Better.com Introduces One Day Mortgage Program for Faster Home Financing

Better.com, a digital lender, has launched a new program called "One Day Mortgage" that allows clients to apply for a mortgage, get pre-approved, lock in their rate, and receive a mortgage commitment letter within 24 hours. The program was first launched in beta to a small group of customers in January and has now been officially rolled out. According to Better.com, the program saves customers money and relieves anxiety by reducing wait times for mortgage approvals, which can take between 20 and 45 days. Better.com has claimed that it has processed more than $50 million in One Day Mortgage commitments, with customers receiving a commitment letter in an average of 12 hours. To be eligible for the program, clients must be salaried W2 employees and make a down payment of at least 3% on a conforming Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgage.

Better.com, which was founded by CEO Vishal Garg in 2014, has faced challenges since the refi boom ended, and it has struggled with a series of scandals. The company's plans to go public through a special purpose acquisition with Aurora Acquisition Corp. are uncertain given market conditions, and Aurora is seeking a third extension to its merger deadline. If the extension proposal is not approved, and the firms do not complete the merger by March 2023, Aurora will cease all operations. Better.com grew its headcount to 10,000 employees in 2021 from about 2,000 employees in 2019, and its origination volume increased to $58 billion from $4.9 billion in two years. It raised $905 million in several funding rounds and received a $750 million loan from SoftBank in 2021. However, the company's financials have deteriorated, and it lost $221 million in the first quarter of 2021. It also conducted three rounds of layoffs in 2022, impacting staff in India and the United States. Better.com originated $9.8 billion in production volume as of September 30, a decline of 76% from the same period in 2021, according to Inside Mortgage Finance data, which pegged the firm as the 42nd-largest lender with a market share of just 0.5%.