There's a New Lender in Town

Zillow is expanding into mortgage lending. The company is acquiring Overland Park, Kan.-based national mortgage lender Mortgage Lenders of America.

Beyond offering to buy and turn around homes for sellers, Zillow now seeks to "streamline and shorten the homebuying process for consumers who purchase homes through Zillow Offers,” by offering lending services, and will be the only buyer participating in its Zillow Offers program, "We no longer facilitate third-party investors to make offers to home sellers through a marketplace. This will ensure the process is as efficient and seamless as possible for sellers, agents and brokers." HousingWire reports that part of the strategy is to create new partnerships and tools, including new relationships with real estate brokers with existing in-house operations or affiliates.

“In 2017, consumers submitted 23 million loan information requests through Zillow Group's consumer brands,” the company said in a release. “Zillow’s lender advertising partners are vital to fulfilling the needs of those consumers going forward. Mortgage Lenders of America is an existing advertising client and, in 2017, originated 4,400 mortgage loans - leaving plenty of opportunity for independent lenders to continue to advertise and build their businesses on the Zillow Group platform.”

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