zBuyer | Reviews and Pricing | 2024
zBuyer is a real estate lead generation service that focuses on attracting home sellers interested in cash offers. That may not seem useful for an agent at first. But many of these homeowners are better off listing with an agent rather than selling to an investor or iBuyer. That said, it is also an interesting option for investor-friendly agents or investors. The leads are very reasonably priced, though you have to work them.
The company has been around a while, founded in 2003 and headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.
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Use zBuyer if…
- To supplement your other paid lead advertising with a seller lead focus
- You work with investors, iBuyers, or invest yourself
Skip zBuyer if…
- You’re turned off by the idea of sellers expecting cash offers (consider Offrs)
- You want to focus on buyer leads (consider Zillow)
- You want to build your real estate marketing in a single ecosystem of tools (consider Leads+)
View Other Real Estate Paid Leads Services
Best Features
Affordable
Leads are pretty affordable on this system. That, of course, means that they aren’t always hot leads ready to convert. But if you are built for conversion then it can be a cheaper place to start than some competitors.
Motivated Sellers
In fact, sometimes the leads might be too motivated.
zBuyer generally gets its leads via “zBuyer Pulse” which targets homeowners on Facebook. There, zBuyer invites homeowners to request cash offers on homes.
Sellers’ expectations aren’t always in line with reality when they respond to offers like that. But they can be aggressive and motivated. They usually have a need that is driving them to consider selling and selling quickly.
Position yourself as a resource and address their pain point, and you will succeed. This strategy might work well with iBuyer friendly agents who can indeed assist sellers in getting offers from iBuyers like Opendoor and Zillow while at the same time offering a traditional listing that can earn top dollar.
Their buyer leads come from Facebook, targeting likely homeowners, and are likely more consistent with the type of lead quality you might expect from someone like Bold Leads.
Biggest Pitfalls
Cash Offer Leads
So I will put this under “pitfall” because it probably isn’t ideal for most agents. But for some agents (like myself), this is actually a tremendous benefit.
zBuyer leads are often enticed to give their information via a suggestion of a cash offer. These are very effective at getting people to submit emails and phone numbers. But those kinds of expectations don’t set up most agents for success.
The recommendation is that you know how to “work it”. E.g., “Here is what I estimate your home would net from a cash offer. Oh, and by the way, here is what you would earn selling traditionally with me”.
The traditional sale is always higher than the investor offer net, and I would wager most folks who are curious about cash offers ultimately see the wisdom in listing traditionally. You have set yourself up for success!
For investor-friendly agents who have genuine investor connections prepared to make cash offers at the right terms, there is no way you can lose. Either way, you are helping the homeowner meet their selling needs.
Lastly, this dovetails nicely with the new iBuyer phenomena. Many homeowners may be curious about other cash offer companies like Opendoor or Offerpad. Presenting, even soliciting those offers for them and guiding them through what to expect is an entire, burgeoning business model in real estate.
Not Exclusive
Other real estate agents are going to be getting your same leads, too. That means, like every other similar system, you need to move quickly. zBuyer says that they will share a single lead with up to 6 agents.
Unlike other non-exclusive lead generation systems, when you are catering to sellers initially looking for a cash offer, they are more likely to want to talk to multiple agents, anyway.
You should at least get a chance to get your foot in the door, even if you’re late the party, and make your pitch. But that’s no excuse not to be prompt in your follow up.
zBuyer Pricing*
- Minimum $300-400/mo spend
- ~$9/buyer lead
- ~$15-$17/seller lead
- Free “cold” leads
The price per lead varies by county, but generally you can expect $15/seller lead and $7/buyer lead. You can purchase a range of leads depending on market availability, but at a minimum must spend at least $250/mo.
You also get “prospecting leads”, which are cold leads that are 4 to 12 months old in their system. You get 1 per dollar spent (e.g. $300/mo is 300 cold leads). At a $450+ monthly spend, that amount doubles (e.g. $450/mo is 900 cold leads). You get new leads at each renewal based on availability.
There is no contract, so you can cancel your subscription at any time. zBuyer pledges to refund the cost of any lead that is actively listed or does not have good contact information.
*This is current to the best of my knowledge at the time of this writing. Contact the vendor directly to check current prices, discounts, and terms.
My Personal Recommendation
I get most of my leads from organic search. I’ve subscribed to Zillow in the past, as well as some Market Leader leads. But paid leads isn’t really my personal focus.
But I bought 12 zBuyer leads just because they were cheap (under $100 at the time, before the $250/mo minimum) and to test it out. They make it so darn easy!
I used it only a short time and did not get any closings, though my spend was very small and, if I’m being honest, my follow-up was lacking. I did make genuine connections with several of the leads but they just did not turn into transactions in the end.
If the cash offer script scares you away, you might want to rethink it. IBuyers like Opendoor are trying to capitalize on this consumer desire, so learning how to serve it in some way might help your business. But if you’re not there yet, skip it.
I would recommend taking zBuyer for a test drive for a year if you work with investors and/or want to make “get a cash offer” a part of your business model and landing pages.
Even if you don’t, these are sellers who often are better-served listing traditionally once they learn about all their options, see a net sheet, and review the steep discounts of selling for cash. The right scripts and approach can turn these into solid leads as well.
And as always, paid lead generation is worthless if you don’t have a funnel to follow up consistently as in my case. But zBuyer strikes me as a conscientious company that is transparent about their processes and methods and that can deliver closings to someone who is willing to work their CRM and follow up.
zBuyer Videos
