Better Mortgage

Better Mortgage is a direct lender with fully online loan options, simple applications and fast approvals. It offers home purchasing and refinancing options for borrowers, and it provides fast loan processing through an algorithm that matches borrowers to suitable investors. Its preapprovals don’t affect your credit score, and it doesn’t charge lender, application, processing, underwriting or commission fees.

Better offers conventional and jumbo loans with 15-, 20- or 30-year terms and fixed interest rates. It also has variable-rate options. It provides funds for single-family and multifamily homes, townhouses, condos and planned unit development. Better also has loans for foreclosed and bank-owned properties with a C4 rating or higher. It partners with Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, KPCB, American Express, Ally, Pine Brook and Activant.

To qualify for Better, your debt-to-income ratio must be no higher than 35%, and you’ll have to pay closing costs out of pocket. If you buy a home with an agent from Better Real Estate, you’ll save one-eighth of a percentage point on your Better mortgage interest rate. Check current rates on the company’s website (updated in real time). Its customer service is available by email, chat or phone. Better advertises that it closes loans up to ten days faster than the industry standard.

After you submit the application, Better assigns you a loan officer. Within three days of receiving your application, it sends an estimate for your loan, interest rate, monthly payment and closing costs. It guarantees to match any valid competitor’s offer. According to Better, the average new homebuyer saves $19,600 and the average refinance customer saves $7,300 by working with the company. Once you accept an offer, log in to your account any time to see the loan’s progress.

Better is transparent about its rates on its website. Due to the ever-changing loan marketplaces, though, mortgage interest rates vary widely. Better does charge some additional fees, including escrow deposit and prepaid interest, but it doesn’t make you pay an origination fee. The majority of Better’s mortgage loans over the past year averaged from $150 to $3,500 in closing costs.

If you have solid borrower qualifications and want to streamline the mortgage application process, you’ll likely benefit from Better’s online loan-matching and approval system. While it can’t offer closing services online, Better backs up its digital experience with personalized customer support to guide you through the borrowing process. It doesn’t charge lender or unwriting fees, and its loan officers don’t depend on commissions — so they shouldn’t try to oversell you.