Zillow Flex and Zillow Preferred: The Team Owner's Guide
What Zillow Flex and Zillow Preferred are, how invitations and volume are decided, what the success fee costs, and what to do when connections slow down. Written by an original Zillow Flex go-to-market team member.
The Zillow guide for team owners
Zillow Flex and Zillow Preferred
Zillow Flex is the program Zillow now calls Zillow Preferred. A partner team receives customer connections at no upfront cost and pays a success fee out of the commission at closing. Participation is by invitation and volume is allocated on performance, so speed to contact, appointments held, and closed conversion decide how much a team receives next month.
Written by Michael Schuerman, one of 15 people on the original Zillow Go-To-Market team that brought Flex to market and built the partner training that scaled nationally. Updated September 2026.
The mechanics in four lines
The team pays nothing when a connection arrives. That is the part owners like, and the part that hides the real cost.
A success fee at closing.
Zillow is paid a percentage of the gross commission on referred business that closes. The percentage is set in the team's agreement and varies by market and program terms.
Volume follows performance.
Speed to first contact, appointment set rate, appointment held rate, and closed conversion decide allocation. Slipping metrics show up as fewer connections a month or two later.
Capacity is a real constraint.
Connections go to teams that can answer them. Headcount, licensing, coverage hours, and routing are operating decisions, not Zillow decisions.
Built the program, then ran the teams
One of 15 people on the Zillow Go-To-Market team that brought Flex to market. Built the in-person partner training in Atlanta, then scaled it nationally when travel stopped in 2020.
Two and a half years as a Zillow Growth Advisor inside partner teams, working the same metrics owners are graded on.
Two agents to thirty in the first stretch, and today Atlanta's largest Zillow Preferred team at more than 230 agents.
10 producers to 90 across five markets and three states in fifteen months.
Read the Dwelli case study
Read the ChuckTown case study
Flex, Preferred, and the seat
Bring me the number that stopped moving. I will tell you what I would do in your seat.
© Michael Schuerman · Atlanta
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Zillow Group, Inc.
Zillow Flex is the referral program Zillow now calls Zillow Preferred. A team receives buyer and seller connections at no upfront cost per lead and pays Zillow a success fee out of the commission when a referred transaction closes. Participation is by invitation, and how many connections a team receives depends on how it performs.
How does Zillow Preferred work?
Zillow routes a live customer to a partner team, the team responds and works the customer through to a transaction, and Zillow is paid a percentage of the gross commission at closing. Nothing is paid per lead. Volume is allocated on performance, so speed to contact, appointments set, appointments held, and closed conversion decide next month's supply.
How do you get invited to Zillow Flex or Preferred?
Invitations come from Zillow, not from an application form you can rush. In practice teams get looked at when they already perform: strong Premier Agent results, fast response times, high customer ratings, and enough licensed capacity to absorb connections. Market availability matters too. Zillow opens partner capacity market by market, so a strong team in a full market waits.
How much does Zillow Preferred cost?
There is no per-lead cost. The cost is a referral percentage of the gross commission on closed referred business, set in the team's agreement with Zillow, and it varies by market and program terms. The number that decides whether the program is profitable is not the percentage. It is your conversion rate, because the same fee applies to far less revenue when conversion is weak.
Is Zillow Flex worth it for a team?
It is worth it for teams that can answer fast, hold appointments, and staff to volume. It punishes teams that cannot. Because the fee is paid at closing, a team with weak conversion still absorbs the full operating cost of working connections and gets a shrinking allocation on top of it. Fix response and appointment discipline before asking for more volume.
What is a Zillow Flex team?
A Zillow Flex or Preferred team is a brokerage-affiliated team approved to receive Zillow connections under the program. The owner carries the performance standards, staffs the agents who work the connections, and is accountable for the metrics that decide allocation. It is an operating commitment more than a lead source.
Where is Zillow Preferred available?
Availability is market by market and changes over time. Zillow opens and closes partner capacity based on demand and existing coverage, so the program can be open in one metro and closed in the one next to it. Zillow's own agent materials are the authoritative source for current market availability and program terms.
Why are my Zillow Preferred connections going down?
Almost always the metrics slipped before the volume did. Allocation follows performance, so a drop in speed to first contact, appointment set rate, or closed conversion shows up as fewer connections a month or two later. The team feels punished by Zillow when the cause is internal. Start by reading last quarter's response times per agent.
Do I need a Zillow Preferred coach?
A coach helps when the gap is skill: scripts, follow-up cadence, objection handling. A coach does not help when the gap is that the owner is still the operator. If hiring, ramp, and accountability all route through you, the problem is a seat problem, not a training problem, and coaching adds one more thing you have to run.
Who is Michael Schuerman and why trust this page?
Michael Schuerman was one of 15 people on the original Zillow Go-To-Market team that brought Flex, now Preferred, to market. He built the in-person partner training in Atlanta and scaled it nationally, then spent two and a half years inside partner teams as a Zillow Growth Advisor. He now works as an Operating Partner to owner-led businesses doing $5M to $30M.
Zillow Flex and Zillow Preferred: The Team Owner's Guide
What Zillow Flex and Zillow Preferred are, how the program works, how invitations and volume are decided, what it costs, and what to do when connections slow down.
Help with your Zillow Flex team
Who to hire first when you know you need help but do not know the seat.
Zillow Flex vs Zillow Preferred
What changed in the rebrand, and what did not.
Zillow Preferred leads not converting
The diagnostic: response time, appointment discipline, capacity, and routing.
How to scale a Zillow Preferred team
Hiring, ramp, and the operating rhythm that holds allocation while headcount grows.
Zillow Preferred coach vs Operating Partner
Training vs an accountable seat, and where your Growth Advisor fits.
Operating Partner for Zillow partner teams
The offer, the seat, and how an engagement starts.
Michael's Zillow background
Go-To-Market team, national partner training, Growth Advisor, team side.
Michael Schuerman is an Operating Partner for founder-led businesses doing $5M to $30M in revenue, based in Atlanta, Georgia. He takes a seat inside the business, runs the revenue moves the owner has been deferring, and leaves a team that runs without them. Book a 30-minute call at michaelschuerman.co.