Everything You Need to Know About Zillow Make Me Move

Editor’s note: This article was updated 4/20/20 with the latest information about Zillow Make Me Move. 

Table of Contents

1. Why You Need to Be on Zillow No Matter What
2. What is Make Me Move on Zillow?
3. Make Me Move Pros and Cons
4. How to Post a Make Me Move Listing
5. How to Use the Make Me Move Feature for Success
6. Zillow Make Me Move Cost
7. Zillow Make Me Move Reviews
8. Be Prepared for Success
9. Conclusion

Introduction

Zillow has a program called Make Me Move. This is a feature on the real estate website that lets potential buyers see what price you’d be willing to list your house for without actually putting it on the market. Basically, it is a way to test the waters and see if someone would be willing to pay top dollar for your home. 

It’s sort of like saying “we might sell… for the right price.”

It’s an interesting middle ground for people that are thinking about selling at a high price point before they have to get “serious” about selling their house.

In this article, we will break down the Make Me Move feature and when it makes sense to take advantage of it on Zillow. 

Why You Need to Be on Zillow No Matter What

Just as a PSA to any home sellers out there: you need to be on Zillow. 

No matter what type of listing you are considering, Zillow is the platform you want to be on.

Between Zillow and Trulia, Zillow Group owns a 70% market share in all online traffic when it comes to real estate searches–which means if you want to be in front of the majority of buyers online, you need to be on Zillow.

If you are considering selling your home either as a MMM listing, a FSBO listing, or a traditional real estate listing, your best bet is to get in touch with a real estate agent in your area to help you understand the market. As of March 2021, there are already about 20,000 FSBO listing in the United States on Zillow.

Clever can introduce you to top real estate agents in your area with no-obligation (and help you save thousands of dollars at closing). 

What is Make Me Move on Zillow?

All of the Make Me Move listings on Zillow are for sale by owner listings by sellers that are not technically selling their house, but are willing to hear offers and may sell for the right price (most likely higher than market value).

The benefit of Make Me Move is that you get the benefit of exposure on Zillow without the downside of having a “stale” listing in the event it doesn’t sell. If your house sits on the MLS too long, buyers might think there’s something wrong with it – why hasn’t someone snatched it up? 

Zillow Make Me Move lets you test the waters without committing to a full-blown listing. You can put your house up at any point on your own, and you do not need an agent to get your house on Zillow under Make Me Move.

How Make Me Move is Different From an FSBO Listing

The major advantage of a Make Me Move listing vs. the FSBO listings on Zillow is that leads on FSBO listings are encouraged to contact agents (contact form submissions go to agents by default) whereas the contact information that is submitted through a MMM listing goes directly to the homeowner.

That part is really powerful.

Those leads are gold, and most FSBO leads that fill in that contact form to “learn more” about the property end up going to agents that are not affiliated with your property in any way.  

That’s the killer advantage of Make Me Move over an FSBO listing.   

Other than that feature, MMM is very similar to another other listing type on Zillow.  It’s filtered under the “potential listings” category, which by default is included in searches on Zillow.

Make Me Move Pros and Cons

As with any service there are always going to be some upsides and some downsides. Zillow’s Make Me Move feature is no exception. 

Pros: 

• Exposure for your property
• Does well in hot markets
• Can get a great price for your home
• Gets direct leads from Zillow instead of leads going to a real estate agent

Cons:

• Real estate agents will cold call you 
• You might not appear in Zillow users’ searches
• You might need to be ready to sell tomorrow
• You need to put together a solid listing and be ready to show your home

One specific downside of a MMM listing is that some buyers may turn off the potential listings category on their search, so your property won’t appear in the results, which can be frustrating. 

Buyers may also think it’s not worth their time because you aren’t serious about selling your house yet.

Make Me Move is a great way to ease into selling your home and figuring out what a good list price might be for your property and in your area without the formality of a traditional listing. 

How to Post a Make Me Move Listing on Zillow

It’s very straightforward to get a MMM listing live on Zillow.

Step 1: Visit the Make Me Move page.

Step 2: Enter the address for the property you want to list

Step 3: If you do not already have a Zillow account, you will need to create one

Step 4: Verify the location of your property on a map, if the location is incorrect, you are allowed to update it

Step 5: Once that is done, you will land on the property details page. This is the most important page for any seller and buyer. It houses all the information, photos, videos, and the listing price and status for your property. 

Pro Tip: Use this section wisely. 

Here are some best practices:

• Turn facts into benefits; eg: the house is 1,200 square feet can become, the house is spacious with an open floor plan boasting over 1,200 feet of livable space. 
• Use creative language and offer features buyers typically look for, like parking or renovated kitchen, etc. 
• Offer promotions like a home warranty or seller financing
• Fill out every section with as much detail as possible
• Reframe negative aspects in a positive manner, eg: no yard could become, low maintenance exterior
• Upload professional photos, at least 10-15
  • Good lighting
  • Not blurry
  • Up-to-date
• Add Accurate Contact Information (and answer calls and emails when they come in)

Step 6: Accept Zillow’s Terms of Use and click “Post Make Me Move Listing”

Step 7: Your listing will then be submitted for review. It can take up to 72 hours for your listing to be moderated by Zillow’s verification team, so keep checking on it but be patient. 

You get maximum exposure when you post a new listing – that will generally be the time when you get the most saves and views, so make sure you dot your Is and cross your Ts. 

How to Use the Make Me Move On Zillow for Success

If you really want to have success with the Make Me Move method, you need to keep two things in mind:

1. Price the home accurately, but competitively
2. Take professional photos

When using the MMM feature, it can be tempting to price your house way over market value, since it’s just a test. This behavior will only drive away potential buyers. Make sure you do your homework by looking at Zillow’s Zestimate and other online real estate estimation tools, or even have your house professionally appraised so you can put out a realistic price. 

Taking professional pictures is paramount when putting a listing online. This is the only interaction buyers have with the property and they need to have a good understanding of the home and its benefits. If the images are blurry or dark they will assume you are not trustworthy and immediately move on to another option. 

According to a blog on Zillow, a seller in the Seattle area posted a MMM listing with the intention of actually selling it in two years once the capital gains tax penalty expired.

They actually had to raise the price because the demand was very high.

They bought the house in 2015 with the intention of selling in 2017–which just so happened to be the peak of the market (perfect timing).

They found someone willing to pay cash and willing to wait until just beyond that two year mark to close.

I love the story, but this is a miraculous situation that you probably won’t find yourself in these days.

If you’re lucky enough to still be in a market that is rising enough where you have this sort of leverage, you might as well give it a shot!  

You can read the full story on this seller from Seattle here: https://www.zillow.com/blog/got-an-offer-on-my-home-216774/ 

If you take it seriously, buyers are more likely to take it that way as well.

Also, be ready to answer any inquiries and be ready for sales calls from real estate agents. 

Zillow Make Me Move Cost

One of the biggest perks to posting a listing on Zillow is that it is free. Zillow makes their money by charging agents for premium services and by advertising agents, lenders, and other services on their webpages. This means you and potentially buyers will see a lot of clutter and it makes it much more difficult for FSBO sellers to find good leads. 

Truly, the biggest benefit of the MMM feature is that the leads come directly to your phone or email whereas on a traditional FSBO or For Sale by Agent listing, the leads go directly to an agent if the buyer fills out the Contact form on the listing page. 

A word of caution: Even though there’s no cost, you’ll likely end up paying the buyer’s agent commission, around 3% of your home’s final sale price. Zillow also wants to connect you with its listing agents, which will tack on another 3%.

Zillow Make Me Move Listing Reviews

As mentioned in the pros and cons list, one of the most frustrating downsides of Make Me Move is that real estate agents will use the Make Me Move listings as a prospecting tool to try to get new listings. If you decide to list as a MMM, be prepared to get cold sales calls from agents that are looking for your business.

This also happens with FSBO listings as well, so keep that in mind if you think that’s something that will drive you crazy.

Here is an example of a Zillow Make Me Move review from a poster on Reddit: 

This specific person received cold calls from realtors trying to pick up their listing without warning. 

Some people had better luck than others.  Here are two other posters via Reddit that had sold their house using the Make Me Move feature. One appears to have undervalued their price a little bit to make it happen:

A Make Me Move review on the City Data Forum (which has a ton of real estate related questions and answers) mentions that most of the success stories they have heard of took place back in 2006-2009.

Be Prepared For Success

Don’t be taken off guard when someone actually wants to see your house.  

One poster on reddit claimed they had a legitimate lead from a family interested in purchasing their house, but they told them they weren’t ready to show or even sell the house.

It seems like they got caught off guard that someone would actually want to buy their house or that their Make Me Move listing would bring in a decent sales lead.

Don’t be like this person – why bother listing the house in any capacity if you’re not prepared to even show it to interested people? If you aren’t prepared to sell and post a Make Me Move listing, you could price it too low or spoil the deal. 

Prepare for success and make sure you are ready for showings. If you want to qualify buyers before showing, ask them if they have talked to a lender and have been pre-approved for a loan (if they aren’t buying a house with cash). Develop a screening process that lets you only talk with serious buyers – just make sure you’re a serious seller before you list! 

Conclusion

It’s not impossible to sell your house using Make Me Move, but it’s certainly not easy.  Only use Make Me Move if you are actually serious about selling. Respond to the leads you get and be honest and upfront about your situation and timeline. 

When the posting goes live, be prepared for sales calls from agents that are dying to get your business, be prepared for crickets, and most of all be prepared for success.

There have been people that have sold their house via MMM, but most that have sold were in extremely hot markets with extremely attractive property.

If your house is not super desirable in a hot market, you probably won’t have a lot of success with Make Me Move. 

If time is on your side and you have the flexibility to sell tomorrow or within a year, then Zillow’s Make Me Move option can be a great tool to begin marketing your home to potential buyers. 

If you’re ready to sell now, our friends at Clever can connect you with top agents who are willing to lower their commission rates (but only if you go through Clever!).