The acquisition will give Lower’s retail network—comprising 478 sponsored loan officers across 76 active branches as of Tuesday—access to Movoto’s nationwide digital footprint. In 2024, the top-5 U.S. real estate portal attracted over 150 million visits. The platform connects consumers with top local agents, who will now also be paired with Lower loan officers.
John Berkowitz, CEO of Movoto, will join Lower 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 sales at Lower.
The combined company will have more than 1,000 employees and offices in Columbus, OH, and Austin, TX. Movoto will be integrated into the Lower brand.
“The future of our industry lies in blending the best technology with the irreplaceable expertise of local agents and loan officers.” said Dan Snyder, CEO and co-founder of Lower. “Acquiring Movoto strengthens our position as the challenger platform, enhancing our ability to deliver the best localized and personalized service and capture significant market share.”
Mortgage companies are increasingly focused on expanding their ecosystems to attract more borrowers. Like Lower, many aim to become a one-stop source for Americans to buy, refinance and sell homes—while also reducing customer acquisition costs. Earlier this year, Rocket Companies announced an agreement to acquire Redfin for $1.75 billion, also with the goal of creating a platform for real estate agents and loan officers.
“The bigger portals touch almost everyone online but fail to help those customers through the whole process,” said Berkowitz. “By focusing on how technology empowers local connections we can deliver better service to the consumer and build a business that generates far more profit per visitor.”
The Movoto deal marks Lower’s second transaction in 2025. In January, the company announced the acquisition of software company Neat Labs. The goal is to transform its point-of-sale technology into a fully integrated application-to-funding mortgage platform, aiming to reduce reliance on third-party vendors.
Chris Heller, President of OJO Labs, told HousingWire that they met with several mortgage lenders but felt that Lower had the most closely aligned vision and culture.
James Kleimann contributed reporting.