How to Get ZIllow Seller Leads?

 

How to Get ZIllow Seller Leads?

In A Nutshell:


First, reach out to a Zillow sales rep @Zillow to check if they're selling leads in your area. Some markets have switched to a Flex partnership model, where Zillow doesn't sell leads directly. They team up with select agents or groups as Zillow Flex partners instead.

 
 

The Changing Landscape of Zillow Leads

Buying leads on Zillow and hoping for the best? That's old news.

Zillow's Flex Program has been reshaping the landscape for years now.

Barry Jenkins, our Head Realtor in Residence here at Ylopo, dishes on this established approach.

"Some markets across the country, Zillow isn't selling leads anymore," Barry explains. "You've got to be what they call a Flex partner."

It's a different ball game altogether.

 

What's the deal with Flex?

Zillow gets paid when you do.

No upfront payments - you share a chunk of your commission upon closing.

Sounds enticing, right?

Well, there's more to consider…

Zillow Flex: The Upsides, Downsides, and Challenges

Riding the Flex wave is a complex journey.

You'll need to:

  1. Follow Zillow's lead (they set the rules)

  2. Keep close tabs on your performance metrics

  3. Embrace Zillow's consumer-first philosophy (no exceptions)

Barry points out, "You end up orienting your entire organization around Zillow's preferred method of doing business."

Zillow becomes your de facto supervisor – scrutinizing every move.

They're monitoring:

  • Your call durations

  • How well you set appointments

  • Your conversion numbers (better be impressive!)

  • Reviews – both the stellar and the less-than-stellar ones

Feeling the pressure?

That's life in the Flex lane!

The Traditional Approach: Buying Leads (Where Still Available)

Flex hasn't taken over everywhere.

Some areas still offer traditional lead purchases.

But before you jump in, consider Barry's sobering perspective:

"For me, the average sales price in my market was around $300,000. The leads? A whopping $450,000."

Ouch!

That's like using a luxury yacht for fishing trips.

Mastering the Zillow System: Your Blueprint for Success

Ready to tackle Zillow leads like a pro?

Here's your battle plan:

1. Know Your Territory

  • Is your market Flex-exclusive or still offering leads for sale?

  • What's the typical sale price in your area?

  • How substantial are those commission checks?

2. Performance Reigns Supreme

  • Monitor those calls – duration is crucial!

  • Track your appointment-setting prowess

  • Keep a close watch on conversion rates

  • Implement a system to boost these figures (and stick with it!)

3. Customer Experience: Make It Outstanding

  • React quickly – faster responses win

  • Follow up religiously (your business depends on it)

  • Create an experience so smooth, clients will think they're floating

4. Show Me the Numbers

  • Analyze the true cost of leads

  • Factor in your time and resource investment

  • Calculate your ROI – are you striking gold or digging a financial pit?

Looking Ahead: What's Next for Zillow Leads?

Zillow keeps evolving.

The Flex program is well-established, but there's more to come:

  • Increasingly sophisticated performance metrics (hope you enjoy data!)

  • Deeper integration with CRM and lead management tools

  • Other platforms potentially adopting similar models

The Big Question: Is Zillow Right for You?

Barry shares his perspective: "I just wasn't prepared to reorient my entire organization around the Zillow optics. It would have been too much of an investment of time and money for me to make sense."

So, what's your play?

Diving deeper into Zillow's ecosystem or charting your own course?

The choice is yours, but it's a crucial one.

Weigh those pros and cons carefully – your business's future might hinge on it.

 

  • BARRY:

    "Well, the first thing I would do is I would go to Zillow and I would contact one of their sales reps and I would find out if Zillow is selling leads in their market.

    Some of the markets across the country, Zillow is not selling leads.

    You have to be what they call a Flex partner.

    Now I'm not a Flex partner personally.

    I haven't bought a lead from Zillow probably seven or eight years, but a lot of my close friends are Zillow Flex agents and for them it's worked out really well, but you've kind of got to be all in, you know, although they're still independent contractors by default, you end up just orienting your entire organization around Zillow's preferred method of doing business.

    They've got very strict standards because they're obsessed with the consumer.

    They want the consumer to have a good experience.

    And so Zillow is monitoring everything that the Flex team is doing, the length of calls, the appointments, the ratios of conversion, the reviews, positive and negative.

    So you basically have like a sales manager over your entire business watching everything that you're doing and the teams that focus on it, you know, from afar it looks like that they're doing really well.

    So if it's a Flex team or a Flex market, you can't buy leads.

    If they're still selling leads in your market, then you would just pick a zip code or a market.

    And they would say, you know, if you spend $2,000 a month, you know, this is the number of leads that you'll get based off of that.

    The average conversion is that they'll actually tell you ahead of time.

    For me personally, I have no hate for Zillow.

    I wish I would have thought of the idea, but I'll just say that for me, you know, the average sales price in my market at the time I made the decision to stop was around $300,000.

    The leads were around $450,000.

    So they were still selling leads at that time, but $450 a lead with an average sales price of $3,000.

    I'm splitting it with my agent.

    You know, the commission was $9,000 average sales price $300,000.

    Actually, that time it was $200,000.

    So $200,000.

    You know, the agent got $4,000.

    I got $4,000.

    It just it just didn't work.

    You know, it just it didn't make financial sense for me.

    And when the opportunity to become a Flex team popped up, I did look at it.

    I examined it, but I just wasn't prepared to reorient my entire organization around the Zillow optics.

    It just would have been too much of an investment of time and money for me for it to make sense."

 

Barry Jenkins

Realtor, Speaker, Coach, Trainer, Author, and Head Realtor in Residence at Ylopo