Hey can I get a loan offer here?
By Matt Carter, Tuesday, April 8, 2008.Bookmarking Sites
Zillow has released a geographic breakdown of the loan applications and loan quotes coming into its Zillow Mortgage Marketplace since last week's launch (see Inman News story). While it's no surprise that Pacific Rim states with lots of tech-savvy residents are producing the most loan requests, it is eye opening to see just how dependent the site is on California.
As of yesterday, California had generated 2,231 loan requests -- five times more than New York, and nearly one third of the total for the nation. Even second place Washington had only about one fourth the response, with 615 loan requests.
While loan requests in California and Washington produced an equal or greater number of quotes from lenders, participation varied wildly in other states. Lenders were tripping over themselves to provide quotes in some states, including Florida (2.56 quotes per loan request), Georgia (2.31), Texas (1.92) and Massachusetts (1.83).
But in New York, there was only one quote for every four loan requests, and in Kansas, 42 loan requests netted just six quotes -- a .14 request-to-quote ratio. Just one lender responded to the 24 requests submitted in Kentucky, and Nebraska lenders couldn't be bothered with the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at all. The 15 loan requests submitted there got no response.
In South Dakota, you wonder if the wind blowing through the winter wheat makes a sound, with two loan requests submitted and no responses.
Loan requests from some of the most populous states in the Midwest also lagged behind California and Washington. With 117 requests coming in from Michigan, 138 from Ohio, and 51 from Indiana. Illinois resident seem to be more interested in shopping for a mortgage on the Internet, submitting 321 requests.
Mary Miller, Zillow's director of product management for mortgages, today advises lenders to search for requests with the fewest quotes, urging them to take advantage of "a great opportunity to get your foot in the door with borrowers shopping for loans."
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Submitted by Jason hamilton on April 8, 2008 - 11:15pm.
I think you can still find a great loan out there if you have good credit and also a good mortgage consultant. You can use sites such as www.Nawlist.com or www.Craigslist.org to find a good mortgage consultant...I would recommend www.Nawlist.com just because others can rate the consultant they have previously used.
Jason
Submitted by David Podgursky on April 9, 2008 - 5:42am.
You can find a great loan out there if you just talk to people.
I do not understand why consumers like these 'free' services that have people tackling each other... does a hungry loan officer mean that they are the best?
There are many ways to find a great Loan Originator or Mortgage Broker... but blind faith in a flawed website is questionable. These tech savvy borrowers in California and Hawaii are looking for someone with integrity or someone with the best rate? Are they looking for the best loan for them or just the cheapest for now?
Florida has 2.5+ loan offers per request - that's because there are just too many originators out there. Also, there are good brokers here... in Florida we have licensure that helps protect the consumer.
You can find a great rate quote by asking professionals that you trust for referrals. Then you know you're getting someone trusted that will help you.
This isn't a minor purchase - it is one that should require a little more homework than Zillow is providing.
I understand the "transparency" movement's lauding of this as v.1 of the potential standardization of their systems...but is it worth the fallout of a flawed system to push an agenda?
www.themortgagegotoguy.com
Submitted by Ki Gray on April 10, 2008 - 1:16am.
I can't believe 1/3 of the mortgage apps are in California. Does anyone have any stats on general zillow usage? It would be interesting to see if in general 1/3 of zillows traffic is california based.
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