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January 25, 2012

Personally I am a Zillow addict... I spend WAY too much time scouring the website for new deals and investor opportunities (even if I am playing the game with invisible money).  If you want to succeed in a field you need to learn/understand the field.  Zillow is a great way to dissect the real estate market whether you''re looking to buy your first home or if you are looking to build up a large portfolio of investment properties.  Today''s featured article comes from money blog wisebread.com and offers an inside look at one of the best Real Estate websites on the planet.  Check it out below:

 

Buying a home or renting an apartment is a big commitment, and not an easy one to make. There are many choices, and between choosing from available homes, real estate agents, and lenders, it can all become quite overwhelming.

One option to help relieve the stress and help you make wise choices is Zillow. Zillow aims to simplify the house hunting process by giving you all the information you need on one site, a task it excels at – mostly.

How It Works

Like many other home buying or apartment hunting websites, Zillow posts sortable listings for homes and apartments for sale and rent throughout the United States. However, Zillow offers more than the typical real estate site.

Homeowners can use the mortgage calculator to estimate their monthly mortgage payment or search through current mortgage rates from dozens of lenders. Renters can search through both apartments and houses for rent. Zillow also offers listings for local real estate agents, articles and guides for homeownership and rentals, and a mobile app for house hunting while on the go.

 

Key Features

Available Listings. Homebuyers can search through real estate agent listings, for sale by owner, and foreclosures. Renters can search a broad network of apartments and houses available for rent. Both search options have filters that allow you to search by price, size, year built, and number of rooms.

 

Monthly Payment Calculator.

By utilizing the calculator, you can calculate what your monthly payment would be based on the sale price and your down payment amount. There are also filters that account for homeowners insurance costs, monthly neighborhood association dues, and private mortgage

insurance fees.

The calculator defaults to the best interest rates available for those with excellent credit, so if you have less-than-excellent credit, click on “current rate” to change it.

Current Rates.

The “Compare Mortgage Rates and Lenders” feature allows you to filter through lender offerings according to the total purchase price, your estimated down payment, and your credit score. As a result, you’ll get current rates from several different lenders based specifically on your personal needs.
 

Advice.

Zillow has information on buying a home, mortgage refinancing, and even decorating tips. And with the “Ask a Question” feature, you can ask other community members for advice on topics not covered on the site.

FAQs.

The FAQs allow you to filter your search by other questions posted by members, discussions started by other members, or guides written by Zillow.

 

Professional Listings.

The site has listings for local real estate agents,  mortgage lenders, and professional contractors. Each listing features a profile and may include customer reviews.

 

Local Information.

The “Local” section contains information on demographics, schools, and homes for sale in any given neighborhood, and even photos of different hotspots around town.

 

Mobile App.

The Zillow mobile app companion eliminates the need for printing or saving different addresses and information. With the app, you can search while you’re out house hunting, or quickly look up demographic information for a specific neighborhood.

 

Recently Sold Properties Comparison.

The “Recently Sold” section of Zillow lists the selling price, property information, and photos for recently sold homes in your search area. Looking through the sell price of homes in your neighborhood can help you determine a competitive price to list your own home for sale, or to see what people are paying for homes similar to what you wish to buy.

 

Zestimate Feature.
The “Zestimate” feature provides you an estimated market value of a home. While the listed amount is only an estimate based on the size of the home and the neighborhood in which it is situated, it is not an appraisal. It does, however, give you an idea of what a particular home is worth.

 

Advantages

Free.

Any of the tools on the site can be utilized for free.

 

All-in-One House Hunting.

Some sites have mortgage calculators, others have listings, and others have advice. Zillow has it all in one place.

 

Integrated.

When you add your home on your Mint profile, for example, you can link to property value information on Zillow. Having this information easily accessible makes it simpler to calculate total net worth.

 

Up-to-Date Homepage.

Zillow tracks your location on both the website (based on your IP address) and the mobile app and presents the most pertinent information on the homepage. Having information such as recent listings, current home values, and local advice on one page simplifies the buying or renting process.

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