Welcome!
I could not agree more that there is no substitute for experience.
I agree with Jack's conclusions and do not think that the weaknesses that he explains are dated. What mortgage customers are looking for is essentially a point-of-sale for mortgages so they can control the process and make real decisions based on information that is not bait-and-switch. This is not an easy thing to do and the conflict is this: - Zillow makes the information gathering process by the borrower anonymous and in the borrower's control; however, - The actual approval process which truly defines the cost of the loan in terms of fees and rate cannot be anonymous. It is by the nature of our system fully dependent on ther person's identity. This really weakens the effectiveness of the information gathering system that Zillow offers because the mortgage terms will never be more than an educated guess until that person agrees to have their credit pulled and verify incomes. So how do you bridge that gap? Maybe the smart folks at Zillow are moving towards that.
Great, well-researched article. I look forward to reading the responses by Trulia and the other sites mentioned.
