Starting in 2021, rental listings that syndicate through the local multiple listing service will no longer feed directly to Zillow, the company confirmed Monday to Inman.
All rental listings will need to either be published through Zillow Feed Connect or Zillow Rental Manager, which won’t come free.
“This decision to move all rental listings to our new model will empower our partners to leverage the full benefits of the Zillow Rentals ecosystem,” a spokesperson for the company told Inman.
“We have seen that Zillow Feed Connect listings usually spend fewer days on market than free listings because of increased lead volume and higher quality leads,” the statement continued. “Our partners also get access to a priority support team, advanced analytics and reporting tools to help them run their businesses more efficiently.”
The change comes on the heels of Zillow switching the backend that powers its listings portal from a network of separate data sources to an IDX feed. The change is set to take place in January 2021.
Zillow Feed Connect is a platform that syndicates third-party listings feeds to the entire Zillow rentals network, which includes Trulia and HotPads. MLS listings sent through Feed Connect will be published on a complimentary basis until mid-January 2021, at which time a new contract will be required before a rental listing can be posted.
Alternatively, a broker or agent can publish a listing through Zillow Rental Manager, which will cost $9.99 per week starting mid-January.
“This move is a big step forward in our journey to deliver a new seamless, easy and transparent real estate experience,” the Zillow spokesperson said. “It will also allow us to continue to innovate on the entire real estate journey by leveraging new technology and systems.”
StreetEasy, the New York City-based real estate portal owned by Zillow has long charged for listings as a way to maintain a high level of listing integrity.
The change, which was announced to Zillow’s clients in an email, rankled some in the real estate industry.
“Don’t need them in our market,” Jennifer Daniel Milligan, an agent with Keller Williams, wrote in a thread on Inman Coast to Coast. “Inventory is so scarce they come direct to listing agent Plenty of other marketing portals [sic].”
“Let’s stop syndication right away and they will come back begging for our dollars,” Eleonora Martinez, an agent with Home Sold Guaranteed Realty, added.
