Despite its early misguided efforts to prod the real estate industry into lowering fees, Zillow has done one positive thing -- it's made the real estate market more transparent.

Now the company is doing the same thing for consumers when it comes to loans. And they could really use some help.

According to Zillow's research, adults who have obtained or refinanced a home loan in the past five years spent 39 hours researching homes but only 5 hours on home loans. Considering the amount of money involved, it's surprising that we spend more time researching a car purchase (8 hours).

Eighty-two percent of housing consumers have concerns about getting a home loan, including:

1. Having personal information sold or shared with multiple lenders (58%)

2. Sharing personal information and credit score with multiple lenders (55%)

3. Missing the opportunity to get the best rate (54%)

4. Ending up with a monthly payment that is greater than original budget (48%)

5. Not understanding the terms and financial implications of the loan (41%)

That's a great opportunity for Zillow. Transparency, here we come. Unlike other online mortgage portals like Lending Tree, which operates as a mortgage broker, Zillow says it is operating a transparent lending marketplace. Borrowers give enough information to get real rate quotes, but do not provide any personally identifiable information to the lender -- no name, address, phone number or Social Security number.

Any lender can visit Zillow, but they have to register and pay a fee, but there's no limit on how many banks can submit quotes to borrowers.

"Loan shoppers tell us they want real quotes -- not just teaser rates -- when doing their research online, and they want to control who and when they contact by shopping anonymously until they are ready to talk, explains Rich Barton, CEO of Zillow.

Even better, The Mortgage Marketplace quote form requires lenders to disclose all fees upfront then Zillow estimates taxes and insurance and provides an inclusive estimated monthly payment to the borrower.

This makes it easy to compare loan quotes, and then it becomes the borrower's decision which bank to contact.

This isn't a nightmare just for online brokers, but for all mortgage brokers who will eventually have to match Zillow's transparency in terms of which banks are making which offers and which are most attractive to consumers.

It's all about the numbers.

Published: April 7, 2008

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.