Zillow is expanding a pilot program in which it’s taking listings directly from real estate brokerages to boost listing accuracy, and offering greater visibility and lead management options to participating brokers and their agents in return.
The "zPro for Brokers" program, announced in June, has been expanded from 10 brokerages to 15, Zillow said today. Under the program, data feeds provided by brokers via their multiple listing service will take priority over all other data sources.
The 15 brokerages participating in the beta version of zPro for Brokers are:
- Alain Pinel Realtors, California
- Coldwell Banker Bain | Seal, Washington and Oregon
- HomeSmart Real Estate, Arizona and California
- Jordan Baris, New Jersey
- Long and Foster, Mid-Atlantic
- Pacific Union International, California
- Prudential Georgia Realty, Georgia
- Prudential New Jersey Properties, New Jersey
- Prudential Rubloff, Illinois and Michigan
- Re/Max Allegiance, Mid-Atlantic
- Re/Max DFW Associates, Texas
- Real Estate One, Michigan
- Realty ONE Group, Nevada, California and Arizona
- Tomlinson Real Estate Group, Idaho, Oregon and Washington
- West USA Realty, Arizona
Listing agents affiliated with brokers participating in the zPro program don’t have to create a Zillow profile in order to appear first on a list of buyer’s agents next to property listings. Listing agents provide only their photo along with the data feed sent to Zillow, because their identity is verified through their broker.
Listing agents with other brokerages don’t appear on the buyer’s agent list at all, unless they have created a Zillow profile and "claimed" their listings. Instead, they appear at the bottom of a listing under the heading "Listing Provided By."
Agents with brokerages participating in the zPro program will also receive automatic text and email alerts when consumers fill out lead forms, and follow-up phone reminders within eight hours if the agent doesn’t respond. Participating brokers decide whether to funnel leads to their customer relationship management system, the listing agent, or both.
Zillow and other third-party listing sites are sometimes criticized by brokers and agents for publishing out-of-date listings, and for running lead forms for competing agents next to some listings on the sites. In May, Zillow launched a partnership platform, pledging to improve listing data accuracy.
Trulia has also retooled some of its marketing offerings for real estate professionals to focus on the interests of brokers, including improved data accuracy on its site and clear identification of listing agents and brokers.
Brokerages interested in participating in Zillow’s zPro for Brokers program can send inquiries to partners@zillow.com.