This article will help you apply for a Better mortgage as well as tersely equip you with the knowledge about the company by providing a review
Unlike older times, mortgages, as it stands now, can easily be availed of with the coming of various lending companies. Amidst the unabated competition, lenders strive to provide better options across several domains. One such lender around whose axis we will be revolving around today is Better.com, backed by Softbank and Novator and provides loans to 46 US states except Washington DC, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New Hampshire. To encapsulate the virtues of the company, it is great for those seeking a low-fee option given that you have a good credit score (minimum 620).
Apply for a Better mortgage and get a home loan
It will be prudent to divide the whole Better.com into stages rather than steps, which are as follows
1. Get a pre-approval
- The first thing that you will have to do is to get pre-approval. Then, head to their website where you will have to answer some basic questions pertaining to your financial situation kind of in the MCQ format. The entire process will take 3 minutes and will be devoid of any sort of paperwork. In contrast, traditional lenders take days to get you pre-approval.
- The process will also involve a soft credit check that won’t affect your credit score. After this, you will be matched with the best mortgage options available based on the information you have provided. With this, you will be able to receive your cost-free pre-approval letter.
2. Home search
- Now, the second part would be the home search, where you will sieve out of several options for the best home for you with the help of a real estate agent. If you let Better Real estate agents escort you in this then you would be able to save 1 % of the total price of your home and it won’t even require any fee to work with one.
- This stage may or may not take time as it completely depends upon whether you are able to find the right home for you or not because oftentimes there may not be available inventory in the area of your preference.
3. The offer
- The third stage in the Better.com application process requires you to discuss the terms of the offer that you have received with your real estate agent.
- The sellers are not encumbered by time limits, but generally, whether they approve or reject may take up to 48 hours. In this stage, you can also expect various negotiations to take place over the phone with several sellers.
4. The application
- By now you have finally finalized an offer and are all set to officially get approved for the loan. You are going to be inquired about the property and occupancy type along with your employment and financial history. Within a matter of 3 days of your application submission, the lender must give you the loan estimate.
- After this, you will have to select the right home loan type along with the term and then lock in your interest rate.
5. Loan processing
- After you have submitted the application, it will move into the processing stage. This stage will also consist of the documentation that you will have to provide. The sooner you revert back with these documents the sooner your application will get processed.
6. Underwriting
- This will be the next step after your title, appraisal and inspection work is all done. Your debt-to-income ratio will be calculated for this stage to ensure that you are not much of a risk to vest the loan to you. Toward the end of this process, you will be provided conditional approval.
7. Closing
- Now, comes the final part where you will receive a clear to close notice after everything is done successfully. Now, the lender must provide you with a document called closing disclosure, 3 days prior to closing. This closing disclosure will provide you with the exact amount you will have to pay a monthly mortgage. You can ask any query you have at this stage.
Is Better Mortgage safe?
Yes, Better Mortgage is a legitimate mortgage lender that has earned Better Business Bureau accreditation. You can tell Better is held to strict standards regarding discrimination in the loan process by looking for the Equal Housing Lender and Equal Housing Opportunity logos on its website. These logos are recognised by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
However, you should know that when it comes to the organizational part Better Mortgage’s CEO Vishal Garg have seem to be in quite a grey position as he has been accused of giving rise to a hostile workspace and has infamously fired about 900 employees over a zoom call back in 2021. But, that is pretty much personal and when it comes to the organization itself Better Mortgage indeed comes out clear.
Where is Better Mortgage located?
Better Mortgage is located at 3 World Trade Centre, New York City, US. It essentially operates in an online manner. So, you don’t have to worry about actually visiting the offices themselves. Even when you are applying for a loan, you will just be required to get in touch with a loan officer and that’s it. You are not required to come into physical contact or anything.
A quick Better Mortgage/Better.com review
Good aspects
Personalized interest rates
- Very few mortgage lenders display the feature of personalized interest rates on their websites. If you want to check yours, then simply head to their website> select view rates from the drop-down menu> select purchase or refinance rates.
- After this, you will be asked to enter your basic details including ZIP code, range of credit score, home value, the amount you are seeking to loan. This will effectively bring about your personalized IR.
- Remember that PIR is not an exact rate but rather it serves the purpose of giving you a general idea.
The less time-consuming pre-approval process
- Before seeking out a loan we all dread that we will have to go through some arduous paperwork. But, in the case of better.com, there is a 3-minute pre-approval application and you will receive your pre-approval loan offer within a matter of 24 hours.
Low closing rate
- They can be nauseating, but with Better.com Mortgage you will have a low closing rate to pay off. The range for all lenders stands between 3%-6%.
Bad aspects
To maintain an equilibrium, let’s focus on the cons of Better Mortgage Loan
No convenience for those willing to apply physically
- The company has an active online presence from where it carries out most of its operations. So, if you are not techno-savvy then you may find the navigation a little daunting.
Devoid of VA or USDA mortgages
- If you fall into one of the above categories then sadly you may have to avert your gaze, as the lender only deals with the most basic kind of loans. Along with these two types of loans, it also doesn’t provide home equity loans, HELOC, construction loans or reverse mortgages.
Conclusion
Better Mortgage (Better.com) turns out to be a trustworthy lender with both perks and cons. No matter how controversial the act of firing 900 employees might be, the company does work towards its operation of providing a low-fee option to its borrowers. If you find the application process of Better.com convoluting then once you connect with the agents from the company via phone, they will clear most of your doubts on the spot. Furthermore, the company doesn’t deal in credit cards and only limits its services to different kinds of loans.
