Big Changes to Zillow Rentals

[Ryan Swan]

Zillow is committed to growing the most robust rentals marketplace and providing an exceptional shopping experience to renters. To further this mission, we’re updating how we manage rental listings. By moving to Zillow Rental Manager, we can help you fill vacancies fast with innovative solutions that streamline the renting process for both you and tenants: online applications, leases and payments. Starting in January 2021, rental listings syndicated through your MLS will no longer appear on the Zillow Rentals network. To keep your rental listings on Zillow, Trulia and HotPads, please claim your listings on Zillow Rental Manager. You can find and claim your prior and current listings using your email address or phone number. This will pre-populate the address and basic property details. Once you update your pre-populated listing with current photos and additional property information, you can publish it on the most-visited rental network.* Updating your listing in Zillow Rental Manager won't override how your imported MLS listing appears on Zillow until you publish it. Any MLS listing a broker or agent claims and publishes through Zillow Rental Manager before mid-January 2021 will be free for at least 30 days and cost $9.99 per week thereafter.

[Ryan Swan]

I just copy/pasted the email I got from Zillow and it sounds like they're going after another cash grab and will be charging $10/WEEK for rentals that come through the MLS feed. Agents who do a lot of rental listings will essentially be double charged...$10/week by Zillow and then whatever fees their brokers charges, plus paying a commission to any tenant's agent.

I know they started charging mom and pop landlords to post listings on the Zillow Rental Network, which seems like a fair price for such wide exposure. But charging agents seems like "biting the hand that feeds" because Zillow's entire web platform is built off syndicating MLS data (which we agents already pay for in terms of subscriber fees to maintain each of our MLSes). 

It is a little ambiguous if MLS rentals will not show up at all on Zillow going forward, or if they just won't be part of the "Rental Network" with additional features and exposure.  

https://www.zillow.com/z/renta...

Thoughts?