Refinance category archives

Low mortgage rates are causing many homeowners to consider refinancing their mortgage. As mortgage rates dropped below 5 percent, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace saw a 39 percent increase in refi requests for the first half of October versus the first half of September. In fact, the number of refinance requests made up more than half of all consumer loan [...]

Zillow Mortgage Marketplace recently launched a unique Break-Even Point graph on every loan quote borrowers receive from lenders.  This graph helps borrowers who want to refinance determine their “break-even” point, which is when they would start saving enough from a new loan to offset the costs of refinancing.

After anonymously submitting a refinance request, borrowers are presented with custom quotes from [...]

Since it launched in April 2008, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace has offered borrowers a way to anonymously submit loan requests and receive an unlimited number of custom mortgage quotes with real rates directly from thousands of competing lenders.
Over time, we’ve added new features to enhance the loan shopping experience, including super-sexy mortgage rate charts, automated quotes, easy quote sorting and filtering [...]

Requests for purchase loan quotes were up 12% in June vs. May, and up 230% since the start of the year, signifying what could be good news in the number of people who are shopping for homes.  Zillow Mortgage Marketplace saw more than 32,000 requests for purchase loans in June versus just under 10,000 in [...]

Today, Zillow launched a new feature that automatically notifies you when mortgage rates reach your target rate.  Called “Mortgage Rate Alert,” this new e-mail helps those who are refinancing or purchasing a home know the optimal time to request mortgage quotes from lenders.  No need to continually check back for rates — this rate alert e-mail gives [...]

We’ve asked readers to tell us if they have found success with Home Affordable Refinance or Home Affordable Modification, two plans devloped as part of the Obama Administration’s “Making Home Affordable” program aimed at at-risk homeowners who are underwater or unable to keep up with their mortgage. The overwhelming consensus is “no.” In comments left in [...]

As more details emerge about President Obama’s Home Affordable Refinance plan - which was started to help more homeowners refinance into loans with lower monthly costs - we’re finding many people still have questions about how it’s supposed to work, so we wanted to provide you with some more tips. We went right to the [...]

On the heels of the announcement of President Barack Obama’s Home Affordable Refinance Program and loan modification program, we’re seeing some interesting discussions.
Take a look at some interesting questions in Zillow Advice
Q. Do any of the Obama programs help people without a freddie mac or fannie mac mortgage?
Q. Will Obama mortgage plan drive down [...]

We now know one of the details of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) that wasn’t clear yesterday.
Since HARP loans are available to homeowners who owe between 80-105% of the current value of their home, a key component to determining who will qualify will be figuring out the home’s value.
The government’s loan modification plan, called [...]

The full details of President Obama’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan — now being referred to as ”Making Home Affordable” — are out this morning, and millions of homeowners are sure to flock to the government’s new Web site, financialstability.gov, to find out if they qualify for a refinance loan, called a  HARP loan (Home Affordable Refinance Program) [...]