DISQUS

Sounds like your dream job. Congrats. My best and very sincere wishes.

VA Refinance--

The average Joe's money is just as important to him as the guy who has multiple six figure accounts at different banks -- really even more so. If your emergency fund is $3,400 in a savings account, the security of that account is imperative. It might be a good idea to keep emergency funds in gold. After all, the devaluation of currency is what caused the Roman Empire to fall. The U.S. is in no way impervious to collapse. The point I'm making is that it doesn't matter if you have over $100k. None of us should put our trust in the FDIC. If times got really bad, it might come through; but then again, it might not.

I would think this would be against the law. Isn't it illegal to be naked in public? Maybe he police look the other way if you look good naked.

Gina--I've always meant to mention that I really appreciate your taking the time to comment. You always have something interesting or complimentary to say.

This is really scary. The banks create money out of nothing using the fractional banking system and the Federal Reserve. If they can create money out of nothing and are still having trouble, that is precarious indeed.

I hadn't heard of this scam. I have an interest in scams. I'm always appalled and amazed at the scams I run across. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for promoting the site too. Maybe it will catch on.

It looks fabulous. Well done.

"I said it before (comment #11), and I'll say it again, commenting for the purpose of getting a backlink is the wrong reason to comment."

Kenosha never said that the purpose of getting the backlink was the reason to comment -- not the sole purpose, anyway. However, surely you can understand that putting a ton of effort into writing Active Rain posts and commenting like crazy on Active Rain only to find that you aren't going to get anything out of it would be disheartening. That has happened to a lot of people. Owning a real estate web site or blog is quite straightforwardly NOT altruistic. Everyone is in it to make money. I will also point out, Jay, that most people don't comment very much. I know I don't. Since I'm not commenting that much to begin with, I want to make sure that the bulk of my comments are Do Follow. It probably doesn't matter as much to you because you comment a lot, and by doing so, you're gonna get a bunch of Do Follow links just by being everywhere.

"The best way to get backlinks is to write compelling content others will link to. And LINK OUT to others, often they will return the favor, and/or you'll pick up a reader that blogs that will link to you at some point."

You assume that people are trying to promote blogs, but many people are trying to promote consumer-focused traditional web sites. The real estate blog world is actually pretty small, as far as I can tell. The mortgage blog world is even smaller. Most people have regular websites, so they cannot make it on to other people's blogs.

Kenosha--

The blogs I read I have found by accident. If I were you, I would look at the blogrolls on some of the popular real estate blogs (like Lenderama, Bloodhoung Blog, Agent Genius, etc). A blog roll is a list of blogs -- basically one blogger recommending other blogs. Their blogrolls should point you in the direction of some good blogs.

I guess my point is that the statistics show the highest paid doctor as making $240k whereas it's common to make $500k, for example. The statistics -- simply because they are wrong -- wouldn't back up a doctor's income being $500k even though it's common. I think an automated system like this would not apply to so many folks that we would, in effect, be right back where we are now.

I like your optimism, and you're right. Things will get better. We needed a forest fire in the mortgage industry. Things had gotten out of control, and there were a lot of people who needed to be purged.

"And finally, those screaming suck-ups hell-bent on protecting the innocent consumers (yes I mean politicians and pseudo-advocates) should take a look at the FBI web site. According to that the greatest perpetrators of loan fraud by far are those “innocent” consumers, not the lenders."

Great writing. What's next? Do we regulate car salesmen?

Don--

"The big banks want to put brokers out of business."

Then why was the media crying about "predatory lenders?" It was almost as if they were trying to blame the lenders. If the banks wanted to put the brokers out of business, why all the talk about "predatory lenders?" They were talking about themselves, if they have any sway with the media. The lenders and brokers have taken too much blame, in my opinion. The borrowers and ratings agencies have taken too little. In the end, every one was to blame; it's a matter of slicing the blame pie to the correct proportions.

Here's what they say:

"You may rate any lender you've contacted through Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. However, your rating for a lender with whom you've closed a loan carries more weight because you experienced the full extent of the lender's service."

I wonder what "carries more weight" means. How much more weight? Is a closed transaction rating worth 5 or 10 times more than someone you had a 5 minute phone call with?

Paul--

I'm pretty sure it was purged in my case. However, the complaint was that I refused to do business with the guy. I didn't think I could help him, so I refused to take him on as a client. Maybe since he wasn't a client, they couldn't let it be on my record. I mean, is it really fair for people who aren't your customer to be able to complain about you? That brings up a good point with Zillow. Will people be able to rate if they have not done a completed loan transaction? Will they be able to rate after just getting a rate quote? I never thought of it that way. If they can only rate the originator if the transaction goes to closing, that's a whole different story. Those would be clients giving ratings, not shoppers giving ratings.

Paul--

This happened over a decade ago. I'm not a member anymore. I can't remember exactly, but I think I was able to appeal because I was a member at that time. I'm going to be joining again, though. I recently met the guy who runs my local BBB, and he's great, so I think I'll join. I'm sure the quality of the BBB varies by who is running the show.

"... especially in an industry where the very nature of the work conspires to create unsatisfied borrowers often despite the best efforts of professional loan officers."

Well said. This is the crux of the issue. The quality of the product we offer is dependent upon the quality of the borrowers themselves.

At a minimum, they need to make the complaint system a mail in paper process. That would deter a lot of complaints made in haste.

Todd--

Consumers have plenty of recourse outside of Zillow. They can take their business elsewhere. They can choose to NOT tell their friends about you. Or, they can say bad things to their friends and family about you. They can also complain to the Better Business Bureau. That's a lot of recourse. I'm not concerned about that. I am concerned about the Zillow system being unfair.

Here is an example of how I think a fair evaluation system works. I got a complaint at the BBB. I decided to appeal the complaint. The BBB, to their credit, did a real investigation. They met in person with both me and the plaintiff, separately. They heard both sides, and they wound up siding with me. The complaint was removed from my record. The decision could have gone against me, of course. I'm not happy because I won. I am pleased because there was a fair system in place. I want to place emphasis on the concept of system because the Zillow evaluation thing isn't a system. Anyone can sling mud at you, and you cannot have it removed -- even if the allegation is totally false.

When it comes to salesmanship and expectations -- I'm the king. I do extraordinarily well in person. I also do extremely well on the phone. I once had a woman who had run telemarketing rooms tell me I was the best she had ever heard on the phone. I know that I would do well establishing expectations and communicating with these folks. My concern is the people who are unreasonable -- like the guy who complained about me to the BBB. I don't want a guy like that disparaging my record without recourse. I don't want to have a permanent black mark on my reputation that anyone with Internet access may stumble upon.

Here's an idea: Zillow could partner with the BBB. Only BBB loan originators could use their system (which would screen out the bottom feeders and low effort types), and every BBB complaint against the broker would appear in the profile section on Zillow. Zillow consumers could make their complaints through an already established process, and the mortgage brokers would have recourse to appeal.

VA Refinance--

My selling skills are as good as anyone's, but my concern is about the people who are unreasonable. They are plenty of those out there. You explain things as perfectly as possible, but they are unreasonable and will still give you a bad rating.

Todd--

That's not the point. If a phone quote cannot later be honored because of changing market conditions, the consumer may go elsewhere in a huff. That's fine. In this scenario, the angry consumer can get their fingers to typing an unfair review into an ebay-like ratings system for all the world to see. I'm uncomfortable with that because I know that many people will give unjust reviews. They will see these quotes as "promises," and they won't give a darn about changing market conditions or that their credit score was below what they thought it was.

If everyone has negative feedback, consumers will be hesitant to use Zillow. They will have to correct that, or they will be shooting themselves in the foot.

It won't be as competitive at the outset as it will be later on. It may be worth the time now and not worth the time later.

Well done, Todd, well done. I think I might give it a go. I've never done leads, but this is different considering the quality of the company behind this thing. I'm going to check it out, and I might just try it.

The Federal Reserve has needed to be abolished since its inception. With their latest move, they are simply taking things to a new level. I do not understand why the people put up with it. JFK issued money directly from the US Treasury, completely bypassing the Federal Reserve. I cannot imagine why Congress does not just revoke the powers of the Fed and give the power to print money to the Treasury, which means it would be issued from the people themselves. I can't figure it out. The Fed is the ultimate robber baron.

My wife, son and I were at our favorite trendy vegetarian restaurant two weeks ago for breakfast. While we ate, a guy was stabbed right outside the restaurant -- and this happened around 10:00 in the morning. The police came and started a crime scene. There was blood everywhere. We had to take a cab home because our car was inside the crime scene, which amounted to a neighborhood block that was blocked off. From your story and mine, all I can say is that we are in a state of de-civilization.

Cindi's video is clearly creative. If I had a home to list, her video would get me to call and speak to her ... and surely she would get a listing if she is half as good on the phone as she is via her video.

I'm not as down on #2 as everyone else. I only made it a bit of the way in, but I have to give them credit for effort.