Comments on: Dog Eat Dog: Zillow Mortgage Reflects National Trends in Selling

By: Todd Carpenter

Todd Carpenter — Sat, 02 May 2009 07:26:22 +0000

Wade, I would say that's a good idea except that it doesn't allow all the consumers who get bait and switched, but then walk on the deal, to rate the LO's performance.

By: VA Refinance

VA Refinance — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:20:08 +0000

Great Post Gina, and great comments to all. the Zillow thing is not going to go away it is just like the big box, they all have there flaws. look at Walmart, they have the best prices but they still get bad reviews for other reasons. or you look at the small business owner they have higher prices beacuse of over head and cost so he get s bad reviews for that but he would get great reviews for customer service, There are Millions of borrowers andmore than enough loans to be done. it is all how you market and where you market.

By: Jamie Pitts

Jamie Pitts — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:43:45 +0000

You’re absolutely right, Gina! But sorry guys, you’re not going to find solutions by making more “rules”. Consumers walking out on a deal get replaced by 3 that don’t, bad reviews disappear from online sites, and, Gina, your lender got lucky: your appraisal could have been reviewed by a computer and your loan turned down, no matter how well your appraiser documented your value. We’re in a time now where the ambitions of the few are ruining the masses. If a large business can’t make a little more money from one individual (as little as $100 more on a $1M loan), they can just skip that one and go on to the next one. That means that for an individual to actually get fair treatment, he has to lie and cheat. The devastating results of this kind of interaction, in the long run, is the total breakdown of human systems, like we are seeing in the financial markets now. None of this is going to get better until people start treating each other better. If the computer gives you a negative answer, have a person with a conscience review it before it gets trashed. If you can make $100 from a sale and everyone come out good, don’t go for $200 even if it hurts the other person. It’s got to be a human thing. It may be business, but it IS personal!

By: Wade Young

Wade Young — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 04:47:08 +0000

You are right, Todd. There could be an off the books evaluation for those situations — bad reviews that went straight to Zillow without appearing on the profile page. It could be a 3 strikes and you’re out deal, even if you had a 5-star rating. Zillow could just boot those guys.

By: Todd Carpenter

Todd Carpenter — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 03:52:41 +0000

Wade, I would say that’s a good idea except that it doesn’t allow all the consumers who get bait and switched, but then walk on the deal, to rate the LO’s performance.

By: Wade Young

Wade Young — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 03:49:40 +0000

I’m not used to thinking like a criminal, but when you think about it, why couldn’t one of my competitors pose as a borrower just to go through the process in order to give me a bad review? Why couldn’t I have my wife make calls using a phony profile just to give competitors a bad review? I’m not used to thinking like this, but rest assured, someone else is. Even still, why couldn’t I post fake borrower profiles to give a good review to myself? Is there a posting police that will be monitoring all this posting? If not, wouldn’t it make more sense for only borrowers who have made it through closing to post ratings?

By: jeff

jeff — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:42:08 +0000

As usual Gina a great article! In this market service is everrything. If I used the Zillow or Best Buy approach, I would be out of business. You get what you pay for.