Peter Lohmann's Newsletter - Tuesday Edition #16

Welcome to Issue #16 of the Tuesday Edition! Not interested? Click here to opt out (you’ll still receive the Friday editions).

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Zillow Just Turned Your Phone Number Into a Paid Feature

Go pull up one of your active Zillow rental listings right now. If you're not on a paid plan, your phone number is probably gone.

Zillow didn't announce this. They didn't email anyone. They just stripped phone numbers off the free version of rental listings, so renters who want to reach you have to can only click "Book Tour" or "Apply Now". They can’t call.

If you want the phone number back, you have to pay.

That's the headline, but the bigger story is the path that Zillow is slowly walking us down: putting previously-free basic rental listing components behind a paywall. For example, a phone number on a rental listing is not a feature. It is a basic, standard piece of how rental listings have worked for as long as rental listings have existed. Now it's a paid upgrade.

This is what Zillow does. They take something that was free and standard, and they slowly convert it into something you have to pay for. A few examples off the top of my head:

• Syndicating your listings used to be free for everyone. Now, some property managers and larger landlords pay (while owners listing their own units can still post for free).

• Premium placement, the "verified" badge, weekly performance reports. All Feed Connect paid upgrades now.

• Phone numbers on free listings - that used to be the standard, now it's gone.

Each step is small enough that most operators shrug and move on. The direction never changes.

In theory, I would have no problem paying Zillow for a premium product, in the same way I have no objection to paying Google for ads to supplement my organic search results. The difference is that Google’s ads are priced using an auction method that is run fairly, consistently, and transparently - whereas Zillow’s “Premium” product is the opposite. They change the terms willy-nilly, make visibility promises based on nothing but their own internal data, charge different people wildly different prices, and use made-up reasons to try and trick you into upgrading. This is not a fair auction for eyeballs; it’s “pay us or else” highway robbery.

I asked Zillow for a comment:

They say bad actors are harvesting contact info, and pulling phone numbers protects partners. AI scraping is real. But notice the explanation doesn't address why scrapers magically stop being a threat the moment you pay. If safety were really the point, this would be platform-wide. It isn't. It's clearly a paywall dressed up as a safety feature. Again, I don’t mind paying money for visibility. I do mind being spoken down to like a child.

It’s worth mentioning that RL Property Management (my PM company) pays for Apartments.com premium listings. Their network includes Homes.com, ForRent.com, and others as well. Not sponsored, no affiliate. I’m just putting my money where my mouth is and patronizing Zillow’s largest competitor in an effort to bring some balance to The Force. I don’t necessarily love their model either—it’s still not the open, fair auction model I would like to see, but at least they have several different pricing options and don’t play games. Apartments.com declined to comment for this story.

Daniel French, CEO of Northpoint, put it about as plainly as anyone has:
"Property managers and owners built the inventory. Zillow built the toll booth."

Read that twice. And keep that frame in mind the next time Zillow rolls out a "new feature" or a "policy update."

This is exactly the trajectory I wrote about back in Issue #142. Zillow has spent a decade acquiring every meaningful rental listing competitor (HotPads, Trulia, etc.) and they now control the eyeballs. Once you control the demand, you get to slowly raise the price of access to it. And it's working: Zillow's Q1 2026 rentals revenue grew 42% YoY to $183M. That money is coming from us!

A few things to actually do about it:

• Don't panic-buy the paid upgrade. Run the experiment. Look at your inquiry volume before and after, and your days on market. (Re-read Issue #156. We turned off Feed Connect during peak season and nothing changed.) Of course, the phone number deletion could change this.

• Make your other channels actually work. Website, Google Business Profile, owner referrals, tenant referrals. Channels you control. Zillow can't change the rules on those tomorrow morning.

• Capture the lead earlier in the journey. Self-showing tools, your own scheduling pages, pre-qualification funnels. Pull demand toward your brand before it hits Zillow.

• Consider moving your spend to a Zillow competitor like Apartments.com

• Update your PMA to allow you to bill back owners for marketing expenses related to their property, such as paid listings and professional photos. For some reason, SFR property managers have historically absorbed these owner costs. I don’t think we can any longer.

I don't have a clean industry-level answer. But I know this: if every PM just keeps paying whatever Zillow asks, whenever they ask, for whatever they decide to start charging for next, we end up exactly where I said we would. It'll be Zillow's world, and we'll just be operating in it.

Full breakdown on the blog here, with my 9-minute video rant.

— Peter

PM Company & Vendor Updates

• My review of the NARPM Broker/Owner 2026 vendor floor

• In case you missed it: Google might have banned your favorite review tactics.

Podcast Archives: VIP Experiences and Resident Experience with Thad Tarkington

Pulling one from the old “Owner Occupied” vault - my conversation with Thad Tarkington, CEO/Co-Founder of Second Nature.

We get into Thad's path to co-founding Second Nature, why he's so bullish on event-driven relationship building, and the case for why PMs should actually care about resident experience (not just lip-service it). He also shares where Second Nature is headed next and how to get better data out of residents. Worth a listen if resident experience is on your radar (or if you're just curious how Thad thinks about building a category).

(Also available on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.)

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Note on hiring through Sagan: Get a high-performing team member without the high agency markup. One flat fee of $4,000 - built for your long-term success, not someone else's recurring revenue. What's included:

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• Pre-Vetted Talent: Naomi is pre-vetted and available to start now.

• Direct-Hire Model: 100% of the salary goes to the candidate.

Meme Tuesday:

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The content of this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this newsletter. Additionally, some of the links included in this newsletter are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.