Zillow Launches New Site for First-Time Homebuyers

RealEstate.com allows users to search for homes in a new way: based on the monthly payment and down payment they can afford.

Image courtesy of Zillow

Image courtesy of Zillow

Calling all millennials (and anyone else) on the hunt for that perfect first home: Zillow just launched a new real estate brand to help you on your search. Brace yourselves, folks, because things are about to get crazy.

RealEstate.com, Zillow’s new platform that debuted on Tuesday, allows potential homebuyers to search for homes like never before – by the monthly payment and down payment they can afford. The launch of the site comes after the 2016 Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report highlighted homebuyers are most concerned with finding a home within their budget, even more so than they are for finding a home in a safe neighborhood.

Zillow’s chief marketing officer Jeremy Wacksman said in a news release, “RealEstate.com is designed to equip the next generation of home buyers to find a home that suits their needs and budget. We know from our research that affordability is a huge driver for home buyers and that first-time buyers are more likely to go over budget. By tailoring the home search experience on RealEstate.com around a home’s monthly cost, we hope to make the home buying experience less daunting and even more transparent for first-time buyers.”

The costs of homeownership can be confusing for anyone, but even more so for first-time buyers (who make up 42 percent of all homebuyers). To counter this confusion, the site calculates an “All-In Monthly Price,” which totals all expenses that might make it into your monthly payment: principal and interest, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, HOA fees and utilities, and closing costs. What’s more, the site will translate to English, Spanish, and Chinese in an attempt by Zillow to increase accessibility to all members of the diverse millennial population.

RealEstate.com will also benefit real estate professionals, as it offers them a direct line of communication with first-time buyers and millennials specifically.

Good luck, first-time buyers. We hope the site makes your home search a little bit easier.