Messages are sent to you by other members and visitors from within RealtyZapp. Messages can be sent from several places in RealtyZapp i.e. Property Listing, Agent Profile, Company Profile, etc. The RealtyZapp system itself may even send you a message. Messages are private. You are able to see both messages sent to you and messages sent by you.
RealtyZapp messages are a simple and convenient means to communicate but are not intended to be a replacement for other types of communications like email and phone. You are encouraged to use RealtyZapp messages as you wish but you are also encouraged to make use of any other communications methods. The RealtyZapp system will not disclose other member's email address in messages for privacy reasons but members are free to share their email address with each other if they wish.
The answer is yes. RealtyZapp will send you an email of any message sent to you provided you have the "Subscribe to conversations" setting checked in your profile's Privacy Settings.
The answer is no. You cannot send a message an arbitrary email address. You will have to use your own email system for that purpose. If another member sends you a message you can send a reply message back to that member. If a guest (non-member) sends you message, hopefully the sender included their contact information i.e. email address or phone number. You must use other means to correspond back with the person.
The My Messages widget allows you to view, filter, search, sort, and manage your messages. The basic idea is to use the tools to display your messages and manage them by setting the status of each message and optionally sending a reply message.
You can add a new Contact from a Message whenever you see the little + button in the lower right corner of the Message. If the email address already exists in your contact list, you will see a > button to go to the contact.
The + button in the toolbar allows you add an arbitrary contact at any time. The email address and name are required. If the mail address already exists in your Contacts then you will get an error message when you click Add.