Ah, the choice to become a Zillow Premier Agent or not. If you’re a real estate agent, then this can be an important question to ask yourself.

Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned agent, you should be familiar with Zillow’s Premier Agent phone calls. You know, the phone call where a Zillow representative lets you know that your competitors are outranking you on Zillow because they’ve purchased a certain amount of impressions on Zillow.

Although there can be benefits to becoming a Zillow Premier Agent, it may not be the best choice for everyone. Here’s why:

Zillow’s Premier Agent subscription is expensive

To become a Zillow Premier Agent, you must purchase a set number of online impressions for targeted zip codes in your area. It’s called “geo-targeted advertising.” What Zillow also does is it allows you (the agent) to appear next to listings and home searches as the premier agent to contact.

Considering there are approximately 160 million monthly users on Zillow as of February 2017, becoming a Zillow Premier Agent sounds like a good idea, right?

Well, it all depends on if you can afford it. Although Zillow tailors each package to individual agents, it still can become pretty pricey, especially since some zip codes have a waiting list. That’s right; certain zip codes have a waiting list. And what does that mean? It means it will cost you a pretty penny to pay for desirable zip codes.

We’ve known agents to have paid more than $1000 per month, and as little as $400 per month. Again, it all depends on your zip code and the number of impressions.

Is it worth the investment?

Depends. Many agents who’ve invested in becoming a Zillow Premier Agent have made their money back with 1-3 sales per year from Zillow. Others have not. Some agents have said that a majority of their leads are rental listings, not for-sale properties.

Is becoming a Zillow Premier Agent right for you?

To be frank, if you are promoting several rental properties on Zillow, then yes. It is worth it. The reason is that you’ll be more likely to get leads looking for rental properties than you are with those looking to sell or buy.

We’ve found that many buyer or seller leads coming from Zillow are late-at-night submissions. In other words, soft leads, or those still on the fence about committing to an agent.

So is becoming a Zillow Premier Agent right for you? It all depends on what you’re looking for.

As an online marketing agency, we firmly believe that there are other, more valuable, ways to capture leads and extend your network. For instance, investing in social media marketing and building your email list are two ways to connect with your current network.

A good idea would be to download the emails you’ve captured from Zillow and upload them to your email marketing contact list. This way you can follow up with potential leads directly on a bimonthly basis. In this email campaigns, you could share your amazing content from your blog as well as share your latest listings.

Do you agree or disagree? Have you had a significant ROI from becoming a Zillow Premier Agent? Please let us know!