UpLending is Duane Buziak’s own independent mortgage brokerage (NMLS #1110647) that shops hundreds of wholesale lenders on your behalf. Lower.com is a different kind of business: a digital-first mortgage company. Which one fits depends on how much you value side-by-side comparison, loan-program breadth, and when your credit gets pulled.
Neither route is wrong. A borrower with a plain-vanilla conventional purchase and a strong preference for a fully online process may be happy with a single company’s platform. A borrower with a rental property, a thin credit file, or a VA entitlement to protect often benefits from seeing many options at once. The sections below cover how each is structured, how credit pulls work, which loan programs matter for which borrower, a side-by-side table, a worked payment example, and eight common questions.
Who Operates UpLending, and What Lower.com Actually Is
UpLending is not a rate-comparison website, an aggregator, or a lead-sale marketplace. It is the brokerage of Duane Buziak, a licensed mortgage broker, operating under NMLS #1110647. When you work with UpLending, you work with Duane Buziak and his loan team directly, and the loan itself is placed with a wholesale lender he selects for your situation.
A mortgage broker is a licensed professional who does not fund loans from its own balance sheet. Instead, the broker submits your file to wholesale lenders, which are institutions that price and fund loans through broker channels, and recommends the one that fits your profile. The value is leverage: if one wholesale lender’s pricing or guidelines do not suit you, another may.
Lower.com, by contrast, is a digital-first mortgage company. It presents itself as a technology-driven home financing provider, and you generally apply and receive options through its own platform and its own loan menu. I have not independently confirmed Lower’s current product list, states served, or business model as of October 2026, so verify those on Lower’s own site before relying on any summary, including this one. The same goes for its licensing, which you can check for any company or individual through NMLS Consumer Access.
That framing gives you the real question. You are not choosing between good and bad. You are choosing between one company’s shelf of loan options and a broker who can pull from many shelves. For some borrowers that difference changes nothing. For others it changes the rate, the fees, or whether the loan is possible at all.
Credit Pulls and Rate Shopping: Soft Pull vs. Hard Inquiry
A soft pull lets someone view your credit profile without creating a hard inquiry on your report, so it does not affect your score. A hard inquiry is recorded on your report when you formally apply for credit and can nudge your score down slightly.
Duane Buziak’s NoTouch Credit Pull is his process for reviewing your credit through a soft pull so that you can get a mortgage pre-approval without a hard pull. In practice, that means a soft credit pull mortgage pre-approval: you see where you stand, which programs fit, and what your likely price range is, with no credit hit on your mortgage application at that stage. It is a way to compare options before committing.
It has limits, and they are worth knowing. A soft pull supports pre-approval and planning. When you choose a path and move into a full application and underwriting, a hard inquiry typically occurs, because the wholesale lender funding the loan needs a full credit report. The advantage is that you reach that point after comparing, not before.
Shopping around is also less risky than many borrowers fear. The CFPB’s Owning a Home resources encourage comparing offers from multiple providers, and credit scoring models generally treat several mortgage inquiries made within a short window as a single inquiry. The length of that window varies by scoring model, commonly cited as somewhere between 14 and 45 days, so keep your comparison tight and confirm the details for your situation.
Whichever provider you consider, Lower.com included, ask these three questions:
- Is the first quote based on a soft pull or a hard pull?
- Do I need to submit a full application before I can see real rates?
- At what exact step will a hard inquiry be placed?
I have not verified Lower’s current credit-pull policy, so confirm it directly with them. Asking the same questions of every provider is what makes the comparison fair.
Loan Programs: Where Breadth Changes the Answer
Duane Buziak arranges FHA, VA, USDA, conventional, jumbo, and fixed-rate mortgages, plus HELOC, DSCR, and foreign national loans, for both purchases and refinances. A broker with hundreds of wholesale lenders behind these programs can match a program to the borrower rather than the borrower to a program. For official program rules, see HUD’s FHA loan information, VA.gov’s home loan page, and the USDA Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program.
Breadth matters most in a few specific scenarios.
An investor who needs a DSCR loan
A DSCR loan qualifies a rental property on its debt service coverage ratio, meaning the property’s rental income relative to its mortgage payment, rather than on your personal tax returns. These are non-traditional products and are not offered by every provider. If you are an investor, ask Lower.com whether it offers DSCR financing as of today. If it does not, a broker’s wide wholesale network may be the more direct route.
A borrower with a nontraditional credit profile
If your credit file is thin or built on rent, utilities, and other alternative history, guidelines vary a great deal from one wholesale lender to another. Duane Buziak works with alternative credit options. A single company’s underwriting has one set of rules, so ask any provider whether it can consider alternative credit and how.
A veteran comparing VA options
VA loans can mean little to nothing out of pocket at closing options and no required down payment for eligible borrowers, but pricing and fees still differ by provider. A veteran should compare the VA Loan Estimates side by side and check how each provider handles funding fee and closing costs.
The same logic applies to jumbo and foreign national borrowers, whose needs fall outside standard guidelines. For each program you care about, check Lower.com’s current product list on its own site rather than assuming. The key point is the one that decides most comparisons: the question is less about whether a provider is good and more about whether its shelf holds your loan.
UpLending vs Lower.com Side by Side
The table below compares structure, not quality. Lower.com entries are limited to what can be stated in general terms. Anything not verified from Lower’s own site as of October 2026 is marked “confirm with provider.” Rocket Mortgage and Movement Mortgage appear as structural reference points for single-company mortgage providers.
| Feature | UpLending (Duane Buziak) | Lower.com | Rocket Mortgage / Movement Mortgage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business structure | Independent mortgage brokerage owned by Duane Buziak, NMLS #1110647 | Digital-first mortgage company, as of October 2026; confirm structure with provider | Single-company mortgage providers using their own loan menus |
| Number of loan sources | Hundreds of wholesale lenders | Confirm with provider | One company’s menu each |
| Credit-pull approach | NoTouch Credit Pull: soft pull for pre-approval; hard inquiry later at full application | Confirm with provider | Confirm with provider |
| Loan program range | FHA, VA, USDA, conventional, jumbo, fixed-rate, HELOC, DSCR, foreign national, purchase, refinance | Confirm current list with provider | Confirm current list with provider |
| Non-QM / DSCR / foreign national access | Available through wholesale network | Confirm with provider | Confirm with provider |
| Who you talk to | Duane Buziak and his loan team directly | Confirm with provider | Confirm with provider |
| States served | Licensed in Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia | Confirm with provider | Confirm with provider |
| Dare to Compare step | Yes: get a Loan Estimate from each option and compare line by line | You can run the same test; request a Loan Estimate | You can run the same test; request a Loan Estimate |
Dare to Compare is Duane Buziak’s plain invitation: request a Loan Estimate from every option you are considering, including UpLending and Lower.com, and compare rate, points, credits, and fees line by line. If another option beats UpLending on your numbers, you will see it. If a broker’s access to hundreds of wholesale lenders produces a better combination, you will see that too.
A Worked Example: What a Quarter-Point Is Worth
Suppose you buy a $400,000 home with 5% down. That is $20,000 down and a $380,000 loan on a 30-year fixed mortgage. The rates below are hypothetical illustrations, not quotes.
- At 6.50%, principal and interest is about $2,402 per month.
- At 6.25%, principal and interest is about $2,340 per month.
The gap is about $62 per month. Over 360 payments, that is roughly $22,000 in total interest. Taxes, insurance, and mortgage insurance are not included here.
The rate is only half the story, because pricing is a trade-off between rate and upfront cost. Suppose that to reach 6.25% instead of 6.50%, you pay one discount point, which is 1% of the loan, or $3,800. Dividing $3,800 by the $62 monthly savings gives a breakeven of about 61 months, a little over five years. If you expect to keep the loan longer than that, the point pays off. If you might sell or refinance sooner, you lose money on it.
The reverse choice exists too: accept a slightly higher rate in exchange for credits toward your closing costs. That can produce little to nothing out of pocket at closing options for borrowers who want to preserve cash, at the price of a higher monthly payment. Which combination wins depends on how long you will hold the loan and how much cash you want to keep.
This is why comparing complete Loan Estimates matters more than comparing advertised rates. Two providers can show the same borrower different rate, point, and fee combinations, and only the full document reveals the total cost. The CFPB’s Loan Estimate explainer walks through each section so you can read the line items yourself.
UpLending vs Lower.com: Eight Questions Borrowers Ask
Is UpLending a comparison site or a brokerage?
UpLending is a brokerage. It is Duane Buziak’s own independent mortgage brokerage (NMLS #1110647), not a third-party rate aggregator or marketplace. You work directly with Duane Buziak and his team.
Is Lower.com a broker?
Lower.com presents itself as a digital-first mortgage company rather than an independent brokerage. Its exact licensing and business model should be confirmed on Lower’s own site and through NMLS Consumer Access, since details can change.
Does UpLending use a soft pull?
Yes, for pre-approval. The NoTouch Credit Pull supports a mortgage pre-approval without a hard pull, so there is no credit hit when you start. A hard inquiry typically occurs later, when you move forward with a full application.
Will comparing providers hurt my credit?
Not much if you keep it tight. Scoring models generally treat multiple mortgage inquiries in a short window as one, and a soft pull creates no hard inquiry at all. Ask each provider when its hard pull happens.
Which suits FHA, VA, and USDA buyers?
Duane Buziak arranges all three, and a broker can compare how different wholesale lenders price and underwrite each program. Ask Lower.com which of these it currently offers and request a Loan Estimate for the same scenario from both.
Which suits investors who need a DSCR loan?
UpLending offers DSCR loans through its wholesale network. Confirm directly whether Lower.com offers DSCR financing, since not every provider does.
Can I compare Loan Estimates from both?
Yes, and you should. Request a Loan Estimate for the same loan amount, program, and closing timeline from each, then compare rate, points, credits, and fees line by line. That is the Dare to Compare step.
Where is Duane Buziak licensed?
Duane Buziak is a licensed mortgage broker in Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia. UpLending is not available outside those states. You can confirm current licensing on NMLS Consumer Access.
Get Loan Estimates From Both, Then Decide
Run the comparison with real documents. Request a Loan Estimate from UpLending and from Lower.com for the same scenario, then judge them on three things: whether the loan program fits you, how and when your credit is pulled, and the total cost over the time you expect to keep the loan.
Ready to experience a fast, simple, and stress-free path to homeownership or refinancing? Connect with our trusted mortgage experts today and discover the right loan solution tailored to your unique financial situation, whether you’re a first-time buyer, seasoned investor, or anywhere in between. You can start a soft-pull pre-approval with Duane Buziak at Up Lending by Duane Buziak by calling 804-212-8663.