What’s Next for Agents: High-Intent Buyers, Touring Upgrades, Financing Tools

Talking to partners is a crucial part of my role as Zillow’s VP of Business Operations. We get to chat at forums and roadshows across the country, and without fail, someone will ask, “Can I see what’s coming next?”

I love hearing the question for two reasons. One, it shows partners care about growing and improving just as much as we do internally. Two, it means we’re going to get really valuable feedback on the direction of our products and services. Some of the biggest updates in recent years to Zillow and Zillow Home Loans have come directly from agent feedback.

Today, I’m ready to share more about what’s coming next. We have a saying at Zillow: Turn on the lights. It’s one of our core values, and it means we want to provide helpful information that empowers partners like you. So here’s a preview of what agents can expect in the near future.

How you’ll be able to identify likely buyers

One big benefit of having over 200 million buyers and sellers visit Zillow each month is that patterns start to emerge. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, we’re now able to help you identify likely buyers. 

These high-intent buyers consist of potential customers likely to transact in the next six months, based on their Zillow activity like time spent looking at homes, number of homes favorited, agent profile views, and more. Partners can review this info in a weekly email, and they’ll soon be able to see high-intent buyers flagged through the Premier Agent app with Contact tags, which will also be passed to Follow Up Boss CRM through our integration. 

In addition to prioritizing new connections, the data can also signal a great time to re-engage with existing connections. This is a major step for Zillow, and the automated insights will give agents an advantage on where to direct their resources.

How you’ll be able to book tours quicker 

In recent Zillow research, 81% of buyers ranked responsiveness as a highly important agent characteristic. Our emphasis on touring this year is all about removing friction and helping agents communicate with serious buyers who want to tour. Based on the positive response to recent updates, we’re focused on making the touring experience as seamless as possible for both agents and buyers. 

That plan includes using the ShowingTime integration with the Premier Agent app to simplify how agents book tours directly from the app. For example, our team is working on an update for agents to quickly book tours from their My Agent connections. We’re also exploring ways for ShowingTime to secure the tour appointment while agents have buyers on the phone. 

These new touring advances will allow agents to act fast and grow their business while simultaneously reducing their busywork. 

How you’ll have more visibility into financing

Today’s challenging market has made it clear that buyers and agents need more tools that assist with affordability, streamlined communication, and visibility into financing. 

On that front, we want to support the partnership between agents and loan officers. We’re developing features that simplify communication, such as being able to exchange notes with loan officers directly in the app or send an introductory group message to your client and the loan officer – all through integrations with the Premier Agent app. 

In the coming months, we’re also building solutions to help you track how your team is performing with transfers to Zillow Home Loans and your client’s Zillow Home Loans loan status. This includes new performance reporting against key metrics, easy access to your client’s pre-approval letter, and more visibility into lead and loan status. 

Lastly, we’re working on ways to make it easier for your clients to understand what they can afford, find homes within their budget, and secure the home with more down payment and financing options. For instance, clients can get an initial estimate of what they can afford and start the loan process on the Home Loans tab of the Zillow app.

If you have specific questions about the roadmap, we’ll be in touch with more info when new features are ready to go live. In the meantime, we’re committed to sharing updates like this with you through our newsletter, so stay tuned for more.