Editorial policy

How we report, score, and correct

Rate data

Our weekly rate table reports national averages. It is not a survey: we do not collect quotes from Michigan lenders.

• 30-year and 15-year fixed, FHA, VA and jumbo: the Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). They average the rates borrowers actually locked across a large share of U.S. mortgages. We read them on the date of Freddie Mac's Thursday benchmark release and update every Friday.
• Refinance: no public index publishes refinance rates, so we show the conforming 30-year plus 0.125 points. That figure is our assumption, not a measurement.
• APR: the rate plus a fixed spread per loan type, which approximates typical fees and, for FHA, mortgage insurance. Also an approximation.

These figures are national and we do not adjust them for Michigan; a Michigan quote can land above or below them. They also average every borrower who locked, so your own rate depends on your credit, down payment, property and points. Use the table for direction and rough level. It is never a rate a lender has offered or must honor. Your Loan Estimate is the only number that binds a lender.

Before October 2026 the method was different: the 30- and 15-year figures were Freddie Mac's PMMS plus a small fixed adjustment, and FHA, VA, jumbo and refinance were modeled from the 30-year's weekly change. Weekly posts from that period used that method.

Lender scores

Each lender's score (1–5) is an editorial rating that sums up the review on its page: product range (including FHA, VA, USDA, construction and MSHDA), Michigan presence, published credit and down-payment minimums, and the pros and cons we list. It is a judgment, not the output of a formula, and it is not based on rate quotes. Lenders cannot pay to be reviewed, to improve a score, or to remove a review. We re-score twice a year and date every review.

Sources

Program details cite the administering agency: MSHDA for state programs, HUD for FHA limits, the VA for funding fees, county registers for recording costs. Where we estimate (property taxes, insurance), we say so on the page.

AI assistance

Drafting tools may assist research and first drafts. Every published number, program rule, and lender fact is verified by a human editor against a primary source before publication — and the editor, not the tool, is accountable for it.

Corrections

Errors are corrected within two business days of verification and annotated on the page. Report one: [email protected].