Lower acquires real estate portal Movoto
The acquisition will charge the retail network of Low – with 478 sponsored loan officials in 76 active branches on Tuesday – for the national digital footprint of Movoto. In 2024, the Top-5 US Real Estate Portal attracted more than 150 million visits. The platform connects consumers with top local agents, who are now also linked to lower loan officers.
John Berkowitz, CEO of Movoto, will be added as President of Real Estate. He will work closely with Adam Wiener, who became Lower’s President in January. Wiener, formerly President of Real Estate Services at Redfin, now leads leading technology, marketing, data science and direct-to-consumer sale at Lower.
The combined company will have more than 1,000 employees and offices in Columbus, OH and Austin, TX. Movoto is integrated into the lower brand.
“The future of our industry lies in combining the best technology with the irreplaceable expertise of local agents and loan officials.” said Snyder, CEO and co-founder of Lower. “The acquisition of Movoto strengthens our position as the Challenger platform, which improves our ability to provide the best localized and personalized service and to record a considerable market share.”
Mortgage companies are increasingly aimed at expanding their ecosystems to attract more borrowers. Just like Lower, many are to become a one-stop source for Americans to buy houses, refinancing and selling while they also lower the costs of customer acquisition costs. Earlier this year, Rocket companies bought Redfin For $ 1.75 billion, also with the aim of creating a platform for brokers and loan officials.
“The larger portals touch almost everyone online, but do not help customers throughout the process,” said Berkowitz. “By concentrating on how technology enables local connections, we can offer consumers a better service and build a company that generates much more profit per visitor.”
The MOVOTO DEAL marks the second transaction of LOWER in 2025. In January the company announced the acquisition of software company Neat laboratories. The aim is to transform its point-of-sale technology into a fully integrated application-funding mortgage platform, aimed at reducing dependence on external suppliers.
Chris Heller, president of OJO Labs, told Housingwire that they met various mortgage providers, but thought that lower had the most closely aligned vision and culture.
James Kleimann has contributed reporting.
