Zillow.com on Thursday added a mortgage marketplace for lenders to get in front of the millions of monthly visitors to the online real estate site.
The Seattle startup, formed by two former Microsoft executives who founded Expedia, takes publicly available housing data such as closing home prices and displays it in a mashup fashion on maps.
The company, which promised to challenge the brick-and-mortar industry, put tools in the hands of consumers to price homes using the startup's Zestimate, or Zillow estimate. The Zillow estimates have been widely criticized by the real estate industry for returning overly inflated values.
The move marks a bold step for the startup into another source of revenue beyond advertising.
“Rates are very low and there is huge pent-up demand for loans, but there is not an easy way to shop for loans without putting yourself out there so I think our timing is great,” Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff said.
The real estate mortgage market has been in crisis because of high default rates on subprime and other adjustable rate loans, but Zillow, which has raised $87 million in funding, still sees an opportunity.
Visitors to Zillow Mortgage Marketplace can request customized loan quotes by filling out a form that keep their identity private. Registered lenders can browse the borrower requests, view competing quotes, and offer quotes of their own. Borrowers can also rate lenders.
“Real estate professionals are looking for the best tools to help them so despite the fact that it is a downturn, it is a great time for people who have solid resources,” said Peter Ill, president of Dominion Homes Media, a unit of Dominion Enterprises, a real estate services firm.