2022 Washington Trust Mortgage Review
Updated: Nov 16, 2022
Affiliate Marketing Disclosure
This year, tens of thousands of home buyers will take a mortgage in New England. And while there is no shortage of national banks out there to choose, some buyers are looking for a more personalized experience.
Those buyers are likely looking to work with more of a local, and perhaps a community, bank. Those in New England looking for this type of experience will want to consider Washington Trust.
Read to learn more about the Washington Trust mortgages.
Loans offered | ​Fixed-rate, Jumbo, ARMs, VA, FHA |
States available | CT, MA, RI |
Minimum credit score | ​620 |
​Our rating | 5/5 stars |
What is Washington Trust?
Washington Trust is a bank and mortgage lender based out of Westerly, Rhode Island. Founded in 1800, they are the largest community bank in the United States. Washington Trust offers services including:
Personal and checking accounts
Savings, CDs, and money market accounts
Mortgages
Other Loan
Credit Cards
Other
They offer mortgages to home buyers in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
Washington Trust mortgages: At a glance
Washington Trust offers a variety of Fixed Rate, Jumbo, and ARMs, in addition to VA and FHA loans. They are also a participant in Rhode Island Housing's program, and offer those loans as well. Their programs offer the following terms:
Fixed-rate mortgages - 10, 15, 20, and 30 years
Jumbos - 15, 20, 30 years
ARMs - 5/6, 7/6, 10/6
A term of 5/6 means that your loan will be fixed for 5 years, but then can change every six months from then on.
Generally, you'll need a minimum credit score of at least 620 to have any chance of qualifying for a mortgage with Washington Trust. From there, the higher your credit score is, the more options that you'll have available to you.
Minimum down payment requirements
To finance a home with Washington Trust, you'll need to meet certain down payment requirements. Unfortunately, the bank does not publicly disclose what these requirements are.
Do keep in mind though that any Conventional mortgages will require a 20% down payment if you want to avoid paying private mortgage insurance (PMI).
Interest rates offered and fees assessed
As is the case with all other mortgage lenders on the market, the rate that you are able to get for your home loan is dependent on prevailing market conditions at the time that you buy your home.
You can use the Washington Trust loan interest rate webpage to check the rates offered on any given day.
As far as fees go, you can expect to face a number of lender related expenses when you close on your new home. Among these fees are a loan origination fee, as well as mortgage application and underwriting fees.
My wife and I found all of these expenses to be in line with industry averages.
Pros and cons to Washington Trust mortgages
In full transparency, my wife and I used Washington Trust to buy our home in May 2022. And the experience was awesome, so we're writing this review with this encounter in mind. That said, we feel that the pros to working with Washington Trust far outweigh the negatives.
But to be fair, we'll mention both those components that we really liked, as well as those parts of he process we'd like to see them improve upon. We'll start with the pros first.
1. Quick and easy pre-approval
We decided to get pre-qualified for a loan, and our loan officer could not have been more generous with his time. As first-time buyers, we had a million questions about the process, and he took the time to answer each and every one of them.
Our pre-approval was completed in no-time, and we were given really clear direction regarding what financial and personal documentation we had to prepare to keep the process moving.
2. Fast loan closing
Sometimes, working with local or community lenders can make the overall loan closing process quicker. We definitely found this to be the case. In fact, my wife and I navigated the process, from purchase and sales agreement, to receiving the "clear to close" from Washington Trust, in less than 3.5 weeks!
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Next, here are a couple of things we'd like to see Washington Trust improve upon.
1. Customer service
This con comes with a caveat. Our loan officer and underwriting processor were so on top of things that we never had to reach out for customer service, but Washington Trust's Google reviews indicate that their customer service process could use a little work.
Some of the more recent reviews mention frustration in getting answers to questions when needed. We're going to take this with a grain of salt, given that the majority of reviews are still positive.
2. Digital experience
Again, this seems like we're nit-picking, but Washington Trust's digital experience doesn't quite hold up with that of some of their larger and national competitors. But we also wouldn't expect it to, given their focus on individual relationship building.
Regardless, it would be nice to see a more streamlined portal that more easily allows you to upload documents as part of the application, communicate with your loan officer, and complete certain other tasks.
Washington Trust contact information
Washington Trust can be contacted via the following avenues:
Website - https://www.washtrust.com/
Phone - 1-800-475-2265
Mail - 23 Broad Street, Westerly, RI 02891
The bottom line
For those that live in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, if the rates are good, we would not hesitate to use Washington Trust. They offer a great localized experience, communicate well with you, and keep you in the loop regarding everything that you need to know.
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