Zillow Lead Response Time: How Fast, What to Say, and How to Do It From Anywhere

Zillow's own guidance to Premier Agents is blunt: when a direct contact comes in, text them within two minutes. Zillow cites research that 80 percent of recent buyers said their first impression of an agent's responsiveness was very or extremely important. The median agent, per Mike DelPrete's 2024 secret-shopper study, replies in 39 minutes, and 47 percent never reply at all. You are paying real money for these leads. Sifta makes the two-minute reply possible from a showing: it reads the lead the moment it lands and texts you a reply already written in your voice. You say send.

Zillow leads are expensive and they are shared. A buyer who clicks Contact Agent on a listing is often routed to more than one agent, and Zillow tracks how quickly you answer. Zillow's guidance separates direct contacts, marked "This lead selected you. Follow up now," from connections, marked "We connected you," and nurture leads that need more time. Zillow also notes agents do better when the first call runs two minutes or more, which means the first text has one job: get them talking. A good first reply names the property, answers the actual question they asked, offers a specific showing time, and sounds like a person. "Hi Dana, this is Bristol. Saw you asked about 41 Pine St. It's still available and I can get you in Saturday at 10 or 1. Which works?" That message takes a human about ninety seconds to write and a busy agent about forty minutes to get to. Sifta writes it in seconds, using the lead's name, the property, and the question they asked, in the way you write. That is the whole difference between a Zillow lead that converts and one that becomes somebody else's client.