Comments on: Zillow Mortgage Gets Negative Reviews (from Non-Adopters)

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:03:25 +0000

I think Zillow is a fine site except that they have things really screwed up as far as removing a listing.

By: Building a Lead Marketplace is Hard, as Zillow is Learning | Lead Marketwatch

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:15:05 +0000

[...] Early responders to the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace were easy to categorize, as I pointed out in my Zillow Gets Negative Reviews (from Non-Adopters), outside observers (non-adopters) were pointing out all of the potential challenges and hazards. [...]

By: Bill Rice

Bill Rice — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:44:46 +0000

Spencer,

You guys have certainly done something unique, and should be commended for it.

I will be interested in tracking the highs and lows. Being a market-maker is challenging, but if tipped could be a huge paradigm shifter.

By: Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:41:44 +0000

Spencer from Zillow here.

Bill, thanks for your post. The Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is off to a great start. We’ve had about 10,000 borrowers submit loan requests, and about 25,000 loan quotes submitted back from lenders. It’s really interesting to browse through the marketplace and see what types of requests and quotes are being submitted. Fascinating stuff.

By: PEK

PEK — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:41:40 +0000

This is really exciting stuff. I’m both a fan and a critic at this point, as I agree with the non-participant detractors who indicate the flaws that you have outlined. A quick search of outstanding loan requests today on Zillow shows a huge lack of lender response to consumer requests: as of right now, 171 requests in the state of New York with about 40% unanswered, and only about 15% with more than one response. With a down market, starving loan originators everywhere and this type of reaction at launch…what will happen to Zillow Mortgage when things pick up in general, or when rates really drop again?

However, I’m a big fan of the VRM concept. I think Zillow has done what many have been afraid to (and for good reasons — there’s no/not much money in it!) I think we’ll all be listening to the feedback on this experiment, in hopes that it will teach us a better way to help consumers connect with lenders where everyone wins: the publisher (Zillow) is able to capitalize on its traffic, the consumer is able to make an unharried, educated choice in finding a mortgage, and the lender is delivered a highly qualified, interested client.