Zillow leads- What's your impressions' conversion rate?

Question

Hi everyone,I just got my RE license and I'm planning to buy leads from Zillow. When I spoke to the zillow representative, he mentioned the number of impressions are expensive compared to other areas (downtown Chicago).My quote was for 550/Mo. (6 month contract) and I would be getting 28,000. With that being said, these are my main questions:1) Given that I'm a new agent, do you recommend I focus on an expensive area? I chose downtown Chicago because I work there and I only live about 15 min away from there.2) I currently have a Full time job at a bank. What is your conversion rate (impressions to calls ration) and what percentage of your leads are warm (They actually want to buy and sell and not just call to ask random questions).

Lumi Ispas · Answer

Account Closed, Congrats on getting your license!

You will have to have a minimum of 5 Reviews for buyers to click on your profile, as they have to choose from 5 people. Also, now Zillow shows your past sales, and you'll have none under your name.

Keep in mind that in order to convert an internet lead, you have to know the market you are buying leads in very well: price per sq, number of sales per month in condos, single family and multi unit buildings. Unless you know the inventory, people will see your experience.

I will say hold on buying leads until you learn the market and learn how to sell. What company have you signed up with? Focus on the training side for the first 6 months - one year. You'll make money in RE after the first year. The first year set it aside for learning all the aspects of being a RE broker: market inventory, contracts, sales process and creating a sphere of influence.

Open Houses, Floor time & the people you already know will be your best bet to meet people, as face to face is easier to convert clients than over the phone. Phone &n email is for experienced agents.

Good luck to you!

Account Closed · Answer

Thanks @Lumi Ispas ! Wow, the 5 reviews never crossed my mind, but it makes perfect sense. And I completely agree, I should probably get to know the area better before buying leads.I joined KW 2 weeks ago. They have an ignite program designed for new agents and I will be going over it for the next 6 months. Thanks again!

Crystal Smith · Answer

I won't argue w/ the opinions regarding Zillow but I will say this.  The key to conversion rate is speed & quality  of your response.  Also, leads will more than likely work w/ someone who's full time than part time.  All of this can be handled with properly trained personal assistants.  It may be worthwhile spending your $ on hiring/training assistants before paying for leads.  Your new broker may already have things in place to support you.

Jason OBrien · Answer

Agree with the others @Daniel Moctezuma.  Zillow is a waste of money and effort especially for a new agent.

I spent nearly $3500 dollars one year with Zillow on a 10,000 impression a month run and only received two junk leads in a year.  TWO LEADS!  The Zillow answer is "well, you need to spend more money."   All the top agents still spend thousands of dollars every year in my areas to the all powerful Zilllow but none have anything good to say about it.   Yet, they keep spending. Waste!

I have my own buyers platform and CRM system I invested in and it generates about 5 leads per day.   Still, most are bogus.  We average around one conversion every 37 signups.  Even at that conversation rate,  25% of those leads will never close on anything.

Keep your awareness up, especially now that you are newly licensed.  Everyone and their brother will come out of the woodwork now to sell you the next app, website or miracle pill that will make you an overnight success.  It never ends.

A quote I heard once when I started in Real Estate years ago "If you want to make money in real estate then sell to Realtors."

Good Luck!

Russell Brazil · Answer

Zillow leads are the worst. Waste of time and money. Dont bother.

Jerry Stanford · Answer

Congrats Account Closed...

Dan Parson · Answer

I just can not understand the overwhelming dislike of Zillow leads! Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact you spread this negative vibe!  Keeps my $7500.00 per month from going any higher !   Just a little defense of Zillow - we kill it!  Out of every 10 sales, 4 are doubles and we average 20% referral rate !   How could I spend $120k a year ( $2500 Realtor.com) if it didn’t work ?  People treat real estate like your an employee, start becoming an owner

David Hunter · Answer

You're marketing dollars are better spent elsewhere.  Impressions mean nothing in terms of dollars.  Nobody may ever call or email you.  Heck, some people may not even notice you, but it counts as an impression because they're on the page where you're advertised.

When we advertised with Zillow we only got crappy leads.  The best leads we got from Zillow was from people who were inquiring about our own listings (which our broker paid Zillow so we showed up on our own listings).

Mitzi Castiglione · Answer

Unless you can devote FT to your zillow impressions, do not buy in to it.  You'll need to respond immediately to the calls and emails to be in any position to convert them.  And please remember, you are buying ad space.  Not leads, no matter what they tell you.  I had a Trulia subscription, and I honestly would not recommend.  Most of the leads were junk.  Bad emails, phone numbers, people in no financial position to buy a house.  Trulia stated the info was scrubbed.  It was not.

KW was my first start when I got my RE license.  The ignite class is great and you will learn a lot.  Good luck!

Zillow leads- What's your impressions' conversion rate?

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