Which real estate website is better for generating leads: Realtor vs Zillow? These online lead aggregator platforms attract real estate agents at all levels due to the “ready-to-buy” leads they can give agents.
And in real estate, cash flow matters. Having leads that will close soon is important, especially when starting your real estate career.
In this post, we’re diving into the Zillow vs Realtor.com debate to see which one you should invest in to get leads, make sales, increase your production, grow your real estate business, and scale a profitable team.
Lead Aggregator Platforms
Before we dive into the details of Realtor.com and Zillow, let’s look at these platforms from a high-level. Both websites are considered “lead aggregators”.
Meaning, they generate revenue by driving traffic to their website, capturing that traffic in the form of a lead, and then selling those leads and exposure to real estate agents.
This isn’t the ONLY way Realtor.com and Zillow make money, but is a major revenue source for them.
There are many other platforms that fall under the lead aggregator category. Other example websites include:
- Homes.com
- Trulia.com (owned by Zillow)
- Homefinder.com
As a real estate agent, there are several benefits of working with a lead aggregator platform, like Zillow and Realtor.com. Those include:
- The ability to start generating HOT, ready-to-close leads today.
- Less of a time investment when compared to the possibility of sitting at an open house for two hours and nobody shows up.
- It’s more of a “proven” path for generating leads unlike SEO, YouTube or FB Ads.
But the downside…
… Zillow and Realtor.com can have some STEEP lead costs that are difficult to stomach and swallow.
The monthly cost can cripple a real estate agent’s cash flow. Plus, without a significant investment on these platforms, you’re unlikely to make a difference to your lead generation.
You may find yourself feeling like you’re flushing A TON of money down the toilet.
That’s saying a lot for this post-pandemic since you basically are flushing a lot of money down the toilet with the cost of toilet paper.
So, to help you decide which lead platform is best for you, let’s dive into the different programs.
How Zillow Leads Work
Zillow’s Premier Agent Program is their primary lead service for real estate agents. When you sign-up and become a Premier Agent, you get access to features to help you:
- Gain Exposure: Your profile is ranked higher in the “Agent Finder”. You will appear on property listings, even if they aren’t your listing.
- Have Exclusivity: You are the only real estate agent listed on your own listing. As a non-premier agent, other agents are listed on your listings. Possibly causing you to miss out on your own leads.
- Get Connections: You are connected with leads either through a form that is filled out or live-transfer.
- Generate Leads: All of this exposure and connections will help you generate leads.
- Manage and Close Your Leads: Zillow provides a CRM-like platform where you can track and monitor your leads.
In addition to being promoted on Zillow, you also get exposure on Zillow’s affiliate websites such as Trulia.
Under the Agent Premier program, you will get leads in three ways. First, by appearing in the “Agent Finder”, a potential buyer or seller can click on your profile, read your agent bio, and reach out to you directly.
Second, they visit your listing — if you have one — and reach out to you through a phone call or form.
Lastly, you show up on other agent’s listings. These leads are more competitive and are sent to several agents.
Lead Costs
Zillow’s Premier Agent program has several different options for generating leads and building a plan that matches your real estate marketing budget or GCI goals.
Lead costs vary across the platform. It’s based on market demand, current competition, zip code, home values, and your contract length.
As a rule of thumb, zip codes where home values are higher and competition is fierce, lead costs are higher than zip codes with lower home values and less competition.
For example, you can anticipate paying more for leads in San Francisco, California than Lansing, Michigan, where home values are significantly lower.
You can expect to pay less in a rural-town than an urban-center — even if home values are equivalent — because of less competition (i.e. other real estate agents trying to buy ad space).
Zillow recommends you pay for at least 5,000 impressions per month to get the most effective results on your marketing investment.
In some markets, due to the competition, this may be impossible. Markets could be locked out or there isn’t enough “Share of Voice” to make a difference.
If you sign a six-month contract you are eligible for an add-on bonus which can fund more advertising and lower your cost per lead than going month-to-month.
Find Rough Lead Costs
If you created a free agent profile on Zillow — hopefully you have — you can get some rough estimates to help you determine lead costs, potential zip codes, and estimate your return on investment.
Below, I ran an example for the zip code 48837. That’s Grand Ledge, Michigan.
From the numbers on Zillow’s own website, my cost per lead is $1,517. To capture 65 percent of the “Share of Voice” I would need to spend $3,494.
Keep in mind these numbers don’t paint the entire picture of potential leads captured using Agent Premier. It doesn’t reflect the leads you’re likely to get from your own listings, for example.
As you go through different zip codes, you see some require a significant investment for generating leads.
It’s hard for new real estate agents to spend this kind of money. In fact, if you’re a new real estate agent — within your first 12 months — I recommend NOT using a platform like Zillow or Realtor.com for generating leads.
We wrote a great article on lead generation strategies for new agents.
Zillow Flex
Zillow has a program called Zillow Flex. It’s an alternative payment structure where agents can pay a percentage of the commission — 20 to 30 percent — at closing.
There are no upfront costs. You only pay if a transaction closes.
Zillow has expanded the program to most real estate markets. However, eligibility is limited and there are performance requirements you must meet.
If you can meet the requirements, it could be a great alternative for you.
How Realtor.Com Leads Work
Realtor.com’s lead service program is called Connections Plus. Realtor.com operates similarly to Premier Agent offered by Zillow.
By advertising on Realtor.com, agents gain access to features such as:
- Exclusive or Non-Exclusive Leads: You will get connected directly with leads.
- More Lead Data: Realtor.com provides more information about the leads you get. For example, you might get social media profile info.
- Better CRM: Realtor.com allows you to import leads from other sources. This allows you to use one CRM if you’re generating leads from multiple sources.
Connections Plus will send out leads to several agents in a specific area on a first-come, first-serve basis. Or, they will send leads ONLY to you. The latter option is called an exclusive lead and tends to cost more.
Realtor.com Costs
In general, Realtor.com tends to cost less when compared to Zillow’s Premier Agent. This is a great option for agents who are looking to get their feet wet on lead aggregator programs or don’t have a large budget.
Lead costs, like on Zillow, will depend on competition, zip codes you’re targeting, home values, demand for the leads, and whether you chose their exclusive or non-exclusive lead program.
Since non-exclusive leads are sent to multiple agents on a first-come, first-serve basis, the leads are the cheapest. If you believe you can respond quickly to leads, then it’s a great option.
Exclusive leads are more expensive, but you are the only agent contacted in your zip code. This gives you more time to respond without losing out on the lead.
On average, the monthly cost for non-exclusive leads starts at $200 per month, while exclusive leads cost $1,000 per month.
But to find accurate pricing information and get a quote for your area, contact a sales rep from Realtor.com.
ReadyConnect
Just like Zillow’s Flex program, Realtor.com has a program called ReadyConnect Concierge or Opcity. Real estate agents pay nothing upfront.
Instead, real estate agents will pay a percentage of the sale at closing. This moves the risk of lead generation away from the real estate agent and to the lead platform.
Let’s take an example to see how this works… you sell a home for $300,000 and earn $9,000 in commissions. The lead platform charges 30 percent, so your broker is left with $6,300.
On a 70-30 split, your broker keeps $1,890 and cuts you a check of $4,410, or roughly 49 percent of the original commission amount.
While paying after closing is great, sometimes the fees can feel like a large bite out of your commission check.
Contact a representative to see if this option is available for you in your market.
Is Realtor.com or Zillow Better?
It’s really, really difficult to say which one is better. There are a lot of variables involved in the equation.
Each platform has real estate agents that are absolutely crushing their GCI goals.
… It also has agents who spent a lot of money and have zero results to show for it…
Zillow has more traffic, so real estate agents looking for more exposure and scale — like a real estate team — may consider Zillow over Realtor.com.
With more traffic, the more opportunity for leads and transactions.
On the other hand, real estate agents that are starting out with lead aggregators or have a small budget, Realtor.com is likely a better place to start.
But the only way to really know which platform is better for you is to make an educated guess, then commit.
Once you commit to a lead platform, track and monitor your results to see if you are producing a positive return on your investment.
Lead With Revenue
If you’re thinking about joining Zillow or Realtor.com, I want you to keep one principle in mind.
LEAD WITH REVENUE
Do not join these platforms unless you have the money. There is no guarantee you will make a sale.
The lead with revenue principle applies to all of your real estate marketing.
Here’s how it works: Let’s say you haven’t spent any money on marketing, you just made $10,000 on commission checks. You can spend up to $1,000 for your marketing.
Assuming you want to run a four-month experiment on Zillow or Realtor.com, then you should spend no more than $250 per month for four months.
Making Zillow or Realtor.com Work
While I can’t provide you with a clear cost on the leads, I can share some tips for lowering your lead costs and increasing your odds of success and profits on Zillow or Realtor.com.
On both platforms, you need follow-up quickly with your leads and have a good conversion process. It’s your job at the end of the day to qualify leads and convert them into a buyer or listing appointment.
Under the Premier Agent, you get better results by having listings already.
If you don’t have any listings, you still show up on other agent’s listings. But, you miss out on being the exclusive agent on your listings.
This means you’re missing out on potential leads and you’re having to compete with other agents all the time.
With Zillow’s Agent Finder feature, you’re going to have better results by building an authentic real estate agent profile — your image and bio — that connects emotionally with potential leads complete with social proof, such as reviews, testimonials, and case studies.
And here’s the deal… A good profile matters on Realtor.com, too.
For a second, I want you to think about your own consumer behavior or what your leads are likely to do. You’re browsing a website when you suddenly get a call from an unknown number.
What do you do?
If you’re part of a small percentage of the population, you answer your phone. If you’re the majority, you either ignore the phone call and never think about it again. Or, you wait for the voicemail or Google the number.
In other words, a potential lead begins looking you up. Looking at your profile. They’re trying to figure out if you’re worth talking to.
Agent Profile Blueprint Course
Build an agent profile that allows you to earn more, spend less time marketing and create a near “set it and forget it” strategy. In the Agent Profile Blueprint, you will learn:
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- How to use your agent profile to earn more while selling less, even if you don’t consider yourself a writer or have gotten stumped by writer’s block in the past.
- The real reasons your friends decided to work with another real estate agent, even though you’ve know them for 15+ years.
- Why your current lead generation methods aren’t producing the production volume you really want
- The biggest mistake most real estate agents make in their agent bio that INSTANTLY turns away potential leads and clients and what to do instead.
