Digital mortgage lender Lower has acquired real estate portal Movoto in a move that shows a growing appetite for deals between mortgage companies and consumer-facing real estate platforms.
The acquisition announced Tuesday combines Lower’s mortgage lending platform with the digital home-search reach of Movoto.com, which attracted more than 150 million visits in 2024. Executives describe the newly combined company as an integrated end-to-end homeownership platform that will streamline the buying, selling and refinancing process for consumers.
Mortgage giant Rocket earlier this year made waves by striking a deal to purchase Redfin, another portal that garners 50 million monthly visitors. More broadly, real estate executives affirm they’re increasingly focused on integrated real estate products and services.
Although much smaller in scale, Lower still boasts a significant reach. With more than 100 branches across the country, the lender originated $4.2 billion in mortgage loans in 2023, according to data from the Scotsman Guide.
The combined platform will connect Movoto’s consumer traffic with Lower’s network of local loan officers and partner agents, creating what company leadership calls “super-teams” serving homebuyers from their initial home search through closing.
“The future of our industry lies in blending the best technology with the irreplaceable expertise of local agents and loan officers,” Dan Snyder, Lower’s co-founder and CEO, said in a news release. “Movoto is the perfect platform to accelerate this vision, allowing us to create a simpler, smarter path to homeownership. Acquiring Movoto strengthens our position as the challenger platform, enhancing our ability to deliver the best localized and personalized service and capture significant marketshare.”
John Berkowitz, Movoto’s CEO who will join Lower as president of real estate, drew a contrast to the larger portals that generate high traffic but limited conversion.
“The bigger portals touch almost everyone online but fail to help those customers through the whole process,” Berkowitz said. “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.”
When asked about these consolidations in a recent earnings call, executives from top portal Zillow said they believed “the future of real estate” will be “integrated and digitized.” Although the Rocket-Redfin deal has made the most headlines, other companies have pursued these types of mergers and acquisitions in 2025.
The Lower-Movoto deal could particularly benefit loan officers, who will gain access to what Craig Montgomery, Lower’s chief strategy officer and head of retail, described as “a steady stream of high-intent buyers looking to get pre-approved.”
Industry veterans are taking leadership roles in the integration. Adam Wiener, Lower’s president who previously helped scale Redfin’s traffic to 50 million monthly visitors, will oversee growth strategies. The newly combined company will employ more than 1,000 people across offices in Columbus, Ohio, and Austin, Texas.
The acquisition follows Lower’s recent purchase of Neat Labs and launch of its LowerOS mortgage platform, signaling broader ambitions in financial technology. Company executives said the Movoto platform will be integrated into the Lower brand immediately after closing.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Houlihan Lokey advised Movoto’s parent company OJO Labs on the transaction.
