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Zillow Mortgage Marketplace Launches: FREE MORTGAGE LEADS

We've been hinting at it for a few weeks, but tonight I'm pleased to announce that Zillow Mortgage Marketplace has launched. Here's the 411:

How it works:

1. Borrowers fill out a form for free, entering their financial information but NOT their personal info. No name, email, phone # or Social Security #.

2. Borrower's loan request gets posted into the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace anonymously.

3. Lenders access free leads, choosing which loan request they want to respond to.

4. The borrower then decides which lender they want to reach out to, and contacts the lender via email or phone. In addition, borrowers can leave feedback on lenders (like ebay's rating system), so lenders with great customer service can shine.

Benefits to lenders:

1. FREE LEADS. FREE LEADS. FREE LEADS. Did I mention free leads?

2. Lenders only need to communicate by email or phone with borrowers that reach out to them. No more chasing down leads that don't want to be pursued.

What's the catch?

1. Lenders allow themselves to be rated by borrowers.

2. Lenders have to enter their SS# and credit card info and pay a $25 application fee. We then use a 3rd party to run a background check and vet them as legit lenders.

3. In the spirit of an open and transparent marketplace, the lender's quote to the borrower is available for all to see. Everything is out in the open.

Benefit to borrowers:

1. Borrower remains anonymous and doesn't have to offer up their phone # until THEY decide that THEY want to reach out to the lender.

2. Borrower can receive an unlimited number of quotes.

Benefit to Zillow: We make $ on advertising.

Check it out!

Update on RE.net coverage:

Todd Carpenter's review on Lenderama. He writes: "In the long term, I think the package is great for both consumers and for honest and ethical loan originators. Really, it couldn’t be any better timed either. Consumers are suspicious of the entire mortgage industry. Originators are struggling to find new business without spending a ton of marketing doe. If Zillow can drive in enough early traffic, I think it’ll be a winner for everyone involved."
Jay Thompson's review on Phoenix Real Estate Blog:"You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain — multiple lenders, transparent information, anonymous quotes, complete control, contact who you want to, and don’t contact who you don’t. Zillow hit a home run with this one."
Rhonda Porter on Rain City Guide: "I’ll still stick to my guns and say that referrals from the people you trust and respect are the best way to select a Mortgage Professional…however for those of you that have a need to shop rates on line, Zillow’s mortgage tool could be the ticket."
Joel Burslem on Future of Real Estate Marketing
I can't keep up on the coverage, so I defer to my friend Drew Meyers who is keeping tabs on all of this.

Like what you're reading? Then subscribe to my blog to receive updates.

Posted by Spencer Rascoff on 04/03/2008 10:33 AM

Comments (46)

zillow, mortgages, zillow mortgage marketplace

46 Comments on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace Launches: FREE MORTGAGE LEADS

APR

2008

You have a great product on your hands. My full review is on Lenderama.

Good idea Spencer - good luck!

APR

2008

Spencer,

That is an innovation us mortgage lenders ought to take a look at. On first sight it appears a viable lead generator. Not so sure about giving my SS#, though. We'll see.

Spencer,

I've sent this link to my favorite lenders in Bellevue and West Seattle. Looks great to me. Not sure about them giving you a SS #, maybe a copy of business license or bank license would work. I think this has potential to generate lots of new clients.

List and Sell (starts with prospecting and marketing) Gary @ RentonHomeFinder

I've sent this to several of my lender friends and they are skeptic. What would you tell them?

Another source for leads? Thanks for the info SPencer

Wow, what a night. I went to sleep at about 2am and things were going well. But now ZMM is on fire. There are already 888 loan requests in the first 11 hours. That's 888 borrowers looking for loans. You can find that number here, in the upper right: http://www.zillow.com/mortgage/Mortgage.htm?s_cid=mor-site-topnavmor

To those lenders worried about having to enter their SS# in order to become approved as lenders: now you know how borrowers feel when using traditional lead generation websites!! Seriously, it's a small price to pay in order to get access to free leads. The reason we do it is that we verify your name against your SS# and against your credit card, and we run a check against your license # to make sure that you're a legitimate lender in good standing.

Spencer - I'm already signed up, love the idea. I'm anxious to see how it all plays out....the concept should be a Win-Win for everybody!

Jason: great! Looks like there are already 22 leads in Pennsylvania. You can see that here: http://www.zillow.com/mortgage/LoanRequestSearch.htm?loc=PA

It looks like Denise Monaco is all over it: http://www.zillow.com/profile/mortgagegal25

Go get em!

Already on it Spencer, I really like the lay-out!

(Thinking about hiring Denise:-)

I am in...kinda skeptic at first, but i am in now! thanks for the post!~

Casey: Thank you! 3 leads in Spokane so far, with no quotes back from lenders: http://www.zillow.com/mortgage/LoanRequestSearch.htm?loc=spokae%2C+wa

Casey -- and there are 85 in WA state so far: http://www.zillow.com/mortgage/LoanRequestSearch.htm?loc=spokae%2C+wa

The format should appeal to people who are a little tired of the traditional approach to shopping for a loan.

Come on lenders, you are falling behind.........1384 requests and only 709 offers............(last I checked anyway) :-)

Great new product Spencer. ActiveRain loves to see transparency in the game and you guys have really come up with a nice offering here. Congrats!

Sounds like a lot of liability lands on the lender with little control. I know how many bogus leads that I end up wasting time chasing to no avail. As the professional, I would not be handing out my SS number to anyone. Sorry, but no thanks.

Ardell and I were in on the conference call with David G. yesterday....This is going to be big!

Now thats cool Mahalo

Another source for leads is always good, how about finding out if they need a realtor.

Spencer... I guess I am going to be the negative on this. Lead generators have been around for ages. And no matter the background check and the small fee, these can and will be abused. Many lenders are just that, lenders who are sales people. When many have shoppers, they treat them just as that, shoppers. Rates and fees aren't always accurate. In all honesty, it doesn't matter who is allowed on that site, greed can take over. Just my .02.

Overall, it's not like I am not wishing you luck. Rhonda Porter says it right on the money and should have stopped there. She ends up endorsing this in the end.I have known lenders that have done this and to even sell to other lenders. I prefer referrals and blogging.... yes, I have paid for these in the past and you will always get someone on the other side that will over promise. I just won't put forth my time and energy to spin my wheels against another loan officer that is promising something that won't happen, giving the client false hope, or misleading them. Again, a lead generator, not matter how you sell it, will come down to this.

You say that the consumer will get unlimited quotes. With todays ever changing times... with declining home values... credit scores that are sooooo important in deciding a true quote... there are too many unknowns... and in my opinion, there will be many mis-quotes. Some just because of the unknown and some because it was intentional. My very first quote needs to be an interview of that consumer. I need to ask many questions and asking them in an e-mail, could be confusing or result in mis-information. Again, just my .02. Good luck with it.

INNOVATION!?!?!?

It's called LendingTree.com people... Zillow will then sell access to this system so people can submit bogus mortgage rates just like on LendingTree.com in order to get your phone number, call you 100 times within a second of completing your quote, and then low and behold, no rate is even close to what you get on the site...

When I went to buy my house, I started on LendingTree.com, and I instantly hated the experience, non-stop calls, not one rate was accurat compared to the web site. I had to start answering the phone with "If you are not prepared to honor your rate you claim on the site, I am not interested" everyone hung up... finally someone owned up to saying, those our teaser rates everyone does it, and no one plans to honor them.

Unless Zillow wants to uphold lenders to their rate they advertise, similiar to ebay contract to sell and buy an item... then I don't even want to think about it.

But as far as innovative.. congrats, you built a lendingtree.com. Perhaps your next project can be, social network for real estate agents...

Well, there you go. Now the homeowner who has a broken idea of how much his house is worth based on a Zillow Zestimate can now pick his lender based on the one that does the best job about lying to him about rates and how much home he can afford! They can build a completely wrong picture of reality in one convenient location without even having to stop at the crack house! All they need now is a button on Zillow to tell them they're not overextended and no, this dress doesn't make them look fat.

I have to agree with last few comments. I'm skeptical. I remember when one fo my clients got a mortgage through Priceline.com and they promised him a local lender. The house was on the coast in Ventura, California and the "local" lender assigned to him was in Jacksonville, FL. At least it was in the same country. The interest rate wasn't great and there were numerous problems closing a "slam dunk" transaction with almost 50% down.

Tracy - Chasing bogus leads is a huge issue with lead gen sites, no doubt. Zillow Mortgage Marketplace helps remedy this problem because you only have to communicate with the borrowers who reach out to you based on the loan quote that you returned to them. At that point they're not a lead, they're a customer. True, you have to respond to loan requests online using the web form and some of those leads won't close a loan. But it takes much less time to return a quote using Zillow Mortgage Marketplace than it does to get a phone # (which you paid $50-$100 for!) from a lead gen site and have to call and call and call.

Jeff - Thank you for the feedback. Hopefully our rating system (which allows borrowers to leave feedback on lenders, and allows lenders to respond) will help minimize games that lenders might play.

Dave - This most definitely is not LendingTree. Not even close Here's why.

For lenders: Zillow is free, whereas LendingTree costs a small fortune. For borrowers: Zillow allows borrowers to get customized quotes ANONYMOUSLY without revealing their name or phone #. With LendingTree, the borrower enters their phone # and then gets called by lenders. The differences between Zillow Mortgage Marketplace and LendingTree and pretty comparable to the differences between Zillow's real estate product and Housevalues.

If you're interested, there is an excellent analysis in today's New York Times explaining why Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is much better than LendingTree. Here's the link.

John -- your comment did make me smile, so thank you for that! But seriously, the borrower in Zillow Mortgage Marketplace can select from a drop-down indicating whether their estimated property value is based on a Zestimate, an appraisal, a CMA, or some other indicator of value.

Thank you all for your comments.

Spenser, you can check out the Mortgage company I work for, but there is no chance you getting my SSN to pull my credit report. I am already fingerprinted with DFI, FINRA and am sure that I have more of a top secret security clearance than you or any one else in the RE or Mortgage Industry. I don't mind giveing a card number to pay for it. But I don't need them to do a background or credit check on me. The FEDS and SEC already keep track of me.

wow that sounds like a promising venture

Interesting, I might get this set up for a couple on LOs here in the office.

That is really a great idea. Good luck and hope works our very well.

I hope you guys (and gals) are up for some work. You've got a hard job ahead...to turn around being known for the Zestimate thingies. When it comes to driving the consumer to the site for this service...you guys really branded that well and created the buzz for it. No doubt.

You may have overdone it. Big ship to turn around....

Sounds like a very expensive proposition to bring in the kind of awareness needed. However, you definitely have the team to do it.

So, when will you begin selling leads to agents to see how low listing agents will go and how much of a kick-back buyers will get from their agent? Seems like the next step...

I'm not upset or angry about this possibility. I think about 15% of the population picks off lowest price. 5% picks off highest price. The other 80% are willing to pay a fair price when value is perceived. I have no problems demonstrating value.

Jessica - No question that it will be a big challenge to get consumers to start thinking of Zillow for mortgages rather than just for home valuations. It took Amazon a long time to get consumers to stop thinking of them just as online bookseller.

Wow spence, this is an awesome project and I am betting that it works. Is a national ad campaign for TV in the works for this specific product? Let the people of North Carolina know about it. Dude, I am a mortgage broker so I am used to having my credit checked, thats just the way it works on the wholesale side man. What is another inquiry if you pay your bills on time? hehehe :) I think if you do it right this really could serve as a good and more accurate alternative to BBB. BBB only gets negative info, people can check on a broker here because if I understand it right your rating goes up if you do a good job not just a rating if you do bad. Am I right on that?

I am signing up in the morning. I should give you 25 bucks just for thinking of this Idea. Hope to see you on CNBC or Fox Biz someday.

I'm signed up and did some quotes today...free leads

I signed up and started noticing people were doing a lot of teaser rates out there, is there going to be any type of control/verification on this? like for instance where the lenders upload the GFE quote??

This will be interesting to watch and see how this new feature unfolds and evolves. There is always a new tool available.

Interesting project. I have to admit that your post brought Lending Tree to mind for me too. A question...regarding the HouseValues comparison....What safeguards are in place to prevent buyers from giving bogus information and wasting a lot of time for lenders. How are the leads vetted to ensure they are real?

Going to Forward this to the team lender...thanks :)

Tom Davis - DE Realtor

APR

2008

Well how much information do you get from with the borrower to proved a real accuate quote? Ie., FICO, income amount/type, down payment, mortgage history ....?? Then I might be interested. Agree with fear to release ssn.

Hmmm...sounds interesting. Can't wait to see how it works out.

APR

2008

Spencer,

I think you guys have to stop pitching this as "free leads"- this is a marketplace, a Bourse, an exchange

Spencer.... I hope I didn't sound too harsh or rude.... but even a rating system could be misused and abused. And I agree with Brian's statement, who beat me to the punchline, which is why I came back here. You are pitching this as "free leads"... even though $25 a person is extremely cheap... I think a low price will bring more loan officers with $25 to this site... no matter what kind of back ground or credit check you do.... you could look squeaky clean and still be bad at what you do... still lie... still bait and switch... it doesn't stop everyone.

APR

2008

Free....???

AUG

2008

Sounds very interesting. Guess i will sign up and see how it works

JUN

Spencer, did not get to read entire blog. Is this just mortgage leads? I need South Carolina Mtg leads, as I am a new loan officer with Amerisave, and can only do SC mtgs right now. Do you also have real estate leads NC/SC (buyers, sellers)? Please let me know, thanking you in advance, Ginger Moore

realtorginger@yahoo.com

Hey Ginger- Sara from Zillow here. The Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is a little different than the typical site you just buy leads from.

Here, the person needing financing fills out a form with everything you would need to know to produce a quote except their personel information. Then lenders publically respond to loans requests with quotes. Then the person who entered the information decides who they would like to reach out to potentially work together.

Right now it only costs you $25 to sign up (this money is used to pay a third party to verify you), once approved, you can quote as many times for as many loans as you would like and can legally handle. You can even set up alerts to let you know when there is a loan request that meets your criteria.

Here is a short video on the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, detailing the process I just described.

You can get started here.

AUG

Thanks Sara, So what do you have for us Realtors? Do you have leads for realtors as well? I would be interested in these. The mortgage company I was with, (amerisave mtg.) could no longer have recruits that were not within a 60 mile radius of the Durham area ; so therefore i am not an active loan officer right now, but I am an active realtor. I am also looking for part time loan officer position near charlotte/gastonia nc, if anyone knows of one. thanks so much!

www.charlottelakewyliehomes.com

e-mail: realtorginger@yahoo.com 704 865 4290

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Spencer Rascoff

Seattle, WA

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Zillow Mortgage Marketplace Launches: FREE MORTGAGE LEADS

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