What Is ShowingTime?
ShowingTime is a showing-scheduling platform, owned by Zillow, that agents use to request, approve and track home showings. A buyer’s agent requests a time from the MLS listing or the app. The listing agent or the seller approves or declines it, depending on how the listing is set up. The system sends confirmations, access instructions and feedback requests, and keeps a record of every showing.
For a listing agent, the showing setup is part of the listing. Get it wrong and buyer’s agents either can’t book or show up to an alarm, a dog and the wrong lockbox code.
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▼What “Showing Time” Means
A showing is a scheduled, private tour of a home for sale. The showing time is the appointment window booked for it, commonly 30 minutes to an hour. ShowingTime, one word, is the software many MLSs use to book those appointments.
How It Works for Listing Agents
- The listing is set up. In many MLSs, the listing flows into ShowingTime automatically once it’s entered. The showing instructions are set in ShowingTime itself.
- A buyer’s agent requests a time. From the MLS, the ShowingTime app or the web.
- The request is approved, declined or auto-confirmed, based on the appointment type you chose.
- Everyone gets notified. Confirmations go out by text, email or app, with the access instructions you set.
- Feedback requests go out after the showing. You see the responses in one place, ready to pass along to your seller.
The activity report is useful when you talk price with your seller. Number of showings, cancellations and feedback in one view says a lot about whether the issue is price, condition or presentation.
ShowingTime vs. a Centralized Showing Service (CSS)
The two terms get mixed up, and for good reason.
Centralized Showing Service was a separate company that built a showing platform and appointment center. ShowingTime acquired it in 2019, and CSS clients moved over to the ShowingTime platform.
“CSS” as a generic term still gets used for any staffed showing desk: people who answer the phone and book or confirm showings for buyer’s agents who’d rather call. Some brokerages run their own; some use an outside service. Those desks often use ShowingTime software behind the scenes.
ShowingTime is the software. Many listings use it on its own, with buyer’s agents booking online and the listing agent or seller approving. Some add a staffed desk on top.
Your MLS may also use a different platform entirely. Showing Smart and BrokerBay are common alternatives. The setup decisions below are the same no matter which one you use.
Setting Up Showing Instructions
Decide these with your seller before the listing goes live:
- Appointment type. Does every request need confirmation, or can showings inside set hours go ahead automatically (go-and-show)? Auto-confirm gets more buyers through the door. Occupied homes usually need confirmation.
- Who approves, and how. You, your seller, or both, and by text, email, app or call. Pick what people will actually see.
- Notice and length. Minimum notice before a showing, and how long each appointment can be. Decide whether back-to-back or overlapping showings are allowed.
- Blocked times. Block the seller’s work calls, meals and kids’ bedtimes up front so you’re not declining requests one at a time.
- Lockbox and access. Lockbox type and location, and how the code or key is released. Never put a combination code in public remarks.
- Pets, alarms and doors. Which door, which alarm code, where the dog is, what not to let out.
- Vacant or occupied. Lights, thermostat, and anything a buyer’s agent should leave as they found it.
- Feedback. Turn on feedback requests and decide what you want to ask.
- Showing restrictions. Any dates the house can’t be shown, and when showings start relative to the go-live date.
When the listing goes under contract, update the showing status the same day. Buyers walking through a house that’s already under contract is a bad experience for everyone. If you’re taking backup offers, say so in the instructions.
Common Problems We See
- Seller approvals that never come. If the seller is the approver and doesn’t respond, buyer’s agents move on. Set up a backup approver, or switch to auto-confirm for set hours.
- Stale instructions. A new lockbox, a changed alarm code or a new pet, and the instructions weren’t updated.
- Feedback nobody reads. The value is in the pattern. Read it weekly and share it with your seller.
- Status not updated. The listing went Pending in the MLS but showings are still open, or the reverse.
How Our TCs Handle It
Showing setup is part of our Listing Coordination service. We:
- Check the listing agreement against your broker’s requirements
- Schedule photos, staging, the sign and the lockbox
- Enter the listing and uploads in the MLS
- Set up the showing instructions in ShowingTime the way you direct, including the appointment type, approvers, access notes and blocked times
- Send you the MLS listing to review and approve before anything goes Active
- Send the go-live emails once it’s live
The showing rules come from you and your seller. We don’t contact your seller or approve showings for you. If you also use our transaction coordination, the file moves to your TC when the listing goes under contract.
