The Zillow Preview tool will become available on RealScout’s platform later this year, according to an announcement from the two companies. The integration will make pre-market home listings available to buyers working with agents on RealScout’s co-shopping platform.
RealScout currently serves more than 100,000 agents across hundreds of U.S. markets, according to the company. When the integration launches, buyers using RealScout with their agent will see the Preview listings inside the same search experience they already use, without switching agents or brokerages to access them.
Zillow Preview gives sellers pre-market visibility to buyers on Zillow and Trulia before a home reaches the MLS. RealScout’s addition extends that same pre-market exposure to its agent-affiliated buyer base, alongside Realtor.com, which will also begin carrying Preview listings.
Errol Samuelson
“More exposure creates more opportunity for sellers, and agents should be able to show their buyers the full picture of what’s available,” Errol Samuelson, Zillow’s chief industry development officer, said in a statement. “By bringing Zillow Preview listings into RealScout, we’re extending that transparency into an environment where agents and buyers are already working together.”
Eighty-five percent of soon-to-be sellers said they would be more likely to hire an agent who could pre-market their home to the widest possible online audience, according to Zillow research. Eighty-one percent of Americans said a bidding war is more likely when more shoppers can view a listing, the same research found.
For agents, the Preview window generates buyer signals — views, saves, shares and direct contacts — before a home goes active on the MLS, giving agents data to bring back to sellers ahead of listing.
Andrew Flachner
“Sellers should be able to choose how they bring a home to market. Buyers shouldn’t have to switch agents or brokerages to discover it,” Andrew Flachner, RealScout co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Bringing Zillow Preview to RealScout helps deliver both.”
Preview listings will appear labeled within an agent’s client relationship in RealScout. Once a home’s preview period ends and the listing goes active, the home is removed from RealScout and replaced with the active MLS listing.
The integration builds on an existing partnership between the two companies. RealScout is among the most-used integrations for Follow Up Boss, Zillow’s client management platform, connecting buyer activity in RealScout to agent follow-up workflows.
“RealScout has been part of agents’ daily workflows for years, and through our integration with Follow Up Boss, we’re already woven into how they manage buyers and follow up on every lead,” Flachner said in a statement. “Bringing Zillow Preview listings into that same experience is the next natural step, and it’s one our agents have been asking for since the offering launched this spring.”
Zillow Preview is currently available to agents at more than 400 brokerages.
