26 Ways for Real Estate Pros to Use Zillow, From A-Z

Yes, Zillow is mostly known for Zestimates, but in the three and a half years since we launched, we have evolved into so much more. Here are 26 highlights for real estate pros — from A to Z — including some training resources and videos. A – Advice. Market your expertise in our real estate ...

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Yes, Zillow is mostly known for Zestimates, but in the three and a half years since we launched, we have evolved into so much more. Here are 26 highlights for real estate pros — from A to Z — including some training resources and videos.

A – Advice. Market your expertise in our real estate forum where consumers and professionals connect. Receive e-mail alerts when questions are asked in your area. Watch this video about Zillow Advice.

B – Badges. People who are the most helpful in the Zillow Community are rewarded with better placement throughout the site and are given Zillow All-Star and Zillow Local Expert badges. These can also be added to your blog or Web site.

C – Comps. Learn how to find comps on Zillow by watching this video.

D – Duplicate listing data. When we receive listing data from multiple sources, whose information do we use? Learn how Zillow uses trumping order when receiving a listing from multiple sources.

E – E-mail updates from Zillow. We send all kinds of e-mails that can benefit you, including corporate updates, saved listing searches, updates about a home that may not even be on the market, and interest rate alerts. Learn more how to customize the information you receive from Zillow and sign up for free Zillow e-mail today.

F – Free ways to market yourself on Zillow (video).

G – Get instant and anonymous loan quotes in our Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. Great place to check current rates and help your clients get started in shopping for financing. Learn how Zillow Mortgage Marketplace works.

H – Homeowners can claim and edit their homes on Zillow. See how you can claim your home and edit your home’s facts on Zillow. (More than a million people have done it!)

I – iPhone. Over 650,000 downloads in the first 3 months have made this the No. 1 mobile real estate application. If your listings are on Zillow, you are mobile too! Watch a quick video about Zillow’s iPhone App and download this wildly popular app.

J – Just for fun, Dueling Digs! Get home remodeling and decorating ideas or vote on your favorite home designs. Warning, this can be addictive!

K – Kool widgets. Tons of fun widgets you can download for free to get interesting real estate content for your website or blog. Select from this list of Zillow widgets and watch this video why you should add Zillow content to your site (remember: content is king).

L – Listings. Post yours — for free! Find out how to add your listings on Zillow.

M – Make Me Move. This is an interesting group of homeowners who haven’t decided to go actively on the market yet, but have assigned a value of what it would take to make them move. Learn how to approach someone with a Make Me Move house (video).

N – New! Local Pages. We compiled all the data from the site onto these pages and localized it. Learn about the overhaul to our Real Estate Market Reports. Here is a great example of how to implement Zillow data on a local level.

O – Overview of Zillow. Yes, you’re reading the overview, but here is a video overview of Zillow.

P – Professional Directory. Add yourself to the Zillow Professional Directory — for free. Just create a profile and click a box in the setup to be included.

Q – Quotes. Find out what type of interest rates are being quoted right now in the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

R – Reports on Housing Trends. Spot housing trends from the customizable, local housing data that is carved out of the 90 million homes we have online. Better yet, just go to your Local Pages on Zillow.

S – Showcase Ads. Want your home or brand to appear every time someone searches in a certain ZIP code? If so, Showcase Ads are for you. Learn about Showcase Ads and how much your ZIP code costs.

T – Three, free ways to market yourself on Zillow. (video)

U – Update your free profile on Zillow. It is important for the information to be complete as it can affect your response from Zillow users and search engines like Google. Watch this video to learn how to Create a great Zillow profile.

V – Videos! Learn more about the Zillow folks you see here regularly on ActiveRain, including Sara Bonert, Spencer Rascoff and David Gibbons. Add a video of yourself on your Zillow profile. It can be of yourself, or a listing. Change them out!

W – Why should a broker send a listing feed to Zillow? (video)

X – X marks the spot. But why is that spot wrong on the map? Learn how to edit a home’s location on Zillow.

Y – YOU! Learn how to become a Zillow All-Star or Local Expert and show up higher in Zillow Directory search results.

Z – Zestimates. What else would we end with, but a video on how the Zestimates work and how to best describe them to your clients.

Thanks for making it all the way to Z! If there’s anything you need help with, don’t be afraid to ask.

Signed,

Sara with an S!