Better Mortgage partners with NEO Home Loans to transform “local” mortgage lending

Today’s mortgage lending environment is shifting rapidly. Purchase loans are now outpacing refinances, and interest rates are reaching the stratosphere. Meanwhile, affordability is becoming a dream for many borrowers. Also, lenders feel the impact of high rates, as they struggle to find the right clients.

However, one mortgage company is in a prime position to transform the market and deliver value to mortgage professionals. In this executive interview, NEO Home Loans President Ryan Grant discusses the company’s partnership with Better Mortgage, which is aimed at combining technological innovation and local market knowledge. The goal is simple yet profound. NEO Powered by Better wants to revolutionize the mortgage market.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. To start the conversation, Grant explores the genesis of NEO’s partnership with Better Mortgage.

Combining advanced technology with localized market knowledge

HousingWire: Tell us how your partnership with Better came together. What was the NEO team’s initial reaction, and how did that evolve?

Ryan Grant: We began laying the groundwork for NEO in 2020 and officially launched in 2021, after recognizing the industry’s shifting dynamics and emerging challenges. We knew that if we didn’t create a mortgage company known for offering a high level of value, not just selling debt, we were all going to be in a race to the bottom for who could be the cheapest. We had a heart for being more valuable and offering more to our clients. 

In 2024, we got a call from Chad Smith, president and COO of Better. We knew Chad for a long time, and he followed our journey, knew our “just cause,”—and he’s like, “What would it look like if you guys ran retail at Better?” At first, I thought: That’s like asking Daniel-san to train with Cobra Kai, right?

The industry had a belief about Better—they were kicking our butts during the refi era, closing a refinance in 10 days in 2020 when we were doing it in four months, cheaper when we were expensive. We vilified them because we couldn’t figure out how they were doing it.

My business partner, Danny Horanyi, convinced me, “If we compete against them for the next decade, don’t you want to know how they operate? So, we met to tell our story without expecting it to work out, but the alignment was there. Better was created to make homeownership more accessible and affordable for all Americans because of Vishal’s experience of realizing technology was not a thing in the mortgage space. 

Meet Tinman and Betsy — Better’s flagship tech platforms

They showed us their technology—Tinman, Betsy—and to be honest, I was scared. I’ve been one of the top 25 mortgage professionals for a long time, in the masterminds, and no high-producing mortgage professional ever said technology was a part of their success. But when I saw what Tinman was doing and heard Betsy, I was like, “Oh, I did not know this existed.” Then, on top of the incredible technology, they showed us that they are generating 30,000 purchase leads a month—I didn’t even think there were that many people a month interested in buying a home. 

At the time, we were still weighing our options, navigating a complicated situation at our prior company, and weren’t actively looking to make a change. We initially said no to the Better partnership. But one morning, I woke up and had this vision —XYZ Mortgage powered by Better—and I was like, “If I see that, I think we lose.” If we can be NEO Powered by Better, we could combine what clients want—speed, efficiency, lower cost—with what they need—advice, guidance, strategy.

So we went from “no” to “maybe” to “absolutely,” especially as our previous circumstances shifted abruptly and we saw how well Better’s platform aligned with our long-term vision. That’s when we decided to create the partnership.

Adding value

HW: How does this partnership help loan officers add more value to clients?

Grant: Clients used to have to choose between cheap and online, or valuable at a higher cost. Now they don’t have to. What we’ve created with this partnership is a way to give people what they want—speed, efficiency, lack of friction—and give them what they need: advice, guidance, strategy. 

The mortgage advisor wins here because they can sell a more valuable product. At the same time, Better’s tech, namely Betsy, the AI voice assistant, and Tinman, the proprietary loan engine, takes 95% of the daily tasks off the origination team’s plate, letting mortgage professionals stay in their genius zone.

Only 4% of mortgage professionals made $20 million in volume last year because they’re stuck being the host, chef, server, cleaner, and everything else. And for really talented mortgage professionals, that is highly frustrating, right?  This tech creates a new world where they can focus on what matters.

Next, Grant explores Betsy and Tinman, Better Mortgage’s proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

RG: Between those two technologies, Betsy and Tinman, we will create a new world for the mortgage professional. Tinman can fully underwrite loans without human involvement and take days and weeks out of the process.

Betsy is fully interconnected to Tinman. Many companies say, “We have generative AI as well”. Well, that might be great for a chatbot. Still, it’s not going to tell your client what their DTI is, it’s not going to update them on the status of their loan, or go over a loan estimate with them because the AI has to be fully integrated into the mortgage advisor’s system to do that. And that’s where a lot of these companies are getting it wrong. 

RG: I’ll give you an example: we funded a HELOC in two days. Most mortgage advisors don’t even have a HELOC to offer, and it’s the most valuable product out there today. Our client applied, and Tinman’s OCR read all the documents without human involvement. They ran an automated underwriting review and appraisal waiver, and no title was needed. They signed and closed the next day. That should blow people’s minds. 

We had another loan from application to clear-to-close in four business days. Multiple teammates worked on the file at once—other platforms make you wait for one person to finish. OCR reads bank statements and income, and provides automated approval under only three conditions. Our teammate went to lunch and returned, and the client uploaded everything. The system cleared it, so no email was needed. 

So, we can help 10 times the number of families without hiring 10 times the number of teammates. It creates scalability in a way technology has never allowed us to do.

Transforming mortgage lending with Artificial Intelligence (AI)

HW: Tell us more about your goals with the partnership. How will NEO Powered by Better impact the mortgage industry?

RG: Our goal with NEO powered by Better is to change the way the mortgage industry works—cut costs, boost efficiency, and deliver real value without forcing clients to choose between cheap and valuable. Take underwriting: a standard underwriter does one to two loans daily; Better’s team averages 13.2. 

When I ran my team, helping 50 to 60 families a month meant 16 people, massive overhead, and high margins to cover costs. Now, we don’t need processors—Tinman’s tech handles it. That’s mind-blowing scalability, letting us serve more families with less.

In the near term, we’ll lower margins while keeping profit, making us more competitive. Mortgage advisors will use this tech to enhance their business, not replace them, and allow them to focus on the last mile — guidance and strategy, making a bigger impact. Our mortgage advisors will help 50 to 100 families a month with more value than ever. That’s how we’ll shake up the industry.

Tackling challenges associated with shifting from refinance to purchase

HW: What are the biggest challenges NEO Powered by Better solves for mortgage professionals? 

RG: One of the most fundamental challenges the industry faces today is that mortgage professionals are having a hard time finding clients who need our help. 9 out of 10 buyers don’t think it’s a good time to buy, 74% of realtors didn’t help a family last year, and most of our database doesn’t need our services at the moment.  

When we saw that Better was generating over 30,000 purchase leads a month, we knew that we could use our skillset to help them and make a massive impact. We take curious clients and turn that curiosity into confidence, helping people overcome the fear of owning homes and building wealth.  

Our goal with the lead generation is to put these homebuyer leads into the hands of the best and brightest, local mortgage professionals.  We know that with our skillset and ability to educate these clients, we can help them with the home buying process and, importantly, connect them with the best real estate professionals in each market as well.  The combination of high-value mortgages and real estate professionals is exactly what these types of clients need to help them in their journey to homeownership.

Redefining relationships: The lender and the originator

HW: Beyond technology, how is NEO Powered by Better changing the business model for mortgage professionals?

RG: Economic transparency is one of the most significant shifts we’re bringing to the industry. This partnership allowed us to create what we believe is the first truly transparent, partnership-based lending model. Most mortgage companies talk about being transparent, but if you ask the right questions, you quickly find that there’s still a lot hidden behind the curtain.

We started NEO because we were treated like employees, but we were doing 95% of the work. It didn’t feel aligned. So, we asked: What would it look like if mortgage professionals were treated like business partners instead? That led us to a model where our branch leaders and cost centers get to see every dollar—they have full access to the economics, decide the margins, and participate in capital markets revenue. That clarity builds confidence and creates a true sense of ownership.

Most originators today are forced to sell at a rate that feels too high and with a compensation model that doesn’t feel fair. We’ve solved that. We give professionals access to competitive pricing without sacrificing transparency or margin. This kind of alignment is key, not just for morale, but for real performance. And it’s working: in the first three months of the partnership, our gross margins are up 20% over the previous two years. That’s a direct result of our advisors having more confidence in the model they’re working with.

Achieving scalability and reducing client acquisition costs

HW: What do you expect to achieve from this partnership soon? 

RG: For starters, we’ve already exceeded our projections in the first month by 125%, and our forecasts in the second month are being exceeded by 100%. This is just a testament to the power of the partnership.

We’re beginning to scale lead routing with a short-term goal of achieving a 10% conversion. This aggressive but realistic target represents an approximately 500% increase over the current levels that Better experiences in its DTC channels.  To serve all the families inquiring with us, we’ll need to continue to partner with the best and most aligned mortgage and real estate professionals in the country.