Write for Mortgages Unzipped

Thank you for your interest in joining the Mortgages Unzipped team of authors. If you have unique insights, advice for borrowers, and have a flair for writing, we would love to hear from you. To apply to join the team, please read the FAQ below and send us one of the following via an e-mail to unzippededitors@zillow.com:

  1. A link to your blog (if you already write a mortgage blog) or
  2. Two blog posts you’d like to see published on Mortgages Unzipped.

Mortgages Unzipped Contributor FAQ

1. What is Mortgages Unzipped?

  • Mortgages Unzipped is a blog offering mortgage advice, news and opinion to borrowers.
  • Mortgages Unzipped is a group blog with multiple authors. Authors are mortgage industry insiders.

2. Who is invited to blog on Mortgages Unzipped?

  • Authors are mortgage industry professionals who have a flair for great writing. Our authors will often also have their own blog or will have demonstrated their expertise in Zillow’s community.
  • Most of our authors are loan originators and mortgage brokers.

3. Will Zillow promote me if I write for Mortgages Unzipped?

  • YES! Mortgages Unzipped posts are promoted on Zillow.com and Zillow blogs. Authors’ posts are attributed with prominent contact information and links back to their Zillow profile and to their blog or Web site.

4. What blog platform does Mortgages Unzipped use?

  • Wordpress. We will send you log in instructions. If you haven’t used Wordpress before, don’t worry, it’s easy!

5. Do authors have to actively use Zillow Mortgage Marketplace?

  • No, but we recommend you do. We require bloggers have an active Zillow user profile – if you don’t have one, it’s easy to get one.

6. What type of stuff can I post on Mortgages Unzipped?

  • This blog’s target audience is homeowners and buyers who are in the market for a home loan. Suitable posts for the Mortgages Unzipped blog should address news, opinion and advice that is relevant and useful to borrowers.
7. What can’t I post on Mortgages Unzipped?
  • Don’t write about industry stories or product releases that are of little or no interest to borrowers.
  • Self-promotional posts, and content that is self-promotional, is not suitable for Mortgages Unzipped.
  • Re-blogging posts that you’ve posted elsewhere should be kept to a minimum (no more than 1 in 3 of your posts should be re-blogs).  Please note if the post is a re-blog and where else it has been posted.
  • Don’t write about topics you don’t understand. Topics should be issues that have either been researched or learned through first-hand experience.
  • Don’t use the blog to grind an axe. If you are going to attack something… attack ideas, not people. (i.e. “your idea stinks”… not “you stink”).

8. How often must I post on Mortgages Unzipped?

  • The beauty of a group blog is that each author doesn’t have to blog constantly and it’s understandable that you will sometimes have less to contribute or may simply be too busy. That’s fine. We will, however promote the most active authors more prominently on the blog.

9. Do I have to promote Zillow to blog on Mortgages Unzipped?

  • No, but this blog is also obviously not the appropriate venue for beating up on Zillow. If you don’t get why Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is innovative or feel passive-aggressive about your home’s Zestimate value, then Mortgages Unzipped is not for you.

10. Will people from Zillow write on Mortgages Unzipped?

  • You bet – but we aren’t mortgage insiders and we won’t be the stars of this show. From Zillow bloggers you can expect blog posts about things like mortgage rate updates, news from Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, and the site’s mortgage discussions.