New Zillow Home Loans tool addresses home buyers' biggest concern: affordability
BuyAbility, an innovative new tool from Zillow Home Loans, combines real-time mortgage rates with a buyer's credit score and income to determine a home price comfortably within budget
SEATTLE, May 13, 2024 -- Today, Zillow Home Loans is introducing BuyAbility, a new tool that addresses one of the biggest considerations buyers face today: understanding what they can afford. Only offered on Zillow, BuyAbility gives buyers a personalized, real-time estimate of the home price and monthly payment that fits within their budget, and then gives insight into the likelihood of qualifying for a loan. BuyAbility is powered by real-time mortgage rates from Zillow Home Loans.
BuyAbility is a new way for buyers to understand what they can afford, giving them the information they need to make educated decisions about where they call home. The interplay between mortgage rates and a buyer's credit score are important factors in determining affordability, but most calculators don't factor this in. Buyers just need to add a few simple inputs unique to their financial situation, such as income, credit score and the monthly amount they're comfortable spending, into BuyAbility. Within seconds, a personalized, real-time estimate of the home price and monthly payment that fits within their budget pops up, along with insight into their likelihood of getting approved for a mortgage at this price point.
Buyers can get started on the Home Loans tab on Zillow's app. A shopper's BuyAbility calculation will update regularly with changes to mortgage rates and their credit score.
"What many people don't realize is that your mortgage rate is highly dependent on your credit score," said Orphe Divounguy, senior economist at Zillow Home Loans. "The better your credit score, the lower the rate you'll qualify for, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars a month. BuyAbility is personalized to a buyer's credit score, income and down payment, and updated regularly to reflect current mortgage rates, giving home shoppers a true understanding of their buying power. BuyAbility is a great starting point for buyers who may be hesitant to look under the hood of their finances, or share personal details with a loan officer."
If mortgage rates change, it impacts the home price a buyer can afford and their likelihood of getting approved for a mortgage, and BuyAbility will adjust for this in real-time. For example, a median-income household would be able to afford a $380,000 home with rates at 7%; if rates went down to 6%, that same household could afford a $420,000 home. Checking their BuyAbility regularly gives shoppers a clear and current understanding of their financial picture at any given moment.
BuyAbility will change the way people shop for homes. Later this year, Zillow Home Loans will make it possible for buyers to shop for homes on Zillow using their BuyAbility — rather than a price range — allowing them to quickly identify homes that truly fit their budget. And since most people think about their finances in terms of monthly budgets, buyers will soon be able to see how much each home they look at on Zillow would cost them on a monthly basis, based on their BuyAbility.
BuyAbility is an innovation only Zillow Home Loans could accomplish, personalizing Zillow's world-class shopping experience with a buyer's unique financial data and real-time mortgage rates from Zillow Home Loans.
About Zillow Group
Zillow Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: Z and ZG) is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people. As the most visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow and its affiliates help people find and get the home they want by connecting them with digital solutions, dedicated partners and agents, and easier buying, selling, financing and renting experiences.
Zillow Group's affiliates, subsidiaries and brands include Zillow®, Zillow Premier Agent®, Zillow Home Loans℠, Trulia®, Out East®, StreetEasy®, HotPads®, ShowingTime+℠, Spruce® and Follow Up Boss®.
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RETECHNOLOGY PREMIUM MARKETPLACE RELATED PRODUCTS | WEBINARS | SPECIAL OFFERS
New Renovation Calculator on Realtor.com Takes the Guesswork Out of Home Remodeling Plans
As renovation costs rise, Realtor.com® teams up with Kukun to assist the nearly three quarters of surveyed homeowners who wish they better understood the financial return on home improvement projects
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 27, 2023 -- Despite the rising cost of renovations, 70% of U.S. homeowners plan to renovate their home in the next year, according to a new survey from Realtor.com® and CensusWide. However, nearly three quarters of those surveyed wish they better understood the potential return on investment of any upgrades they might make. To help homeowners determine the costs and ROI for renovation projects, Realtor.com® today introduced a new Renovation Calculator, powered by Kukun, in the My Home dashboard.
The newest RealValue™ tool from Realtor.com®, the Renovation Calculator, helps give homeowners a better understanding of how renovations may impact the value of their property. The Renovation Calculator provides information from Kukun, a home data and analytics company that gives homeowners personalized estimates with comparative insights based on the quality of renovations.
"Whether homeowners are thinking about selling, or just want to know whether it makes financial sense to invest in home upgrades, Realtor.com®'s RealValue™ tools, including the new Renovation Calculator, can help," said Dave Masters, director of product, Realtor.com®. "Our homes are often our biggest investments and, with the cost of labor and building materials on the rise, it's important to understand the ROI of a home improvement project or how different upgrades or design choices might impact the value of a home."
To use the new calculator, homeowners can claim their home in the Realtor.com® My Home dashboard and choose from a selection of rooms and projects under the Renovations tab. After entering a few additional details about one or a combination of projects, users are presented with estimated costs to renovate and the potential increase in their home value. Homeowners can also download a detailed report with itemized costs to help with project management.
"Kukun is excited to collaborate with Realtor.com® so that millions of people across America can realize their financial goals while creating their dream home at the same time," said Raf Howery, CEO and founder of Kukun.
Most homeowners would rethink reno plans with a better grasp of ROI, survey shows
Among those surveyed, reasons for renovating run the gamut, from addressing maintenance and issues (45%) to enhancing their space for enjoyment (45%), or bringing their home up-to-date (43%). Others have money and moving on their minds: 20% plan to renovate because it's more cost-effective than moving, and 18% are renovating in preparation to sell their home.
Of those looking to make changes to their home in the next 12 months, the most common plans include bathroom and kitchens (37% each), interior paint (35%), or flooring replacement (33%) — however, two-thirds of homeowners (62%) would change their renovation plans if they better understood which improvement would add the most value to their home's resale price.
The survey also found that consumers generally think that performing renovations prior to selling is a good investment, with 80% of homeowners saying as much. The projects that consumers think will deliver the biggest ROI include kitchens (32%), bathrooms (26%) and floors (24%). Around one-quarter believe painting the interior of their home (23%) or replacing major parts of the house like windows and doors (21%) add the most value.
To try the Renovation Calculator, visit www.realtor.com/myhome.
In the My Home dashboard, homeowners can also manage their home's details, track their home's value with up to three RealEstimate valuations, explore their equity and how their home compares to others nearby, as well as compare top local real estate agents and view offers from third party buyers such as Opendoor and others.
About Realtor.com®
Realtor.com® is an open real estate marketplace built for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of digital real estate more than 25 years ago. Today, through its website and mobile apps, Realtor.com® is a trusted guide for consumers, empowering more people to find their way home by breaking down barriers, helping them make the right connections, and creating confidence through expert insights and guidance. For professionals, Realtor.com® is a trusted partner for business growth, offering consumer connections and branding solutions that help them succeed in today's on-demand world. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. For more information, visit Realtor.com.
About Kukun, Inc.
Kukun is a real estate data, analytics, and applications platform for homeowners, agents, and the industries that serve them. The platform includes a complete home investment optimization suite of products underpinned by a residential property database of current condition and more home valuations. Real estate agents leverage the Kukun Agent Dashboard to strengthen client relationships and look to Kukun's proprietary PICO™ Score for refined home valuations that consider home upgrades. Kukun is the leading real estate-focused consumer web products provider for large enterprises, with customers that include Realtor.com, USBank, SoFi, and PNC Bank. Visit mykukun.com to learn more.
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Start 2018 with a Bang!
Happy New Year!
Chime brought you a number of awesome new tools and features in 2017. We'd like to point you to just a couple of those FREE resources to help you kick off 2018 with an eye toward smashing successes!
FREE eBook: Building Teams
2018 may be the year for you to start building an effective real estate team. Back in April, we launched a great resource, How to Build a Real Estate Team from the Ground Up. With this eBook, you can learn how agents are starting their own teams with actionable plans. You'll discover the pros and cons of different team leadership models, who you'll need to hire first, the expected ROI each team member brings, and what tools you need to run your top performing team. Check it out!
FREE Budget Calculator
Use our handy calculator tool to quickly determine what needs to be fed into the top of your funnel in the way of prospects in order to generate the desired number of transactions to achieve your desired salary. It's critical in your real estate agent career that you not only cover your real estate agent expenses, but your personal living costs as well. Once you've figured out what you need to survive personally and in your business, then you can perform the behaviors and marketing activities that will hopefully make those income goals come to fruition.
To view the original post, visit the Chime Technologies blog.
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