Zillow took their real estate marketing product, Zillow Showcase, nationwide earlier this year. However, 2024 has been a year like no other with changing interest rates and new industry standards. Can a new product like Showcase deliver value to agents in a year like this one and in areas that strongly favor either the buyer or seller?
Let’s dig in. Zillow data is showing Showcase listings sell for 2 percent more², that’s $9K more on a home sold at the average home sales price in the United States. This is one of the many data points that Showcase agents can use to confidently share their unique value to potential sellers. In addition, Showcase agents are winning over 20 percent more listings than similar non-Showcase agents¹.
Now, does this data match with experiences from agents that signed up for Showcase this year? We have stories from 3 different markets.
First, we are seeing that while Showcase is an investment, it can quickly pay off. Jimmy McNally, with CENTURY 21 Beggins near Tampa, Florida, shared his Showcase experience. “Helps me win more listings and a higher commission. Allows leads to come directly to me. I have already paid for my next eight Showcases from one of the leads I received. It allows the agent to show up more professional[ly], show up better than the competition without being oversaturated on the top website that buyers/sellers look for properties!” According to Zillow’s Market Heat Index, the Tampa area is a buyers market.
Across the country, in California, Elmer Morales of eHomes is excited about how Showcase can help maximize a sale. The area is a seller’s market, according to Zillow’s Market Heat Index. ”So if you [have] five or three agents that are coming to your house, and one of them says your property is going to be at the top of every search in your zip code or the city that you live in … what’s that mean to you, how is that going to impact the sale of our home? And the obvious response is going to be huge. Every buyer that’s searching in this area is going to see my house. The potential of gaining a whole-price offer if not potentially higher, or getting a bidding war going is potentially higher.”
Near Atlanta, Grace Orban from Red One Realty LLC, fully integrated Showcase into their marketing plan to tap into buyers and sellers’ love of Zillow. “And this is part of our top-of-the-line marketing strategy. So if people want it, then they, you know, if they, you know, when I show it to them, nine times out of ten people want it.” Atlanta is a neutral market right now, in terms of the balance of for-sale supply and demand.
At the end of the day, the size and quality of Zillow’s traffic (“Zillow” is searched more than “Real Estate”³) can’t be beat, so standing out on Zillow makes sense as a key to success. However the true value, as with any marketing tactic, is the unique strategy and expertise individual agents use when fully integrating it into their business as the experts of the market and their clients. Clients will see that in you, and your business will be set up for sustained growth.