Deron White's Discussions

"I think the U/W should be at fault just as much as the L/O. " The dirty secret of the industry.  With all the negatives about the sales people, the fact remains, someone, perhaps several people, was always been there who had every opportunity even obligation to say, "NO!"  "NO!" to hiring the person.  "NO!" to taking the loans.  "NO!" to the loans.  "NO!" to more loans.  "NO!" to continued employment. 

That is an issue Golfcoast.  Once the chase to offer lower rates start it does drive down the average. A solution might be to not allow lenders to see the existing quotes until after their quote is made.  If companys risk getting booted for low-balling against the average it may help fight the scenario. This might be worth while in any case.  In any case, all the examples for why this won't work seem to involve loasn placed outside the conforming market.  There's no reason why Zillow wouldn't be able implement it within the conforming market. It's clear the current system doesn't work.  Lender's aren't happy with it.  Consumer's don't benefit.  Why not test some of these things. I still don't believe Zillow started this with the intent of getting into the leads industry.  There's still plenty of companys that don't care what is said as long as it produces a call and they can collect a leads fee.   Zillow needs to clearly prioritize if it's in the business of providing consumers with transparent information, or is it in the business of providing leads to the real estate industry.  It can't be transparent without stepping on some toes. 

A limit won't make any difference.  Whether it's 10 quotes or 100, the game is the same.  In order to generate a bite the bait has to be tastier than the alternatives.   Lie now, apologize later, is how the game is set up, and zillow has done nothing to change it. 

Out of curiousity, Tom, is it very common in California for lenders to work as realtors?  

Difference between upfront and flat-fee. There is none really.  Flat fee should be a subset of upfront.  Just pushing the business a little further than strictly being upfront.  Certification....www.mtgprofessor.comwww.upfrontmortgagebrokers.org