Shopping for shoes? Yes, it’s fun and fairly easy, assuming you have the right stores and selections. Shopping for a car? That gets a little more tedious, since the price tag is higher and you need to drive around to compare cars and dealers. Shopping for a mortgage? I can’t think of a more confusing, overwhelming and frankly — boring — shopping experience. But, in true Zillow fashion, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace has taken shopping for a home loan and made it — dare I say, fun?
Zillow Mortgage Marketplace always had consumers’ needs in mind during its early development. Instead of lenders contacting consumers, we flipped it so consumers are anonymous and are in control of contacting lenders — when they’re ready to do business. So, lenders aren’t breaking down your door via e-mail or through the phone. Sweet.
OK, back to why mortgage rate shopping is fun and easy on Zillow.
It’s fun because we now allow mortgage rate shoppers to compare mortgage quotes using easy sorting and filtering tools:
Once you narrow down your options through sorting and filtering, you can then evaluate the details of up to four loan quotes side-by-side. Just click the checkboxes for loan quotes you like, then click “compare” and you will see this:
This new functionality reminds me of shopping for a TV or camera — you select the features you want and then compare what’s most important to you. Is it the monthly payment? Rate? APR? Fees? Distance to lender? We have all of those choices, so sort and slide to your heart’s content.
One last thing to remember: Yes, mortgage rates are gorgeously low. But, as this lender reminds you, the longer you wait for the bottom, the more money you risk losing for a bottom that might already be here.
Last 5 posts in Finding a Loan on Zillow
- Home Refinancers Save $3 Billion - November 2nd, 2009
- Zillow Mortgage Marketplace: Changes Make It Better For Consumers - October 22nd, 2009
- New Refinance Break-Even Point and Savings Graph - October 1st, 2009
- Plain Vanilla Protection vs. Consumer Education - September 24th, 2009
- Low Rates Cause Surge in Refinance Loan Requests - September 23rd, 2009
- Stumble it!
- Categories: Finding a Loan on Zillow, Mortgage Rates
Comments
3 Comments so far
BloodhoundBlog.com | David Bartels Redefines Mortgage Originators as “Borrower Advocates” | National real estate marketing and technology blog | Realtors and real estate, mortgage and investment news
[...] Zillow Mortgage Marketplace attempts this with their anonymous loan requests. Originators are scared to offer the best terms for fear of the anonymous “ratings system”. The result is an electronic quote fest that rarely results in the correct loan terms for the client. How do I know this? I’ve watched Zillow customers deliberately choose more expensive loans because their office buddies were “coaching” them. Adversarial relationships, whether industry encouraged or consumer initiated rarely result in the best solution. [...]
Hope For a 4.5 Mortgage Rate Disrupted By All This Talk Of Change | Mortgages Unzipped
[...] Shopping for mortgage rates might have become easier but shopping for a mortgage is still quite difficult. [...]
Marvin Von Renchler
What a scam. Zillow has always been about harvesting fish, Fish to be turned over to real estate and mortgage people for profit. The lenders on Zillow do not have the correct info fields needed to be accurate. You may say that people and ANONYMOUSLY search for rates but your system is FLAWED. Fannie Freddie rates change by credit scroe variances not addressed here. Thats just ONE thing. Its impossible to give accurate quotes here with this format and knowing so little about the borrower. You are breaking fef law on TIL/APR, Im willing to bet.