Each listing site hands renter inquiries to you in its own way: a relayed email, a forwarded call, or a message in the site’s own inbox with an email alert. That matters after hours, because in RentEngine’s first-quarter 2026 data, 53% of leads arrived after business hours and Zillow alone produced 55.4% of new leads (RentEngine, Q1 2026).
Where do listing-site inquiries actually go?
To an email address or phone number you set on the listing, usually through a go-between. Sites relay emails through masked addresses, ring your phone through a tracking number, or keep the message in their own inbox and email you an alert.
So evening coverage has three jobs: get lead emails into an inbox someone reads, make the listed number ring a phone someone answers, and send replies back through the site so the renter receives them.
| Site | How inquiries arrive | How to answer after hours | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zillow | Email to the listing’s contact address from a relay address; paid listings usually add calls through a routing number. | Forward lead emails to an answered inbox, reply to the relay, and enter a phone number someone answers. | AveryIQ, Zillow |
| Apartments.com | Email to up to six addresses; calls through a tracking number that rings your one destination number. | Add an after-hours inbox as an email destination and ring a line covered at night. | Apartments.com |
| Zumper | An email alert with the renter’s details, plus Zumper’s message inbox. | Reply to the alert or call the renter, and add the evening person as a guest. | Zumper |
| Craigslist | Email through a random relay address; calls and texts if you show a number. | Show a number for calls and texts, answer it, and reply to relayed emails. | craigslist |
| Facebook Marketplace | Messenger messages to the personal profile that posted the listing. | Write a phone number into the listing text and answer it at night. | Landlord Studio, Meta |
How do you answer Zillow leads at night?
Forward the lead emails to an inbox someone reads in the evening, and answer the relay address so your reply reaches the renter.
Zillow Rental Manager sends each lead to the contact email on the listing, and renters write from relay addresses on convo.zillow.com or reply.zillow.com (AveryIQ). Zillow’s lead forwarding may let you add more than one recipient, and an email filter on Zillow’s conversation domain does the same job (AveryIQ).
Phone leads depend on what you pay for. RentEngine reported in May 2026 that Zillow stopped showing direct phone numbers on free rental listings, leaving renters the Book Tour and Apply Now buttons (RentEngine). Paid listings usually show a Zillow routing number that rings the number you entered, and texts to it become leads in your Zillow Messages inbox (Zillow, RentEngine).
For larger portfolios, Zillow runs a free listing feed program that needs approval and typically 4 to 6 weeks of testing, and it can deliver leads to a CRM or management system by API (Zillow feeds, Zillow lead API).
How do you answer Apartments.com leads at night?
Point one of its email destinations at an after-hours inbox and its phone number at a line someone answers. Each setting covers the whole Apartments.com network.
Each property can send email leads to up to six addresses but has one destination phone number for the whole network (Apartments.com). The listing shows a call-tracking number that rings your phone, and contact-form messages go to the email linked to the listing (Apartments.com).
The lead settings are read-only in your dashboard, so changes go through Apartments.com support by email (Apartments.com). Its lead reports list each caller’s number and call status, which makes missed callers easy to find the next morning (Apartments.com True Leads).
How do you answer Zumper leads at night?
Reply to Zumper’s email alert or call the renter. Each alert carries the renter’s details, so whoever covers evenings can answer from their own inbox or phone.
Zumper says each lead arrives as an email alert with the renter’s information, which you can answer by email or by calling the number in it (Zumper help). Leads also arrive through Zumper’s in-app messaging, and you can add guests to a conversation so other email addresses can answer the renter (Zumper).
Zumper lets you post up to 5 listings a month for free and distributes listings to Zumper, PadMapper, ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing and other sites (Zumper).
How do you answer Craigslist leads at night?
Show a phone number in the posting and answer it. Emails still reach you through craigslist’s relay, so the inbox needs evening coverage too.
Craigslist gives each posting a random relay address, free postings must use it, and you answer from your normal email program; reply threads keep working for up to 4 months (craigslist mail relay, craigslist email). You can also show a phone number marked for calls, texts or both (craigslist). CL Chat needs both people logged in, so it only helps when someone is at a screen (craigslist chat).
Keep automation away from the site itself. Craigslist’s terms bar software and services that interact or interoperate with it, apart from its own app, web browsers and email clients (craigslist terms). A phone number in the posting is the cleanest after-hours route, because the call never touches craigslist.
How do you answer Facebook Marketplace leads at night?
Write a phone number into the listing text and answer it at night. Marketplace messages go to a personal profile, which Meta’s business messaging tools do not cover.
Free Marketplace rental listings are posted from a personal profile rather than a business Page, according to Landlord Studio’s guide updated in September 2026 (Landlord Studio). Meta’s March 2026 update even shows buyers the seller’s Facebook profile, including their number of friends (Meta).
Meta’s Messenger Platform, which business inboxes and chat tools are built on, lets a business’s Facebook Page or Instagram professional account answer messages (Meta). A personal profile is neither, and Meta’s terms forbid automated data collection without its express written permission (Meta terms).
Meta did add optional AI auto replies to availability questions in March 2026, drafted from the listing’s details, but its announcement covers items for sale and does not mention rentals (Meta).
How do you check where your leads land?
Send yourself an inquiry from every live listing, by email and by phone, and follow it. You will see which inbox gets it, which sender address to forward and which phone rings at 9 p.m.
- Use an email address and phone number that are not on your listing accounts.
- Set a forwarding rule for each alert’s sender address.
- Reply from the after-hours inbox and confirm the reply comes back through the relay.
- Call each listed number in the evening and see who picks up.
- Repeat after any plan change, since free and paid Zillow listings show different numbers.