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I bought a place with Better.com last year. While really cheap, I don't think I would use them again. It seems like the model is to have a slick UI and hire co

by mfrye0 5y ago

I bought a place with Better.com last year. While really cheap, I don't think I would use them again. It seems like the model is to have a slick UI and hire contractors from India with second rate English skills handle the grunt work. There were multiple instances where there was miscommunication, no reply, or we couldn't get ahold of someone to get the current status. Overall it was really frustrating.

cwkoss 5y ago
We used them ~three years ago, and seemed like our account manager was US-based. I wonder if their recent 'success' with outsourcing is the primary impetus for the layoffs.
david38 5y ago
Same. Very frustrating, but the money savings was substantial.
suresk 5y ago
I refinanced with them last year and it was a "meh" experience. Their rates/fees were good, and the UI made it pretty easy to work with, but they were incredibly slow. I would have understood - it was a really busy time for refis - but the work flow would go something like this: They'd ask for a document that they hadn't asked for previously and make a big deal that I needed to provide it to them in the next few hours or else we'd lose our rate, then when I did provide it I wouldn't hear from them for 2 weeks. Overall, even with an appraisal waiver, it took like 3 months for it to go through and I never waited more than a day to respond to requests for info/documents.
- mfrye0 5y ago
  My experience exactly, though they also asked for the same document multiple times.
  - suresk 5y ago
    Yes! That too! A lot of this started after the rate lock was set to expire and they had to keep extending it (costing them a bit of money each time), so part of me thought the whole "You have until tomorrow morning to send us this document you've already sent us 3 times, or else your lock will expire" was a way for them to get out of it, but more likely it was just incompetence/overwork.
    - achow 5y ago
      Sounds like a poorly managed operation. Front end UI is slick but at the backend they did not have proper CRM workflows. Marketing mindset and not a product tech one.
_nkl1 5y ago
what if i told you that this is the business model for a lot of SV startups ;)
heywintermute 5y ago
>It seems like the model is to have a slick UI and hire contractors from India with second rate English skills handle the grunt work Seems more and more common unfortunately
- esotericimpl 5y ago
  I had a mortgage with them in 2019, at the time their operations were mostly in America. In order to scale out its clear they cut corners like every other operation.
- smsm42 5y ago
  The obvious thing for local good mortgage brokers/originators to hire some UX designers and get themselves a slick ui too. And yet, for a lot of them the UI is atrocious. It can't be that expensive, so it looks like they just do not care.
joshgachnang 5y ago
I bought my first house through them this year and it went pretty well, up until closing day. The interface is great, the rates were the best I could find, and it was mostly smooth...except... At one point, Better asked what title company I wanted to use. They had a bunch of services under "you can shop for this, or use what we recommend", so I figured it was like that and said "I have no idea, I'll let you figure it out". Well they picked a closing company, and then my agent and the closing agent were like "oh we already picked one, can you change it?". So I forward along to Better, they say sure, but the website doesn't update. A couple days before closing it still doesn't update but they assure me it'll be fine. During closing, neither us nor the title company noticed it wasn't updated on the documents. And the check from Better hadn't showed up yet, but they figure it was a delay so they sent us home to our new house and told the sellers the check should be ready later that day. Around 3pm, after celebrating our new house, I get a panicked call from my agent. The money never showed up. Have I heard from Better at all? Nope. I call them. Can't get through to my loan officer. They finally call me back and say they sent the down payment to the original title company. They're going to try to get it back but it might not be today. And I need to go back to the title company to re-sign since it's all the wrong title company on the docs. The sellers are FURIOUS (they're supposed to move to another country in a couple days, understandable). When we get to the title company to resign, my agent says the sellers might take the keys back. We've started unpacking and our dogs are at the house. Better offers me $1500 off the closing costs, which we forward along to the sellers, so they're at least moderately pissed rather than furious. Right before 5, the money finally lands in the correct title company's account and they cut a check to the sellers. One of the happiest days turned into one of the most stressful days.
- perydell 5y ago
  Sellers never should have give you the keys until they had the money. That is on them.
- jgalt212 5y ago
  > the rates were the best I could find, That's what I've heard is their secret sauce. They spider the best rates on the web, and price a few bps lower so they always show up in google searches.
smsm42 5y ago
Did refi with them twice, all was smooth and the grunt work people spoke perfect English (at least as much as I could tell). Their UI is one of the best I've experienced so far (detailed task lists really help) and the process was mostly painless. YMMV of course.

by mfrye0 5y ago

cwkoss 5y ago

We used them ~three years ago, and seemed like our account manager was US-based. I wonder if their recent 'success' with outsourcing is the primary impetus for the layoffs.

david38 5y ago

Same. Very frustrating, but the money savings was substantial.

suresk 5y ago

I refinanced with them last year and it was a "meh" experience. Their rates/fees were good, and the UI made it pretty easy to work with, but they were incredibly slow. I would have understood - it was a really busy time for refis - but the work flow would go something like this: They'd ask for a document that they hadn't asked for previously and make a big deal that I needed to provide it to them in the next few hours or else we'd lose our rate, then when I did provide it I wouldn't hear from them for 2 weeks. Overall, even with an appraisal waiver, it took like 3 months for it to go through and I never waited more than a day to respond to requests for info/documents.

mfrye0 5y ago
My experience exactly, though they also asked for the same document multiple times.
- suresk 5y ago
  Yes! That too! A lot of this started after the rate lock was set to expire and they had to keep extending it (costing them a bit of money each time), so part of me thought the whole "You have until tomorrow morning to send us this document you've already sent us 3 times, or else your lock will expire" was a way for them to get out of it, but more likely it was just incompetence/overwork.
  - achow 5y ago
    Sounds like a poorly managed operation. Front end UI is slick but at the backend they did not have proper CRM workflows. Marketing mindset and not a product tech one.

_nkl1 5y ago

what if i told you that this is the business model for a lot of SV startups ;)

heywintermute 5y ago

>It seems like the model is to have a slick UI and hire contractors from India with second rate English skills handle the grunt work Seems more and more common unfortunately

esotericimpl 5y ago
I had a mortgage with them in 2019, at the time their operations were mostly in America. In order to scale out its clear they cut corners like every other operation.
smsm42 5y ago
The obvious thing for local good mortgage brokers/originators to hire some UX designers and get themselves a slick ui too. And yet, for a lot of them the UI is atrocious. It can't be that expensive, so it looks like they just do not care.

joshgachnang 5y ago

I bought my first house through them this year and it went pretty well, up until closing day. The interface is great, the rates were the best I could find, and it was mostly smooth...except... At one point, Better asked what title company I wanted to use. They had a bunch of services under "you can shop for this, or use what we recommend", so I figured it was like that and said "I have no idea, I'll let you figure it out". Well they picked a closing company, and then my agent and the closing agent were like "oh we already picked one, can you change it?". So I forward along to Better, they say sure, but the website doesn't update. A couple days before closing it still doesn't update but they assure me it'll be fine. During closing, neither us nor the title company noticed it wasn't updated on the documents. And the check from Better hadn't showed up yet, but they figure it was a delay so they sent us home to our new house and told the sellers the check should be ready later that day. Around 3pm, after celebrating our new house, I get a panicked call from my agent. The money never showed up. Have I heard from Better at all? Nope. I call them. Can't get through to my loan officer. They finally call me back and say they sent the down payment to the original title company. They're going to try to get it back but it might not be today. And I need to go back to the title company to re-sign since it's all the wrong title company on the docs. The sellers are FURIOUS (they're supposed to move to another country in a couple days, understandable). When we get to the title company to resign, my agent says the sellers might take the keys back. We've started unpacking and our dogs are at the house. Better offers me $1500 off the closing costs, which we forward along to the sellers, so they're at least moderately pissed rather than furious. Right before 5, the money finally lands in the correct title company's account and they cut a check to the sellers. One of the happiest days turned into one of the most stressful days.

perydell 5y ago
Sellers never should have give you the keys until they had the money. That is on them.
jgalt212 5y ago
> the rates were the best I could find, That's what I've heard is their secret sauce. They spider the best rates on the web, and price a few bps lower so they always show up in google searches.

smsm42 5y ago

Did refi with them twice, all was smooth and the grunt work people spoke perfect English (at least as much as I could tell). Their UI is one of the best I've experienced so far (detailed task lists really help) and the process was mostly painless. YMMV of course.