A Better Mortgage Company Reviews

Is Better The Best Mortgage Lender For You

So what should you take away from this Better mortgage review?

Well, that Better Price Guarantee may be enough to get you to apply all on its own. Who wouldnt want the chance to save or make $100?

And applying might be a good idea anyway. You may well end up with a better deal than you could find elsewhere.

But there are exceptions. You wont get far if you want a VA or USDA loan, or if you live in Nevada. Similarly, if youre not excited about an online mortgage application process, then you may not be happy with this lender.

The bottom line: As with all lenders, compare the service youd receive from Better as well as the companys rates and fees. Thats the best way to find out if a mortgage lender is right for you.

I Had A Wonderful Experience With

I had a wonderful experience with better mortgage. They are so helpful. Everything was line up so i was wondering or confused that wat the next step is. What happened what gonna happen what the next step gonna be everything was there and explained. Ppl was telling me how i made a mistake to get bank online and i was new. But they helped in every step and make everything for me. Thank you very much michelle shah and all the team.

Date of experience:November 24, 2021

Reply from Better

Hi Suchpreet – Thank you for your review! We are so glad to hear you had such a great experience and would love the opportunity to work with you or your loved ones again in the future.

Better Mortgage Interest Rates And Fees

On Better Mortgage’s website, click the “Rates” drop-down menu and select purchase or refinance rates. You can enter basic information, including your zip code, credit score range, home value, and down payment, to see a personalized rate.

This probably won’t be exactly the rate you’ll end up paying, but it should give you an idea. And not all online lenders give you ways to see customized rates.

To get a more accurate rate quote, you’ll have to provide some contact information to get a basic preapproval letter. This doesn’t require a hard credit check.

Better doesn’t charge lender fees such as application, underwriting, or origination fees. You will still have to pay third-party fees on services like an appraisal or inspection, though.

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Better Mortgage Rates And Fees

Better provides mortgage rate quotes on 10-, 15-, 20- and 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, and ARMs with 5-, 7- and 10-year initial fixed rates. Their online quotes are based on five factors:

• Whether youre a first-time homebuyer
• What ZIP code youre buying in
• The homes purchase price
• The property type
• Your credit score range
• Your down payment amount

Better claims not to charge lender fees, which means that your closing costs likely wont include application, origination, processing or underwriting fees. While this does streamline things, it doesnt necessarily spell great or any savings for the borrower. Many lenders making similar offers will simply build these fees into another part of the loan. Be sure to shop around for the best deal, and dont forget to compare both the interest rates and annual percentage rates on any loan offers you consider.

Refinancing With Better Mortgage

In addition to home purchase loans, homeowners interested in refinancing their current mortgages may find what theyre looking for with Betters lineup of refinance loans. These include rate-and-term refinancing and cash-out refinancing.

Whether you want to lower your monthly payments, drop mortgage insurance, cash out home equity, or change your loan term, Better says it can provide preapproval in minutes.

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Does Better Operate In My Area

Better originates loans in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Better Mortgage Vs Rocket Mortgage

Guild Mortgage has more mortgage options than Better Mortgage, so Guild might be a better choice if you want a large number of options to choose from, or if you need a more unique type of mortgage. Guild Mortgage also lets you use non-traditional credit to apply if you’re a first-time homebuyer with no traditional credit score.

Guild Mortgage may charge more fees, though. If you’re looking for a conforming or jumbo mortgage, Better Mortgage might be the more affordable option.

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Don’t Waste Your Time

If you don’t reside in the US, don’t waste your time with better.com – don’t go through their entire process just because their advisors on the phone tell you that they can help you with a mortgage, because they really Don’t trust what their advisors on the phone tell you and absolutely don’t pay the appraisal until they tell you that they can do the mortgage.

Date of experience:October 20, 2022

Reply from Better

Hello Alana, thank you for your review. We’re sorry to hear the difficulties you’ve embraced and would like to look further into this matter. Please email [email protected] and one of our Client Advocates will be happy to assist you. We hope to hear from you soon.

Better Mortgage Review: Variety Of Loan Types

Better offers a variety of fixed- and adjustable-rate purchase and refinance loans, including conventional loans with 3% down payments and 10%-down jumbo loans. Better doesn’t offer USDA loans, or home equity loans or lines of credit.

However, Better has partnered with Notable Finance to offer the “Better Home Card,” a credit line of up to $50,000 for use on home-related purchases or home improvements. Customers who closed a purchase or refinance mortgage with the lender may be eligible.

Better guarantees and cash offer program: The lender offers a guarantee that your purchase loan will close on time if it doesnt in most cases Better will pay you $2,000. This guarantee is available in the states where Better originates loans, except for New York.

Better also offers a program that enables prospective home buyers in certain markets to make cash offers. To take advantage of the program, a buyer needs to get preapproved for a mortgage with Better. After the mortgage is underwritten, a buyer works with the agent to make an all-cash offer on a home. When a seller accepts the offer, Better pays cash for the home, and the buyer can move in while the mortgage is being processed. Once the home loan is finalized, the buyer purchases the property back from Better at the original sale price. Buyers save on fees if they work with a Better real estate agent and finance the purchase with a Better mortgage.

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Applying For A Mortgage From Bettercom

Better provides fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages for borrowers looking for conventional or jumbo loans.

You can also get an FHA loan from Better. Because FHA loans are insured by the government, its possible to qualify with a lower credit score, a higher debt-to-income ratio, and a lower down payment.

Better also indicates it will work with buyers who have income from non-traditional sources, and it will provide assistance to borrowers in finding income-based discounts or homeownership assistance programs in their individual states.

Applying for a loan with Better is very simple. The steps involved include:

• Providing basic information about the property
• Undergoing a soft credit check, which doesnt affect your score
• Receiving details about home loans you could be eligible for, including rates and terms for different mortgage types
• Talking with a dedicated loan officer who will provide additional support throughout the application process
• Submitting financial documents and information as requested
• Obtaining an official loan estimate and locking in your interest rate

After you have locked in your rate, you can typically close on your loan in just three to six weeks, which is a far shorter time period than it takes many lenders to get to closing.

Very Easy And Convenient Experience In

Very easy and convenient experience in refinancing our mortgage. Lance and his team were easily accessible and able and willing to answer questions and guide us through the hole process. We never had to leave our home. The appraisal was coordinated by Better and the closing was in our home – both at our convenience.

Date of experience:December 17, 2021

Reply from Better

Hello Ron, thank you for the review. We are so glad the experience of working with Better was streamlined and convenient for you. We would love the opportunity to assist you or your loved ones again in the future!

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A Better Experience With Better

My experience with Better just kept getting better and better. We could not be more pleased. The team was responsive and understanding. Buying a new home can be stressful. The Better team took away some of that stress. They were knowledgeable and helpful. My Realtor was also very impressed. Aimee was hesitant when I said I was going with an online company. But she is singing your praises now. The online process was streamlined and easy to use. Thanks so much!

Date of experience:September 26, 2022

Reply from Better

Hi Kathryn, thank you for your review! We are so grateful to hear you had such a positive experience working with Better and that your realtor has felt the same. We would love the opportunity to work with you again in the future!

Low Rates And Price Guarantee

Better beats most of its competitors because of their lower mortgage rates and fewer charges or fees. The price guarantee, though, shows how confident Better is with their pricing that they are willing to cut you a deal.

In this $1,000-deal, Better will try to beat the offer of a competitor. If they cant, you get to keep the money. Who wouldnt take this chance, right?

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I Had A Fantastic Experience Working

I had a fantastic experience working with Elie Khouri at Better.com. Ive done several refis and property purchases over the years. The lending process has ALWAYS been a nightmare!! My experience has left me feeling awful and blindsided. Working with Elie Khouri at Better.com was an ABSOLUTE PLEASURE!! I would recommend Mr Khouri to anyone at any stage of their lending process.

Date of experience:March 10, 2022

Reply from Better

Hi Elene – thank you for your review. We will be sure to share your kind words with Elie’s manager and are so grateful she was able to offer such high level service! If there is anything we can assist you with in the future, please feel free to reach out!

Better Mortgages Full Review

Better Mortgage is an entirely online lender that has funded nearly $31 billion in home loans since it was established in 2016. Based in New York City, Better.com offers mortgages across 46 states and Washington, D.C.

Better Mortgage was recently named one of the best online mortgage lenders by NextAdvisor because it offers unique borrower incentives and a streamlined online platform where borrowers can get a mortgage pre-approval letter within minutes. A few disadvantages are that this lender isnt available in every state and lacks some major mortgage options. Heres what to know before applying with Better Mortgage.

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Types Of Mortgages Better Does Not Offer

Better.com does not have a comprehensive range of mortgage products. They lack the USDA and VA loans which most mortgage lenders have. This means they will not be good option for certain borrowers.

Other loans that are not part of Better.coms mortgage products are:

• Foreclosed homes or owned by a bank

On the other hand, they do provide home mortgage options for investment properties. And they have low-payment incentives for owner-occupied purchases that allow eligible buyers to buy as little as 3% of the purchase price down.

How We Review Mortgage Lenders

Investopedia is dedicated to providing consumers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of mortgage lenders. We rated 45 mortgage lenders and collected nearly 1,500 data points, including information about the following:

• Quality of service
• Operational features
• Loan types offered

We also conducted a survey of 1,195 mortgage borrowers to learn about the most important features from a customer perspective and how satisfied customers are with various lenders. Mortgage lenders were rated objectively in the categories above to help readers make informed decisions about home loans.

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What Borrowers Say About Better Mortgage

NerdWallets lender star ratings assess objective qualities, including rates, fees and loan offerings. To assess borrowers subjective experiences with lenders, NerdWallet has gathered customer satisfaction ratings from J.D. Power and Zillow.

• Better Mortgage receives an 692 out of 1,000 in J.D. Powers 2022 U.S. Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study. The industry average for origination is 716.

• Better Mortgage receives a customer rating of 4.4 out of 5 on Zillow, as of the date of publication. The score reflects more than 860 customer reviews.

Strung Along And Then Denied

My experience with this internet based mortgage company was very unsatisfactory. After several weeks of supplying an endless list of documents for a refinance of a single family private residence and being self employed, my loan application was denied. The denial was simply on the basis that my business lost money due to Covid state travel restrictions in 2020 after over 20 years of generating significant annual net income over $100,000. My credit, loan to value, payment history, assets were all very strong as they acknowledged. The extremely disappointing aspect of this interaction is that they did not tell me that I would not qualify up front which would have saved considerable wasted effort on my part. Their approach to assigning tasks for obtaining information at first appeared efficient and doable except after completing the first batch of tasks, more were assigned. The task process seemed to go on endlessly with no end in sight. As I said, a simple inperson interview could have avoided all the wasted effort on my part. They operate very decentralized with a very impersonal approach. I definitely would not recommend dealing with Better Mortgage as in my experience they did not live up in any way to their company name.

Date of experience:April 21, 2021

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Types Of Loans Offered By Better Mortgage

Home loan options from Better include:

• Conventional loans: This loan option conforms to loan limits set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are currently $ in most parts of the country. In some instances, home buyers can qualify for a conventional mortgage with as little as 3% down payment and a FICO score of 620
• FHA loans: FHA mortgages are backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and let you buy with a down payment as low as 3.5%. They also tend to have more flexible credit report prerequisites, but Betters minimum credit score is 620. Keep in mind this type of loan requires mortgage insurance premiums for the life of the loan
• Jumbo loans: Jumbo mortgages are for people who need a bigger loan than the conforming loan limit. Better allows loan amounts up to $3 million
• Fixed-rate mortgages: A fixed-rate mortgage locks in your interest rate for the entire loan period. Better offers loan terms of 15, 20, or 30-year fixed-rate loans
• Adjustable-rate mortgages: ARMs have an interest rate thats locked for the first 5, 7, or 10 years. After that, your mortgage rate floats with the market

Better also offers Fannie Maes HomeReady loan program, which is meant to help borrowers with lower income and limited cash for a down payment.

Its also worth noting that Better might be able to help you if you have above-average levels of debt.

Real estate investors can also finance the purchase of an investment property with a Better home loan.

Compare To Other Lenders

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How We Evaluated Better Mortgage Mortgage Lenders

Our evaluation of Better Mortgage starts with a list of the companys loan products, services and lending requirements. Next, we searched for relevant awards or third-party ratings, as well as any regulatory and legal actions against the company.

To evaluate the lenders accessibility, we explored its online platform, reviewed the application process and sent queries to customer service reps.

We also read customer reviews and complaints across three platforms: TrustPilot, BBB and the CFPBs consumer complaint database.

Lastly, we scheduled a short interview with Vishal Garg, Better Mortgages CEO and founder, to better understand how the company serves homebuyers and what sets it apart from traditional mortgage lenders.