans make a cash offer in competitive markets (costs are 3% to 5% of the home’s purchase price). With this program, the Cash 4 Homes program will buy the house for you if your financing gets delayed, giving sellers peace of mind that their house will sell. Then, you’ll work with Planet or another lender to secure a mortgage and buy the home from Planet.
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With Planet Home Lending’s bank statement loans, those with cash reserves can qualify for a primary mortgage or home equity loan. This includes self-employed borrowers and those with student loan debt or lower credit scores.
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Home flippers, rejoice. Planet Home Lending offers fix-and-flip interest-only loans designed specifically for investors, with funding as fast as seven days.
Need to know
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Planet Home Lending doesn’t publish rates or fees on its website, so you’ll need to submit an online rate quote request or connect with a loan officer for specifics.
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Our research found that this lender’s fees were higher than others in 2023.
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This company originates new home loans in all 50 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but it doesn’t offer mortgages in Puerto Rico.
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Unfortunately, home equity loans aren’t available in Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, or Puerto Rico.
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This company’s website is a complete chore to navigate. If you decide to consider this lender, make sure you have plenty of time and patience to make your way through the site.
Visit Planet Home Lending’s website to get started.
Planet Home Lending home loan product offerings
Planet Home Lending offers the following types of home loans:
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Conventional loans (Planet doesn’t explicitly advertise conventional loans, but its 30-year and 15-year options seem like conventional mortgages)
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FHA loans
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VA loans
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USDA loans
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Purchase home loans
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Refinance home loans
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Cash-out refinance loans
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Fixed-rate mortgages
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Adjustable-rate mortgages
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Jumbo loans
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Construction loans
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Accessory dwelling unit (ADU) loans
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Non-qualified mortgages
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Investment property loans for people who want to flip houses
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Renovation loans
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Buydown mortgages
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Bridge loans
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Manufactured home loans
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Home equity loans
Planet Home Lending does not offer the following types of home loans:
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Lot loans
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Energy-efficient loans
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1%-down mortgages
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Piggyback loans
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ITIN mortgages
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Medical professionals loans
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HELOCs
Learn more: What are buydown mortgages, and how can they help you save on interest?
Planet Home Lending for FHA loan borrowers
Looking for a low-cost mortgage to start your journey as a homeowner? Want to refinance your current FHA mortgage? Planet Home Lending has plenty of options to explore.
For buyers, Planet offers the most popular FHA loan options, including the traditional FHA purchase loan, FHA 203(k) loans for homes needing some TLC, and even the lesser-known FHA One-Time Close loan (also known as a construction-to-permanent loan) for those who want to build a house. Pro tip: You can even use an FHA loan to buy a manufactured home through Planet Home Lending.
For current FHA borrowers looking to refinance, Planet offers the FHA Streamline Refinance loan. And yes, that’s the one with no credit check, income verification, or home appraisal required.
Planet Home Lending boasts a flexible approval process on FHA loan products with no minimum credit score required. They state they’ll look at your entire financial picture during the approval process, which could be helpful for those building or rebuilding their credit. However, you’ll likely need a credit score of at least 580 to qualify for the lowest possible down payment option (3.5%).
Dig deeper: Types of FHA loans — And how to choose a program
Planet Home Lending for VA loan borrowers
If you’re eligible for a VA loan, Planet may be able to help. They offer VA loans for purchasing and refinancing a home, but their website is pretty skimpy on the details.
From what we can see, they offer the traditional VA purchase loan, which is subject to the VA’s funding fee (as are most VA loans). While the website says it’s possible to get a VA loan with no money down, it’s important to remember that claim — from any VA lender — comes with a caveat: Your funding fee gets rolled into your mortgage if you don’t pay it in full at closing. They also offer a VA Alteration loan, which is a VA rehab loan that can pave the way for you to buy a fixer-upper in need of renovations.
For refinancing, Planet offers the VA streamline refinance loan option. Like its FHA counterpart, this type of refi doesn’t require a credit check, appraisal, or verifications of income or employment. They also offer a VA cash-out refinance option, but you’ll need to call for details.
Read more: The best VA loan lenders
Planet Home Lending for home equity lending
Planet Home Lending home equity loan
While it’s tough to find on the website, Planet Home Lending does offer home equity loans — just not in Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, or Puerto Rico. This lender refers to them as second mortgages. Technically, a home equity loan is a type of second mortgage, but our biggest gripe is that there’s no way to easily find information on this lending option from the website’s main or footer navigation. We had to do a web search for “Planet Home Lending home equity loan” to get there.
From what we can glean, Planet’s home equity loan amounts range from $25,000 to $350,000. They’ll lend up to 85% of your home’s equity on your primary or second residence and up to 75% on an investment property. Those with higher credit scores typically qualify for higher lending limits. You'll need to call for a quote if you want more details or rate information.
Planet Home Lending home equity loan fees
Unfortunately, Planet Home Lending doesn’t publish its fees for home equity loans. You’ll need to contact the lender directly for information on fees, rates, and terms.
Planet Home Lending mortgage loan rates 2025
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: One of our biggest pet peeves with mortgage lenders is when they don’t disclose rates on their website. Sadly, Planet Home Lending falls into this category.
To get information on mortgage interest rates and the lender’s fees, you’ll need to submit either an online rate quote or pick up the phone. We apologize to those who (like us) prefer a digitally savvy mortgage lending experience.
Learn more: Strategies to get the lowest mortgage rates
How Planet Home Lending scores on mortgage rates and loan costs
Yahoo Finance uses 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data comprising 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).
For example, with mortgage 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 in 2023.
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 in 2023.
Planet Home Lending home loan rates score: 4 out of 5 stars
Planet Home Lending total loan costs score: 2 out of 5 stars
What this means: Planet Home Lending offered a lower-than-median mortgage rate of 6.5% but a higher-than-median total loan cost of $8,897.65 to borrowers in 2023.
Planet Home Lending mortgage application
Planet Home Lending’s mortgage application starts with getting a quote. You can find the large, green “free quote” button on multiple pages. Once you click, you’ll go through a series of questions about your needs — including the state, loan amount, and the property’s value. From there… your guess is as good as ours regarding what happens next.
The company says it offers an “easy online application,” but we can’t find it anywhere. It’s likely only available after you connect with a loan officer.
Planet Home Lending mortgage preapproval
To get preapproved for a mortgage with Planet, you’ll need to do a web search for “Planet Home Lending preapproval.” Like many things with this company’s website, there’s no obvious way to find this from the site’s main or footer navigation.
This search will take you to a landing page where you’ll fill out a form. From there, we assume you’ll be connected with a loan officer in your market, but you know what they say about assumptions.
Bottom line? The preapproval process should be clearly spelled out on the company’s website and not relegated to a random landing page that you have to ask Google for directions to find.
Read more: What documents do I need for mortgage loan preapproval?
Planet Home Lending mortgage calculators and home-buying tools
Planet’s calculators and home-buying tools are slim. As a lender offering some of the best loans for first-time home buyers like FHA, USDA, and VA loans, we’re baffled that it doesn’t have a resource library of helpful articles. While there is an FAQ section that defines some helpful terms, you’ll only find it by scrolling down to the website footer.
For calculators, Planet offers five — but good luck finding them on the first try:
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Payment calculator
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Rent vs. own calculator
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Debt consolidation calculator
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Prepayment savings calculator
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Early payoff calculator
To access ALL of the calculators, you have to use the hamburger menu and click on “calculators” and then “all calculators.” Using the link in the website footer for “Tools & calculators” only gets you to a web page with the first three in the list above. Again … It’s a journey.
Learn more: How much house can I afford? Use our free home affordability calculator.
Planet Home Lending pros and cons
Pros
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Planet Home Lending has a high score (4) in our Affordability category for its wide selection of home loan types and non-traditional financing options via its bank statement loan program.
Cons
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This lender scores only 1 out of 5 for Rate Transparency since it doesn’t publish sample mortgage rates on its website.
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Planet only earns a 2 out of 5 for online resources with its limited calculator and FAQ selections compared to other lenders.
How Planet Home Lending compares to other mortgage lenders
Planet Home Lending vs. Pennymac mortgages
In a nutshell? Pennymac comes out as the winner by far. Pennymac earned top marks from Yahoo as our highest-rated FHA lender for its rate transparency and resources for buyers. With Pennymac, you can receive up to $1,000 toward closing costs with its BuyerReady Certification and earn additional closing credits by using an affiliated real estate agent (up to $9,500). You could also pocket up to $2,000 in closing cost credit if rates go down and you refinance with Pennymac within the first three years of purchase.
Planet Home Lending vs. Navy Federal Credit Union mortgages
When it comes to rate transparency, Navy Federal clearly wins this one, with sample mortgage rates displayed front and center. For VA loans, Navy Federal also likely comes out ahead as a credit union specifically for U.S. service members, veterans, and their families. However, Planet Home Lending is a better option for those who don’t qualify for the credit union membership.
Planet offers several loan types that Navy Federal doesn’t, including FHA and USDA loans. Planet Home Lending also offers buydown and construction loans, which are absent from Navy Federal’s portfolio.
Navy Federal Credit Union mortgage review
Planet Home Lending FAQs
What is Planet Home Lending’s phone number?
Planet Home Lending’s phone number for new customers seeking a purchase or refinance loan is 888-966-9044. Representatives are available Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET and Friday from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET.
How do I reach Planet Home Lending customer service?
Planet Home Lending’s customer service number is 866-882-8187. Customer service agents are available Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 9 p.m. ET. You can also reach customer service via email at cs@myloansupport.com.
What’s the link for Planet Home Lending’s login page?
If you already have a loan account with Planet Home Lending, you can visit their main website and click on the green “account login” button in the top right-hand corner of the page. You can also find this green button for the Planet Home Lending mortgage login on nearly every page of the company’s website.
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.
Review of Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) data on regulatory actions can trigger a penalty to the score of any lender with a consumer mortgage-related administrative or enforcement action within the past five years.
Advertisers or sponsorships do not influence ratings.
Editorial disclosure for mortgages:
The information in this article has not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The details on financial products, including interest rates and fees, are accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the lender's website for the most current information. This site doesn't include all currently available offers.
This article was edited by Laura Grace Tarpley.
