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Better.com stock gets clobbered as it begins trading publicly down more than 93%

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Re: Better.com stock gets clobbered as it begins trading publicly down more than 93%

#11
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better, as well as other online lenders, were definitely offering very competitive financing, especially with the AmEx credit. See this thread for pages and pages: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289559&star... I never found a local lender that came close to LoanDepot/Better.

I really tried to make it work, because I wanted that deal, but the fees and other things associated with Better kept coming out worse.

I always assumed they were undercutting other lenders by burning Softbank/Middle East money.

Re: Better.com stock gets clobbered as it begins trading publicly down more than 93%

#12
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really tried to make it work, because I wanted that deal, but the fees and other things associated with Better kept coming out worse.

I always assumed they were undercutting other lenders by burning Softbank/Middle East money.

I'm sure there was some of that, and maybe it was my location/mortgage situation (maybe they excelled at jumbo loans?) but when I did a full comparison they were "just normal" (some things had moved around on the fees which can make it harder to compare, mind you). Maybe I came a bit after they were tightening (this was just before covid IIRC).

After all, they just resell the loans same as anyone, not sure what there really is to optimize away.

Re: Better.com stock gets clobbered as it begins trading publicly down more than 93%

#13
post #2

None of these “fancy pants” mortgage ℠ companies could beat my boring old banks

Rocket mortgage beat my bank by over a percentage point. My bank wouldn’t even match.

My aunt is an agent. In the past, she’s said Rocket Mortgage is considered a less competitive offer. It sounds like they have a high reject rate.

Re: Better.com stock gets clobbered as it begins trading publicly down more than 93%

#15
post #2

None of these “fancy pants” mortgage ℠ companies could beat my boring old banks

Better, as well as other online lenders, were definitely offering very competitive financing, especially with the AmEx credit. See this thread for pages and pages: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289559&star... I never found a local lender that came close to LoanDepot/Better.

They were juicing volume for their capital market debut.

Re: Better.com stock gets clobbered as it begins trading publicly down more than 93%

#16

They knew, the original investors just wanted a payout with someone else holding the bag. As more index funds blindly buys stocks, we will be seeing this more and more.

Sorry, but this makes no sense. First, it was a de-SPAC combination so only two investors putting fresh money in and, it seems, all the SPAC IPO investors dumping ad quickly as possible.

Second, index fund buying would be a positive so not sure why that is mentioned here.

SPACs were not of interest for 20 years, anyone still contemplating has likely been turned down by everyone else.

Re: Better.com stock gets clobbered as it begins trading publicly down more than 93%

#17
post #2

None of these “fancy pants” mortgage ℠ companies could beat my boring old banks

Better, as well as other online lenders, were definitely offering very competitive financing, especially with the AmEx credit. See this thread for pages and pages: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289559&star... I never found a local lender that came close to LoanDepot/Better.

I took the money and ran. I took the AMEX credit, an employees friends and family discount, and because of a mistake better.com covered a significant moving expense. They didn’t even ask how much it was before covering it. Anyhow, all in the discount was low 5 figures. I closed just before their peak.

Re: Better.com stock gets clobbered as it begins trading publicly down more than 93%

#18

They knew, the original investors just wanted a payout with someone else holding the bag. As more index funds blindly buys stocks, we will be seeing this more and more.

As far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong), indexes do blindly buy stocks but they only buy once a quarter or so (roughly) so unless they IPO at the exact "right" time, its not going to just grab it up right away. If its that volatile its going to be bought up after the significant losses happen, if it gets bought at all. Also the 90% loss is from the initial release which happens to private investors, mutual funds typically don't get into it until it's more publicly available (later stages), and this stock has only dropped ~35% since becoming publicly available.

Re: Better.com stock gets clobbered as it begins trading publicly down more than 93%

#20
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always assumed they were undercutting other lenders by burning Softbank/Middle East money.

I'm sure there was some of that, and maybe it was my location/mortgage situation (maybe they excelled at jumbo loans?) but when I did a full comparison they were "just normal" (some things had moved around on the fees which can make it harder to compare, mind you). Maybe I came a bit after they were tightening (this was just before covid IIRC). After all, they just resell the loans same as anyone, not sure what there…

Yes, the best deals were only for jumbo loans, maybe only even in California. Refinancing smaller loans is less lucrative.
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