If you ever spent your Friday night surfing Zillow, looking at million-dollar mansions you could never afford, you’re not alone. Americans love to surf through Zillow, especially alongside a friend or partner to help weigh the pros and cons of having an indoor tennis court. Or, if you happen to be more practical with your searches, home shoppers can now browse through for-sale home and rental listings with their friends or real estate agents using the Zillow app on an iPhone or iPad.
Zillow app has incorporated a new facetime feature called SharePlay to enable collaborative shopping. By turning on the SharePlay session, home shoppers can search together, explore maps and view listing photo galleries in sync on Apple mobile devices. SharePlay is available to anyone with an iPhone or iPad running iOS 15.1 or iPad OS 15.1 or later.
According to customer research, 86% of Zillow users report shopping with a partner, spouse, or housemate. That’s why Zillow provides tools that make shopping with others easy, such as the SharePlay feature of the Shopping Partner Feature, which allows each user to see the other user’s saved homes and tags on the “saved home” tab. SharePlay, on the other hand, allows shoppers to collaborate in real time, helping buyers winnow down options and save time.
"Whether you're shopping for a home or a rental, this new feature makes it easier and a lot more fun," says David Beitel, Zillow chief technology officer. "The ability to browse together on separate mobile phones allows people to take their Zillow surfing to the next level. It's also a great new way for real estate agents to connect with customers and guide them in their home-shopping journeys."
Millennials are expected to take to this new feature, considering how much they value input from other people. Zillow research found that Millennials and Generation Z shoppers say they discuss their housing options with their parents (71%) and friends (61%). Among Millennial and Gen Z homeowners, a majority say they chose not to buy a particular home because of the opinion of a significant other (60%) or a parent (54%).
"This new feature is the perfect addition to the suite of technology-based tools — which includes Zillow 3D Home tours and interactive floor plans — Zillow provides to help make people's moving journey easier, less stressful and more fun," added Beitel.
