RealEstate posts

Filed under: Business, Finance, Web services

Zillow launches new mortgage marketplace

by Simon Kerbel Apr 3rd 2008

Zillow is taking the wraps off its new service today, the Mortgage Marketplace.

Designed as a meeting ground between mortgage borrowers and lenders, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace aims to solve most of the common complaints that borrowers and lenders have with the normal mortgage process.

For starters, the marketplace does not require that borrowers provide extensive personal information up front. In place of personal information are detailed loan request forms, where you can customize the offering you are looking for. When a lender sends a quote, you are alerted by e-mail to view, then accept or decline, the customized offer.

Lenders can register for a small fee; once registered, they can submit quotes to potential borrowers, and view any competing quotes for the same borrower. Zillow requires full disclosure from the lender; that is, any quote must include all fees, as well as estimates of taxes, insurance, the whole kit and kaboodle.

The Mortgage Marketplace is an excellent idea. It allows the borrower to shop extensively without having to reveal all of their personal information, and saves them the time of filling out form after form. Zillow's full disclosure policy insures that there will be no surprise costs. Lenders will also benefit from having a large pool to pull customers from for a relatively low cost.

The question is: is anybody even buying a house right now?

[via CNet]

Tags: mortgage, real estate, RealEstate, zillow

Filed under: Business, Internet

Roost launches with full MLS real estate listings

by Jason Harris Jan 24th 2008

In the online real estate market, we already have Trulia and Zillow, but a new player is emerging that should be looked at. Roost is an easy to use, lean website that gives you easy access to real estate listings in specific markets. The site has forged agreements with various Multiple Listing Services (MLS) throughout the country to give users a high volume of listings to look through. What sets Roost apart is it's simplicity and easy to use map to nail down your intended geographic region.

At this time, a few of the the areas covered by Roost include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Washington, D.C, among others.

This approach of using MLS data is a new. Redfin is also a site that uses MLS data - information that used to be closed off from the web by the MLS providers. For those trying to avoid dealing with Realtors, for sale by owner properties are also displayed on Roost. Roost's easy to use interface includes the ability to quickly view photos, and easy sliders for filtering your list of homes based on price, bedroom count, square feet, etc.

If you're looking to buy or sell a home, add Roost to your list of web resources.

Tags: real estate, RealEstate, roost, trulia, zillow

Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services, web 2.0

Data standards for real estate listings

by Romeo Wahed Jan 14th 2008

As Facebook and Google join DataPortability.org for streamlining the technologies and standards used with social applications, online real estate listings are quick not to be left behind.

In an open letter to Yahoo, Google, Trulia and Zillow, the RETS community (Real Estate Transaction Standard) encouraged a data standard for real estate listings so that home sellers and others who list real estate online can easily take one listing and make it work for all the participating websites. So instead of having to rewrite the listings for each site's particular style of listings, it only has to be written once. How very, oh, web 2.0.

With the speed that data standards are sprinting along, it's only going to be a matter of time until everything (that is useful anyway) has been reduced to standards that allow for maximum compatibility across services. Data standards for other areas such as classifieds, documents, and online personals may be closer than we think. Or maybe that's just a usability lover's pipe dream.

[via Mashable]

Tags: data, listings, online, realestate, standards

Filed under: Web services

Arizona bans Zillow from offering real estate estimates

by Brad Linder Apr 17th 2007

Last month a legal web site was found guilty of practicing law without a license. Now online real estate appraisal service Zillow has received a cease and desist order from the state of Arizona for offering estimated home prices without a state appraiser license.

The Arizona Board of Appraisal decided what Zillow is offering is essentially an appraisal, despite the fact that Zillow's website makes it clear that the figures listed are estimates and not actual appraisals.

Zillow issued a statement to the effect that the company believes the estimates are not formal, and are therefore legal in Arizona. The company has responded to the Board of Appraisal's letter and is hoping to resolve the issue.

As of Monday, the company continues to post online estimates for Arizona real estate.

[via Techdirt]

Tags: appraisal, arizona, legal, real estate, RealEstate, zillow

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Yahoo!

Yahoo! Real Estate adds school information

by Chris Price Jan 20th 2007

If you're looking to move your family to a new abode, an important consideration is often the quality of the schools in the areas you are looking for.

To help with the decision, Yahoo! Real Estate has added a nationwide school search feature to it's service. The schools are displayed on the embedded Y! Map, so you get all the zoom \ pan \ images that you'd expect.

Each school is linked to more information such as Student \ Teacher Ratio and even Parent Reviews. The data it uses comes from a partnership with GreatSchools.net and gives you the ability to search on District \ Level or Grade. Also, a neighborhood map of the school is displayed with easy access to local amenities - Grocery stores \ Parks \ Gas Stations, etc.

Combine this with the Zillow data that's available from the same service, you have a powerful way to research your next home.

Tags: home, real estate, RealEstate, research, schools, yahoo, zillow

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Yahoo!

Yahoo! integrates with Zillow for instant Real Estate valuations

by Chris Price Jul 19th 2006

I've not used the Yahoo! Real Estate service before, but this post to the Yahoo! Search blog perked my interest...

Yahoo! has integrated a few of it's services with Zillow to give you instant home valuations of any address in the US.

A map of the area is displayed using Y! Maps beta technology (so you can move it around \ zoom \ switch to satellite) that displays comparable homes in that area - but you don't get the 'Bird's Eye View' option that you get from Zillow's mapping (it uses Windows Live Local for that)

The Yahoo! team have also added a new Y! Shortcut - type in 'home values' into a Y! Search bar and the first entry will allow you to input an address to lookup.

I've played with Zillow before - it's quite a bit of fun comparing your house to those in the neighborhood, it's also scary just how much information they have on you.

Tags: real estate, RealEstate, valuation, yahoo, zillow

Filed under: Business, Web services

Emongoo offers free "for sale by owner" listings

by Victor Agreda, Jr. May 9th 2006

Thanks to Frank K. for sending us a link to Emongoo in the comments of our Google real estate mashup post. I have no idea what Emongoo is supposed to mean (except for a formerly-available URL with a .com extension), but I can tell you it's pretty cool for what it does. Emongoo is a home listing site that gives you a place for your home, 20 images, and will send you a "For Sale" sign. All of this is free, except for the shipping and handling on the physical sign. As someone who is not looking forward to selling his house in the next year, I can tell you this is awfully nice... Unfortunately, Emongoo isn't very popular yet. Homes in my area aren't really available on the site, but again, that's a result of the newness (and relative backwardness of my location). There are handy links to a mortgage calculator, an actual mortgage company, map info, and Zestimate, which is a decent house estimator so you can compare the asking price with the estimated price. You can do a map search, and there's live support available. How do they do it? Well, Emongoo does all this for free but wants to upsell you on their services. The main service is a coaching feature, where they'll work with you on selling your home. The coaching starts at a little over $600. Another service, called e-vision, takes video of your home (which you shoot with a provided camera) and an "aesthetics professional" will suggest some ways to make the home show better. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a price for this service.

Tags: emongoo, home, house, real estate, RealEstate

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