Celebrity Real Estate Archive

This week, Justin McHood defines exactly what it means to have a “No Cost” or “Zero Cost” mortgage.

It probably doesn’t mean what you think right off the bat. The costs associated with a mortgage are always paid by someone. If you’re in the process of getting a new home loan, it should come as no surprise to find out that person is you. There are a number of ways to structure the costs and it makes sense to check with your mortgage professional as to how all of them will have an impact, up front and over the course of the loan. How long you plan to stay in a home has a great deal of impact on those numbers.

Want to keep up with the issues that impact consumer mortgage? Zillow’s Mortgages Unzipped blog has the Web’s best team of mortgage content writers. Subscribe today!

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Now you can have two email addresses associated with your Zillow profile! At first this may not seem like a big deal, but I think it is huge and have been waiting for this functionality to launch for months. Here’s why:

On Zillow, we tie listings and agent profiles together via the email address. When these match your listings show up on your profile, and you have the ability to edit your listings.

So why would a ‘mismatch’ happen?

1) A broker is syndicating listings using the company branded email (such as sara@yourbrokerage.com), but the agent registers on Zillow using a personal email (such as sara@yahoo.com).

2) An agent is using multiple services for syndication (for example, postlets and vflyer) and using a different email address for each of these services.

3) A company syndicating sends a listing email address that is used for lead management purposes, something that wouldn’t be publicly marketed, and typically wouldn’t be used for profile registration. For example, if your company uses LeadRouter, they send the email address of 1234.567@leadrouter.com on listings. This obviously isn’t an email that would be used to create a profile, but now you can add this address to your profile so that the match happens.

The ability to have a secondary email address tied to your profile fixes all three of these situations. Here is a quick video on exactly why and how you would add another email address.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Zillow’s chief economist Stan Humphries appeared on Fox Business yesterday to talk mortgage rates, tax credit, and what it will take to get the housing market on the road to recovery.
Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

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Welcome to this week’s edition of  Zillow Real Estate Advice Corner, a video blog series in which Zillow COO Spencer Rascoff and others from Zillow answer real estate questions posed in Zillow Advice.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Today, Spencer touches upon these topics:

• Is it better to add a second story to my home or sell it?
• Is staging really necessary?
• What should I look for when refinancing?

Have a real estate question you’d like answered? Ask it in Zillow Advice, post it on Zillow’s Facebook page or tweet it to @zillow.

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Rent vs. buy is a hot topic in the housing market these days and is a decision that stretches far beyond monthly payments. Over the past few months we have compared homes for sale and homes for rent all over the country with stops in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Houston, Honolulu and Chicago.

Today, we are heading back to the Lone Star State of Texas to check out what kinds of homes in San Antonio you can either rent or get with a mortgage payment for under $1,500, $2,000 and $2,500. The mortgage payments are based on a 30-year fixed rate, with 20% down presently being quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace:

Compare Rent vs. Buy Monthly Payment Under $1,500:

For Rent: $1,300/month — 1726 Brogan Drive, San Antonio, TX 78232 (below):

For Sale: $1,349/month — 8419 Upton, San Antonio, TX 78254 (below):

Compare Rent vs. Buy Monthly Payment Under $2,000:

For Rent: $1,650/month – 17047 Ashbury Oaks, San Antonio, TX 78247 (below):

For Sale: $1,971/month – 226 Laburnum Dr, San Antonio, TX 78209 (below):

Compare Rent vs. Buy Monthly Payment Under $2,500:

For Rent: $2,200/month – 1 Towers Park Ln, San Antonio, TX 78209 (below):

For Sale: $2,360/month – 7306 Hovingham, San Antonio, TX 78257 (below):

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Marilyn Monroe is among a handful of stars who died young and to this day, her alleged suicide in the bedroom of her home in August 1962 has been met with more questions, than answers. And now, that home where Monroe died is for sale for $3,595,000.

Located in Brentwood, CA, Monroe purchased her white stucco home in March 1962 for around $90,000. According to this site, she secured a 15-year mortgage and had monthly payments of $320.

The house had virtually no storage cupboards so Marilyn’s books, scripts, records and magazines were stored in corners of a room. The kitchen had wooden cupboards and a red brick floor, with tiles on the walls, and Marilyn had a blue refrigerator. The living room had pure wool carpeting which was white, a tile fireplace and this room had pure white walls. Marilyn had purchased a leaded copper mirror, which was displayed on the wall of the Dining Room. Marilyn’s house had three bedrooms and these were split into one for Marilyn, one for Mrs Murray (her housekeeper) and one was used as a telephone room.

The home is tucked away on a narrow parcel at the end of a cul-de-sac and has had several owners since her death, which is captured in this detailed post by Real Estalker.

> See more Brentwood homes for sale

> See Brentwood home values

(Photos courtesy David Offer)

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When it comes to buying a home, most people focus on the asking price and how much a monthly mortgage payment will be.   While these are undoubtedly the ‘big ticket’ items involved in becoming a homeowner, it is important to be prepared for closing costs, or a list of expenses buyers  will need to pay at the time of sale. Closing costs can include a lender’s fee, appraisal fee, loan origination fee, title insurance, escrow fee – the list goes on.

Zillow user cuaco1012 from West Covina, CA is wondering if there are options when it comes to paying closing costs and asks for some help in Zillow Advice:

Should I pay for all closing costs or can I add it to the loan?

Click the question above and see what agents and lenders are saying. Have more questions?  Get in touch with lenders and compare mortgage quotes and home loans instantly and most importantly – anonymously — on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

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• Attachmate founder Frank Pritt re-lists his Portabello Estate (photo above) in Corona Del Mar, CA, for $49.5 million — a huge drop from the original list price of $79 million in 2006. [Source: Wall Street Journal's Private Properties]
• Hollywood couple Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds bought this modern mid-century home in Los Feliz, CA. [Source: The Real Estalker]
• The “Malibu Party House” sells for $14.9 million to shoe and handbag-design couple  Bruce and Kathy Makowsky of Long Island, N.Y. [Source: LA Times Hot Property]
• Actor Liam Neeson’s  Central Park West co-op sold for $1.35 million after being on the market for just five days. [Source: Curbed NY]
• MSNBC host Rachel Maddow buys West Village Apartment from REM lead singer Michael Stipe. {Source: Curbed NY]

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Here’s a great question in Zillow Advice from a user in Dallas, TX, by the alias of nickgerlach who asks:

I’m a first-time homebuyer — can I get an 80/15/5 piggyback loan?

Good question. Some lenders say yes and some say no. Read how lenders are weighing in.

> Need a loan? Get free quotes on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

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Jaw-dropping housing numbers were released yesterday, and Zillow’s Chief Economist, Stan Humphries, appeared on several news outlets to help make sense of the dismal news.

Watch him here on ABC’s World News with Diane Sawyer (or, click the video below):

… and check out his appearance on Good Morning America (or, click the video below)…

.. and, lastly, watch him go head-to-head with economist Robert Shiller on Bloomberg (or, click the video below).

> See real estate values in your area using Zillow’s Real Estate Market Reports

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