First Republic Mortgage Rates Reviews

First Republic Bank was founded in 1985 and has headquarters in San Francisco, California. It offers private banking services for individuals and businesses, as well as private wealth management. The bank operates in California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Oregon, Wyoming, and Florida.

It has 75 brick-and-mortar branches, of which 53 are located in California. First Republic sold $92.1 million in home loans during the third quarter of 2018, putting the bank in the top 25 U.S. lenders based on loan volume. Their stocks are publicly traded in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

First Republic Quick Facts

• BBB-accredited with an A+ rating 
• Provides a variety of conventional mortgage options, including fixed-, adjustable, and hybrid adjustable-rates,
• Special mortgages available such as vacation and second home loans, construction and permanent loan bundle, and loans with competitive rates for individuals in certain communities 
• 75 banking offices in the states it operates in: California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Oregon, Wyoming and Florida.
• Reputable banking institution that currently manages $99.2 billion in assets and $75.9 billions on loans.

History of First Republic Mortgage

During its 34 years of operation, First Republic Bank has quickly earned the reputation as a trusted lending institution dedicated to customer-focused service and support.

This lender offers a number of conventional mortgage options, including fixed- and adjustable-rate, and second home loans, alongside several specialty programs for borrowers living in certain census tracts. Despite its modest variety of home loan products, First Republic does not facilitate any government-backed mortgages.

This banking institution has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 2016. Currently, First Republic’s BBB profile displays an A+ rating with only 10 customer complaints having been filed over the past 3 years, all of which have been resolved.

Unfortunately, this lender offers little information about its mortgage products on its website. It does not provide any specific information about down payment requirements, credit score expectations or average interest rates.

Therefore, First Republic’s overall online experience is subpar, as it does not allow users to obtain rate quotes or start the application process digitally.

That said, this lender is a great choice for homebuyers looking for a traditional banking experience and who live close by to one of its banking locations in California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Wyoming, Florida, and Oregon. 

Current First Republic Mortgage Rates

Credit Score	Credit Rating	Mortgage Rate Impact
800 - 850	Exceptional	Able to secure the best available interest rates from almost every lender
740 - 799	Very Good	Able to secure better than average interest rates from most lenders
670 - 739	Good	Able to secure average interest rates from most lenders
580 - 669	Fair	May have difficulty qualifying for a mortgage, even with below average interest rates
300 - 579	Very Poor	Likely to have difficulty qualifying for a mortgage, even with large down payments and very high-interest rates

First Republic Loan Specifics

First Republic offers a standard variety of conventional mortgage products, including fixed- and adjustable-rate, interest-only, and second home loans.

While the bank does not provide any government-backed mortgages, it does feature a number of specialty programs, including an Eagle Community home loan and an “All-in-one Acquisition to Construction to Permanent” financing option.

First Republic only originates mortgages in a few of its service regions, with close to 92 percent of its total loans coming from California, New York, and Massachusetts.

Fixed-Rate Loans

This conventional mortgage type provides excellent stability for the full loan term, as interest rates and monthly payments are locked in during the origination period and do not change over time. Most lenders offer terms of 15 or 30 years, though some have more flexible options that allow for maximum customization.

This mortgage option is most popular with homebuyers that are planning to stay in one place for a long period of time and those looking for an easy-to-budget home loan. However, First Republic’s website does not specify its specific fixed-rate mortgage options.

Adjustable-Rate Loans

Borrowers that are unsure about their long-term plans may benefit from this variable mortgage option, as it offers a lower starting interest rate than fixed-rate loans. After an introductory period, usually, three, five, seven or 10 years, the interest rate and monthly payment amount will automatically adjust every year to the market index.

Poor market performance may cause interest rates to rise, which may force borrowers to pay more over the full life of their home loan. It is unclear from First Republic’s website the adjustable rates that it offers.

Hybrid Adjustable-Rate Mortgage

This mortgage features introductory fixed rates, but once that period is over, it shifts to a variable rate.

All-in-One Acquisition to Construction to Permanent Loans

This First Republic specialty mortgage program is aimed at borrowers that are planning to build their own home. The loan covers borrowers for the full length of the home building project, from the land purchase to the completion of the home and beyond.

This mortgage is available as either a fixed- or adjustable-rate loan with a range of term options and can help borrowers minimize transaction costs. Bundling these typically-separate loans into one is time-saving and financially sound as it eliminates duplicate transaction costs.

Vacation and Second Home Loans

Homebuyers looking to purchase or refinance a vacation home can benefit from this mortgage type, as it features an effortless and speedy pre-qualification process.

First Republic offers a wide variety of second home loan options with flexible repayment terms, including fixed-rate, adjustable-rate and hybrid adjustable-rate loans, which feature a fixed rate during the introductory period, after which it changes to a variable rate.

Eagle Community Loan Program

This loan program offers some of First Republic’s most competitive interest rates for borrowers looking to purchase or refinance a primary residence within one of the bank’s census tracts. This loan program provides conventional fixed-rate mortgages with no prepayment penalties.

Clients must apply for it in person at one of the bank’s physical branches. 

First Republic Mortgage Customer Experience

First Republic Bank only originates home loans in California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Oregon, which significantly limits the scope of its mortgage services. Almost all of the bank’s physical branches are located in California, making it difficult for out-of-state borrowers to work with this lender on a face-to-face basis.

Additionally, First Republic’s lack of government-backed mortgages prevents borrowers with low credit scores and limited credit histories from qualifying for a home loan with low down payments.

While the bank does offer a number of specialty programs, none are dedicated to providing affordable lending solutions to low-to-moderate income buyers outside of certain designated census tracts.

Useful bank-specific information and mortgage resources are noticeably absent from First Republic’s website, which negatively impacts borrowers looking for an online lending experience. The website does not possess a prequalification feature, an online application process, or a rate quote or estimate tool.

The best way to contact First Republic is to reach out to one of its “Relationship Managers” by phone, or by filling out a webform and waiting to hear back from a lending agent.

One of the biggest drawbacks of First Republic’s website is the lack of concrete information about its mortgage products. The bank provides limited detail beyond a few broad summaries of each loan offer, making it difficult to get a complete picture of the advantages and disadvantages of its programs.

For example, First Republic does not list any relevant information about loan terms, down payment requirements, interest rate averages, or program eligibility. Homebuyers looking for a traditional banking experience may prefer this lender’s non-digital approach.

First Republic Lender Reputation

While First Republic’s limited digital presence leaves much to be desired, this lender has earned quite a positive reputation. The bank has been in operation for almost 34 years, during which it has been consistently recognized for its dedicated customer-focused approach to loan origination.

First Republic’s received the Better Business Bureau accreditation in 2016. Currently, First Republic’s BBB profile features an A+ rating with only 10 customer complaints filed over the past 3 years, all of which have been resolved.

In addition, between 2012 and 2018, First Republic received 15 lodged complaints on mortgages at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. All of them have been closed with an explanation. 

• Information collected on March 1st, 2019

First Republic Mortgage Qualifications

Credit Score	Credit Rating	Mortgage Rate Impact
800 - 850	Exceptional	Able to secure the best available interest rates from almost every lender
740 - 799	Very Good	Able to secure better than average interest rates from most lenders
670 - 739	Good	Able to secure average interest rates from most lenders
580 - 669	Fair	May have difficulty qualifying for a mortgage, even with below average interest rates
300 - 579	Very Poor	Likely to have difficulty qualifying for a mortgage, even with large down payments and very high-interest rates

Every home loan type offered by First Republic features a number of unique eligibility guidelines, though precise details are unavailable through the bank’s website.To qualify for First Republic’s lending products, borrowers must first obtain a standard checking account with one of the bank’s physical branches.

Once an account is secured, homebuyers can begin working with a dedicated lending agent to find the best mortgage rates for their specific needs.

At present, there is no mention of concrete down payment minimums, credit score conditions, median income limits or debt-to-income requirements within any of the lender’s online resources.

Be that as it may, on its website, First Republic states that most lenders typically require that debt-to-income ratio of 28/36, which means that the house payment should not exceed 28% of a client’s before-tax monthly income from all sources and that no more than 36% of monthly income is used towards paying clients’ total monthly debt, including the mortgage payment.

However, First Republic does not explicitly declare this is their policy.

Most mortgage originators request down payments of at least 5% on conventional loans and often require homebuyers who put less than 20 percent down to pay for private mortgage insurance.

First Republic does not offer any government-backed loans, which typically feature low down payments, so borrowers should be prepared to make a large upfront payment to qualify. For more information about this lender’s down payment minimums, homebuyers should reach out to a lending agent directly or fill out an online contact form.

The credit score is an important metric for determining home loan eligibility and formulating interest rates, as low scores are usually a sign of poor credit management. Explicit credit score expectations are not provided on First Republic’s website, nor is it clear whether this lender considers non-traditional credit history.

Borrowers with credit scores higher than the industry average, which according to FICO stands at around 740, should not have difficulty qualifying for one of this bank’s mortgage products, though lower scores typically mean higher rates.

First Republic Phone Number & Additional Details

• Homepage URL: https://www.firstrepublic.com/
• Company Phone: 1-415-392-1400 or 1-800-392-4000
• Headquarters Address: 111 Pine Street, San Francisco, California 94111

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Christmas is still three months away, but some retailers are already starting to hire seasonal workers to keep stores adequately staffed during the busy holiday season.With low unemployment rates in most of the country, finding those workers could prove a challenge.Among the first chains to hang a "help wanted" sign is Kohl's. The Wisconsin-based department store plans to add 90,000 seasonal workers this year. Available positions can be found at [...]

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Refining an Internal Yardstick for Fulfillment

This article is something of a sequel to an article I wrote four years ago, Developing an Internal Yardstick for Fulfillment. In that article, I discussed the idea of such an internal yardstick, a concept that I originally discovered in the wonderful book Your Money or Your Life.

In summary, an internal yardstick of fulfillment is simply an internal sense of when you have “just enough” of something. In other words, when you just cross over that point of having a need or a strong want to the point where that need or want is taken care of, you’ve reached that point of “just enough.” When you go beyond that, you’re incurring more and more cost for less and less benefit in your life. The most cost-effective expenses in your life are the ones that bring you to that point of “just enough” in the significant areas of your life.

The challenge, of course, is that so many indicators in our lives push us right past that point of “just enough.” Our natural instincts do it. Our desire for social oneupmanship does it. Marketing constantly encourages us to do it. We blow by that “just enough” point all the time and it ends up costing us greatly because we’re spending money on things that aren’t really adding to our level of fulfillment. It’s just… more.

We buy a big house that goes well past that point of “just enough” and then struggle with mortgages and utility bills that squeeze us dry while rooms sit basically unused in our home.

We eat and drink expensive, high calorie foods and beverages that go a light year past “just enough” for nutrition and even far past “just enough” for the enjoyment of the food.

Our electronics, our streaming services, our collections, our clothing… it all goes far beyond the idea of fulfillment and into an area of waste, where we don’t even have the time to really enjoy what we have before we’re on to the next new thing.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to stop enjoying the good things in life – in fact, if that’s your reading, you’re reading it wrong.

You should absolutely dress as you like. The problem is when your closets are full of clothes you barely wear.

You should absolutely have meals that fulfill your nutritional needs and taste good, too. The problem is when all of your meals are expensive and indulgent and you have tons of unused food just sitting in your pantry without any plan or organization.

You should absolutely have a book to read if you want to read one. The problem is having tons of unread books, so many that you’ll honestly never get around to reading and enjoying them all.

You should absolutely have a home that has the space you need for the things you want to do. The problem is having a home that’s far past what you need and you’re struggling to keep the bills paid on it.

You should absolutely have a means of getting to everywhere you want to go in reasonable comfort. The problem is having a luxury car that drastically overshoots what you actually need for commuting.

It’s in areas like those where we drastically overshoot that sense of “just enough,” and it usually happens when our internal yardstick for fulfillment is way out of whack. It’s not giving us the feedback we need to know when we’re going way past that level of “just enough.”

So, how do we calibrate it? How do we cultivate that internal yardstick of fulfillment?

In the first post, I briefly discussed four strategies I used for cultivating that internal yardstick:

First, I think about my purchasing decisions during my spare time.

Second, I think about whether I’m actually fulfilled in each aspect of my life.

Third, I involve myself in activities that benefit others.

Finally, I discuss purchases with my wife.

These are all great strategies, but they’re really only part of the bigger picture. Here are eight strategies – four from the previous post, expanded a little, and four that I’ve found myself relying on in recent years – that can really help you refine that internal yardstick of fulfillment.

Reflect Back on Your Purchasing Decisions

As I noted in the first article, I make a regular practice of reflecting on my recent purchasing decisions as part of a broader self-reflection practice.

Whenever I’m doing something like driving on an errand or picking up a kid from a sports practice or brushing my teeth or any little task like that, I reflect on something I’ve recently done in my life and ask myself if I did it well. Was that the right way to handle it?

Often, that thought comes around to recent purchases, and I ask myself that basic fulfillment question. Did I get sufficient fulfillment and enjoyment and value out of that purchase for what I spent on it? Is there something else I could have done, like buying a lesser item or not buying anything at all?

This isn’t meant to criticize my past decisions, but instead it serves to refine my future ones. I’m imperfect and I make mistakes and that’s okay. What matters is that I see those mistakes and I strive to not repeat them. I strive to get just a little bit better each day, and an effective way to do that is to reflect on recent decisions and their outcomes.

I’ve learned, for example, that I often regret hobby purchases a little while after the fact, particularly when I have unread books or unplayed games on my shelves already. Over the last few years, that has attuned me toward spending less on those hobbies and finding other ways to seek fulfillment in those areas (something I’ll get back to below).

Another example: I usually regret non-minimal meals eaten by myself. I usually don’t regret most meals eaten with friends, particularly when the meal together is meant as a social occasion.

I catch those things with these kinds of after-action reflections, and then I follow that with thinking about how I should do things differently going forward, always aiming for that “just enough” target. I visualize future situations where I’ll do things “right” and, over time, those thoughts add up to a better internal yardstick.

Question Your Fulfillment in All Life Areas

Just ask yourself these questions:

Am I fulfilled with the current state of my health?

Am I fulfilled with the current state of my spirituality or faith?

Am I fulfilled with the current state of my marriage? My parenting? My social life?

Am I fulfilled with the current state of my finances?

Am I fulfilled with the current state of my leisure and hobbies?

Am I fulfilled with the current state of my intellectual growth?

Now, here’s the kicker: if I’m not feeling fulfilled in those areas, would buying things actually get me to a sense of fulfillment, or do I need to take action to get there?

The thing is, when we’re not actively thinking about our lives in this way, purchases can seem like a reasonable route to the kind of fulfillment we want. However, when we step back and look at the areas of our life through a lens of fulfillment, it quickly becomes clear that the thing that will bring us to fulfillment isn’t buying things, but personal effort. Buying stuff won’t make us fulfilled once we’re beyond our basic needs and a few deep wants, and this exercise reveals that.

Engage in Activities That Benefit Others

This might seem like a strange strategy at first glance, but my own experience has shown me time and time again that when you spend significant time helping others who are in a troubled place, you begin to appreciate how good your life really is.

Spend an afternoon helping people meet their basic needs – food, clothes, companionship – and then go back to your life and your life immediately looks far more amazing than it did beforehand. Just simply having your basic needs secured can feel like a wonderful thing.

Watch someone experience incredible thrill at a simple thing and you begin to appreciate it in a way that you might never have, or haven’t for a very long time.

Charitable work is an incredibly powerful way for really honing in on what you actually need to be fulfilled, and it’s surprisingly less than you think.

Have a Supportive Partner To Whom You’re Accountable

Sarah and I support each other in countless ways, but one powerful way we do it is by simply being accountable to each other. Simply put, if I can’t explain or reasonably justify something I’m doing to Sarah, it’s probably not something I should be doing at all. The reverse is true.

This isn’t policing, it’s accountability. Sarah doesn’t demand that I “report” to her, nor do I demand it from her. Rather, I just know that she has a high opinion of me and believes that I am a good person and I feel the same about her, and simply knowing that is motivation to try to make good choices in everything that I do. I want to be a good partner, in other words.

This only works if there’s a strong two way street of communication and trust in your relationship. Sarah is my partner in every sense of that word, which means that I want her to have a great life and succeed in everything she can, and to do that, I have to be the best person I can be. She does the same for me.

That’s hard in many ways, but it’s also easy because, again, it creates a certain level of baseline fulfillment in life that makes it easier to realize that a lot of things I might buy blow right on past that baseline of fulfillment. At the same time, I recognize that excessive purchasing not only buys me diminishing returns, but lets down Sarah, too.

Having a strong relationship with your partner to which you’re accountable makes it easier to have a yardstick of fulfillment right on the line of “just enough,” because there’s less desire to exceed it and a sense that exceeding it is more consequential because you’re letting that partner down.

Default Toward “Too Little” Rather Than “Too Much”

There’s a tendency in American society to default to getting “too much” rather than “too little.” We do things like ordering the bigger portion at a restaurant or buying a bigger house because we’d rather have too much food or too much space than not enough.

That perspective is almost always a short term one. You’re often left with a bunch of uneaten food or a bunch of unused space and you paid more for it.

Rather than trying to always aim for “too much,” aim for “too little.” Rather than getting the high end phone, get a lower end one that just meets your needs. Rather than getting the huge portion, get the smaller one. Rather than renting the huge apartment, get the smaller one. Rather than getting a shiny new car, get a used one that gets the job done. Rather than buying the name brand option, buy the store brand.

Most of the time, the lesser option will be perfect. On the rare occasion when it isn’t, you haven’t invested that much in the lesser option and can upgrade from there without losing too much.

Not only that, by always going for the lesser option, you’re cultivating a strong sense of what it actually takes to fulfill you. You’ll see, time and time again, that you don’t need the big or expensive or flashy or deluxe item to fit the bill, and that will help you hone in on your internal sense of fulfillment.

Give Purchasing Decisions Time To Breathe

I use two techniques for every non-essential purchase that I make.

For small purchases, I use the ten second rule – it’s usually more like thirty seconds, but you get the point. When I’m considering adding a non-essential purchase to my cart that I didn’t plan for, meaning it’s not on my shopping list, I wait ten seconds before adding it and spend that time thinking about why I shouldn’t buy it. Do I really need this thing? Don’t I already have things that fulfill that purpose? Isn’t there a less expensive version?

For bigger ones, I use the thirty day rule. When I’m thinking about a big purchase that isn’t essential and urgent, I give myself thirty days to think about it. Do I really need this item? Is there a way I can fulfill what it does with items I already have? Can I borrow this item and take care of what I need from it? Can I get it used? Can I get it at a lower price? Will I actually even use it? I’m mostly trying to convince myself that I don’t need or want it, and often a thirty day waiting period is enough to nudge me away from the purchase.

Those two tools are invaluable in terms of giving me time to actually incorporate that yardstick of fulfillment into my purchase rather than just acting rashly and quickly when it’s time to buy.

Cultivate Hobbies and Life Choices Centered Around Doing and Achieving and Completing Rather Than Accumulating

What you’re trying to do here is reorient your internal sense of fulfillment away from the things you acquire and toward the things that you do. Rather than having a sense that you need to buy a book to feel fulfilled, you want to have a sense that reading a book is what brings you fulfillment. Rather than having a sense that you need to buy a computer game to feel fulfilled, you want to have a sense that mastering a computer game is what brings you fulfillment. This goes for almost every hobby or passion you might have – focus on achieving and enjoying things rather than acquiring things and spending money.

What you’ll find is that your internal yardstick of fulfillment begins to recognize that unplanned hobby spending isn’t going to fulfill you and your mind starts to flag it as unnecessary spending. After a while, things like the thirty day rule and the ten second rule, noted above, become very effective at filtering out nonessential expenses because you recognize that doing things is where the fulfillment comes from, not buying stuff.

I keep a careful list of the books I’ve read and the tabletop games I’ve played. I get a lot of value these days from having a long list of books I’ve read, and much less value from an overstuffed bookshelf. I get a lot of value from having played a lot of games (I usually aim to play 20 different games 10 times each in a given year) and less value from shoving more games on my shelves. I get a lot of value out of making interested fermented foods and having lots of batches of them going and much less value out of purchasing less kitchen gear.

In short, I realized that stuff doesn’t fulfill me – it’s just a quick and very empty burst of pleasure. What does fulfill me is actually putting aside time for my hobbies and interests. I literally block off time on my calendar for things like reading or playing complex tabletop games or making fermented foods or going on hikes or geocaching.

If You Have Unused or Little-Used Stuff, Use It or Ditch It Before Buying More

For example, if you have unread books on your shelf and you’re tempted to buy a new book, that new book won’t fulfill you. It’ll give you this brief burst of pleasure that almost immediately fades and then you have another unread book to jam on a shelf and you also have $10-20 less in your pocket. Neither of those things are wins.

The same is true for almost everything in your house. If you have stuff in your home that’s unused or scarcely used, use it before buying more similar items. If you have barely-worn clothes, wear them. If you have a barely-used fermenting crock, use it. If you have an unplayed board game, play it.

If, for some reason, you realize you actually don’t want that item, get rid of it. Sell it off. Swap it. At the same time, ask yourself why you picked it up in the first place if you have no interest in using it, and use that line of thought to modify your internal yardstick. Yep, this circles right back to that first strategy of reflecting on your purchases. Why didn’t you want this item? Figure that out and use that revelation to avoid purchases in the future.

An unused item on your shelf or in your closet or pantry that you no longer want is an absolute sign that your internal yardstick of fulfillment needs some attention and care.

Final Thoughts

Here’s the thing: you change all the time as a person. That change is gradual, but it’s real, and it’s because of that change that your internal sense of what fulfills you often slowly drifts away from what actually fulfills you over time.

That’s why these strategies should be a regular part of your life, especially ones that involve reflecting on purchases and being patient about them. Give yourself some time to figure out what you really want, and as you think about those things, you’ll find that your internal yardstick for fulfillment will keep up with where you’re at and be a useful instinct for you rather than something that’s out of line with your life.

Good luck!

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