In February of 2006, real estate blogs and internet forums from across the land lamented the very idea of Zillow. I thought it was pretty cool. Many delved into the inaccuracies of the Zestimate. I tried to think of ways to leverage it. Maybe it was easier for me. I was not a real estate agent. I did not need to worry about being disintermediated. Right or wrong, I looked only for opportunity.
Two years later, many of Zillow’s critics have aligned themselves with the company. Sure, there are disagreements about the products Zillow offers, but at this point, Zillow has become more of a friend to the real estate industry than an enemy.
Very, very soon, Zillow will bring it’s act to the mortgage arena.
What you need to decide right now is if you’re going to criticize them for whatever they offer, or if you want to figure out how to leverage them.
No matter what sort of product they offer, the one indisputable fact that they have going for them is that they know how to develop traffic to their site. After a conversation with Zillow’s Community Relations Director, David Gibbons, the good news is, they’re going to offer up that traffic to you for free.
“Absolutely free and unlimited access to consumers looking for a mortgage”
He must of told me three times. I’m not surprised either. I asked my readers, and other mortgage bloggers from around the net to predict Zillow’s mortgage play. Then I offered up my own predictions. It still don’t know exactly what they have up their sleeve, but I think I’m more right than anyone else. David did admit to me that he doesn’t think I’ll be to surprised at what they have to offer.
Zillow’s business model is to create conversations between real estate professionals and consumers. They are trying to create as much content as possible to sell adds on. I think the mortgage play will be largely the same.
“So how do I participate on Zillow Mortgages? “
Good question. I still don’t know. But I do know that Zillow is giving you an opportunity to be ready to participate on day one. As of today, Zillow is rolling out their lender phase for their mortgage product. The public play is still a few weeks away, but in the meantime, their goal is to have as many lenders as possible on day 1
Step one is to register with Zillow, if you haven’t already. If you have, be sure to log in.
Next, go to the lender registration. The link is at the bottom of the page, towards the right side of the footer. Or just click here.
Zillow is serious about who they let into the system. They’re doing a one time background check of sorts to confirm you legal status as a loan originator. This includes a $25.00 fee for a third party service to check your employment status, identity, and licensing information.
Why? Well again, go back and look at my predictions. I think Zillow will build some sort of rates pricing engine. I also think they’re going to priceline the transaction. This is another guess.
1. Borrowers inputs credit and income information into the rates quoting machine.
2. Zillow pops out a rate that they should be able to qualify for.
3. Borrower is given the opportunity to shop that rate like Priceline does. “Who will do this loan at 7%?”.
4. The originator has to decide if they can do it.
It has to be an originator because a leads provider would say yes no matter what. It’s also possible that the originator may be privy to quite a large amount of personal information.
In any case, Zillow wants to make sure only bonafide offers are coming from real originators.
I realize it’s a leap of faith to pay $25.00 to be a part of a service that has yet to be unveiled. The flip side to that is you’ll be ready to go the second Zillow flips the switch. Like I said at the beginning, you can either bemoan Zillow’s entry, or figure out how to take advantage of it.
We’ll continue to keep you posted on the details of Zillow Mortgages. Here’s the story so far:
Zillow Mortgage – Place your bets!
How I’d build Zillow Mortgage – Part 1
How shopping for a mortgage online is like Morpheus’ enigma
Amy Bohutinsky hints at the future of Zillow Mortgage.
A quick Rich Barton blurb about Zillow Mortgage
How I’d build Zillow Mortgage – Part 2
Zillow Mortgage Prediction.
There is no Mortgage 2.0
From other blogs.
Gregg Swann’s take on the registration process.
Morgan Brown focuses on what the registration process means as well.
Zillow’s announcement.
Rhonda Porter chimes in. Drew Meyers as well.
Brian Brady with a similar prediction to mine.
Shailesh Ghimire has his doubts as to the quality of leads Zillow will provide.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Todd,
I’m actually not sure where I stand on this. I certainly don’t bemoan them and I guess you can put me in the category of those trying to take advantage of their services.
If it’s just Internet referrals for a $25 flat one time fee, it may be worth it. Even if you close one deal you’ve paid for it over and over. The flip side is if the same referral is going to five other LO’s in the market then that’s a lot of pressure and work and invariably “cold” leads like this seem to always degenerate into a rate game. Which means you will lose more times than win.
So, I guess I’m willing to try it out for a time and carefully measure the performance of the relationship. Plus I feel I need to know a bit more.
I signed up, but I am not sure whether it will be a good deal or not. I agree with Shailesh that if you get one deal done, it was worth it.
Personally, I don’t care if the lead goes to 5 other LOs or even if it gets into a rate game because that means I can just hang up on the client and move on. I know that sounds mean, but if someone gets into a rate pissing match, they aren’t a client for my business model either, so it makes it easy for me to stop wasting their time and mine and find someone who truly wants my help.
So, as with virtually everything else, time will tell, but I am not overly optimistic, but even if I wasted the $25, it was worth it.