Zillow Rental Manager?

General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Zillow Rental Manager?

Beau Pearson
Investor · Port Saint Lucie, FL · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 6 votes

I normally use Transunion’s Smartmove. But I like how you get the app, background and payment collection through Zillow rental manager. Anyone have any feedback ?

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Adam Martin
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5y

I currently use it and like their payment collections but beware it usually takes 5 business days to receive the funds.  They are also only set up to accept 1 payment which helps protect you against partials but also means roommates need to figure something out for 1 payment.  I have always used their online applications in the past, they were simple to use and most tenants found me on Zillow anyway so they already had an account.  I also feel there is a sense of fairness with Zillow where the tenant owns their background check for 30 days so if not selected they can use it with another landlord and not be billed again.  The downside is their credit reporting is not very detailed, you get a credit score and it reports collections and has caught evictions before.  I think I am moving to rentprep for screening, it is a little more expensive for the applicants but I can't really see an extra 10/adult scaring someone off and if money is that tight anyway it may not be a good fit.  

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  • Marc Winter
    Real Estate Broker · Northeast PA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    5y

    Question:  what type of 'payment collection' are you referring to?  If it means a collection account, that will be on the credit/background.  

    If you are referring to their rent payments, that's going to be spotty at best.  It would require the landlord to have access to one of the 3 big credit reporting agencies, and pay to have any late payments posted.

    1Reply
  • Adam Martin
    Rental Property Investor · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    5y

    I currently use it and like their payment collections but beware it usually takes 5 business days to receive the funds.  They are also only set up to accept 1 payment which helps protect you against partials but also means roommates need to figure something out for 1 payment.  I have always used their online applications in the past, they were simple to use and most tenants found me on Zillow anyway so they already had an account.  I also feel there is a sense of fairness with Zillow where the tenant owns their background check for 30 days so if not selected they can use it with another landlord and not be billed again.  The downside is their credit reporting is not very detailed, you get a credit score and it reports collections and has caught evictions before.  I think I am moving to rentprep for screening, it is a little more expensive for the applicants but I can't really see an extra 10/adult scaring someone off and if money is that tight anyway it may not be a good fit.  

    7Reply
  • Beau Pearson
    OP
    Investor · Port Saint Lucie, FL · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 6 votes
    5y

    @Marc Winterim I’m talking about rent collection. I use zelle. But looking to streamline. Zillow rental manager seems to be a one stop shop for application, lease, background and rent payment

    0Reply
  • Cody Benedetto
    Member since 2021 · 67 posts · 52 votes
    5y

    @Beau Pearson I use Zillow and have had no issues at all. It’s super user friendly and the fact that it’s an established name and brand that tenants are familiar with, they’re more comfortable and trusting. I find it to be a great one stop shop.

    2Reply
  • Beau Pearson
    OP
    Investor · Port Saint Lucie, FL · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 6 votes
    5y

    @Cody Benedetto how many units do you have if I may ask ?

    0Reply
  • Cody Benedetto
    Member since 2021 · 67 posts · 52 votes
    5y

    @Beau Pearson I only use Zillow manager for one property that I self manage in the area where I live. Otherwise I have property manager for my long distance rental. In the process of buying another out of state and will use a property manager, open to whatever they’re already leveraging

    0Reply
  • Peter M.
    Rental Property Investor · DFW, TX · Member since 2013 · 953 posts · 910 votes
    5y

    @Beau Pearson One of my tenants pays through zillow and it does take a while for it to hit your bank account but other than that I like it. Their application is very basic but I like that tenants can pay one fee and apply as many times as they want in a month. If someone looks promising i make them fill out my application and submit more paystubs. You get some tire kickers but the quality of tenant I get from zillow are worth the $10/week. It was great when it was free but they wised up. I also used to use smartmove but now that its all included with zillow so I will probably only use smartmove if I get an applicant from somewhere else. Plus you get the actual credit score with zillow and just a "tenant rating" on smartmove. But I never go by the score alone anyway so it never mattered. All in all I'm a fan

    2Reply
  • Beau Pearson
    OP
    Investor · Port Saint Lucie, FL · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 6 votes
    5y

    @Peter M. Good review. I didn’t realize it was a paid thing. So 40/month basically ?

    0Reply
  • Peter M.
    Rental Property Investor · DFW, TX · Member since 2013 · 953 posts · 910 votes
    5y

    @Beau Pearson Well yes but only as long as the listing is up. So if you find a tenant by week 2, you only pay $20. Its tax deductible as advertising and i have found it works better than Facebook, Craigslist, or apartments.com. unless you want to list on the MLS through a realtor but then you're paying a lot more for getting the lease signed.

    0Reply
  • Beau Pearson
    OP
    Investor · Port Saint Lucie, FL · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 6 votes
    5y

    @Peter M. Oh perfect. Yea I googled and the first listing is free. I’ve used it many times to list and I love it. Just never used the application and rent payment or background part.

    0Reply
  • Matthew Irish-JonesBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    5y

    @Peter M. Do you think Zillow rental manager is scalable?

    Seems like it works for people

    Self managing 2-8 units. A large portfolio would get “fee’d” to death

    Irish Jones Realty4.947 Reviews
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    2Reply
  • Peter MckernanBusiness Member
    Residential Real Estate Agent · Irvine, CA · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    5y

    @Matthew Irish-Jones I agree, at that point you could go into a bigger software/platform Buildium etc. The upfront cost will be better in the long run than picking up the $40plus or higher costs. 

    The McKernan Group4.957 Reviews
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    0Reply
  • Mitchlyn D.
    Rental Property Investor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2015 · 342 posts · 142 votes
    5y

    @Beau Pearson We have over 10 units and use Cash App, Direct Deposits, and Zelle. We offer a variety of options at this time.

    Haven’t had any issues collecting rent payments besides the ones that have to be evicted for non payment.

    For rental application, we use turbo tenant. Haven’t tried Zillow rental application platform

    0Reply
  • Peter M.
    Rental Property Investor · DFW, TX · Member since 2013 · 953 posts · 910 votes
    5y

    @Matthew Irish-Jones No probably not. Their website says you can email them for some syndicating pricing but you'd probably need to be a big apartment complex for that. You could always just put one listing up for all your units but if they caught on you may suspend your account.

    0Reply
  • Joe P.
    Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2017 · 824 posts · 1k+ votes
    5y

    I use Zillow Rental Manager and started using it exclusively for one unit I manage that came off a BRRRR and was rented late last year.

    I'm using it to collect the rent for this property -- what others have said about waiting 5-6 days is accurate. However, I like the ACH payment aspect and it auto-deducts. This past month it told me it was initiated and would take 6 days, like normal. On day 3 (mind you, 2 days after it was due),I received an e-mail saying me there is insufficient funds and/or a problem making the payment. My PM got on the horn and sorted it out with my tenant (who paid via a different app immediately), but still.

    I also think the background services are spotty at best. One tenant that I got close enough to have a county CO pulled for turned up to have warrants locally, but it didn't show up on the Zillow background screen. I can only surmise two things -- one, it was too recent to have appeared in the screen, or two, Zillow only does federal checks and if local agencies are not reporting up, you won't know. Turns out the county CO saved the bacon, so to speak.

    Loved the listing and application aspects, though. I received good information and good leads and I'd say its easily worth the money they charge. I think many renters are using Zillow to check for available rentals, so it makes sense. I also use Facebook Marketplace but it seems like FB is 97% tire kickers. I have canned messages for everything in response just to make my life easier.

    0Reply
  • Kevin PolitePro Member
    Investor · Decatur Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 610 posts · 232 votes
    5y

    @Beau Pearson check out ERentpayment.com and apartments.com (they recently took over Cozy.co) just for comparison. You may like Zillow better, but never know till you investigate all the options. I personally didn't like Zillow's credit app as it wasn't as good as going directly through TransUnion. I think BiggerPockets has a link for them as well. 

    2Reply
  • Beau Pearson
    OP
    Investor · Port Saint Lucie, FL · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 6 votes
    5y

    @Matthew Irish-Jones that’s a solid point. I’m happy with the 2. Small time player here. Plenty of ways to get rich. I’m happy with the slow approach. Excellent point though

    0Reply
  • Beau Pearson
    OP
    Investor · Port Saint Lucie, FL · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 6 votes
    5y

    @Mitchlyn D. Ok that’s solid feedback. Perhaps you should look into it. Seems to be a one stop shop. They have samples to look at also for the credit report and application etc.

    0Reply
  • Beau Pearson
    OP
    Investor · Port Saint Lucie, FL · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 6 votes
    5y

    @Joe P. Excellent feedback. I appreciate it. Ok be have always used Zillow to list. I do a phone screen. Then when/ if they want to see it, I hand them a paper app. If they return it I send link to smartmove. This system has always done me well. But I was just trying to streamline. I use zelle to collect.

    1Reply
  • Beau Pearson
    OP
    Investor · Port Saint Lucie, FL · Member since 2017 · 49 posts · 6 votes
    5y

    @Kevin Polite your referring to trans union smartmove? Yea I like that program a lot.

    0Reply
  • Kevin PolitePro Member
    Investor · Decatur Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 610 posts · 232 votes
    5y

    @Beau Pearson yes that’s. The one. 

    0Reply
  • John Garcia
    Member since 2021 · 39 posts · 22 votes
    5y

    @Beau Pearson

    I use Zillow management, it works pretty well.

    The only draw back that I have is the payment usually takes a week to move into my bank from the their initial payment.

    But I rather use Zelle, but not everyone can do that.

    0Reply
  • Sara Finley
    Investor · Bryn Mawr, PA · Member since 2016 · 32 posts · 14 votes
    5y

    @Mitchlyn D. - I used to use Cash App for some of my rentals. In the past few months I have heard and read about how unreliable the app is. One of my tenants got “locked out” out of their account for no reason. Just a heads up in case you want to research it. 

    2Reply
  • Mitchlyn D.
    Rental Property Investor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2015 · 342 posts · 142 votes
    5y

    @Sara Finley I’ve been using Cash App for quite some time now. But I must say I’ve never had any issues.

    Well except one but it was the tenants problem. All in all, it has been pretty reliable and easy.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2018 · 420 posts · 388 votes
    5y

    @Beau Pearson I have used Zillow Rental manager, Cozy, and Avail.co

    Personally i would say I receive the most tenant traffic through Zillow but prefer Avail for contract and payment management.

    0Reply
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