{"id":5864,"date":"2025-04-01T13:07:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T18:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/?p=5864"},"modified":"2025-07-28T10:10:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T15:10:56","slug":"review-berkshire-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/review-berkshire-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Mortgage Review: Berkshire Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Berkshire Bank is a large regional bank headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, which manages several billion dollars in assets. While the bank emphasizes community engagement and personalized service, it operates at scale, with branches across Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Berkshire offers a wide range of residential mortgage products, including programs aimed at first-time and low-to-moderate-income buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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See today\u2019s mortgage interest rates on\u00a0TrueRate<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Berkshire Bank compares to other lenders<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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Headquarters <\/strong><\/td>Boston, MA<\/td><\/tr>
Website<\/strong><\/td>https:\/\/www.berkshirebank.com\/<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Rate<\/strong><\/td>0.21% lower than the median rate<\/td><\/tr>
Lender fees<\/strong><\/td>$1,300 (median)<\/td><\/tr>
Savings after 1 year, compared to the median interest rate<\/strong><\/td>$1,045<\/td><\/tr>
Savings after 10 years, compared to the median interest rate<\/strong><\/td>$7,102<\/td><\/tr>
Added cost after 1 year (vs. Tomo Mortgage<\/a>) <\/strong><\/td>$1,533<\/td><\/tr>
Added cost after 10 years (vs. Tomo Mortgage<\/a>) <\/strong><\/td>$4,081<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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For a $400,000 mortgage, Berkshire Bank\u2019s rates\u2014about 0.21% below the market average\u2014and a $1,300 lender fee translate to an estimated savings of $1,045 in the first year and about $7,100 over 10 years compared to the median lender. However, borrowers comparing offers from ultra-low-cost lenders like Tomo Mortgage may still see several thousand dollars in additional long-term savings\u2014so rate shopping remains essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What customers are saying<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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Berkshire Bank is recognized for its community involvement and in-person service at local branches. However, third-party reviews on platforms like Yelp and Reddit frequently cite poor customer service, frequent processing errors, and inconsistent experiences during the mortgage process. Many borrowers report frustration with bureaucracy, inefficiency, delays in processing, lack of transparency during underwriting, and inconsistent information from representatives. Some borrowers have abandoned their mortgage applications mid-transaction due to these issues. Overall, Berkshire Bank\u2019s mortgage lending is best for those needing flexible programs but willing to risk inconsistent service and communication challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to compare mortgage lenders<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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Interest rates.<\/strong> Comparing rates between lenders isn\u2019t always straightforward. Many promote low headline rates that require paying \u201cpoints\u201d upfront to buy down the interest rate. To make a true comparison, focus on the par rate (0 points) and the APR, which reflects both the interest rate and any lender fees. Even small differences can translate into significant savings over the life of the loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lender fees or loan origination fees.<\/strong> Many lenders charge fees that add thousands to the cost of a loan. It’s important to look at both the rate and the fees together to understand the true cost of borrowing. For a $400,000 mortgage, avoiding even a $1,000 fee could contribute to meaningful savings in the first year and over the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On-time close rate.<\/strong> Most lenders do not publicly share their on-time close rates. However, it\u2019s a critical factor\u2014especially if your home contract has tight deadlines. Asking about their process for meeting close dates, including underwriting and document review timelines, can give you more confidence when choosing a lender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pre-approval and offer letters.<\/strong> Some lenders offer fast pre-qualifications that may not be fully underwritten, which can weaken your offer in competitive markets. It\u2019s important to ask whether a lender\u2019s pre-approvals are fully underwritten and how credible their letters are when presented with an offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Customer satisfaction.<\/strong> If detailed customer review data isn\u2019t readily available, check third-party review sites or ask the lender for references. It’s important to understand how they handle communication, responsiveness, and issue resolution throughout the loan process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Employee reviews.<\/strong> Company culture often influences how clients are treated. A lender with strong employee satisfaction typically delivers better service, more organized processing, and a smoother overall experience for borrowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better understand how we compare mortgage rates fairly, see our TrueRate Methodology<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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See Tomo Mortgage\u2019s rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

TrueRate Analyst<\/a><\/p>

Our team uses TrueRate to analyze hundreds of thousands of real loans, apples-to-apples, so that we can give people a clear and objective view of a mortgage lender’s history. We also look at customer reviews on websites like the Better Business Bureau, Yelp, Google, Bankrate, Zillow, court filings and official actions, and a wide range of other objective data. The goal is simple: show who\u2019s been fair historically, and who hasn\u2019t, so homebuyers have the information they need to save as much money as possible.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

If you’re ready to start your journey to homeownership, get pre-approved with Tomo Mortgage today<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Berkshire Bank is a large regional bank headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, which manages several billion dollars in assets. While the bank emphasizes community engagement and personalized service, it operates at scale, with branches across Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Berkshire offers a wide range […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":6020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[286],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lender-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/berkshire.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5864"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7035,"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5864\/revisions\/7035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}