Sarasota Bay Real Estate - 45 Town Homes Soon to Rise at Ringling

Property developer Jebco Ventures has scaled down its project to build a high-rise residential building in the 2.05-acre property it purchased at Ringling Blvd., Sarasota City, in April 2012. This vacant lot is the former site for the Atrium apartment project that was shelved because of the economic downturn.

Sarasota, Florida (PRWEB) November 05, 2012

Property developer Jebco Ventures has scaled down its project to build a high-rise residential building in the 2.05-acre property it purchased at Ringling Blvd., Sarasota City, in April 2012. This vacant lot is the former site for the Atrium apartment project that was shelved because of the economic downturn. The property is situated just north of Morill Street in Laurel Park, one of the historic neighborhoods in Sarasota. The Jebco site, it turned out, was zoned for only 75 apartments, a classification that prompted the developer to revise its plan. It will now instead seek a permit from City Hall to construct 45 townhomes at the site.

Jebco isn’t a newcomer in the Sarasota real estate market. In 2005, this company, which also has properties Georgia, completed the development of Vista Bay Point, a two-building luxury condo at the Golden Gate Point Peninsula northwest of downtown Sarasota. There are only 16 units in this condominium wherein the residences have floor areas ranging from 3,000 to 3,500 square feet. Their price points are in the $1–2.5 million range.

The planned Jebco townhomes at Ringling will be priced much lower at starting prices in the $300s. The project’s blueprint calls for three-story, air-conditioned residences having floor plans ranging from 1,400 to 2,400 square feet. Building permits are expected to be secured by this December and construction to start in the first quarter next year.

The Jebco property’s location next to Laurel Park certainly adds value to these planned townhomes. The site’s quiet, next-door district was awarded in 2008 the distinction of a listing in the National Register of Historic Places. This historic community covers about 50 acres wherein some 300 homes are nestled. The architectural style of the residences here is impressive and quite eclectic. Charming cottages, apartments, and bungalows circa the 1920s are hallmarks to this locality which is ribboned with brick-paved streets and shaded by lush oak trees.

Laurel Park covers some nine city blocks. On the north, it is bounded by Morril Street, and Alderman Street delineates its southern perimeter. Orange and Rawls Avenues are on its western boundary while Julia and Lafayette Court define the neighborhood’s eastern periphery. This friendly residential neighborhood has been dubbed as a “Walkers’ Paradise” because of its close proximity to the rich mix of venues for dining, shopping, and entertainment at the Sarasota downtown district.

The Laurel Park residents, composed mainly of young families and retirees, take pride in their community’s small-town ambiance. The neighborhood association in this district strives to preserve this identity that is much sought-after by prospective buyers of Sarasota homes for sale. The homeowners in the community, for instance, want to have a say on planning for future developments in and around their area.

Specifically, they are eying active involvement in the planning of any commercial development within 100 feet of Laurel Park’s boundaries. The neighborhood association appears happy with Jebco Ventures’ scaled-down plan for the Ringling Blvd. town homes. This three-story project would be more suited to our locality, one association official was quoted as saying.


About Sarasota Bay Real Estate

Sarasota Bay Real Estate is a full service real estate brokerage in Sarasota Florida owned by Sarasota real estate broker, Christina Miller, and marketing professional, Roy Hunter. Together they, and their team of well-experienced agents, provide some of the highest quality real estate marketing services for the properties in the company’s inventory. When property marketing strategies are paramount in sellers listing requirements, Sarasota Bay Real Estate is the clear choice in the Sarasota real estate market.

Contact information for Sarasota Bay Real Estate can be found at http://sarasotabayrealestate.com

Taken from: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/11/prweb10097359.htm

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Fannie Mae Housing Survey Exposes Market Opportunities For Real Estate Investors

The September 2012 Fannie Mae Housing Survey shows that there is still a strong desire for home ownership, in spite of housing’s ups and downs over the past few years. The “American Dream” of homeownership is alive and well… Well, at least the dream part is.

Almost half of all renters surveyed indicated that they would prefer to own a home. But half of that number also said that their income has gone down over the past year while their household expenses have gone up. As a result, renters are less able to save for a down payment to buy a home. Further, almost half of all renters surveyed indicated that they have credit issues that would probably keep them from being able to qualify for a home mortgage.

On the one hand, it’s plain from this data that a general housing recovery is being hampered by a combination of economic factors – falling incomes and a rising cost of living, combined with lots of folks who have seen their credit damaged by delinquencies or foreclosures. It’s a tough combination that is sure to dampen any hopes of a general housing market recovery.

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But, that being said, what I see developing here is a major market opportunity for real estate investors who are willing to consider creative seller financing strategies or private lending. Indeed it is arguable that creative seller financing is going to be a growing future trend to accommodate a a vast market of potential and motivated buyers who can no longer access institutional credit sources.

We need roughly 1.5 million more homes sales per year than we currently have, to get to some sense of a “normal” housing market, based on historical averages of around 4.5 to 5 million home sales per year. There are, I’m guessing, probably 5 million tenants currently renting an apartment or house that would prefer to own their own home. The demand is there, but they need funding from non-traditional sources in order to make it happen.

Private investors have an unusual opportunity here to increase cash flow and net return on investment by stepping in with seller financing or private lending to accommodate this growing market segment.

Creative finance techniques are nothing new to real estate investors, but they are most often taught as a way for an investor to buy a home, and rarely taught as a way for an investor to sell a home. Yet the cash flow potential is significant, especially in a world where earnings from more traditional savings and investments has been falling.

Individual real estate investors or large, well funded capital companies that are already buying individual foreclosed homes could realize significant returns from creative seller financing. And there are a number of creative strategies that are already commonly used: “Lease with an Option to Buy”, “contract for deed”, “subject to the existing mortgage”, “taking back a note” and many more. I’d be willing to bet that for companies that plan to buy and rent large numbers of homes, selling with financing is likely to produce a much better return on investment than renting will, simply because a selling strategy alleviates the need for property management and maintenance expenses.

For individual “mom and pop” investors, properties sold with creative finance strategies are being used to generate income for specific purposes. For example, a local investor that I know personally has purchased a foreclosed condo in Florida with plans to sell it creatively and use the cash flow from that particular property to fund his daughters college expenses in a few years. Another friend who is not even a full time investor has used a beachfront property he inherited after Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed it, to retire at the age of 56. He renovated the property, and lives off of the substantial income it generates as a vacation destination.

Few business models offer the flexibility and potential return that creative real estate finance does, for both buyers and sellers. This could be a great way to fill a pent up demand for home ownership that has been effectively removed from the traditional housing market.

By Donna S. Robinson

Donna S. Robinson is a real estate industry veteran, real estate entrepreneur, author and market analyst located in Atlanta, GA. Follow her on twitter at donnaconsults and read her blog at www.RobinsonRealEstateReport.com

Taken from: http://realtybiznews.com/fannie-mae-housing-survey-exposes-market-opportunities-for-real-estate-investors/98716566/

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Why Micro Apartments Are The Next Big Trend In City Living

With big city dreams come small city apartments.

Urban dwellers must face the reality that cities are becoming increasingly over-crowded which means that housing is in short supply.

In New York City, 1.8 million one- and two-person households exist, but there are only 1 million studio and one-bedroom apartments in Manhattan, leaving a housing shortage.

The surge of tech wizards descending on San Francisco and the Bay area has caused rent in the city to skyrocket 22 percent since 2008, according to The New York Times.

London, too, is dealing with a housing crisis, where 1 in 10 people are on housing waiting lists, according to The Guardian.

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In China, the firm Dragonomics estimated nearly 50 million of China's 230 million urban households live in "substandard quarters often lacking their own toilet and kitchen." To combat this issue, China would have to build 10 million apartments a year until 2030.

Clearly there is an urban housing crisis happening around the world, and it's forcing cities to rethink their approaches to real estate. But there's a solution: micro-apartments.

A global trend

New York City's housing shortage prompted Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to commission 80 300-square-foot apartments in Manhattan this past summer. These prospective apartments, which are expected to rent for $2,000 a month, are so small that Bloomberg will have to amend zoning laws, which currently states that all apartments must be at least 400 square feet. The apartments in New York City will be just four times the size of a standard prison cell.

"People from all over the world want to live in New York City, and we must develop a new, scalable housing model that is safe, affordable and innovative to meet their needs," Bloomberg said in a statement announcing the apartments.

San Francisco has an influx of aspiring tech workers, but not nearly enough units to accommodate them. So the city is considering legislation that would change the city's building codes to allow developers to build micro-apartments as small as 220 square feet--even smaller than New York's. The legislation will be voted on in November.

“We have a housing affordability crisis here; rents are through the roof,” Scott Wiener, the city supervisor who introduced the legislation for the micro apartments in San Francisco, told The New York Times.

The city of San Jose, California, has already built 220-square-foot micro-units, while other cities across the country, like Seattle, Chicago and Boston are also considering the idea, according to the New York Times.

Similarly, several international cities like London, Warsaw, and cities in China have all adopted a micro-apartment model, where residents pay high prices to live in tiny, but optimally-located, living spaces.

An 8' X 10' apartment in London was originally on sale for $145,000, but because of its prime location, next to Harrod's department store, more than 12 bids have been put on the apartment. The real estate agent selling the property guessed the place will sell closer to $500,000.

The city of Dongguan, in southeast China, is considering building apartments that measure a mere 160 square feet--about the size of a parking space, according to the Wall Street Journal. These tiny apartments would provide an affordable solution to the city's housing crisis.

In Warsaw, Poland, micro-apartments are more of an art form and an experiment. A five-foot-wide "home" opened last week, where artist Etgar Keret plans to live for six months, and then eventually rent out. The bathroom is so small in the home that the shower head hovers above the toilet.

Paris, Tokyo and Singapore are also known for having tiny apartments.

An ongoing debate

But not everyone believes that these micro-apartments are the solution. Tenants rights advocates worry that this trend could set a bad precedent.

“Are we saying it is acceptable to box people up in little tiny spaces?” Tommi Avicolli Mecca, director of counseling at the Housing Rights Committee, a nonprofit organization, told the New York Times. “What standard are we setting here?”

These tiny apartments could also create a larger issue that divides classes. Will these new micro-units mean that only the super rich can afford to live in 800-square-foot plus apartments while the middle class settles for 300-square-foot closets?

Designing for micro-apartments

Some entrepreneurs are embracing the trend and finding ways to help people maximize their space. In order to live in these tiny apartments, the space has to be utilized cleverly.

Simon Woodroffe, founder of Yotel, has created a transforming apartment, with walls that move to create new spaces, or to allow a kitchen table to pop up from the floor.

"History will judge us for living in an absolutely primitive age compared to what it's going to be compared with the future of these types of home. People are going to say 'remember when they only had one space and it couldn't move around?'" Woodroffe said in an interview with CNN Money.

Other companies such as the Itzy Bitzy furniture store, have created smaller versions of end tables, dressers, and head boards, so inhabitants of these tiny apartments can still feel as if their home is furnished properly. Similarly, CB2, an extension company from Crate & Barrel, makes modern furniture for apartments and lofts. The furniture is to scale with smaller living spaces, but gives consumers trendy options. Companies such as West Elm, Milano Smart Living, and even super store IKEA have all surged on the small living trend.

It's clear that cities across the world see the only solution to the housing crisis is to think small.

By Meredith Galante

Taken from: http://www.businessinsider.com/micro-apartment-trend-2012-10

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Hurricane Recovery for Homeowners: Surviving and Rebuilding After an Epic Storm

As Hurricane Sandy showed us this week, the widespread devastation wreaked on cities and communities by natural disasters can be significant, costly and debilitating. Homes often suffer severe structural damage caused by wind and flooding, and a lifetime of personal possessions can go missing forever. Hurricane Sandy alone caused the evacuation of more than a million homes in the Northeast and an estimated $10 billion to $20 billion in damages (including $7 billion to $10 billion in insured losses) -- a costly and long cleanup process that for many homeowners looks seemingly insurmountable.

But making it through a hurricane and tackling the cleanup, repair and renovation of one's home in the midst of catastrophe can be achieved, though challenging. Houston homeowner Vanessa Wade survived Hurricane Ike in September 2008, a monstrous storm that claimed 112 lives in the U.S. and caused an estimated $29.6 billion in damage. Wade said that in the case of extreme natural disasters like Ike and Sandy, the pooling of neighborhood resources and an attitude of cooperation among neighbors is vital to a smoother recovery.

Wade admitted that the most difficult part was jump-starting the initial cleanup and recovery efforts -- especially overwhelming due to lack of power and heat, coupled with low morale

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"I was not prepared for an image that's seen in movies: a huge hole in the roof, missing windows and a breaker box ripped from the side of the house. It was overwhelming because you simply don't know where to start the cleanup process," Wade told AOL Real Estate. "But we all worked together and shared tools, food and words of encouragement. Since power was out for more than two weeks, everyone kept watch when others went to work."

Wade's own home was struck by a large tree knocked over by powerful winds (picture at top). The tree fell and damaged Wade's roof. (Another large tree growing in Wade's yard fell and "mangled" her neighbor's vehicle, she said.) Debris and fallen branches littered her front and back yards. Wade, like millions of other people affected by Ike, lost both power and water for weeks. The initial surface cleanup, Wade said, took two weeks.

Fortunately, Wade added, she had stocked up generously on essentials such as water, flashlights, canned goods, a portable battery-operated black-and-white television (to monitor weather) and batteries prior to the hurricane. Wade also pre-emptively prepared a list of trusted contractors that she knew would perform high-quality damage repair and renovations at non-inflated rates.

"So many people were ripped off by those looking to profit from vulnerable homeowners and renters," Wade said. "Check to make sure [contractors] are licensed and can perform the work, without causing more damage or changing the price. "

Disaster recovery specialist Paul Purcell, author of "Disaster Prep 101," added that in many post-disaster situations such as Ike and Sandy, immediate protection from the elements is the biggest concern for many homeowners who have had their roofs punctured, windows and doors blown out, or are suffering from power outages

"Late-season hurricanes mean folks are without power, sometimes even windows, roofs, walls, doors or insulation," Purcell told AOL Real Estate. "Keep what doors and windows you have closed, and seal seams with plastic sheets -- think shower curtains -- and any kind of tape you have. Simply cutting down on wind works wonders with keeping warm."

Purcell adds that the most important consideration for homeowners currently stuck in a post-disaster environment, aside from shelter and protection from harsh elements, is maintaining morale. Keeping a community-wide focus on rebuilding -- rather than mourning what was lost -- can be the most challenging but integral part of a successful disaster recovery process.

"A few keys: Stay fed and hydrated and take regular work breaks, take vitamins if you have them, and look at 'devastation' as a clean slate and opportunity to build something you'll enjoy even more," Purcell advised. "Remember, the worst is behind you."

How Homeowners Can Better Protect Themselves

In Wade's case, as with many of the claims brought on by Sandy and Ike, insurance covered very little of the damage to her home. Though most policies cover wind damage (a tree falling on your home, for example), standard homeowner policies often don't cover damage from flooding.

The only way a homeowner would have comprehensive coverage for flood-related damage is to have a separate flood insurance policy. In the United States, this is rare: Only 13 percent of homeowners nationwide have flood insurance plans, down from 14 percent last year. Yet annual premiums for flood insurance on a one-story home average about $400 to $450 nationwide and can save hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs. (The National Flood Insurance Program and some private insurers provide coverage for up to $250,000 of structural damage to a home and $100,000 for personal possessions). Flood insurance is a must for homeowners in flood-prone or low-lying coastal areas.

Purcell also advised homeowners to take a proper inventory of their home and possessions. The Insurance Information Institute offers a free home inventory app that allows homeowners to download information about where possessions were bought and how much they cost. All the information is stored remotely and can be accessible even if computers or personal devices are destroyed. Keeping digital records of receipts can also save money and lessen costs in the long run, according to Purcell.

"Half of surviving a sizable disaster is setting yourself up to rebuild," Purcell told AOL Real Estate. "Use your phone's camera and video to document property loss and damage. Insurance companies, after a regional catastrophe, will be more concerned with their bottom line than yours, so work now to get all the info you can to help process your claims later."

By AOL Real Estate Editors

Taken from: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/11/01/hurricane-recovery-for-homeowners-surviving-and-rebuilding-afte/

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Five Ways to Get Your Purchase Offer Accepted: Tips for Real Estate Agents

With a shrinking housing inventory, competition among buyers for well priced homes is high and sellers are often receiving multiple purchase offers. In this educational article, Samuel Scott Financial Group explain the Top 5 Ways an Agent can get their buyer's Offer Accepted.

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) October 31, 2012

With a shrinking housing inventory, competition among buyers for well priced homes is high and sellers are often receiving multiple purchase offers. So how can a buyer's agent help their client put together an offer that stands out?

Here are the Top 5 Ways an Agent can get their Client's Offer Accepted:

An image of a top estate agent in Royston, Hertfordshire, UK (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

#1. Offer a Larger Good Faith Earnest Deposit

Most agents advise their buyers to submit an offer to a seller with a 1% Good Faith Earnest Deposit. This deposit can be used towards the down payment, closing costs or other components of their home financing. It's important to remember that you have 17 days to remove this financing contingency and have all of the money returned to the buyer without penalty.

Knowing that this money is safe (it will either be returned, or applied to the home financing), we encourage buyers to stand out from the competition by putting down a 3% deposit. Let's say your client wants to purchase a $400,000 home; rather than including a $4000 deposit, show that your offer is very serious with a $12,000 deposit.

#2. Present an Offer that is Easy on the Eyes

If you want your offer to be accepted (or even read!), be sure to present it in a clean and easy-to-read format. This will instantly make your offer more appealing to a seller's agent who has to read through stacks of paperwork.

One of the biggest mistakes agents make when submitting an offer is failing to make it perfectly legible. Messy handwriting and faxed documents are harder to read and lead to confusion. Stand out by typing your offer and making an appointment to drop it off in person. This will ensure that the seller's agents receives a perfect copy of the offer and will give you the opportunity to review it with them in person.

#3. Win Over Sellers with a Heart Felt Letter

In addition to standing out as a serious buyer, it's important to stand out as a person. Sellers who are considering multiple offers are looking at a lot of paperwork and numbers - this approach focuses on a much more human approach.

Try including a heart felt letter written to the sellers with your next offer. Help your buyers write about their life and what being able to purchase a new home could mean for them. When competing against all cash offers from anonymous investors, a personal story can make all the difference. Most people would prefer to sell their home to someone who truly wants to live there, appreciates the home and will take care of it. Really want to stand out? Include a photo so the sellers can actually see who it is that wants to purchase their home.

#4. Package your Offer Like a Pro

To get an offer accepted, an agent needs to make sellers feel confident about their professionalism and ability to meet deadlines. Make your first impression a strong one by starting off your offer with a cover letter.

Keep it simple. Just include a brief introduction about your intentions to help your clients purchase this home, then go into your personal bio. Make it very clear to the sellers and the seller's agent that you are a professional. Highlight your experience and reliability. Provide all of your contact information and let them know how easy you will be to reach and work with through out the entire transaction.

#5. Remember that Personal Contact Matters

The Mortgage Advisors at Samuel Scott are prepared to go above and beyond to help the buyers they represent get an offer accepted. We've found that by making a personal call to the seller's agent we are able to reinforce the strength of our buyer's ability to purchase the home.

Our Advisors will let the seller's agent know that we have been through a very thorough pre-approval process and that we are not going to run into any financing problems. We make it clear the buyer is backed by a team of professionals who will be available for support through out the sales process. When sellers see how pro-active our team is, they are more likely to want to work with us.

Let us know if you'd like to learn more about how to get an offer accepted. Our team of expert Mortgage Advisors are truly Advisors. They are available to help real estate agents and buyers secure the best financing and purchase the home they love. Come to us with your questions and we will find a solution that fits your needs.

Taken from: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/10/prweb10081652.htm

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Reverse Mortgages: 3 Ways You Can Tap Home Equity to Enhance Your Retirement

You may have heard of reverse mortgages as a way for seniors to tap the equity in their homes to pay for living expenses, but there are other ways that homeowners are using their homes to get by.

Many seniors are on fixed incomes, with Social Security payments providing a significant portion of their monthly income. In fact, Social Security provided at least half of total income for more than half of aged couples and nearly three-quarters of non-married beneficiaries in 2010. And it provided 90 percent or more of income for 23 percent of aged beneficiary couples and 46% of aged nonmarried beneficiaries. The average monthly benefit at the beginning of 2012 was $1230. It's no surprise, then, that reverse mortgages are often used to help cover essential living expenses.

English: AmeriFirst Home Mortgage logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What you may not have heard, though, are some of the creative ways homeowners are using reverse mortgages to help them navigate today's challenging economy. I recently interviewed Russell Silver, senior residential mortgage consultant for US Mortgage Corporation, on my radio show "Talk Credit Radio." (The firm also sponsors some of the show's podcasts). Following is an edited excerpt from that interview.

First, the basics. "A reverse mortgage is a federally-insured mortgage, only available to homeowners 62 years or older," explains Silver. "Basically a reverse mortgage is just what it sounds like: You do not make payments. As long as you own your home you're not obligated to make any mortgage payments, you're only required to pay your taxes and your homeowner's insurance."

"If you have a mortgage on the property currently and do a reverse mortgage, the old mortgage is paid off, and a new reverse mortgage is put in place. Whatever you want to use the money for, you can use it and nobody's going to tell you what you can do and can't do with the money."

Here are some ways his clients, and other homeowners, are using reverse mortgages:

1. Have a say in how your heirs spend their inheritance.

If you're like many seniors today, the equity in your home will be a major part of the inheritance you leave your heirs. As much as you hope that money will be put to good use, there's often a nagging worry that it will be wasted. Maybe you're worried that your granddaughter will use it for that plastic surgery she's been hinting about. Or that your money will end up in the hands of your son's freeloading girlfriend.

Or maybe you'd just like to see your kids and grandkids enjoy your money now rather than after you are gone. A reverse mortgage may help you accomplish that. Silver explains:

I can't even tell you how many grandparents or even parents we speak to that want to take out a reverse mortgage to help out their kids. A lot of people use it for their kids' or grandkids' college educations. One couple took their entire family on a cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary. It was something they never ever would have been able to do otherwise.

2. Take care of yourself.

It's no secret that rising health care costs are squeezing many seniors' budgets. You, your parents or grandparents may worry about the costs of prescriptions and copays, and be downright terrified that you won't have the money you need for more intensive care. Silver explains how some are using a reverse mortgage to fill the gap:

One of the most important things that clients are using these loans for is long-term health care. When you get older, you might want to live out the rest of your life in your home, and maybe get a home attendant or nurse.

It's very easy for the kids to say 'don't worry, we'll take care of you' but when people get sick, you have not only the expense but are you able to take time off from work, to care for people? It's not easy especially if you have family where maybe mom and dad lived in Florida but the kids are up north. How is this going to be done?

One of our clients lives quite a distance from her daughter and decided to get a reverse mortgage so she can ensure her health care needs are taken care of without becoming a burden to her daughter.

Some homeowners use the proceeds of a reverse mortgage to purchase long-term health care insurance or to hire the help they need to stay in their homes.

3. Get out of foreclosure.

It sounds counterintuitive that someone who is in foreclosure can use a reverse mortgage to get out of foreclosure. But Silver says it's being done all the time. He explains:

One of the great things about the way the government set this program up is that there are no credit requirements. You can be in foreclosure or you may just have completed a bankruptcy, and you can still qualify.

Basically, this works for someone who has equity but can't afford to make the payments anymore. They take out a mortgage that will pay off the bank that's foreclosing. And now they go forward with no payment for the rest of their life, as long as they live in that house. (Homeowners must continue to pay taxes – if required – and insurance, however.)

We speak to so many bankruptcy attorneys, foreclosure attorneys, real estate attorneys or financial planners or accountants that have clients that really are in trouble at this point and they need help and this is a great way out."

Educate Yourself

To help protect seniors, the government instituted mandatory, independent reverse mortgage counseling. Anyone considering a reverse mortgage must get this counseling before obtaining a reverse mortgage.

By Gerri Detweiler

Taken from: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/10/31/reverse-mortgages-ways-you-can-tap-home-equity/

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Zillow Launches Zillow Mortgage Marketplace App for iPad

SEATTLE, Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zillow® (NASDAQ: Z), the leading real estate information marketplace, today launched the free Zillow Mortgage Marketplace App for iPad®, a new personalized mortgage research and shopping app designed especially for the iPad's interactive, multi-touch capabilities.

Zillow Mortgage Marketplace provides a one-of-a-kind transparent lending marketplace where borrowers can connect with reputable lenders to find personalized loan options and get a variety of competitive mortgage rates, instantly. The Zillow Mortgage Marketplace App for iPad combines access to this innovative loan shopping experience with easy-to-use calculators and animated charts that allow consumers to understand and engage with every stage of the mortgage process, in one simple interface.

"Shopping for a home loan can be complicated, cumbersome and not very much fun. Not to mention, a borrower could leave thousands of dollars on the table by choosing the wrong loan," said Erin Lantz, director of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. "Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for iPad takes a complex process and makes it easy to understand, engaging and visual to help borrowers understand their options and find the best loan and lender for them."

(Photo credit: kentbye)

With the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace App for iPad, potential borrowers can now: Understand through an intuitive, visual interface how much home they can afford, the length of time it will take to pay off a mortgage and whether refinancing is financially beneficial for their individual situation. Anonymously request and compare personalized loan quotes side-by-side. Borrowers can also browse reviews of the lenders offering quotes – Zillow Mortgage Marketplace has more than 22,000 customer-submitted lender reviews. Unique to the iPad app, use the "Get Pre-Approved" section to connect with preferred Zillow lenders who can pre-approve borrowers for loans before they start shopping for a home. This is an important feature for buyers wanting an edge in today's competitive housing market.

Also available on iPhone® and Android™, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace apps can be downloaded for free from the Google® Play store and iTunes® App store.

Zillow operates a total of 15 separate apps, the most popular suite of mobile real estate apps across all major platforms. With dedicated real estate, rental, rental professional and mortgage apps, Zillow Mobile features apps that meet the needs of all home shoppers, regardless of their current stage of the home shopping or renting process.

About Zillow, Inc.Zillow is the leading real estate information marketplace, providing vital information about homes, real estate listings, rental listings and mortgages through its mobile applications and websites, enabling homeowners, buyers, sellers and renters to connect with real estate, rental and mortgage professionals best suited to meet their needs. More than 35 million unique users visited Zillow's mobile applications and websites in September 2012. Zillow, Inc. operates Zillow.com®, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, Zillow Rentals, Zillow Mobile, Diverse Solutions® and Postlets®. Zillow is headquartered in Seattle.

Zillow.com, Zillow, Postlets and Diverse Solutions are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.

iPhone, iPad, Apple and iTunes are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.Google is a registered trademark of Google Inc. Android is a trademark of Google Inc.

SOURCE Zillow

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