Better founder touts AI approvals

Vishal Garg used a social-media thread on Saturday, May 23, to draw a line between the mortgage products he thinks benefit most from automation and the ones he says still depend on human relationships. The Better.com founder said AI-powered instant approvals are strongest in refinance and home-equity lending, where speed and repeat use can matter more than hand-holding. He contrasted that with first-time homebuyer loans, where he said local agents and loan officers still win on service and trust. The post extends a strategy Better has been pushing publicly in earnings materials and product launches around AI-led underwriting and broker-facing home-equity products. ### What exactly did Garg argue in the thread? Garg said AI approvals are best suited to refinance and home equity line of credit, or HELOC, transactions because those borrowers are often already in the home and are looking for speed and convenience. In that setup, he argued, an instant approval can help convert what might have been a one-time refinance or equity tap into a longer customer relationship. His thread also separated those loans from first-time purchase mortgages. Garg wrote that first-time buyer transactions remain more dependent on local service, coordination and advice, and said local agents can still beat national digital platforms on both price and service in that part of the market. ### How does that fit Better’s existing product push? Better announced a wholesale HELOC and closed-end second, or CES, platform on Oct. 21, 2025, saying the offering was powered by its Tinman AI system and aimed at traditional mortgage brokers. The company said the platform lets originators price variable- and fixed-rate second-lien products in minutes and supports loan amounts from $50,000 to $500,000. That launch was framed in similar terms to Garg’s latest post. Better said at the time that the platform would help brokers deliver “higher approvals” and lower rates through AI-supported underwriting, and it said it had signed 10 broker partners at launch. (investors.better.com) ### Why are HELOCs and refis central to the pitch? Better said in its 2025 launch materials that U.S. lenders originated an estimated $201 billion of HELOC volume in 2024, while only a small share moved through an AI-powered wholesale channel. Garg used that figure then to argue that home-equity lending was still underpenetrated by automated broker tools. (investors.better.com) National Mortgage Professional reported when the product launched that Better had already originated more than $1 billion in HELOCs and CES liens directly to consumers, alongside more than $110 billion in mortgages across its broader channels. ### What has Better said recently about broker demand? Garg said on Better’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call that demand had accelerated “especially within the traditional mortgage broker and retail mortgage lender channel,” according to the published transcript. (secure.businesswire.com) Better reported funded loan volume of $1.64 billion for the quarter, up 89% from a year earlier, with revenue from continuing operations of $47.5 million. (nationalmortgageprofessional.com) The company has also kept adding AI-led equity products. HousingWire reported in late 2025 that Better launched a bank-statement HELOC for small business owners, extending its pitch to borrowers who may not fit standard underwriting boxes. ### Where does the broker angle come in? Garg’s thread presented AI not as a universal answer for every mortgage type, but as a product differentiator in categories such as HELOC, refinance and other more complex or repeat-use flows. (fool.com) That aligns with Better’s recent wholesale messaging, which has focused on giving brokers faster pricing, broader approvals and digital workflows in second-lien products. (housingwire.com) Better’s investor materials and public statements have described the company as an “AI-native” lending platform, while its consumer site continues to market a digital mortgage process paired with human support. May 23’s thread is the latest public statement of that argument. Better’s next formal update for investors is likely to come with its second-quarter 2026 earnings materials, after the company reported first-quarter results on May 7. (investors.better.com) (fool.com) (sec.gov)