Better Mortgage launches Equity Unlocker
Better.com announced the launch of Equity Unlocker, a new program that allows employees to pledge vested stock equity as collateral for a down payment without selling their shares.
Amazon employees will be the first to benefit from the solution, which is currently available in Florida, New York and Washington state. With Equity Unlocker, Amazon shares will be valued at the time of the home appraisal and then the rate and term can be locked. The program is also available for the purchase of second homes or investment properties.
Better Mortgage created Equity Unlocker after noticing that many Amazon employees had already trusted Better, who has funded over $1 billion for their home financing needs, and that equity compensation was a particular concern for these customers.
Better Mortgage plans to bring the Equity Unlocker program to Amazon employees in the following additional states in Q2 of 2023: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Better ultimately plans to make Equity Unlocker available nationwide to employees of other public and private companies.
“At Better, our mission is to make homeownership cheaper, faster, and easier for all Americans. The status quo is broken. The entire process around homeownership is opaque and stressful. For young professionals burdened with student debt and lack of savings, we know how hard it is to buy a home. This problem is exacerbated when many of the best and fastest growing companies increasingly reward their employees with equity rather than cash. Even though equity is a valuable asset, it is considered ineligible by most banks and financial institutions when calculating the necessary down payment on a home. Today, we are very excited to announce that we have created Equity Unlocker to help Amazon employees unlock their equity, their homes, and their futures.” – Better CEO and founder Vishal Garg.
“Better collaborated with AWS and Amazon leaders to find new ways to engage customers in the home-buying journey. Equity Unlocker was built on AWS to help Better Mortgage reach more customers, and extend their buying power. By building Equity Unlocker on AWS, Better Mortgage is able to innovate continuously, and improve the user experience while continuing to provide best in class service to their customers.” – Chandan Sharma, managing director, Worldwide Business Development, Enterprise and Industry Verticals at Amazon Web Services.
