Zillow alerts: how to get new listings first, and what to send the landlord
Set up Zillow alerts by saving a search and picking the fastest email option, usually instant. Three landlord messages, why alerts get missed, how to stop them.
Save the search on Zillow with your filters, and when it asks how often to email you, pick the fastest option it offers (usually instant rather than a daily digest). That is the whole setup, and it takes about a minute.
What decides it is whether you see that email before everyone else does. A good apartment can fill its viewing slots the same day, and the renter who asks first usually gets the first look. Zillow's alerts arrive as email, so an app that reads Gmail can watch them on iPhone too; Zillow's own push alerts on iPhone need extra hardware, because iOS won't let apps read other apps' notifications in the background.
How do I set up Zillow alerts for new listings?
You turn a search into a saved search, and the alerts come from that. It works on the website and in the app, for homes to buy and for rentals, and you need to be signed in to a Zillow account when you save it.
- Search the neighborhood you want. For Zillow rental alerts, switch the search to rentals before you do anything else.
- Set the filters you won't bend on: your top price, the number of bedrooms, pets if you have one. Leave out the nice-to-haves.
- Zoom the map in to the streets you would actually live on. A smaller area means fewer alerts you end up skipping.
- Save the search and sign in if Zillow asks. When it asks how often to email you, pick the fastest option, usually instant rather than a daily digest.
We would make one saved search per area rather than one giant search across the whole city. When the alert lands, the name of the search tells you at a glance which part of town it's about, and you can mute one neighborhood later without losing the others.
How often does Zillow send alerts?
As often as you tell it to. When you save a search, Zillow lets you choose how often it emails you; pick the fastest option it offers, usually instant rather than a daily digest. If you keep several searches, look at the setting on each one.
A daily digest is the right setting for browsing and the wrong one for actually renting. If your lease ends in six months and you want to learn what $2,000 gets you in Logan Square, one email a day is perfect. Once you are moving next month, a digest that shows up the morning after a listing went live means you are reading about apartments other people already booked to see.
| Setting | When you hear about a new listing | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Fastest email option | Soon after it matches your search | You need a place this month |
| Daily digest | Once a day, bundled with the rest | You are watching prices, not moving yet |
| Email off | Never | You found a place, or the search is too broad to be useful |
What should I send the landlord when the alert arrives?
Something short, sent within the first five minutes, that makes saying yes easy. Landlords and leasing agents get a pile of "Is this still available?" messages for every good listing. The ones that get a viewing name a time, answer the obvious question before it's asked, and sound like a person who will actually turn up.
Three to copy. Change the street, the times and the details.
"Hi, I'm interested in the 2-bed on Oak Street. Could I see it today after 5? It's me and one small dog, and I can move in from the 1st. What time suits you?"
"Is the Oak Street apartment still available? I'd like to see it this week. When could you show it?"
"Hi, I'm moving from Denver in March and can't get there in person this week. Could you do a video walk-through, or could a friend of mine see it for me? If it looks like the photos, I'm ready to apply."
If you have a pet, say so in the first message. Hiding it until the viewing wastes everyone's evening, yours included.
Send it from your phone the minute you read the alert. The polished cover letter can wait for the application.
Why am I not getting Zillow notifications?
Most of the time the alerts are being sent, just not to the place you are looking. Open the saved search and look at how often it emails you. A search left on a daily digest will look broken to someone expecting a ping every time a listing appears.
Then look in Gmail. Zillow's emails can end up in the Promotions tab, or now and then in Spam. Find one, drag it into Primary, and Gmail will offer to do the same for future emails from that sender. Say yes.
While you are there, search your filters for anything that skips the inbox for Zillow mail; old filters from a previous apartment hunt are easy to forget.
Check which email address the search is saved under, too. If you signed in with Google on your phone but with an old Yahoo address on your laptop, you may have two Zillow accounts, and the alerts are going to the one you don't read. Sign in with the address you actually check and save the search again there, then delete the copy on the old account.
For app notifications there are two switches. One is inside the Zillow app: open its settings and look for any notification option that is switched off. The other is the phone. On iPhone, go to Settings, Notifications, Zillow and turn on Allow Notifications, then check Settings, Focus, because a Focus that only lets your contacts through will hold Zillow back. On Android, open Settings and search for "Notifications", then find Zillow.
How do I turn off Zillow notifications?
Change the saved search, not your whole account. Open your saved searches, change how often the noisy one emails you, or delete it if you're done with that area. Each Zillow email also has an unsubscribe link at the bottom if you'd rather stop one kind of email from there.
For the app, look through the notification options in the Zillow app's settings, or switch Zillow off entirely in your phone's notification settings. Once you have signed a lease, delete every search so the alerts stop for good.
Turning one listing alert into a phone call
Zillow sends email and app notifications, and both look like everything else on your phone. Since the alert emails go to Gmail, OLL.E can read each one against a sentence you type, such as "Call me when a Zillow alert has a 2 bed under $2,000 near the L train, pets allowed", and phone you for that listing while the rest go to a quiet list. It works on iPhone with nothing extra. OLL.E has no link to Zillow; it reads only the alert email you already got. It can also forward the matching email to a roommate or partner, so whoever is free asks for the viewing.
If you rely on the Zillow app's push notifications instead of email, OLL.E can watch those on Android. On iPhone that part needs the PinG keyring.
OLL.E won't message the landlord for you or book the viewing, and it only knows about listings Zillow has already told you about. What it does is make the one alert worth acting on ring, so you can send one of the messages above while the listing is a few minutes old. Setting it up means connecting Gmail and typing the sentence. One saved search fits easily in the free plan, and several searches across towns is what Pro ($19.99 a month) is for.
Questions people ask
How do I set up Zillow alerts for new listings?
Search the area you want, set your filters, then save the search while signed in to Zillow. When it asks how often to email you, pick the fastest option it offers, usually instant rather than a daily digest. It works for homes to buy and for rentals.
How often does Zillow send alerts?
As often as you choose when you save the search. Zillow lets you pick how often each saved search emails you, from a fast option (usually instant) to a daily digest. A digest is fine while you are only browsing; when you need a place soon, pick the fastest option.
Why am I not getting Zillow notifications?
Usually the alerts are going somewhere you are not looking: a search left on a daily digest, Gmail's Promotions tab or Spam, or a second Zillow account under another email. For app alerts, check the Zillow app's notification options and your phone's settings for Zillow, including any Focus on iPhone.
How do I turn off Zillow notifications?
Change how often the noisy saved search emails you, or delete the search. You can also use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of a Zillow email, and turn off Zillow's app notifications in the app's settings or in your phone's notification settings.