Zillow now accepts Rent Payments

[Chris Lohmeier]

Just as an FYI in case someone hasn’t seen it yet, Zillow is now accepted rent payments through their Rental Manager website. Last week they started an application service with Credit and Background checks. As of right now this is all free so it looks like they are trying to start taking Cozy head on. I haven’t used it yet but have a couple units open, so I might take it for a spin shortly.

Have any of you had the opportunity to use any of their services yet? 

[Richard G.]

I too just saw this and am ready to start taking applications for my first property. Now I'm trying to decide between Cozy and Zillow.

Here is my comparison from what I see.

• Applications
  • Zillow application fee is $29 vs $39.99 at Cozy
  • Zillow application fee is good for 30 days for tenants to apply to other properties.
  • Both use Experian and Checkr
  • Both allow tenants to add co-applicants.
  • Cozy application has a few extra questions, like Drug conviction.
  • Cozy allows references.
• Payments
  • Both accept ACH and Credit Card (with a fee to tenants).  Deposits in 2-5 days.  No fee for landlords.
  • Cozy allows many other payment features such as fees, automatic late fee, etc.
  • Cozy allows multiple tenants to split payments
• Other Features
  • Zillow really has not added much other than Listing, Applications, and Payments.
  • Cozy has maintenance request tracking and expense tracking

Right now, Cozy has many more features and is probably more refined but Zillow has brand recognition and company size/funding to scale and improve.  Zillow also plans to add more into their mobile apps which would be something not available or even planned by Cozy at this point.