Zillow Preview is coming to RealScout, where buyers and agents shop together

When a seller lists with Zillow Preview, their home is visible before it goes live on the MLS to any buyer searching on Zillow or Trulia, enabling pre-market exposure in the open, not behind closed doors. Starting this fall, brokerages will also be able to extend that reach to RealScout, a platform built on the same idea: buyers and their agents, searching together, having broad access to listings.

RealScout's co-shopping and buyer engagement platform serves more than 100,000 agents across hundreds of U.S. markets. When its Preview integration launches, buyers working with their agent in RealScout will see Preview listings in the home search experience buyers and agents already use together.

"More exposure creates more opportunity for sellers, and agents should be able to show their buyers the full picture of what's available. By bringing Zillow Preview listings into RealScout, we're extending that transparency into an environment where agents and buyers are already working together. That's good for sellers, good for buyers and good for agents," said Errol Samuelson, Zillow's Chief Industry Development Officer.

Buyers can see what's coming, with their agent

When the integration launches, eligible Zillow Preview listings will appear within RealScout's agent-client home search and collaboration experience, giving buyers working with an agent an earlier look at homes that may fit their search.

That earlier access comes through the agent they already trust. Buyers and agents can evaluate a home together, discuss fit and prepare for next steps, without the buyer needing to change agents or brokerages to discover it.

Sellers receive more visibility, more lead time, more insights

Zillow research finds that 85% of soon-to-be sellers say they'd be more likely to hire an agent who can pre-market their home to the broadest possible online audience because broader exposure means more competition, and often, more competition means a stronger offer. In fact, 81% of Americans say a bidding war is more likely when more shoppers can view a listing. RealScout puts Preview listings in front of agent-affiliated, ready-to-act buyers.

For agents, Preview shifts where the listing strategy begins with the seller. During the Preview window, the listing generates real buyer signals: views, saves, shares and direct contacts from buyers who are interested before the home even hits the MLS. Agents can bring that data back to the seller in real time, showing the seller exactly how buyers are responding to their home. When the listing moves to active, early demand is already established.

"Seller choice and buyer access shouldn't be at odds," said Andrew Flachner, co-founder and CEO of RealScout. "Sellers should be able to choose how they bring a home to market. Buyers shouldn't have to switch agents or brokerages just to discover it. Bringing Zillow Preview to RealScout helps deliver both."

How the integration works

For agents at opted-in brokerages,Preview listings will appear clearly labeled in RealScout in the context of an agent's client relationship. Once a home's preview period ends and the listing goes active, the home comes down from RealScout and is replaced with the active MLS listing.

An expanded partnership

This builds upon Zillow and RealScout's partnership. Currently, RealScout is one of the most used integrations for Follow Up Boss, connecting a buyer's search activity in RealScout to the follow-up workflows their agents run in Follow Up Boss.

"Agents win when their clients trust that searching with them means having access to the broadest set of listings," said Flachner. "RealScout has been part of agents' daily workflows for years and through our integration with Follow Up Boss, we're already woven into how they manage buyers and follow up on every lead. Bringing Zillow Preview listings into that same experience is the next natural step, and it's one our agents have been asking for since the offering launched this spring."

Turning on the lights in real estate

Zillow Preview is now available to agents at more than 400 brokerages across the country. Preview listings will syndicate to RealScout later this year and will also be included on Realtor.com®, reaching buyers across the two most-visited real estate portals in the U.S.