Zillow Review | Mortgage Refinance

While best known as a properties listings site, Zillow actually boasts multiple other offerings, such as real estate services, reports on the home buying market, and mortgage products — including mortgage refinance loans.

Zillow’s mortgage refinance marketplace includes thousands of lenders operating throughout the continental U.S., Hawaii and Washington, D.C. The company also has its own mortgage lending arm, Zillow Home Loans.

Read on to learn more about what Zillow mortgage refinance can offer.

Table of contents

• Zillow’s Services
• Zillow’s Credentials
• Zillow’s Accessibility
• Zillow’s Customer Satisfaction

Zillow Mortgage Refinance Overview

Zillow Group operates several brands centered on the real estate industry, covering everything from lenders for new home loans and HELOCs (Home Equity Line of Credit), market research and property listings (easily its most famous endeavor).

The company also offers mortgage refinance options for borrowers throughout the U.S., Washington D.C., and Hawaii. The Zillow marketplace contains thousands of lenders: credit unions, community banks, mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers and loan officers.

Also included in its marketplace is the company’s own direct lending arm, Zillow Home Loans, LLC., which launched in 2018 when Zillow acquired Mortgage Lenders of America.

Zillow’s Services

Within Zillow’s marketplace, there are options for multiple types of mortgages: conventional loans, FHA loans, VA loans, USDA loans and jumbo loans (non-conforming).

Among the thousands of lenders that work with Zillow, you’ll find community banks, credit unions, mortgage banks and mortgage brokers. You’ll also find Zillow’s own mortgage lending company, Zillow Home Loans.

Through Zillow's Lender Directory, you can search lenders by location and read reviews written by actual borrowers. Another helpful resource is the company’s mortgage rate comparison tool. There’s also plenty of educational content for potential borrowers that can help you throughout the mortgage refinance process.

What they offer

• Mortgage refinance - Zillow lenders work with conventional loans (fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages), FHA loans, VA loans, USDA loans and jumbo loans (non-conforming).

• Seven kinds of refinancing - Rate-and-term refinance, cash-out refinance, streamline refinance (for government-backed mortgages), cash-in refinance, short refinance, no-closing cost refinance and the Fannie Mae High Loan-to-Value Refinance Option (for Fannie Mae loans, also known as the HIRO program).

• Mortgage rate comparison tool - See refinance rates from various lenders based on your specific situation.

• Refinance calculator - Estimate your savings through a mortgage refinance by providing details on your existing mortgage.

• Lender directory with reviews - You can search for lenders' names or locations, which is helpful if you want to find a local lender, and see reviews submitted by actual customers.

• Guidance and educational content - Zillow mortgage refinance offers helpful information for borrowers through posts about the mortgage refinance process.

What they don’t offer

• Service after the loan is processed - Once you’ve committed to the new loan with a lender, Zillow is divorced from all further dealings. (Note that Zillow Home Loans offers its own services, so this would not apply if you choose a loan product through the company’s own lending company.)

• Specific standards of terms - Again, because Zillow mortgage refinance is a marketplace, it doesn’t make claims about the lender offers you might receive. Specifics like monthly payments, interest rates, and whether a down payment will be required will all depend on the lender's offer.

• In-person services - Zillow is a web and app-based product. Phone calls from lenders are typically part of the mortgage refinance process, but Zillow doesn’t have brick-and-mortar branches.

Zillow’s Credentials

Licenses for mortgage lending are required in every state, and the lenders in Zillow’s network comply with this mandate.

Licenses and registrations

Zillow’s marketplace lenders are licensed in states across the U.S. The company’s own mortgage lending program, Zillow Home Loans, is licensed as a mortgage broker, mortgage lender, or loan originator in all U.S. states except New York, Hawaii and Washington, D.C.

This information is verified by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System/Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (NMLS) under the ID number 10287.

Awards and certifications

We found no awards or certifications for Zillow’s mortgage refinance program.

Third-party ratings

No information is available from third-party organizations or companies.

Regulatory or legal actions

The NMLS page for Zillow Home Loans lists three regulatory actions. All these are addressed to Mortgage Lenders of America, which Zillow purchased in 2018. Additionally, all actions occurred before the purchase and have since been resolved.

Although we always try to include accurate and up-to-date information on regulatory and legal actions, we don’t claim this information is complete or entirely up to date. We recommend you do your own research, as well.

Zillow’s Accessibility

We found no barriers to contacting a Zillow customer service agent. Company representatives are available through multiple channels for customers based anywhere in the continental U.S., Washington, D.C., and Hawaii.

Availability

Mortgage refinance lenders in Zillow’s marketplace cover all U.S. states, as well as Washington, D.C. and Hawaii. Zillow also works with lenders and borrowers based in Canada.

Contact information

Zillow provides a general customer care form here. You can also contact the company using the following methods:

Zillow marketplace mortgage lenders:

• App: Mortgage by Zillow (iOs, Android)
• Phone: 877-313-8601
• Web: Use this form for Zillow marketplace lenders
• Physical address:

Zillow, Inc.
Attn: Brokerage Operations
1301 Second Avenue, Floor 31
Seattle, WA 98101

Zillow Home Loans:

• Phone: 888-852-2212
• Web: Use this form to contact Zillow Home Loans
• Physical address:

Zillow Home Loans Operational Headquarters
2600 Michelson Drive, Suite 1201
Irvine, CA 92612

User experience

For customized mortgage refinance rates, you’ll need to provide Zillow with personal information, such as your location and your existing home loan details. You can also estimate your potential savings with the refinance calculator, but this tool also requires you to input specific information. All of this can be done on the website and the Mortgage by Zillow app for iOs or Android.

However, the company does offer a lot of general information on its refinance page, including current market rates on various home loan types, educational content (e.g., steps for refinancing a mortgage) and a searchable lender directory with reviews. This information is only available on the website.

Limitations

Zillow mortgage refinance is a web and app-based company, so there are no physical locations for in-person help. Additionally, some features available on the website are not available on the app, such as the educational guides for potential borrowers.

Zillow’s Customer Satisfaction

On Trustpilot, Zillow Home Loans has a 4.4 rating based on a total of 38 reviews, with only one of these being a negative review that is a duplicate of a review seen on the Better Business Bureau listing.

On its Better Business Bureau listing, Zillow has an A+ rating and, based on an average of 39 customer reviews, four out of five stars. However, there are several complaints listed on the site.

Customer complaints

The BBB allows customers to mark their complaints as resolved to indicate they are satisfied with the company's response. Only 11 of the total 27 complaints made regarding Zillow Home Loans are resolved.

These complaints were filed within the last three years, and most are regarding loan payment issues. Customers have stated that payments made to Zillow were not transferred to the new mortgage servicing company, and some of those customers complained about poor customer service quality during the process of investigating issues.

Third-party ratings

There are no third-party ratings available for Zillow’s mortgage refinance options at this time.

How we evaluated Zillow mortgage refinance

Our evaluation of Zillow mortgage refinance factors in the credibility of the company and the quality of its offerings to borrowers.

We considered the information available through the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB), Better Business Bureau (BBB), Trustpilot and the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System/Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (NMLS).

We also thoroughly searched the Zillow website, considering all of its services to potential customers.

Summary of Money’s Zillow review

Zillow mortgage refinance connects people looking to refinance their current home loans to thousands of licensed lenders across the country. The breadth of loan options available through the Zillow marketplace helps compare interest rates and loan terms, which is one of Money’s recommended mortgage refinance steps.

With no recent regulatory actions and generally positive customer reviews, Zillow mortgage refinance is a solid choice among the many mortgage refinance lenders in the industry for borrowers looking for competitive interest rates and overall improvement to the affordability of their mortgage payments.

This is why you’ll find Zillow and several other companies worth checking out on our 8 Best Mortgage Refinance Companies list.