Posts Tagged ‘zillow’

Mortgage Marketplace at Zillow

Earlier I voice my opinion as to Zillow’s new Mortgage Marketplace expressing serious concern for how it may make borrowers feel as if they are being lied to. My concern comes from years of experience with what we call the “rate shopper.”

The “rate shopper” is a borrower that grabs the yellow pages and call 10 lenders asking them “What’s your best rate?” The lender then has to hope that they are picking the right product, rate, terms, fees, etc to grab that possible borrower. Afterwards the borrower, having given very little information, tells them thank you and I will call you back.

I have found that in dealing with the “rate shopper” that when they get to lender #7 on their list, they are confused and frustrated. They get rates ranging all over the place, different terms thrown at them and all kinds of sales pitches. This tends to leave them feeling a bit beat up, when in fact they were the ones beating up the lenders.

I am not against comparing rates. I think it is a healty and smart thing to do, especially if you are unsure about your lender. However, in today’s market shopping can cost you more than it can save as rates jump around quite frequently throughout the day… yes, 5-6 times a day!

With all this in mind, I may not have given Zillow a fair shake and have decided to give it a try. I have signed up with them and once they confirm I am real I will begin getting these “leads.” I will try my best to give realistic “quotes” to the anonymous borrowers and hope that I don’t get lost in the shuffle of all the bait and switch games that others can play. We will see what happens.

I still believe that the best way to approach your mortgage is to find a lender you feel you can trust. If they can answer your questions and help you understand what is going on with the process, chances are they will be good to you when it comes time for pricing. If you are not sure, call someone else to compare. But if the lender has been doing their job and answering your questions, be sure to contact them before jumping ship if someone else offers the “too good to pass up” deal. Give them the shot to see if they can make that work first… could be a program they had not considered for you. (We aren’t all perfect!)

I am posting this to make sure I am not compared to a politician, that says one thing and does another. I am going to give Zillow a fair shot and see what becomes of it. Wish me well…

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Zillow Launches Mortgage Marketplace

That’s right! Zillow has launched their long awaited “Mortgage Marketplace.” This not-so-great idea is being billed as a place that consumers can get quotes from multiple lenders without having to provide any personal information.  Spencer Rascoff, Zillow’s chief financial officer and vice-president for marketing claims, “This is a huge step forward in terms of putting borrowers in control and giving them access to information.”

What’s wrong with this, you ask? Read on… Read the rest of this entry »