Every spring, homes flood the market. Only this year, you might notice a surge of listings that aren’t technically for sale…yet.

Zillow Preview listings let buyers scope out homes before they’re officially for sale. So far, 30 brokerages have signed up, with many more circling. Meanwhile, Compass is feeding its own pre-market listings to Redfin; eXp is doing the same with Realtor.com, Homes.com, and ComeHome.com.

So what does this mean for house hunters? Redfin estimates that pre-market listings could raise inventory by 6% to 12%—a meaningful lift, given that market supply still hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

“This remains a supply-constrained housing market,” explains Zillow Chief Economist Mischa Fisher. “So making more listings broadly visible is critical.”

Pre-market listings aren’t new. About 80% of multiple listing services already offer a “coming soon” category. What’s changed is where these listings are surfacing and who can see them.

“Pre-market listings have existed for many years via pocket listings and private networks,” points out Eric Bramlett, a real estate agent in Austin, TX. Zillow’s latest move “provides more transparency to what’s been happening behind closed doors.”

How buyers benefit: Zillow Preview listings give buyers more homes to shop and more time to prepare and ponder their options before a house is officially for sale. “Buyers can see what’s coming, plan their next steps, and be ready to act when a home they love becomes available,” says Zillow’s home trends expert, Amanda Pendleton.

The catch? “Buyers will need to be much faster,” says Matt Bigach, a real estate investor in Knoxville, TN. “The ’quiet window’ where buyers would negotiate without competition will disappear.”

Pendleton recommends pre-scheduling tours, much like you’d pre-book seats at a hot new restaurant weeks before opening night.

What’s in it for sellers: Property owners now have a low-stakes window to gauge interest in their home and adjust accordingly. LeAnn Hiatt, a real estate investor based in Kansas City, MO, plans to use this soft launch phase “to determine how much interest there is for a property before I decide to go ahead and take action aggressively.”

And since days on market don’t start counting yet, sellers can experiment without their listing appearing stale or overlooked.

“Sellers can see how buyers are responding—through views, saves, and tour requests—and use that as a signal to refine their pricing and marketing strategy,” says Pendleton.

Fisher doesn’t expect a dramatic shift in industry-wide metrics like days on market. Still, highly motivated individuals willing to make the most of this head start can gain a genuine edge: “It can help sellers connect with the right buyers more quickly and make the process more efficient,” she says.

One tip: Real estate portals have inked deals with separate brokerages, so there is no one-stop shop for all pre-market listings; prepare to hop around to see them all.

Ever slow-roll past a house and wish it were yours? Unlisted turns that impulse into an actual waitlist: Buyers can express interest in homes they hope to buy someday; owners can see who’s already eyeing theirs. Founder Katie Hill makes the case for shopping homes years before they hit the market.

Q: What inspired you to create waitlists for homes that aren’t for sale? “I’ve wanted to buy my neighbor’s house since the pandemic. So one day, when he was mowing the lawn, I went up and told him, “If you ever want to sell, I’d be interested.” His face lit up. He said he and his wife had been thinking about retiring and moving, and that he’d let me know once they were ready. That was my light bulb moment: We think about real estate as black or white—a home is for sale or not. But there’s a lot of gray where you’re thinking you could move in a few years to downsize or to get into a good school district. In that time, you should be able to collect or express interest in a home for the day you’re finally ready.”

Q: How does Unlisted work? “The site features public property records and Google Street View images of 121 million homes in the US, searchable by area, size, and amenities. About 2,500 homeowners have claimed their homes and indicated when they may be ready to sell, and 2,500 buyers have signed up for waitlists. When a property gets waitlisted, we mail the owner a repurposed wedding invitation saying someone is interested in their home and include a way to message the buyer.”

Q: Has this led to any sales yet? “We launched in June, and so far, we’re aware of 10 sales. Most were local, where the buyer could have knocked on the homeowner’s door, but didn’t feel comfortable doing so. Several were empty nesters, growing families, and real estate investors. For investors, this is a good deal, since we send the invitation to the homeowner and save them a cold call. It’s also great for flippers who, the instant they buy a house, could put it on Unlisted and say it will be for sale in four months.”

Q: What advice do you have for people using your site? “My advice for buyers is to cast a wide net and be patient. For homeowners, my advice is to claim their home so they can prepare for the day they want to sell. It’s a lot like LinkedIn: You put up a profile long before you need to find a job so that when you do need to make a change, you’re in a stronger position.”

Q: Did you ever end up buying your neighbor’s house? “I’m still waiting! He thought maybe this past Christmas, but that didn’t happen, which is okay. I’m in no rush.”

This week, we chatted with Tyler Howell of Whole Property Management, which manages 550 rental properties in and around Denver.

Average home price: $530,920 (down 4.3% YoY)
Homes that sell over list price: 16.4%
Homes that sell under list price: 63.7%
Average rent: $1,818/month

Lay of the land: “Denver is in an interesting spot right now,” says Howell. “Buyers went wild in 2013 after the Great Recession when marijuana was legalized here. Huge net migration sent home prices soaring, and our skyline was littered with cranes; builders couldn’t put up apartments fast enough. Covid brought in another wave.” But as interest rates crept up over the past few years, this has created “a perfect storm of oversupply.”

The upside? Sales prices in the Mile High City have fallen so much that “a real estate investor with the ability to buy in cash is going to get a great deal.”

His advice: Avoid one- and two-bedroom condos. “You’ll have to compete against apartment complexes offering eight to 12 weeks free rent—that’s not a typo,” warns Howell. He owns a two-bedroom that rented for $2,695 per month back in 2023. By 2025, it was renting for only $2,095.

Three- and four-bedrooms are a better bet, and the numbers back this up: “Denver has 15,000 one-bed units for rent today versus about 1,500 four-bed properties,” Howell explains. “I think Denver is an excellent market to retain single-family homes as long-term rentals, especially in light of talk in Washington, DC, about banning institutional investors.” If that takes effect, “the number of single-family rentals in our market could decline, sending rents up nicely.”

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