Zillow adds DMs so you can chat about homes you’ll never buy

Zillow is trying to make it easier to share listings by putting a messaging feature directly in its app. Instead of sharing a link to your dream home over a text message, Zillow says you can invite a friend, family member, or significant other to chat from the app’s inbox.

From there, both you and your shopping partner can have a back-and-forth conversation about listings, as well as share your new finds inside the Zillow app. You can start up a chat by opening your inbox and choosing the “Invite a co-shopper” option. Zillow will then generate an invitation link that you can share with them. Your shopping partner will need to sign into their Zillow account or create one to accept the invite and start chatting.

Putting a messaging feature in Zillow might seem a little unnecessary, but I can see how it might come in handy. It seems like it might make it easier to keep track of all the listings you’ve talked about with your shopping partner, as you won’t have to sort through unrelated conversations and photos to find a listing you talked about over text.

Update, October 28th: Added more information about the invite process.