Zillow has announced the launch of its Zillow Mortgage Marketplace iPhone App, bringing the loan shopping experience of the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace to the mobile marketplace. The Zillow Mortgage Marketplace App for iPhone combines personalized loan quotes with advanced calculators and tools to help borrowers understand how much home they can afford, what their monthly payments would be, and whether refinancing their current home makes financial sense. The Zillow Mortgage Marketplace App allows for instant, personalized loan quotes from lenders, as well as gauging home affordability and monthly payments on the spot.
"The user interface (UI) is well thought-out. Some folks in the comments are mentioning they don't get it, but I've played with a lot of iPhone mortgage calculators and this UI is good," said Jason Berman of Mortgage Tech Summit. "Here's the problem as I see it, dozens of free slider mortgage calculators already available in the iTunes Store. The rate chart is well done but do folks really need to get instant rates? Don't they already know what they qualify for by the time they look at a house? Or do real estate agents like driving around with clueless potential borrowers?"
The Zillow Mortgage Marketplace App allows borrowers to easily fill out a loan request by providing information about the home they want to buy or refinance, and their own financial situation. Borrowers do not enter any personally identifiable information, but just enough data for lenders to return custom quotes. Users receive an average of 25 loan quotes per request, and can compare rates and lenders side by side, including scanning more than 8,900(i) consumer-submitted lender reviews. With one touch of a finger, the borrower can then immediately connect with lenders of their choice and begin the process of securing a home loan, right from their iPhone.
"It's a cool app, however, based on some local searches I did in Louisiana, they are way off on property taxes and insurance," said Mike Anderson, CRMS of Essential Mortgage and Government Affairs Committee chair of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB). "This is typical of online and out of state lender and leads quotes to be very misleading. Also, I noticed they lacked local lenders."
The Zillow Mortgage Marketplace iPhone App design streamlines the user experience for mobile and uses its Web-based counterpart Zillow Mortgage Marketplace to provide a transparent lending marketplace where borrowers can connect with reputable lenders to find personalized loan options and get a variety of competitive mortgage rates.
"If I I was an originator paying Zillow for leads, I'd be slightly annoyed at the iAds running on the bottom of the app ... ING Direct for me," said Berman. "This creates a confusing situation for the user as advertising that has nothing to do with the users data is displayed right underneath a rate quote that is 'somewhat' qualified. It's just odd. I think Zillow should pick a single revenue stream for the app and stop trying to keep one foot in each sandbox."
Zillow operates across iPhones, iPads, Androids and BlackBerrys, and empowers consumers with access to real-time mortgage information on-the-go with the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace iPhone App. In May 2011, Zillow was used on a mobile device more than 8.8 million times, with 1.8 million homes viewed on mobile devices every day, or 21 homes per second.
"I predict that the app will be popular because it carries the Zillow name," said Allan Daniels of Dr. Daniels and Son in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. and member of the Michigan Insurance and Finance Advisory Committee (IFAC). "'Zillow' has achieved the remarkable accomplishment of being transformed from a noun to a verb. While not as common as 'I Googled you' or 'We can Skype tomorrow,' it is fairly common to hear someone say, 'I Zillowed the property, and it's worth ...'"
Some reviews from the iTunes Store on the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace App include:
►"More than just a mortgage calculator ... Very cool. This is so much more than a mortgage calculator. In addition to rate trends, I can get real quotes back from lenders that are personalized for my mortgage needs. And these lenders are rated and reviewed by others who have done business with them. Thanks Zillow." By dabx@
►"Helpful and easy to use ... Love that I can quickly answer mortgage questions right from my phone. Thanks Zillow!" By Theboilermaker1999
►"It works great ... It was really helpful to play with my finances and understand what I could afford. Also the charts help me keep an eye on rates." By Potto78
"This addition to Zillow's already robust suite of real estate mobile apps gives consumers valuable personalized mortgage information when they most need it – out shopping for homes," said Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff. "Our commitment to providing people with the best tools and data for real estate is especially important on location, and now there's a Zillow app for every stage of the home buying process."
About Zillow, Inc.
Zillow is a real estate information marketplace providing vital information about homes, real estate listings and mortgages through its website and mobile applications, enabling homeowners, buyers, sellers and renters to connect with real estate and mortgage professionals best suited to meet their needs. Zillow, Inc. operates Zillow.com®, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace and Zillow Mobile. With 22 million unique users of its website and mobile applications during May 2011, Zillow's goal is to help people make intelligent decisions about homes in every stage of their lives -- home buying, selling, renting, remodeling and financing. The company is headquartered in Seattle.
Zillow.com, Zillow and Zestimate are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.
iPhone and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
Android is a trademark of Google Inc.
Research in Motion and BlackBerry are registered trademarks of Research in Motion Limited.
(i) 25 = March 2011 average, and 8,900 as of May 31, 2011.
SOURCE Zillow.com
