Here are the best mortgage lenders in September 2025. The best mortgage lenders right nowBest mortgage lender for first-time buyers: Truist mortgageThe Yahoo view: Truist Bank distinguishes itself as a mortgage lender by offering down payment assistance and lender credits, among other advantages for first-time home buyers. Best online mortgage lender: Better MortgageThe Yahoo view: Better proudly plants a flag as a "100% online" mortgage lender, and we consider it the best online mortgage lender overall. Top 5 characteristics of the best mortgage lendersWhen adding lenders to your roster of contenders, look for these five traits shared by the best mortgage lenders:1. Mortgage lenders that did not make our best lender listWe seriously considered the following mortgage lenders for our best-of list, but they weren’t quite as strong as our top picks:Just because any of these lenders didn’t make our top mortgage lender list doesn’t mean one won’t be a good fit for your home purchase.