Zillow’s new mortgage feature lets you show sellers the money

By

post-290300-image-c776fd4e5b684232393dd94ea304fb55-jpg

Buying a home can be seriously stressful, but mobile app Zillow has been providing folks with great real estate information on local homes for a while now. I’ve used it several times to compare prices across homes I was interested in buying, as well and to just check out the kind of home my friends can buy, because I’m pretty nosy like that.

The Zillow app just updated with a fantastic new feature, too: instant mortgage pre-approval. This is a huge deal, as being pre-approved can make sure that your offers on homes, especially in hot markets like San Francisco and New York, are taken seriously. Pre-approved home loans are a great way to make that happen.

“Home buying can be extremely competitive today due to inventory shortages,” said Zillow’s Erin Lantz in a statment. “Having the ability to get a pre-approval letter instantly can make the difference between getting the home or losing it to a buyer who is better prepared.”

Zillow has over 83 million unique users across its apps and website, which shows an incredible 49 percent growth year-over-year. Nearly two-thirds of these users visit via a mobile device like an iPhone, iPad or Android, while on weekends, mobile uses accounts for about 70 percent, according to the company.

Typially, to get pre-approved, you’d have to go to a bank and then wait for an email or fax. With Zillow’s new service, you only need to fill out a simple questionnaire in the app itself, give the lender approval to pull your credit report, and then wait a bit for a pre-approval letter that comes right to your mobile device. You can then email it, print it, or just share it with your real estate agent or home sellers.

If you’re in the market and want to add a bit of pre-approval power to your offer, Zillow is the app to use. You can download it now for free and fill out the information ahead of time; before you head out house hunting. Good luck!

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.