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Business Insider's personal finance team evaluated Better Mortgage and found it to be one of the best mortgage lenders available thanks to its convenient online process and low rates and fees.
Better Mortgage offers a convenient digital experience, has good customer reviews, and lets you easily see personalized rates on its website. But if you need a more niche type of mortgage, you'll need to look elsewhere, since Better's offerings are relatively basic.
620
3%
Conforming, jumbo, FHA, VA, HELOC, HELOAN
- See personalized interest rates online before applying
- Get preapproved in 3 minutes
- Low average rates
- Only available online
- No USDA mortgages, reverse mortgages, or construction loans
- Doesn't accept non-traditional credit
Better Mortgage is one of our best mortgage lenders. It offers a convenient online experience and lets you easily see personalized rates online. But Better's mortgage offerings are fairly limited.
- Online-only mortgage lender
- Offers mortgages in every U.S. state and Washington, D.C.
- Does not accept alternative data to a credit score — it will complete a hard credit inquiry
- Minimum credit score and down payment displayed are for conforming mortgages
Overview of Better Mortgage and Its Place in the Digital Lending Landscape
Better Mortgage is an online mortgage lender available in all 50 US states and Washington, DC.
In 2021, it ranked 17 out of 25 of the largest mortgage lenders in the country by number of loans originated. But in 2022, it fell off the top 25 list, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Better Mortgage Products Offered
Conventional Loans
Better Mortgage offers conforming loans, which are the most popular type of mortgage. You'll need a credit score of 620 or higher and at least a 3% down payment.
Jumbo Loans
Better's jumbo loans come in amounts up to $3 million. They require a minimum 700 credit score and a down payment above 10%.
FHA Loans
To get an FHA loan from Better, you'll need a minimum 580 credit score and a down payment of 3.5%.
VA Loans
This lender offers VA loans to eligible borrowers who have a credit score of at least 620.
Home Equity Loans and HELOCs
Better also offers both home equity loans and home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs.
HOPE Grant
Better also has a grant that provides up to $5,000 for eligible borrowers to put toward their down payment or closing costs.
Better Mortgage Interest Rates and Fees
Competitive Rates, Standard Fees
On Better Mortgage's website, navigate to the "Rates" page and select purchase or refinance rates to see sample mortgage rates based on your ZIP code.
This probably won't be exactly the rate you'll end up paying, but it should give you an idea. 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.
Based on Business Insider's review of the latest Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, Better Mortgage's rates were significantly lower than average in 2023.
HMDA data also showed that the average borrower getting a conventional mortgage from this lender paid $3,730 in origination charges last year. This is average compared to other lenders.
Better Mortgage Overall Lender Rating
Loan Types: 3.5 out of 5
Better Mortgage doesn't offer a huge range of loan options, but the loans it does offer will likely suit most borrowers, since conforming, FHA, and VA loans are the three most common types of mortgages. But if you're looking to explore your options or get a more niche type of mortgage, you'll want to look elsewhere.
Affordability: 4.5 out of 5
Better earns points in affordability for offering down payment assistance and having multiple low down payment mortgage options. And in some cases, you may be able to get a loan with Better even if you've recently experienced a negative credit event, such as a foreclosure.
Its low rates also make it an affordable lender. But its fees are just average.
Customer Satisfaction: 3.6 out of 5
On its Zillow lender page, Better has a rating of 4.39 out of 5 stars based on over 800 customer reviews. On TrustPilot, it earned 4.4 out of 5 stars based on over 1,000 customer reviews. But in J.D. Power's 2023 U.S. Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study, which measures customer satisfaction, Better ranked below the industry average.
Trustworthiness: 4.5 out of 5
We think Better Mortgage is an overall trustworthy company, and based on customer reviews, it's clear that many borrowers have a good experience with this lender.
The Better Business Bureau gives Better Mortgage an A rating, rather than A+, due to customer complaints against the lender. A strong BBB grade indicates a company is honest in its advertising, transparent about business practices, and effective in responding to customer complaints.
Better doesn't have any public scandals. But its founder and CEO, Vishal Garg, does have one. In late 2021, he laid off around 900 employees in a single Zoom call. Then in an anonymous forum, he accused "at least 250" of those who had been laid off of working just two hours a day.
Better Mortgage Pros and Cons
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Advantages of Choosing Better Mortgage
Better Mortgage's quick basic preapproval is a nice benefit if you're trying to get an idea of how much you can afford, since it takes just a few minutes and only requires a soft credit check — though if you're getting ready to start making offers on homes, we'd recommend going with the lender's verified preapproval so you know your finances have been fully vetted.
Potential Drawbacks to Consider
Better is an online-only lender, so if you prefer an in-person experience, you'll need to go elsewhere. It also doesn't offer less common types of mortgages like physician mortgages or non-QM loans.
How to Apply With Better Mortgage
What You Need to Know About Better's Preapproval Process
Better offers two different types of preapproval letters. The first is a basic mortgage preapproval letter, which utilizes a soft credit pull and information you provide to determine whether you qualify and how much you can borrow (some might call this a prequalification, though lenders often use the terms interchangeably). Its verified preapproval letter, on the other hand, provides more certainty because it requires you to upload documents verifying your financial situation.
If you're getting ready to start making offers on houses, it's better to have a verified preapproval, since you want to be certain that you're likely to be approved for the amount stated in your preapproval letter.
Better One Day Mortgage
Once you've made an offer on a home and it's been accepted, you may also be able to use Better's One Day Mortgage. This feature gives eligible borrowers a conditional commitment letter within 24 hours of locking in their rate. With this letter, the lender agrees to give you a mortgage, as long as you continue to meet its requirements and the home you're buying doesn't have any significant issues (such as a low appraisal).
One Day Mortgage isn't available for FHA or VA loans. To find out if you qualify for One Day Mortgage, you'll first need to go through basic preapproval. If you qualify for this feature, you'll receive an email from the lender letting you know.
Better Mortgage Customer Experiences
Business Insider looked at positive and negative customer reviews, online forums, BBB complaints, and other sources to understand what borrowers think about Better Mortgage. Here are our takeaways.
Easy Online Experience
Many previous Better Mortgage borrowers spoke highly of the technology Better uses to get you through the loan process. They say it was easy to upload documents to their online portals and see what other tasks they needed to complete to move the process along.
Weak Preapproval Letters
We saw some Better customers complaining about the lender's preapproval letters, saying that they aren't completely accurate.
When you get a preapproval letter from Better, the lender does a soft pull of your credit and relies on self-reported information about your income and assets. While this can give you an idea of how much you'll ultimately qualify for and what rate you'll get, it's not as reliable as having the lender look at your financial documents (like paystubs and tax returns) to verify how much you can afford.
This is why we recommend getting a verified preapproval from Better if you're serious about starting the homebuying process.
Spotty Communication
Some previous borrowers said that their loan officers were sometimes difficult to reach or seemed to lack a sense of urgency. This could be a problem if you're planning to buy a home, since home purchase contracts typically have tighter and stricter deadlines than borrowers who are refinancing do.
How Better Mortgage Compares to Other Lenders
Better Mortgage vs. Guild 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. But Better offers lower rates and a super convenient online process.
Guild Mortgage's Complete Rate program lets you use non-traditional credit (such as rent or utility payment history) to apply if you're a first-time homebuyer with no traditional credit score.
Both are strong online lenders, so it could be worth applying with both to see which one can offer you the best deal overall.
Better Mortgage vs. Sage Mortgage
Sage Mortgage is a relatively new mortgage lender that is similar to Better Mortgage. It offers conforming, FHA, VA, and jumbo loans. Sage Mortgage's average rates are relatively low. Sage's fees are slightly higher than average.
If you're looking for down payment assistance, you'll likely prefer Better thanks to its HOPE grant. Better also has options for tapping into your home's equity with a home equity loan or HELOC, while Sage does not.
Better Mortgage FAQs
Yes, Better Mortgage is a real mortgage lending company that's been around since 2014.
Better Mortgage is a reputable company overall with an A rating from the BBB.
Better doesn't say what fees it charges, but we found that the average conventional loan borrower paid $3,730 in origination charges with Better in 2022, which is average compared to other lenders.
Yes, Better Mortgage is available in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, DC.
Overall, Better has a lot of positive online customer reviews, and many customers like how easy Better's process is.
Better Mortgage may be a good lender for refinancing your mortgage. It offers both traditional rate-and-term and cash-out refinancing.
Better Mortgage is a direct lender, meaning you'll apply through Better and it will be the entity that provides you with your mortgage. This differs from a mortgage broker, who helps connect you with a lender but doesn't actually lend the funds themselves.
According to its website, it takes an average of 34 days to close with Better Mortgage.
Better was founded in 2014 by Vishal Garg.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Better Mortgage
For our review of Better Mortgage, we used our methodology for reviewing mortgage lenders.
We look at four factors — loan types, affordability, customer satisfaction, and trustworthiness — and give each a rating between 1 and 5, then we average these individual ratings for the overall lender rating. Lenders get higher ratings if they offer a high number of loan types with affordable features, have positive customer reviews, and don't have any recent public controversies.
