Zillow Home Loans Mortgage Review 2023
- Expertise: Mortgages, personal finance
- Education: Reed College
Rene Bermudez is a staff writer at LendingTree, where she covers mortgages and personal finance.
Before joining LendingTree, she worked as an independent writer, editor and researcher. Her experience includes investigative work with The Nation Institute, work in the life sciences with Language Scientific, collaborations around digital rights and cultures with Prof. Ramesh Srinivasan of UCLA’s Department of Information Studies and e-commerce coverage for Verifone.
Rene has a bachelor’s degree in Classics (Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies) from Reed College.
Rebecca, a freelance editor for LendingTree, is a marketing and content specialist who has worked in the personal finance space since 2017. A graduate of Millersville University of Pennsylvania, she received a degree in English with a minor in journalism. As a Taurus, Rebecca struggles with budgeting and tends to live by a “treat yourself” mindset. She’s working on it.
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Zillow at a glance
Our verdict: Zillow Home Loans is a good fit for buyers who want to streamline a complex homebuying process. If you need to sell a home and buy a new one in short order, or you want to shop for a home and mortgage through one company’s marketplace, Zillow might be for you.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
You can get prequalified online. You’ll be able to reach your loan officer outside of normal business hours and on Saturdays. You’ll receive special rebates, credits and perks if you’re moving and use Zillow to sell your old home and buy a new one. | Fairly strict credit requirements, with 620 set as the minimum score for most loan types. You won’t find any home equity options You’ll need to contact a loan officer to apply for a mortgage — you can initiate this online but can’t complete the process online. |
On this page
You may recognize Zillow as an online marketplace for buying and selling real estate, but the company began also offering home loans in 2018 when it launched Zillow Home Loans, LLC. Originally intended to complement the now-defunct Zillow Offers homebuying program, Zillow Home Loans continues to provide a streamlined mortgage experience to customers who may also use Zillow to shop for a home.
Zillow mortgage products
Conventional
- Purchase mortgages with fixed 15-, 20- and 30-year loan terms are available with only a 3% down payment.
- Adjustable-rate loans (ARMs) are also an option, and come with 7- and 10-year initial fixed-rate periods.
- Rate-and-term refinances with Zillow Home Loans can help homeowners save on their monthly mortgage payments or alter their loan term.
- Cash-out refinances are available for homeowners who wish to borrow against their home equity.
FHA
- FHA purchase loans, backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), are available for borrowers with a minimum 620 credit score.
- FHA Streamline refinances allow borrowers with an existing FHA loan to refinance with less paperwork and hassle.
- FHA cash-out refinances are an option for homeowners who want to tap their home equity to fund other financial goals.
VA
- VA purchase loans, backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), offer veterans and their qualifying family members zero-down loans with competitive interest rates and no private mortgage insurance (PMI) requirement.
- VA interest rate reduction refinance loans (IRRRLs) are available to military borrowers who wish to refinance an existing VA home loan.
Jumbo
- Jumbo home loans are offered to buyers in the market for high-priced homes, but you’ll have to come prepared to put 20% down, have a minimum credit score of 700 and be able to show significant cash reserves.
Special programs
- The Zillow 360 program is designed to simplify the moving process for homeowners who need to sell a current home, as well as find and buy a new home. It comes with several perks, including a 1.5% rebate on the price of the new home, a $1,500 credit when you close on the new mortgage and covered relocation costs if it’s a local move.
Zillow mortgage rates and fees
Zillow’s website is a bit confusing when it comes to the nitty-gritty details of its rates and fees. While at first glance it may seem like the site provides a good deal of data about mortgage rates, the rates featured most prominently are general market information culled from other lenders using Zillow’s marketplace platform, not rates offered by Zillow Home Loans. To get a rate quote from Zillow, you’ll have to enter some loan details into a form that returns rates from both Zillow Home Loans and other lenders in Zillow’s marketplace.
Although Zillow provides an extensive guide to the general idea of closing costs, it doesn’t include a list of the lender fees that the company actually charges. Certain actions on the website (for example, clicking on a button to compare rates from other lenders) will trigger a pop-up to appear that has more detailed information about lender fees — but this info isn’t on a static page with a url that you can bookmark or find again easily.
| Mortgage rates published online? | |
| Rate information updated daily or weekly? | |
| Lender fees disclosed? |
Zillow application experience
Zillow makes it easy to get pre-approval online. You can also begin, but can’t complete, a loan application online. And, once you’ve progressed to the final stages of the loan process, you can choose an e-closing or hybrid closing option.
Zillow customer service experience:
You can contact customer service at 1-888-852-2212 or by submitting a form at Zillow’s website. Need off-hours assistance? No problem. Customer service tailored to your loan is reachable from 6:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. PST weekdays and from 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Saturdays.
How does Zillow compare to other lenders?
| Zillow Home Loans | Homepoint Financial | Alliant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lender rating |  | | |
| Minimum credit score | 620 | 580 to 620 | Not published |
| Minimum down payment | 0% to 3.5% | 0% to 3.5% | 0% to 5% |
| Loan products and programs |
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How we rated Zillow
LendingTree’s mortgage lender rating is based on a five-point scoring system that factors in several features, including digital application processes, available loan products and the accessibility of product and lending information.
LendingTree’s editorial team calculates each rating based on a review of information available on the lender’s website. Lenders receive a half-point on the “offers standard mortgage products” criterion if they offer only two of the three standard loan programs (conventional, FHA and VA). In some cases, additional information was provided by a lender representative.
Zillow’s scorecard: 4/5
Publishes rates online
Offers standard mortgage products
Includes detailed product info online
Shares resources about mortgage lending
Provides an online application