Every landlord and property manager knows that vacancies can single-handedly kill your bottom line like no other. Getting your listings in front of as many potential tenants as possible is key. That is why having your property management software syndicate to all the top rental listing sites is a wonderful feature to take advantage of. Rentec Direct, with a single click, syndicates your vacancy data to over 20 syndication partners including Zillow.
Zillow has notified us that they are changing their listing policy and now have new requirements for listing rentals within some states (see below). Wherever you are located, keeping abreast of these changes can help you prepare for what may be coming down the road. We’ll keep you informed if we hear about other states being included.
Changes To Zillow Group Going Into Effect on July 19, 2019
Zillow Group has announced an upcoming change that affects managers and landlords who publish listings in Oregon. Via Zillow Group “To continue building a great marketplace, we will no longer accept feed listings without direct agreements with property managers and listing advertisers. This change will go into effect on July 19, 2019.”
Update
As of June 2020, Zillow has updated their listing policy to include the following states: **Select locations include Colorado, Florida, Oregon, Delaware, New Hampshire, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina,Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Arizona, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Vermont, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, Virginia, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Utah, and California.
Find more updates from Zillow here.
What Does This Mean for Rentec Direct Clients?
Zillow will continue to take in the syndication feed as usual, but–for some states–they will only publish listings from property managers and listing advertisers who have advertising agreements with Zillow Group. Keep in mind, Zillow Group includes multiple listing sites, including Zillow, Trulia, and HotPads.
To continue publishing listings to Zillow, Trulia and HotPads with Rentec Direct’s syndication, property managers and listing advertisers will need to establish a partnership with Zillow Group. According to Zillow, this paid model will improve their shopping environment with more up-to-date listings for renters while simultaneously reducing fraud so renters trust the platform even more. The goal is to create a more positive shopping experience for renters, so the Zillow Rental Network continues to be the destination more renters choose.
Download PDF provided by Zillow Group for more information.
Property managers and listing advertisers who would like to continue to post their listings to Zillow Group can set up an account in two ways:
- To continue syndication via the Rentec Direct feed and learn more about pricing, you should contact rentalfeedinquiries@zillowgroup.com. You can also learn more by reading Zillow’s FAQ.
- To manually post listings, property managers may set up a paid Zillow Rental Manager account. You can visit Zillow’s FAQ for more information.
A Zillow Group representative may directly contact specific property managers and advertisers using the Rentec Direct syndication feed to inform them of the changes and the added benefits of continuing syndication.
**Update** It Appears These Changes Will Eventually Roll Out Nationwide.
Check here in Zillow’s FAQ’s to see if your state currently requires payment.
One of the advantages of using the Zillow network for listing properties for rent was because it was FREE to Owners & Management Companies and drove potential renters to all of their other sites as well. It saved quite a bit of money in advertising costs. It provided statistical information as well with rent amounts, days on market, how many views it had, etc. In my own experience, I know a lot of my clients will NOT BE HAPPY having to pay for internet advertising. They will look for other sources, and exclude Zillow and their affiliated websites. It is my hope that the “test” in Oregon fails. If Zillow allows Property Management Firms to advertise their services to Rental Property Owners, even I would sign up immediately! The suggestion has already been made to them.
Keep Rockin!
Good thoughts, Norbert! They will certainly eliminate fraud with this model, but the downside is that they could also drive away a lot of owners’ and landlords’ would-be listings–potentially making renters less inclined to search through any of their affiliated sites since Zillow will not feature all that’s truly available in a renter’s area. It will be interesting to see what changes long-term as a result of this implementation by the Zillow network.
Generally speaking, what sort of pricing is being required for this? Zillow has done an excellent job of keeping that hidden. I note that the manual/non-feed posting is $10/listing/week.. and I would assume that the feeds would be less than that, but what general pricing are people running across?
Hi Kirby, I was able to find this link to additional information on their pricing that might prove helpful but I am not certain if there is a different pricing scheme from a syndicated feed as we provide. They do recommend if you have pricing questions to reach out to them by email here: rentalfeedinquiries@zillowgroup.com