Another company that was covered here and interviewed here few months ago, SmartHippo made an announcement today. The community based mortgage shopping network announced that it has created an advisory board that included a number of industry experts.

Founding advisory board members include Lori Collins, former Senior Vice President and General Manager for LendingTree Exchange; Bill Rice, CEO of Kaleidico; and John Philip Green, Founder and CTO at LearnHub.

George Favvas, CEO of SmartHippo.com, said: “We’re excited to have some of the smartest and most accomplished business and technology leaders join our advisory board. Their expertise in lending, customer acquisition, social media, and consumer Internet will be invaluable assets as we grow our business.”

I personally like the SmartHippo model for a number of reasons. First, consumers are given control to compare quotes without having to commit to and waste the time of the lenders like the new Zillow Mortgage Marketplace does. Consumers can shop rates and then read reviews from consumers in the same financial position. They can also base who they submit their private information to on not only mortgage rates, but also the amount positive ratings a lender has.

SmartHippo, in my opinion, has a better chance of fulfilling the needs of the consumer and lenders across the country. Lenders can submit rates through an API or manually. This means you simply have to place a few different rates once per day and not 100′s throughout the day to receive a response. The one big downfall for SmartHippo is their exposure to the consumer market. Zillow has created so much buzz with a lesser product because of the size of their already established view base.

With the creation of their new advisory board and the increased level of press they are getting I don’t see why they will not begin to gain market share.

They recently redesigned their website and added a few very cool additions to the rate search feature. A sliding bar allows user to narrow their search by loan terms or monthly payments. Check it out here.  Keep an eye out for these guys, they are definitely on th move.

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