Zillow Preferred is the program that used to be called Flex. Agents pay Zillow a success fee when a connection closes. Texas sellers still negotiate their own listing fee, and the January 2025 TREC contract has a line for any seller contribution to a buyer's broker.
A Texas seller who lists a house may meet an agent who talks about Zillow leads, Flex, or a success fee. Those words are about the agent's deal with Zillow. They are not a new tax on your equity. This page separates the public description of that program from the lines on a Texas contract that actually name who pays a broker.
If the house is in Dallas–Fort Worth, the DFW version is about the questions to ask a local listing broker. The fee rules below are statewide.
Flex was renamed Zillow Preferred
Zillow's own Preferred FAQ says Zillow Preferred is the next evolution of the Flex program, an invite-only program for agents and teams. It says agents and teams that were part of Flex on or before October 15, 2025 automatically became Zillow Preferred partner agents. The FAQ describes the product the same way Flex was described to agents: connections with no upfront lead cost, then a success fee when a home transaction with that connection closes.
The FAQ also says there is no upfront cost to join, and that the required expenses are a Follow Up Boss subscription and the success fees paid only when a transaction closes with a Zillow connection. That subscription is the agent's software bill. It is not your closing cost.
The success fee is calculated on the agent's commission
The pricing page says that when an agent transacts with a Zillow Preferred connection, Zillow is owed a percentage of the full commission the agent expects to earn on that agent's side of the transaction. It says success fees may vary by market, transaction price, and the date the connection was delivered. It says the fee for every seller-originated connection is 40 percent in all markets. It says other success fees currently range, and the FAQ states the range as 15 percent to 40 percent of the agent's commission, varying by ZIP code. Zillow says it may change the percentage on 15 days' notice for connections delivered after that notice.
Read that as an agent-to-Zillow contract. The seller does not receive an invoice from Zillow for 40 percent of anything. If your listing broker's agent came from that program, the fee can affect what the agent nets after the listing commission you agreed to pay the broker. It does not, by itself, add a line with Zillow's name to your closing statement. Ask your broker, in writing, whether anyone on the listing side owes a referral fee and whether that changes the fee you pay the brokerage.
What the January 2025 TREC forms actually say
The Texas Real Estate Commission described form changes effective January 3, 2025. In the section on broker compensation, TREC says paragraph 12A(1)(a) and 12A(2) were amended so that each party pays the brokerage fees that party has agreed to pay. Paragraph 12A(1)(b) was amended to allow a specific seller contribution to the buyer's brokerage fees. A new paragraph 12A(1)(c) separates other seller contributions. The current one-to-four-family resale contract is TREC No. 20-19.
Those sentences matter more than the brand name on the agent's website. If you are the seller, paragraph 12 is where a contribution to the other side's broker would be written as a number, not as "whatever the buyer agreed to." Do not sign a blank. Our guide to who pays closing costs in Texas separates title-company charges from brokerage fees.
Listing agreements are still negotiable
The Texas REALTORS FAQ on the NAR and MLS practice changes says the 2024 settlement led to MLS rules that include this disclosure: broker commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable. The same FAQ says a listing broker must disclose to the seller, and get the seller's approval, before the listing broker or the seller pays another broker who represents buyers. That disclosure has to be in writing, in advance, and it has to state the amount or rate.
None of that sets your rate at 6 percent, 3 percent, or any other number. If an agent says the fee is standard, ask them to show you the listing agreement blank and write the number you will actually pay. A Zillow Preferred relationship does not repeal that negotiation.
Questions worth asking before you sign a listing
- What number, dollar or percent, does this listing agreement charge me?
- Does anyone on your team pay a referral or success fee to Zillow or anyone else if this listing closes, and does that fee come out of your brokerage's commission or out of an extra charge to me?
- If a buyer asks me to pay their broker, will that request show up as a filled-in amount in paragraph 12A(1)(b), or as an open-ended promise?
- What happens to the listing fee if I sell to someone who never toured with an agent?
Write the answers down. A verbal "we only get paid if we sell it" can still hide a fee that is larger than you thought, or a withdrawal fee, or a protection period after the listing ends. Read those clauses. They are in the brokerage's form, not in Zillow's pricing page.
Selling without that listing
You do not have to list. A sale that never signs a listing agreement never creates a listing-broker fee. Cash Home Advisors can buy the house as-is, without repairs. We pay all closing costs, and we can close in 7–14 days. There is no agent commission on that sale. Asking is free and carries no obligation, and a real person calls you back. The price still pays off your loan, liens, and prorated taxes. Start at how it works or the form. Houses that need work are discussed on the repairs page. The state map of where pages exist is the Texas hub.
A portal lead is not your listing
Homeowners use Zillow to look at prices and to request information. That request can become a connection Zillow routes to an agent. The Preferred FAQ says Zillow responds to the consumer and confirms they are ready to work with an agent, then connects them. If you are the seller, you may never see that routing. You see an agent at your door who already has a buyer, or an agent who wants the listing because a portal inquiry came in on your address. Ask which of those two things is happening. A buyer connection and a listing agreement are different contracts. Only the second one charges you a listing fee.
Texas REALTORS' FAQ on the practice changes also says MLS participants working with a buyer must have a written agreement before touring a home, and that the compensation in that agreement has to be objectively ascertainable: a specific dollar amount, a flat fee, a percentage, or an hourly rate, not a range and not "whatever the seller offers." That rule binds the buyer's broker. It is still useful for you to hear, because a buyer who already signed a number may later ask you to pay that number in paragraph 12. You can say no. You can offer a different number. You can offer nothing and let the buyer pay their own broker.
None of this is a reason to inflate the list price to "cover" a fee you have not agreed to. Write the contribution, if any, as its own figure, then look at your net after the mortgage payoff. The net proceeds calculator is a worksheet for that arithmetic. It does not know your broker's side deal with a portal.
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Frequently asked questions
Does a Texas seller pay Zillow's success fee?
Zillow's pricing page describes the success fee as a percentage of the agent's commission, owed by the agent and broker when a Zillow Preferred connection closes. It is not a bill Zillow sends the seller. Your contract with your own broker is a separate negotiation.
What did TREC change about brokerage fees in 2025?
TREC's January 3, 2025 form update says each party pays the brokerage fees that party agreed to pay, and paragraph 12A(1)(b) can state a specific seller contribution toward the buyer's brokerage fees.
Did Flex disappear?
Zillow's Preferred FAQ says Preferred is the next evolution of Flex, and that agents and teams in Flex on or before October 15, 2025 became Zillow Preferred partner agents.
Can I sell without hiring the listing broker who would owe that fee?
Yes. A sale to a buyer who does not bring a listing agreement has no listing-broker fee. Cash Home Advisors pays the closing costs of the sale and can close in 7–14 days. There is no agent commission on that sale. Your loan payoff is still paid from the price.
Sources
- Zillow Preferred FAQ
- Zillow Preferred pricing
- TREC form changes effective January 3, 2025
- Texas REALTORS, NAR and MLS rule changes
- TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract 20-19
General information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to a Texas attorney or CPA about your situation.