real estate 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: 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, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Productivity, Mozilla, Freeware

Tiny Menu: Save Firefox screen real estate

by Ross McKillop Dec 19th 2006

Exactly as its name implies, the Tiny Menu extension allows you to compress your entire Firefox menu bar into one item. And, thanks to a recent update, that item is now even smaller. Setting up Tiny Menu isn't entirely intuitive, so I'll outline the steps to save you a bit of time:

Download and install Tiny Menu (don't forget to restart Firefox)
Click your 'new' menu (the M) and then select View > Toolbars > Customize...
One at a time (not that you have a choice) drag the items from your Navigation Toolbar into your menu bar until there's nothing left in the Navigation Toolbar
Click Done to return to the main Firefox window
Again, click your new menu and this time choose View > Toolbars > and then uncheck the Navigation Toolbar
Bask in the glory of your newly free pixels

Tags: browser, custom, customize, extension, extensions, firefox, menu, menus, plugin, plugins, real estate, save, screen, size, space, toolbar, toolbars, vertical

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

Filed under: Web services, Google, Microsoft

Microsoft will have Google licked in 6 months

by Jordan Running Mar 2nd 2006

I seem to remember not too long ago Microsoft claiming that the new MSN Search was going to mop the floors with Google. Whether or not I just imagined that, Microsoft is playing the same tune today. Reuters reports that Microsoft expects to "be more relevant in the U.S. market place than Google" in six months time with the launch of a new search engine. They claim the new search engine will do more than just fetch URLs, pulling relevant data from around the web like real estate and restaurant listings instead of just links. That sounds familiar. While Microsoft's dream of having Google beat in six months seem, to put it kindly, a little fanciful—a year or two and anything could happen, but six months?—I have no doubt that they're up to something interesting and that Google won't spend the intervening time resting on its laurels.

[Via Slashdot]

Tags: google, microsoft, msn, real estate, search

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