Safe Rate Rankings

Best Mortgage Lenders in Fort Smith

Updated February 5, 2026

⚖️ The 4 PsRankings are calculated based on observed lender differences on closed loans across Pricing, Pull-through, Product, and Place.

🛡️ No Pay to PlayLenders cannot buy their way to the top. Rankings are 100% earned.

📊 HMDA 2024Built using publicly available originated loan data from the federal government.

🎯 Peer BenchmarkedPerformance is normalized and benchmarked against peer institutions.

Market

Total Lenders40

Total Loans2,045

Median Rate Spread0.34%

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Rank	Lender	Overall	Pricing	Pull Through	Place	Avg Fees	Rate Spread	# of Loans
1	Firstar BankBank	Exceptional	Strong	Exceptional	Exceptional	$1,390Fees	0.098%Above	396
2	FIRST WESTERN MORTGAGE, INC.Independent Mortgage Company	Exceptional	Exceptional	Sound	Strong	$1,772Fees	0.002%Below	53
3	UNITED FEDERAL CREDIT UNIONCredit Union	Strong	Strong	Strong	Strong	$1,392Fees	0.274%Above	51
4	NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNIONCredit Union	Strong	Exceptional	Sound	Sound	$647Fees	0.435%Below	20
5	The First National Bank of Fort SmithBank	Strong	Sound	Strong	Strong	$1,690Fees	0.250%Above	100
6	Cadence BankBank	Strong	Sound	Strong	Strong	$1,735Fees	0.321%Above	91
7	First Financial BankBank	Strong	Sound	Strong	Strong	$2,342Fees	0.128%Above	72
8	FLAT BRANCH MORTGAGE, INC.Independent Mortgage Company	Strong	Sound	Exceptional	Sound	$1,889Fees	0.289%Above	33
9	LENDLO MORTGAGE, LLCIndependent Mortgage Company	Strong	Sound	Exceptional	Sound	$3,121Fees	0.661%Above	28
10	Arvest BankBank	Strong	Acceptable	Strong	Exceptional	$2,107Fees	0.378%Above	287
11	ROCKET MORTGAGE, LLCIndependent Mortgage Company	Strong	Acceptable	Exceptional	Strong	$3,688Fees	0.513%Above	181
12	SWBC MORTGAGE CORPORATIONIndependent Mortgage Company	Strong	Acceptable	Exceptional	Strong	$3,620Fees	0.015%Above	61
13	Regions BankBank	Strong	Sound	Strong	Sound	$2,010Fees	0.252%Above	30
14	ARKANSAS Federal Credit UnionCredit Union	Strong	Sound	Strong	Sound	$2,188Fees	0.148%Below	26
15	LOANDEPOT.COM, LLCIndependent Mortgage Company	Strong	Sound	Strong	Sound	$2,851Fees	0.265%Above	22
16	Mortgage Research Center, LLCIndependent Mortgage Company	Strong	Acceptable	Strong	Strong	$549Credit	0.598%Above	80
17	FIRST COMMUNITY MORTGAGE, INC.Independent Mortgage Company	Strong	Acceptable	Exceptional	Sound	$3,495Fees	0.421%Above	40
18	FAIRWAY INDEPENDENT MORTGAGE CORPORATIONIndependent Mortgage Company	Strong	Acceptable	Exceptional	Sound	$3,583Fees	0.736%Above	33
19	Bank of EnglandBank	Sound	Acceptable	Strong	Sound	$1,888Fees	0.074%Above	27
20	HIGHLANDS RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE, LTD.Independent Mortgage Company	Sound	Mediocre	Strong	Strong	$2,681Fees	0.486%Above	114
21	Armstrong BankBank	Sound	Mediocre	Acceptable	Sound	$2,090Fees	0.740%Above	25

How We Rank Lenders

Our rankings use geometric mean scoring across equally-weighted categories. This rewards lenders who perform consistently well across all metrics, not just excel in one area.

Our Point System (Max 30 Points)

Pricing

Rate and fee competitiveness (33%)

Pull Through

Reliability in closing loans (33%)

Place

Local market expertise (33%)

Data Integrity & Updates

Data is updated quarterly based on the latest HMDA filings and proprietary SafeRate analysis. All metrics are calculated using standardized methodologies to ensure fair comparison across lenders.