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Zillow Home Loans Review

Online mortgage lender, ideal for first timers

Reviews 43
Zillow Home Loans
Zillow Home Loans
Great
Reviews 43
Sarah Pritzker
Feb. 07, 2023
3 min read
Sarah Pritzker
Zillow Home Loans Summary
Zillow Home Loans strives to help you secure your mortgage with competitive rates and fees, low down payment options and a variety of loan types to meet your needs. They keep you informed and up-to-date so that you get a smooth and transparent process when getting a mortgage.

Pros

  • Competitive rates
  • Top notch customer service
  • Trustworthy and transparent

Cons

  • Not licensed in all states
  • No live chat customer support

Zillow Home Loans at a glance

8.8
Editorial score

Customer Service and Support

Very helpful loan officers
8.0

Variety of Loan Types

Purchase, Refinance, Home Equity loans available
10.0

Variety of Products

Wide array of terms
10.0

Online Experience

User friendly website
8.0

Geographical Availability

Not available everywhere
8.0

Overview

Zillow Home Loans (NMLS #10287) is an Equal Housing Lender that provides mortgage loans for the purchase of new homes and refinancing options for current homeowners. With a variety of loan products available, including conventional loans, VA loans, and FHA loans. Zillow Home Loans have flexible repayment terms, low or no down payment, depending on the loan type, and competitive rates.

Additionally, Zillow Home Loans has a manual underwriting procedure. While this may take a little longer, it's actually a good thing for borrowers because it means each case is looked at personally and decided on a case-by-case basis. That gives borrowers a better chance of finding approval than the generic, automated process offers.

Best For?

Zillow Home Loans is a particularly good choice for new home buyers for two reasons. For one thing, the Zillow Home Loan team is reputed to be supportive, dedicated, and highly-qualified at what they do. Based on consumer reviews and a built reputation, Zillow Home Loan officers are efficient, ready to go to bat for you, and knowledgeable in all the right areas.

What’s more, Zillow Home Loans spells everything out very clearly on the website. So, for first-time buyers who aren’t familiar with the process of buying a new home, don’t know the terminology, and aren’t clear on the details, Zillow Home Loans gives them all the information they need to proceed with confidence.

Types of Loans/Products

Zillow Home Loans offer several loan products for both new purchases and current homeowners looking to refinance. Purchase loans available include

  • Conventional loans, including Home Possible and HomeReady loans
  • VA loans
  • FHA loans

Zillow Home Loans has fixed-rate mortgages. Additionally, you can find refinancing options that include:

  • Conventional
  • VA
  • FHA
  • 203(h)

Zillow Home Loans offer both mortgage loans and refinancing options for single-family homes, townhomes, manufactured homes, and condominiums.

  • Credit required: 620 for Conventional loans and 660 for FHA and VA loans
  • Down payments: 0%-3% (requires PMI if lower than 20%)
  • Loan terms: 10, 15, 20, 25, 30-year fixed

The Application Process

You can get a mortgage loan directly through Zillow Home Loans. This is a straightforward process that offers the benefit of having a professionally-trained loan officer handle your case from start to finish. After filling out the online application form, a Zillow Home Loans rep will reach out to you to finalize your application process. Borrowers who are interested in continuing directly with Zillow Home Loans will be sent a digital disclosure form. That's a convenient step in the process. Zillow Home Loans’ underwriters manually verify each applicant's employment income and assets and will look into property in question to verify that it meets requirements.

Rates and Fees – The Bare Basics

Zillow Home Loans offers some very low rates. It does charge an origination fee, though, so watch out for this one. Ask before you get too deep into the process how much this will be and if there are any other fees associated with the overall mortgage loan process you should know about.

In terms of loan rates, Zillow Home Loans’ are very competitive. It offers a variety of different loan types, and you can even find low or no down payment loans. You can get a conventional loan for 3.40%-4.57% APR. Plus, Zillow Home Loans also have rate-lock offers in different time frames to accommodate more borrowers.

Repayment Terms

Zillow Home Loans offers several repayment options, a big benefit for homebuyers who like to have their options left open. You can choose between 10, 15, 20, or 30-year fixed-rate loans. Alternatively, Zillow Home Loans offers adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) that range from 3/1, 5/1, and 7/1 variations. Which is the right one for you will depend on how much you could afford to put down, how much you can pay per month, and how fast you want to repay your loan.

Help & Support

As mentioned, borrowers will get a loan officer to deal with their case from start to finish. This is personalized customer support at its best. If you have questions before you’ve been assigned someone, you can reach out to customer support via the phone or with the online contact form. Unfortunately, there’s no live chat.

Summary

Zillow Home Loans is a reliable name in the real estate industry, so expanding its offerings to the home mortgage sector has been generally viewed as a win-win for everyone. With mortgage and refinancing loans boasting low rates, flexible repayment terms, and personalized customer service, Zillow Home Loans is certainly settling into the new industry admirably.

FAQ

Q:  How will I know how much to take out for a mortgage loan?

A: Zillow Home Loans has several online tools that can help first-time buyers figure out how much they should take out for a mortgage loan. To begin with, there is an affordability calculator. This will help you understand exactly how much you can afford to pay towards a mortgage based on your income, expenses, and other factors. Then, the mortgage calculator will help you figure out how much money you should take out for your loan.

Q:What is homeowners insurance, and do I need it?

A:  Homeowners insurance is a kind of insurance policy that covers the costs of several damages, including fire, burglary, and structural damage. Homeowners insurance is generally a requirement if you want to get approved for a mortgage loan.

Q:  What are closing costs?

A: Closing costs are a broad category of fees you may have to pay when purchasing a home. They're paid at the time of closing the transaction and include things like appraisal, attorney fees, escrow fee, home inspection, origination fee, property tax, survey fee, and more.

Physical Address

10975 El Monte St. 

Overland Park, KS 66211

Sarah Pritzker
Written by
Sarah Pritzker
Sarah Pritzker is a content writer with years of experience and a keen interest in the vast world of online consumer products. She writes for BestMoney and enjoys helping readers make sense of the options on the market.‎

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Trustpilot reviews
See what some customers are saying about Zillow Home Loans
Average • Reviews 43
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Excellent
81%
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0%
Average
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2%
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16%
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paulette warren
1 year ago
FIRST TIME USING ZILLOW
This was an wonderful experience never used zillow before will definitely have all my familly and friends use them.Phuoc Nguyen was great.Answered all my questions,always called me back right away,I closed in 30 days. Great job. will use for any other purchases.
EM
Edna Meyer
2 years ago
Christina Martinez is so amazing!…
Christina Martinez was most helpful and patient with our mortgage Application! She was an amazing support throughout the application process! She is a true asset to Zillow Loans!
BC
Bianca Connor
2 years ago
My lender Cristina Martinez is amazing
My lender Cristina Martinez is amazing. I have 1 week left in my home buying process and I’ve been supported each step of the way. Whenever I have questions or concerns, Cristina is always there to clarify things for me!
EF
Ella Ferguson
2 years ago
Positive inquiry
I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with Christina Martinez since October, 2021. She has been very influential with all my conversations with her. She’s always very polite, helpful and presents a sincere attitude. She’s a very good asset to Zillow as she’s been very helpful as to my pursuit of home buying.
Peter Cregut
2 years ago
5 stars!
Brianna was super helpful walking me through complicated parts of a mortgage loan which were new to me as a first-time homebuyer. She helped me get the lowest rate possible and close ahead of schedule, I would recommend her to anyone I know!
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