Borrowers plan to secure more quotes in the future; primary concerns for
borrowers include protecting personal information, getting the best rate
and not exceeding their monthly housing budget
SEATTLE, April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the fact a home is one
of the largest and most expensive purchases most Americans will ever make,
those adults who have obtained or refinanced a home loan in the past 5
years typically spent only 5 hours researching a home loan, according to a
recent survey(1) of 2,897 adults conducted by Harris Interactive(R) on
behalf of leading real estate website Zillow.com. In fact, more time is
typically spent researching a car purchase (8 hours) or major home
improvements, such as a kitchen remodel (10 hours), and equal time is spent
planning a single vacation (5 hours)(2). When calculated as time spent per
dollar invested, this means Americans typically spend almost 80 times more
time researching their vacation (.159 min./dollar) than a home loan (.002
min./dollar).
More Quotes Expected on Future Home Financing Activity
In retrospect, borrowers seem to indicate a desire to be more informed
in the future. Those who obtained or refinanced some type of mortgage or
home loan in the last five years secured an average of 4 quotes, but those
who plan to obtain or refinance a mortgage or home loan within the next
year say they expect to obtain 6 quotes, on average.
Home-Related Typical Hours Average Cost Minutes Spent
Investment of Research(2) Per Dollar
Vacation 5 $1883(3) per week .159
Mortgage or Home Loan 5 $135,313(4) (home) .002
Car 8 8,7159(5) .017
Home 39 24,890(6) .102
Major Home Improvements 10 $47,500(7) .013
Computer 4 $3000(8) .080
Television 2 $783(9) .153
82% of Borrowers have Concerns about Securing Next Home Loan
Of adults who say they plan to be in the market for a mortgage or home
loan in the future (mortgage, refinance, HELOC or other home loan), 82% of
them say they have concerns about doing so. The primary concern among these
borrowers is having their personal information sold or shared with multiple
lenders (58%). The top five concerns:
-- Having personal information sold or
shared with multiple lenders (58%)
-- Sharing personal information and credit
score with multiple lenders (55%)
-- Missing the opportunity to get the best rate (54%)
-- Ending up with a monthly payment that is
greater than original budget (48%)
-- Not understanding the terms and financial
implications of the loan (41%)
"What most people don't realize is the type and terms of a loan are
often more significant than the actual purchase price as these factors can
dramatically affect the affordability of a home," said Spencer Rascoff,
Zillow chief financial officer. "Financing a home is one of the largest
investments most people will make in a lifetime yet people typically put
more time into buying a car and as much time into researching a single
vacation than they do a home loan. Despite this clear imbalance of effort,
we're encouraged that borrowers, on average, say they plan to secure more
quotes on the loan they plan on obtaining or refinancing within the next
year, which we think signals a desire for greater options and information
to help alleviate the primary concerns of borrowers."
Of those who plan to be in the market for a home loan in the next year,
-- Nine out of 10 (91%) agree a standardized quote form would make it
easier to compare loan quotes from multiple lenders.
-- 82% believe the recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve make
it more attractive to shop for a home loan.
-- 77% say they would obtain more mortgage or home loan quotes if they
could do so anonymously.
-- 61% rely/would rely on others' input when selecting a mortgage lender.
-- 56% would obtain more mortgage or home loan quotes if I had more time
to do so.
"Zillow has expanded into the home financing arena with today's launch
of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace that we designed to help illuminate the
complicated lending process and provide borrowers greater control and
transparency than exists elsewhere and addresses many of the common
borrower concerns and preferences," added Rascoff.
For more information on Zillow(R) and its new Zillow Mortgage
Marketplace, visit the Zillow Press Room at http://zillow.mediaroom.com. To
see how these survey results compare to those from Zillow users, visit the
Zillow Blog.
About Zillow.com
Zillow.com is an online real estate community where homeowners, buyers,
sellers, real estate agents and mortgage professionals find and share vital
information about homes, for free. Launched in early 2006 with Zestimate(R)
values and data on millions of U.S. homes, Zillow has since opened the site
to community input, data and dialogue. One of the most-visited U.S. real
estate Web sites, Zillow's goal is to help people become smarter about real
estate in every stage of the home ownership process -- buying, selling,
remodeling and financing. The company is headquartered in Seattle and has
raised $87 million in funding. Zillow.com, Zillow, Zestimate and Zindex are
registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.
(1) The Home Spending survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive
within the United States on behalf of Zillow.com between March 6 and
March 10, 2008, among 2,897 adults ages 18+, of whom 1,821 are
homeowners. This online survey is not based on a probability sample
and therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be
calculated; a full methodology is available.
(2) Median number of hours among adults who purchased each item and spent
at least one hour researching and shopping before doing so. Sample
sizes vary.
(3) AAA 2007 Vacation Costs Survey. Cost per day for a family of two
adults and two children.
(4) Based on averaging loan type data from the MBA's Residential Mortgage
Market and Its Economic Context 2007 report.
(5) Auto Affordability Index compiled by Comerica Bank in Detroit for
Q4 2007.
(6) Zillow Q4 Report Zindex(R) Median Home Value Indicator
(7) Based on averages from Remodeling magazine.
(8) WikiAnswers
(9) Consumer Electronics Association
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060503/ZILLOWLOGO)
See Also
- BOMA San Francisco Launches Web-based Recruitment Resource
- Home & Garden Advertisers Tap Into 9.4 Million Monthly Unique Users at Move(R)
- HOK Employees Worldwide to ‘Go Barefoot’ on Earth Day
Source: Real Estate Newswire
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