General Landlording & Rental Properties
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback
Zillow Rental Manager - Issues
I have used Zillow Rental Manager for two previous rental listings (Jan and June 2020) and it worked very well. It's nice to have a page for each listing to be able to see the responses, applications, leases, etc.
For my latest listing, the response has been great. 50+ requests for more info and 5 applications before the 2 hr open house last Saturday. Unfortunately, I have not been able to see any of the inquiries or applications in the website. I only received email updates that say they should be there. The ticket was opened a week ago. Nearly zero acknowledgement that anyone is even working on the issue. The only feedback was to ask which web browser I was using. I explained that I had used Microsoft Edge. I have since tried Chrome and Safari with identical results.
Since I received no updates, I opened multiple tickets checking on status. Those have been "resolved" and combined back into my original ticket. Now we're back to zero updates for two days.
Since it's impossible to actually speak to a person, I have also left two voicemails with zero response.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Was your issue ever resolved?
I'm embarrassed to have to ask the applicants for additional patience.
I ran into that myself and that is why I use my own applications and text applicants from their phone numbers on the Zillow site. I then give them my email address to contact me for an application and pictures. Too hard to deal with someone you can't "speak" to. Go back to all the responses and send a text to their phone. I also ask, in the text, for their email address and who will be occupying it and if they have pets. Makes it a little easier when they respond, especially if there are a lot of responses.
While I really appreciate the benefits Zillow has brought me as a whole, I have found specifically their application and background checks to be completely inadequate and would leave me legally vulnerable should I use them. So I don't use them. The application lacks swaths of data I need to wisely choose a tenant and the background check not only doesn't seem to properly verify information, but the information it does provide lacks personal information such as social security numbers and other essential data points. I do use Zillow rental management for the listing and most communications and would use the application and background check if it were sufficient. Zillow’s statements suggest they try to protect identity. I get the concept, but it goes out the window when I am assessing you to decide if I will be letting you move in to my expensive rental home.
I provide physical and email applications using a form that works for me. I use a different service for background checks which does a significantly better job and provides more useful information.
I didn't encounter this issue as I could see the applications people sent me through ZIllow (it provided a preview and allowed me to determine if the applicant might be qualified and I could let them know they needed to fill out my form if they were.) The issue I encountered after the last rental was filled is I couldn't get the posting text with the rental rates and information to go away. I deleted everything and it was still there. I finally discovered that adding new text was the only way to get rid of the old post. No text wasn't sufficient.
Zillow, if you’re reading this, you are so close, but have more refinement to make this system fully functional.
@Erik Hull I have just encountered their new system of charging $9.99 per week to advertise. I don’t want them to screen my tenants, nor take applications. So I don’t like that they are now charging everyone for these extra services. Anyone still using Zillow? If not, where do you advertise, other than Facebook?
Craigslist and Apartments.com are good. Rentometer will also list rentals and I like that they tell you what places are renting for and have an abundance of information for landlords...and I don't mind paying for the service, even tho it is free. When I want to increase rents I check there first. I do like Zillow for listing rentals, but not their apps. If they charged for listings I wouldn't list there tho.
Craigslist and Apartments.com are good. Rentometer will also list rentals and I like that they tell you what places are renting for and have an abundance of information for landlords...and I don't mind paying for the service, even tho it is free. When I want to increase rents I check there first. I do like Zillow for listing rentals, but not their apps. If they charged for listings I wouldn't list there tho.
Craigslist and Apartments.com are good. Rentometer will also list rentals and I like that they tell you what . I do like Zillow, but not their apps. If they charged for listing I wouldn't list there.
@Erik Hull that is interesting. I use Zillow for listing rentals and have never used their rental services. I left a voicemail one time as their charges were not correct and never heard back either. I have thought about trying to deal with them as some customers who contact me have these green boxes checked stating application pre approvals but have wondered about their process. A big concern to me is their lack of customer service. Does anyone have input for me on this ? Help as well
@Joyce Tavares this is good to know. I just posted below but I do something very similar to you. Zillow has awesome format for listing but horrible customer skills or contact.
@Sherry Byrne my experience with FB was massive bad credit people. EVERYTIME. Craigslist used to work but Zillow is my go to, but their functions dont work well for me and I try to engage with the prospect directly myself
Good to know. But I got used to having the free advertising and I am not liking the $10 per week thing.
@Erik Hull The app is horrible. But it does copy all communications to my email, so I can be reasonably assured that I'm seeing and am able to respond to all requests.....even when I don't see them (and thus can't respond to them) in the app.
I expected my most-recent listing to come with a fee, but it was still free for some reason.
