What! Zillow Rental Manager is Charging for Listings?

Listing your rental on websites like Craigslist, Realtor, Padmapper, Zumper and previously, Zillow, has been a free service for landlords and agents. Only in broker-dominated markets, such as New York City, would you see a paywall where a landlord would be charged a fee to list their vacant rental property.

Zillow is changing the landscape. Here are some details on the evolution of Zillow Rental Manager.

What site is best for renting out my property?

There are many websites that allow you to post rental property listings, but the best one to use depends on your specific needs and preferences. Some popular websites for posting rental property include Zillow, Trulia, and Zumper.

Some may prefer to rent property through a traditional rental agency and have them find a tenant using their listing connections, while others may find it more convenient and cost-effective to use an online rental service. Regardless of how you start, it is important to take steps to maximize the chances to get your rentals filled.

Rather than focusing on a single website to drive leads, listing on multiple websites will cast a larger net so you can find the best tenant for your property. By utilizing tools such as Hemlane, you can easily list to 30+ listing websites, including Zillow, Realtor, Trulia, and Hotpads with just a click of a button!

Is Zillow Free?

Zillow currently does not charge to post rental listings using their basic rental package. However, Zillow also offers a Premium Listing package that can increase exposure for 90 days by placing your listing at the top of a search, provide, pricing and market insights, and listing recommendations to get your property rented.

Why is Zillow charging me to list my rental?

After experiencing over 10 years of growth, the buy-sell market is slowing down. Zillow's revenue and growth has been on the buy-sell market, and this slowdown is making them consider alternative ways to make money. Renter-occupied households make up 36% of the housing market, according to the Census Bureau. This is a huge opportunity.

Rental listings also require quite a bit of customer support and service. With online fraud and scammers increasing over the years, Zillow is responsible for security and safety on their platform. To help support these operational costs, charging for rental listings offsets the expenses. This is completely understandable.

How does Zillow make money?

Zillow makes money through advertising and by charging for some of its services, such as their premium package which comes at a flat fee of $29.99.

How much is Zillow's fee?

Back in 2019, Zillow started to experiment with a paywall for listings. They started in Oregon, then moved to Colorado, and quickly charged nationwide. If you had one rental property, you didn't have to pay anything to list your rental. After your first rental, they would charge $9.99 per week to advertise. And, they cut off all property management softwares from syndicating for free to Zillow. This really hurt landlords and property managers their rentals through software.

In the summer of 2022, Zillow's model changed for the better. They now offer a Basic Listing package on their website for free. If you want more exposure, pricing and market insights, and listing recommendations, then you need to upgrade to their Premium Listing package. This package is a flat fee of $29.99 and gives you premium benefits for your listing up to 90 days. Don't you hate $.99 pricing? 🤔

Keep in mind that Zillow also makes money off the tenant through their tenant screening features. Their tenant screening does not include income verification, and if you're interested in that feature, check out our comprehensive tenant screening.

Zillow is also not playing nice with other landlord or property management softwares, as they only allow for the Premium package.

Are payments through Zillow safe?

Yes! When using online rental services, payment security and reliability are important to both landlords and tenants. Zillow uses industry-leading security measures to protect rent payment information and keep accounts secure. If you are looking for a platform that can help you manage your rental, this article comparing Hemlane and Zillow Rental Manager can help you make an informed decision.

How to Post a Rental on Zillow

To post your property on Zillow, you will need to create a free account and then navigate through their website to advertise your property. You will need to provide basic information about your property, including photos, a description, and your contact information. Once your listing is live, potential renters will be able to contact you directly to inquire about your property.

Will Zillow still dominate listings?

Today, Zillow is still the largest player. Most rental inquiries come from their website. And, Zillow also owns Trulia and Hot Pads. You must list your rental through the Zillow Group if you want significant demand from tenants.

Zillow became the #1 rental listing website, because it did not charge for listings and provided a great user experience with trusted data(shut down fraudulent accounts faster than competitors, like Craigslist). Craigslist became a less popular option as it did not provide these two key features that Zillow had.

With Zillow back to a free model through the Basic listings, we believe it will still be a top leader in rental advertising. However, Zillow may risk its #1 position if it does not allow property management softwares to gain access to its Basic listing functionality. If tenants catch on to the fact that many listings are no longer on Zillow, simply because it doesn't sync with property management software for free, then these tenants may head on over to Zumper or some other listing website.

In the next couple of years, we predict tenants will see Zillow’s inventory decrease and will start to discover other free rental sites with more listings available. This trend will be seen across the nation unless Zillow changes their policy.

Zillow’s new policy is shaking up the market. There could be a huge opportunity here for a new rental listing website to take the #1 position! However, Zillow may be quick to respond to any threat. In the long term, it will be interesting to see whether Zillow can maintain its #1 position as other listing websites offer free services.

Is Zillow’s rent calculator accurate?

There is no clear answer to determine if a rent calculator is accurate as it can vary depending on a number of factors. The most common method of calculating rental values is to take the average rent for similar properties in the area. Zillow's Zestimate uses publicly available data and their own algorithm to provide an estimate. No estimate is perfect, but rental calculators can be helpful tool

Want to get a free rent estimate? Try our rental calculator and see how your rental compares with the market rate.

What other rental advertising options do I have?

In order to make it easier to advertise on multiple listing websites, Hemlane posts to over 30 rental listing websites with a goal to provide you with the most tenant inquiries. Hemlane offers a 30 day free trial for you to see the results. Rental properties on Hemlane receive an average of 21 qualified leads within the first 15 days, consolidated from all of the top rental listing websites. The other popular place to post your rental property is Facebook Marketplace.

Why is my rental listing not showing up on Zillow?

One reason your listing isn’t showing up on Zillow is that they will not publish a rental if it is submitted by a property management company or by an individual who is not the property owner. Another reason your listing may not be live is that Zillow has quality and accuracy standards that all listings must meet. All postings must include photos, a description and contact information. If your listing is not appearing on Zillow, please check to make sure it is active and meets all of the site's requirements.

Property Manager Costs

The cost of a property manager varies depending on a number of different factors including the location, size and type of property, the services required and the property manager's experience and qualifications. Generally, property managers charge a percentage of the monthly rent, or a flat fee, for their services. In general, property managers charge between 5% - 10% of the monthly rent for their services.