All Forum Posts by: Thomas P.

It was a good experience.....until today.  
Be wary! It's not free as they advertise if you aren't using their applications and they notice apparently.

Our property management company did not accept TurboTenant applications because their screening process is not as thorough as we prefer. An applicant applied for our property through TurboTenant because TurboTenant automatically turns on their application button when you syndicate your properties for rent and does not allow you to turn it off. We told the applicant we don't accept applications from TurboTenant and they must apply directly through us. They were very unhappy they had spent the money with TurboTenant and it is apparently not communicated that not all property managers/landlords will accept TurboTenant applications (which is true for the ones they haven't noticed are not using the TurboTenant applications apparently, which was us, until today). When the prospective tenant demanded a refund from TurboTenant, TurboTenant sent us an email saying if we didn't start paying a monthly fee in order to use our own application, they would terminate our account in 5 days. What happen to...and I quote directly off their homepage:

"TurboTenant is the all-in-one, FREE property management tool that streamlines how you manage the rental process. The world’s easiest way to screen tenants, market your rental, receive applications and collect rent online."

Not sure treating property managers/landlords this way by giving ultimatums to purchase and terminating accounts when your website says FREE is the way to go... TurboTenant, you just shrank you the property options pool for your money making prospective tenant pool.  Kind of to saving your foot by cutting off your hand! All this to say, this service is free until they realize you aren't using their applications.

Also, when I went in to check that it had been terminated, the prompt said I was blocked for "suspicious activity"! Really?  Just unfortunate in the route they took.  From lots of experience, Zillow may cost more, but the leads are much higher quality!

Be wary!  It's not free as they advertise if you aren't using their applications and they notice.

Our property management company did not accept TurboTenant applications because their screening process is not as thorough as we prefer. An applicant applied for our property through TurboTenant because TurboTenant automatically turns on their application button when you syndicate your properties for rent and does not allow you to turn it off. We told the applicant we don't accept applications from TurboTenant and they must apply directly through us. They were very unhappy they had spent the money with TurboTenant and it is apparently not communicated that not all property managers/landlords will accept TurboTenant applications. When the prospective tenant demanded a refund from TurboTenant, TurboTenant sent us an email saying if we didn't start paying a monthly fee in order to use our own application, they would terminate our account in 5 days. What happen to...and I quote directly off their homepage:

"TurboTenant is the all-in-one, FREE property management tool that streamlines how you manage the rental process. The world’s easiest way to screen tenants, market your rental, receive applications and collect rent online."

I asked them if this is how they treated property managers/landlords, by giving ultimatums and terminating accounts. You just shrank you the property options pool for your money making prospective tenant pool.  Nice job!  Way to save your foot by cutting off your hand!  All this to say, this service is free until they realize you aren't using their applications.

Also, when I went in to check that it had been terminated, the prompt said I was blocked for "suspicious activity"! Hah! Really? Shady business practices on the property management side and prospective tenant side.  Look elsewhere!  And honestly, the leads weren't great.  Zillow may cost more, but the leads are much higher quality! 

@David M. I did not sign up as a premier agent, though i did pay the $9.99 for the first time for a listing, so I'm assuming they've inserted some legal jargon you are agreeing to somewhere, but what about the caller is simply calling in to inquire?  Do they know that I now have a recording of the whole call, their voice, etc... @Account Closed  I did what you suggested and sure enough, they have replaced my contact number with another local number that is routed through HotPads.  This is a violation of our association advertising rules because we are required to have our firm name and phone number listed on all advertising.  I have called my broker to let her know.  They also edited my listing and took out my youtube link to the video walk-through in the description portion of the listing.  Curious, for those of you using Premiere Agent, is your contact information changed on all your listings on Zillow?   There is something wrong here...

So guys, I have never seen this until today. I received a call from a prospective tenant and answered their questions about a property for rent. I then went into my Zillow landlord account to respond to another email request for information and discovered a new message.  It was a full recording of the call I had just answered. Complete abuse and invasion of privacy for both myself and that prospective tenant.  How is this even legal?  I can't find a way to turn this off anywhere on the site.  Has anyone else noticed this?

Very helpful BP community!  Was able to apply after reading all the comments.  Took 5 minutes.

Did you do this for you entire portfolio costs or just costs you are incurring currently?  Can the loan be paid back without penalty if unused?

I did end choosing not to use Zillow for many of the reasons listed here.  Though convenient which I was looking for, the simply don’t provide enough information to make good decisions.  With no way to modify the application and all the limitations, it’s not a great option.

@Derek Sperzel

Can you export information to QuickBooks?

Are you planning on keeping it a duplex or converting to a SFH? That area is hot right now. Might be able to get more rent converting to a 2/2 SFH and forget the basement. Just my $.02....

What is your experience with the quality of the rental application Zillow provides prospective tenants for $29?  Do you feel it provides sufficient and accurate information?