HomeLight acquires Eave, sets out to help every homebuyer become a cash buyer

HomeLight is thrilled to announce that we’re joining forces with Eave, a cutting-edge digital mortgage lender. Together, we’re empowering people to achieve the best outcome when buying or selling real estate. We’re harnessing Eave’s proprietary mortgage technology to give the power and certainty of all-cash offers to buyers and sellers across the country.

In 2018 alone, over 5 million homes were sold in the U.S., creating over $1.2 trillion in purchase mortgages. But buying and selling a home is still a bewildering and unpredictable experience for people. The whole process takes months and many only do it once in a lifetime.

That’s where Eave comes in.

Eave will power the newly formed HomeLight Home Loans division, which launches today with operations in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Eave’s vision is transformative: Give every creditworthy buyer the certainty and confidence of being an “all cash” buyer.

This is more than a business goal—it’s a personal mission sparked by real life experiences. Both of our leadership teams have experienced how the complexities, the lack of transparency, and the unnecessary risks inherent to the real estate transaction leave people stressed-out, uncertain, and vulnerable.

Drew Uher, HomeLight’s founder, nearly lost the home of his dreams when his lender failed to file one particular form. After searching for over a year, Saro Vasudevan, Eave’s co-founder and COO, almost lost the home his family had fallen in love with due to a prominent California bank committing more than 20 egregious errors.

The mortgage industry’s problems are deep and go well beyond software. But they’re fixable.

While others have solved some of the smaller pain points like electronic document submission and built shinier interfaces, few are as ambitious as Eave. Eave is the only lender that has reinvented the entire experience from start to finish.

Mortgages that put people first

Eave’s mortgage is transparent, competitive, and in the homebuyer’s best interest. Eave’s experience differs from even the “best-in-class” lenders in fundamental ways:

• Certainty before you make an offer:
  Instead of a flimsy pre-qual or partially verified pre-approval, buyers can apply for a mortgage in 30 minutes and Eave will complete a full financial underwrite within 24 hours. This effectively removes the financing risk from the transaction, allowing consumers to compete with cash buyers. In fact, 90% of Eave’s clients have won the first offer on their home.
• Lower, transparent rates:
  With the upfront underwrite, consumers know exactly how much home they can afford as well as what their rate is. Most lenders only give you this certainty after you’re under contract. Plus, Eave’s rates are consistently lower than national averages.
• 21-day closing guarantee:
  Lender delays cause buyers to lose out on their dream home. Eave’s platform is designed so you will not miss a closing deadline. Eave puts its money where its mouth is and will reimburse earnest money up to $100,000 if a client can’t close on time.
• Fanatical customer advocacy:
  Eave serves buyers of any financial sophistication with the same intelligent software and dedicated team. Every client gets the expert support they want with a dedicated licensed loan officer alongside them every step of the way.

Why does this matter?

According to industry data, homeowners are 97% more likely to accept an all-cash offer, so financed buyers find themselves at a disadvantage in competitive situations.

Saro Vasudevan, Anoop Ranganath, and Jack McCambridge founded Eave to restore negotiating power and confidence to homebuyers, even those with complex finances buying in the most competitive real estate markets in the country. Eave’s team solved thorny problems with elegant systems so that people like 5-time homebuyers Laura and Robert can have a better home buying experience.

A better experience, in every way

Everyone deserves that ecstatic “keys at closing” feeling: That feeling you get after signing that last document at closing, knowing you got a great deal on a home you love.

From the first time HomeLight and Eave met, we knew that our companies’ values aligned. We both empower homebuyers and sellers by putting them first. This purpose drives every aspect of our work together.

We’re grateful to our colleagues, close partners, and investors who have made HomeLight and Eave special. We love working with this talented and determined group of unique individuals. It’s been an incredibly fulfilling journey so far, and we can’t wait for the next chapter.

Thank you,

Drew, Saro, Jack, and Sumant