Zillow Not a Reliable Source for Prop Mgmt?

Question

I'm speaking to all property managers out there who can help me understand this. I just let my manager know that my friend contacted them through Zillow about my listing. Its been a week since she's heard anything back (naturally, I thought that was a point of concern). When I mentioned that I was wondering if potential leads were slipping through the cracks/not being followed up on he said "Zillow isn't a trusted source" and he could go on for hours about the topic. Can ANYONE shed some light on this?

At this point I'm thinking "Wait, what about the other people who could've reached out through Zillow over the past 5 weeks?". This doesn't make any sense.

At this point I'm thinking "Wait, what about the other people who could've reached out through Zillow over the past 5 weeks?". This doesn't make any sense.

Allan Smith · Answer

I use tenant turner through buildium, and if any prospective tenants inquire about the property through zillow, it automatically funnels them into Tenant Turner's database. No tenant left behind. TT then asks them to pre-qualify themselves by answering questions about income, background, and financials.

The funnel continues all the way to applications dropping into my inbox, but the point here is if your manager isn't capturing every single lead I would strongly consider a new manager. some other folks in here have said to talk to them about what's wrong with zillow etc but my feeling is you can't teach someone to be good at their job. Find someone who is already good at property management.

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Bailey A. A couple of observations:

1) if the PMC is using an MLS service to list your property for rent, they may have no control over the property being listed on Zillow. They MLS service may auto post it.

2) who did your friend's Zillow info request go to? Don't assume it went to the PMC. Agents pay monthly fees to Zillow and buy leads, which are routed to them, not the listing agent.

3) Zillow listing produce quantity not quality leads. Nosy neighbors, out of state investors and others just looking for free information, but obviously not interested in even seeing the property.

So, yes ask your PMC for clarification, but don't assume they are incompetent.

Bailey A. · Answer

@Charlie MacPherson

The info from that study is pretty shocking. Makes me cringe a bit just thinking about it! You are right though. It’s time to make some hard decisions and keep on rolling. Thanks for the advice!

Kenneth Garrett · Answer

@Bailey A.

I self manage my properties and the best potential tenants come from the Zillow platform.  It also links to Trulia and Hot Pads.  You need to respond for it to work.  Some areas definitely work better then others.  You do get people who just click on the listings that there interested and then never hear from them.  That’s the down side of being easily exposed to a great number of people.  Click happy.  Respond to everyone as quick as possible for the best results.

I definitely agree about ignoring the value of property and the Zestimate.  Run your own comps for value and rental estimates.  Those numbers Zillow provides run through an algorithm and don’t necessary apply to your particular property.

Yizhen Su · Answer

Zillow presents an instant gratification opportunity. I recently went to see an investment property with a realtor that contacted me after I clicked interest in a city I've never invested before. she literally replied to me about five times in one day and I was hooked. I had no idea who she was beyond a first name and what brokerage she was with or what she did has an experience realtor but her responses definitely got me going to see a house with her. After some basic networking I think I will be working with her later on. I definitely think a proper response and timely is a plus. I would throw the estimates in the trash from Zillow. It takes a radius of property values instead of the neighborhood. Basically if your wealthy million dollar neighborhood happens to be located next to a bunch of townhouses that are owned by people in the middle class, their townhome values will be calculated in the estimate for the 8-bedroom 5 garage with a pool mansion. It just doesn't work. The best way I've seen estimates done is basically looking for houses sold in the last 6 months and comparing it from the same neighborhood.

Charlie MacPherson · Answer

@Bailey A.  Zillow is a running joke among Realtors when it comes to their valuations, or "Zestimates".  Those are just awful.

However, if you list your property for rent and your team isn't responding to those leads, you need to either have a heart-to-heart or replace them.

One important thing to understand about internet leads of any kind is that they expect near-instant response times.

Before I got out of residential real estate, the conventional wisdom was that you needed to respond in seconds, not minutes.  In fact, there was a study that came out of MIT that said if you took longer than 30 minutes to respond, your success rate would drop by a factor of 100.

Let that sink in for a minute.  A factor of 100.

Your PM team needs to treat those leads seriously.  If they don't, those potential renters are going to skitter off to find someone who will.  You probably have minutes, not hours.

It sounds like you need a "Come to Bailey" meeting.  Pronto.

Adam Martin · Answer

I find it to be my most reliable source for listings but it may depend on area.  I am curious, why did they say it was not reliable and what did they say was better.  If the property is still not rented and they are not following all leads I would have some concerns on this company.  I don't see why someone would request information on the same property of multiple platforms, and I would actually count this as a strike against someone that did assuming they were clicking on everything they see so I believe you are missing opportunities.  Also if it is so bad and they aren't going to follow up why list there?

Bailey A. · Answer

@Andrew B.

That’s what I was thinking! Why post it on that platform if you won’t pursue the leads? Makes no sense. Originally he said he wouldn’t post to Zillow because it’s single handedly trying to ruin the real estate profession (?). Then when I saw it up I was thinking oh okay, cool, the listing expanded. Buuuuuutttt I guess not so much haha.

Andrew B. · Answer

Its entirely illogical to list the unit on Zillow and then completely discount all leads that come from it. Tenants who send a request through Zillow are unlikely to seek you out on other platforms just in case. I'd 100% dive into this with them and insist that they take Zillow leads seriously, or if they make a compelling argument, take down the Zillow listing.

Zillow Not a Reliable Source for Prop Mgmt?

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