Author: Zillow Team

While Zillow celebrated its 4th birthday in February, there is a little sister to Zillow that is also having a birthday and we’re kind of proud of this kid: Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

Zillow Mortgage Marketplace launched in April 2008, with the idea to help consumers navigate the complicated and confusing mortgage process by empowering them with mortgage information that is transparent. But the biggest benefit we felt compelled to pursue in the development of the Marketplace was to arm consumers with a mortgage shopping experience in which they remain anonymous.

Anonymity is a pretty cool thing when all you want is to shop for mortgage information without having your e-mail inbox fill up with false promises and your phone ringing off the hook. So, we thought, “Why not make the consumer the one in control? Why not reverse it so consumers call lender(s) they like based on the quote, and the lenders’ rating and reviews?” Eureka!

And so here we are, two years later and the Marketplace is growing by leaps and bounds:

Zillow Mortgage Marketplace by the numbers:

12,568,689: Number of quotes submitted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace

822,687: Number of loan requests since launch

$22,320: Amount you can save on $400,000 loan by lowering rate by 0.25% (5.25-5.00%)

18,488: Number of mortgage questions posted in Zillow Advice

8,718: Free Zillow mortgage widgets installed by agents and lenders

423: Number of projects still on our “To Do” list to make Zillow Mortgage Marketplace a necessary stop for any mortgage shopper

11: Number of mortgage calculators

23:Contributors on the Mortgages Unzipped blog

0: Minutes it takes to see market rate changes on Zillow rate graphs

Do you need a loan quote anonymously? Try it: Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

Real estate pros in San Diego: We just wanted to give you a heads up that Zillow COO, Spencer Rascoff, will be in San Diego on April 5 to talk about how Zillow — one of the most popular real estate Web sites — can help you and your business.

Spencer will address:

• Zestimate® values and accuracy
• Networking with consumers in your local area
• How to leverage Zillow’s 8M+ monthly users to promote your listings, yourself and your expertise
• How to dominate ZIP codes where you work

What: Zillow A to Z: From Advertising to Zestimates, Learn How to Make Zillow Work for You
When: Monday, April 5, 11:30 am to 1 pm
Where: DoubleTree Hotel San Diego Mission Valley

Free lunch will be provided and parking is free!

>> PLEASE REGISTER HERE

Hope to see you there!

View other Zillow events.

Real estate pros in Houston: We just wanted to give you a heads up that Zillow COO, Spencer Rascoff, will be in Houston on March 30 to talk about how Zillow — one of the most popular real estate Web sites — can help you and your business.

Spencer will address:

• Zestimate® values and accuracy
• Networking with consumers in your local area
• How to leverage Zillow’s 8M+ monthly users to promote your listings, yourself and your expertise
• How to dominate ZIP codes where you work

What: Zillow A to Z: From Advertising to Zestimates, Learn How to Make Zillow Work for You
When: Tuesday, March 30, 11:30 am to 1 pm
Where: Hilton Houston Post Oak

PLEASE REGISTER HERE

Hope to see you there!

P.S. If you can’t make this one, we also have another event like this in San Diego on April 5.

View other Zillow events.

Easy does it: Three tips on how to maximize your exposure on Zillow:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Zillow’s Partner Relations Director Sara Bonert talks with Chris from Tech Savvy and offers three marketing tips on Zillow for:

• Your listings
• Yourself
• Your Business

Four years ago today, Zillow.com was born as a beta site. When we launched, we had 75 employees who spent many previous months building a living, breathing database that launched 40 million Zestimate® home values.

It was a revolutionary moment that kind of turned real estate on its head. A value on your home online for all to see?  While we fully state that a Zestimate is just a starting point, it was a big move to make real estate data available about all homes — yours and your neighbors’ — open and online for everyone to see. People were eager to get their hands on it and we were happy to provide it.

But, that was just the beginning.  Zillow now offers a wide variety of real estate products:

• Search millions of homes for sale, homes for rent and Make Me Move® homes
• Post a home for sale or post a home for rent
• Shop anonymously online for a customized mortgage quote using Zillow’s revolutionary borrower-focused Zillow Mortgage Marketplace
• Ask questions and share answers on any real estate topic through Zillow Advice
• Find real estate info and data on-the-go through the #1 real estate app for the iPhone — Zillow iPhone App
• Browse home improvement ideas with Dueling Digs
• Find a local agent, lender or real estate professional using the Zillow Directory
• Search local data for hundreds of cities and thousands of neighborhoods

And no birthday post is complete without some cool stats that don’t make our usual lineup of Zillow stats.

Zillow by the Numbers:

96,013,458 – Number of U.S. homes with data on Zillow today

70,176,310 — Number of individual homes viewed at least once on Zillow since launch (that’s 75% of all homes in the country — wow!)

21,117,128 — Number of homes on Zillow viewed through the Zillow iPhone App (from April 28, 2009 through Feb. 6, 2010).

17,860,700 — Homes on Zillow with edited home facts, by owners or agents

11,527,882 — Custom loan quotes since Zillow Mortgage Marketplace launched

3,969,424 – Total homes for sale today (including Make Me Move homes)

1,333,758 – Agents with a profile on Zillow

923,935 — Number of Zillow iPhone App downloads.

681,572 — Consumer loan requests since Zillow Mortgage Marketplace launched (April, 2008)

30 — Zillow babies born to current employees, spouses or former employees (…and 11 more are coming!)

4.034 –- Number of terabytes it takes to process Zillow’s 70+ million Zestimates and Zillow Home Value Indices, which are updated every single night!

1 — Number of times CEO Rich Barton talked to someone in space from work.

A Big Thanks to YOU

Lastly, we couldn’t have gotten to where we are without you — homeowners, home buyers, home sellers, property managers, renters, real estate agents, brokers, lenders, borrowers, appraisers, stagers, and many other real estate professionals who use Zillow. Without you, we wouldn’t have the 8+ million unique users we attract a month. So, a big thanks to you for using Zillow for your real estate needs. THANK YOU!

It’s that time of year again – Super Bowl XLIV is this Sunday – and while Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts are favored over Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, we thought we’d take a look at how the two cities stack up on the real estate front.

The two teams will be squaring off at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL. If you are in Miami for the big game, or just love real estate hunting, check out homes for sale in Miami.

Now onto the real estate showdown:

Teams	Indianapolis Colts	New Orleans Saints
Payroll	$101,203,115	$121,552,424
Forbes Value	$1 billion	$942 million
Cities	Indianapolis, IN	New Orleans, LA
Median income	$40,051	$27,133
Median List Price	$110,000	$181,000

Looks like Indianapolis has the upper hand with a higher median income and more modest housing prices.  The oddsmakers agree, installing the Colts as a 5-point favorite.

Who will you be rooting for this Sunday?

> See Indianapolis homes for sale
> See New Orleans homes for sale

If you don’t have time to read Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries’ 15-page white paper on “Price Differences Between Foreclosures and Non-Foreclosures,” watch this three-minute video with conclusions of his findings.  Click here to view the embedded video.

> See which city offers the biggest discount on foreclosures.
> See home values in your area.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The 172nd edition of the Carnival of Real Estate is live over at 7DS associates blog.

If you want to be considered for the next edition please submit your best post by Sunday, Feb 3rd (you can also submit via Twitter as well by tweeting a link and tagging it with the hashtag #carnivalofre). Are you a real estate blogger and would you like to host a future edition or take a more active role in administration of the CoRE? If so, get instructions on how to do so here. Please check the complete FAQ list if you have other questions as to how to participate.