Homebuyers can now access the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace through AOL Real Estate, although links on listing detail pages for individual properties continue to take users to another mortgage prequalification site operated by Zillow rival Move Inc.
Zillow Mortgage Marketplace launched today on AOL Real Estate and another AOL website, DailyFinance.com, offering rate quotes, mortgage calculators, and real-time mortgage rates on both sites, the companies said.
The marketplace allows borrowers to request rate quotes from participating mortgage lenders, who pay Zillow each time consumers click on their links for more information about a loan quote.
Participating lenders use pricing engines to generate automated loan quotes. Search engine giant Google launched a similar service last year, which is now called Google Advisor.
So far this year, consumers have submitted nearly 5 million loan requests through Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, with each request generating an average of 18 loan quotes, Zillow said. AOL will receive a share of the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace revenue generated by visitors to its sites, the companies said in announcing the partnership in October.
Zillow has reported that hundreds of websites, including technology-based brokerage Redfin, use Zillow’s mortgage rate statistics, calculators or widgets. But the partnership with AOL marks the first time consumers can use Zillow Mortgage Marketplace to shop for a loan at a website or portal other than Zillow.com, the company said.
From the AOL Real Estate home page, visitors can request to see mortgage rates by state. They are then presented with a lead form offering a personalized rate quote based on their ZIP code, home purchase price, down payment, and credit score.
Clicking on the "Home Finance" tab at AOL Real Estate also provides rates and mortgage and home finance calculators powered by Zillow.
Realtor.com operator Move Inc. powers home searches at AOL Real Estate and supplies the site with listings through its ListHub subsidiary.
So when AOL Real Estate users find a home they are interested in and click on it for more details, a link under the list price on the home’s listing detail page offers them the opportunity to "Get Prequalified Today" with Move’s lending partner.
The link takes AOL Real Estate users to a MetLife Home Loans "PreQualplus" landing page at Move.com. There, MetLife Home Loans offers to prequalify borrowers in as little as 15 minutes. The site informs users that financing may be obtained through another lender.
