Real Estate Text Lead Capture: Keep It Classy to Convert More Leads (+ Free Templates)

You already know texting your real estate leads is one of the best ways to get immediate feedback. After all, who among us can get through the day without sending at least one text to help keep life organized?

At Follow Up Boss, many of the teams and agents we work with see sharp spikes in lead response when they send a text immediately after an initial inquiry.

But that’s not the only way to use text messaging to close more real estate deals.

If you’re ready to drop the patchwork system of Google Voice and automated bots (and finally get peace of mind about those infamous anti-spam laws 😬), you’re in the right place. 

We’ll help you streamline your real estate text message prospecting and harness the profit-boosting benefits that come from natural, relevant SMS messages that move your leads to action.

‍Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Real Estate Text Messages to Leads and Clients: Are You Leaving Money on the Table?
• How to Know Who to Text Next: Text Message Follow Ups Done Right
• Real Estate Text Message Prospecting: 15 Text Templates to Convert More Leads
• The Do’s and Don’ts of Texting Your Real Estate Leads
• Is Texting Table Stakes? Stay Ahead of the Curve in the New Game of Real Estate

Real Estate Text Messages to Leads and Clients: Are You Leaving Money on the Table?

Any time a fancy new trick or technique hits the real estate tech market, it’s natural to want to go all in. But many agents end up putting entirely too much pressure on “implementing text message marketing” and end up in analysis paralysis.

Here’s the thing: You already know how to text.

You text your family, friends, and probably some of your existing clients. The challenge is less about knowing which text messaging scripts and templates to use (though we’ll definitely come back to that later), and more about making sure you’re using the right tools at the right time to make it easy for your prospects to hit ‘Reply’ over ‘Mark as spam’.

“When a lead comes in, they get an auto text message and auto email. And everyone on the team knows that person should be called within the first five minutes. There's also a task that appears in Follow Up Boss and agents should make at least three attempts for a phone call. But the leads are also going to get a couple emails, too. For us, the auto-texting is really awesome because we get a lot of leads from people who are just responding to that initial text message from the agent.” — Ron Howard, Owner, Ron Howard & Associates

Here are a few of the most popular ways high-producing Realtors use text messaging:

• Sending personalized auto-text to new leads
• Sending a text after calls to boost responses
• Following up on a missed call or voicemail
• Sending simultaneous updates to spouses or joint-investors
• Coordinating appointments between multiple parties, like homebuyers, buyer's agents, and showing agents
• Keeping the primary agent in the loop with communication between an ISA and seller lead
• Introducing a client to your preferred lender, favorite home stager, photographer, inspector, etc.
• Nurturing your past clients and sphere, for instance texting a family to see what they like most about their new home!
  

Remember, purchasing real estate is a team sport. Spouses, partners, lenders, TCs—everyone needs to be on the same page. 

If you’re serious about accelerating your lead conversion rates and delivering an unforgettable customer experience, look for a text messaging platform that makes it easy to send group texts.

Follow Up Boss is the only real estate sales platform that offers integrated group texting. From scheduling with spouses and showing agents to introducing buyer agents and lenders, now you can easily bring together your deal’s most important players in one simple thread.

How to Know Who to Text Next: Real Estate Text Message Follow Ups Done Right

Unfortunately, it’s not always clear which of your leads should receive a text message and which should be put on another type of nurture sequence. 

Worse, many agents buy into the promise of unlimited texting and end up using CRMs that were designed for a mass texting approach. But hitting your entire database with the same blanket text isn’t going to do much for your conversion rate (or your reputation).

Your best bet with text messaging is to strike the right balance between automation and personalization.

In Follow Up Boss, Smart Lists help you determine who you need to follow up and when. For instance:

• All contacts with a birthday coming up in the next 7 days
• Sellers who you haven’t communicated with in over 2 weeks
• Leads that have never been texted
• Hot prospects whose last communication was over 3 days ago
• Leads who favorited a property today
• And the list goes on!
  

These ongoing, automatically updated lists will help you quickly and easily follow up with everyone in your database using relevant text message scripts and templates.

“I just closed on a lead that I got 13 months ago. I put them into my Follow Up Boss and made sure to have the email and text sequence sent to them regularly. This lead that many would say wasn’t good quality turned into a deal 13 months later because our systems helped us stay top of mind with them. Not only that, in the process of nurturing that lead, I got two more referrals that turned into closed deals within those 13 months.” — David Albanese, Broker/Owner, Albanese Realty Corp.

The best part? We include best practice Smart Lists for you. (You don’t even need to set them up!)

But apart from honing in on your top priority leads and using SMS to achieve lightning-fast speed to lead, what else can you do to convert more deals with text messaging?

Many of our most successful users set up automated text message touchpoints partnered with a targeted email drip to make sure they’re connecting with leads from every angle, even when they’re not physically sitting at their phones or laptops.

For example, with Action Plans, all you need to do is set an automatic text and email sequence to trigger for each of your lead sources. It’ll instantly fire every time you get a lead from a particular source. It takes just a couple of minutes to set up, then it’s completely hands free.

"Speed is an absolute must and with Follow Up Boss's 4-point auto text responder, and instant calls from our call center, we are able to make contact with a high percentage of leads." — Robert Slack, Broker-Owner, Robert Slack Fine Homes.

Real Estate Text Message Prospecting: 15 Text Templates to Convert More Leads

Before we dive into our text message templates it’s important to remember that a text should sound like a text. Not a marketing pamphlet.

When texting your leads, remember this golden rule: Would I read and reply to this myself?

Initial Responses to a Buyer Lead:

• Hi %contact_first_name%, re: %inquiry_address%, what’s the best time for me to call? -%agent_first_name%
• %contact_first_name%, I see you like %inquiry_address%. Awesome! When would you like to see it? %agent_first_name%
• Hi %contact_first_name%, I see you’re looking to move into the _____ area! What brings you to this part of town? Any questions? – %agent_name%
  

Initial Responses to a Seller Lead:

• Just received your home eval request, %contact_first_name%! Is there any other information you would like to share about your home?
• Thanks for your inquiry, %contact_first_name%! When is a good time to chat about getting your home sold?
• Hi, %contact_first_name%! Thanks for reaching out! If you could have your home sold by a certain date, what would that be?
  

Initial Inquiry (General):

• Got your message on %source_name%. When is a good time to call you?
  

Determining Interest:

• I have a few buyers looking in your area, is your home still available?
• %contact_first_name%, are you free Wednesday or Thursday evening to take a quick tour of a home I picked out for you?
• Still debating if it’s a good time to sell? What has you hesitant?
• Is ____ the only city you’re looking in, or are you open to other areas?
• I put together a few notes on getting your home sold faster, do you have time to meet and discuss over coffee this week?
  

Conversation Starters to Gauge Lead Stage:

• %contact_first_name%, are you still interested in selling your home this season?
• %contact_first_name%, I see you have your home listed yourself, is there anything that would make you want to work with a Realtor?
• It’s been a while since we touched base! How are things going, %contact_first_name%?

3 Bonus Real Estate Text Message Templates to Boost Your Response Rates

1. Questions Generate Responses: When initially trying to strike up a conversation, sending a question works well. Most people won’t ignore a question and it gives you a chance to use their answers to persuade them in a targeted direction. 
   

“I was curious,%contact_first_name%. What’s your ideal timeframe for selling your home?”

2. If You Send a Link, Create Conversation about It: Don’t just text someone a link to your website in hopes that they will visit and get back to you. Aim to spark a real conversation.
   

“New homes just hit www.FUBRealEstate.com, have you seen them %contact_first_name%?”

3. Inject a Healthy Dose of Personality: No one wants to feel like they’re communicating with a robot. If it’s more like you to use can’t instead of cannot—do it. If you’re a fan of emojis—use them. People are more likely to remember text messages that stand out.
   

“%inquiry_address% has a huuuge backyard and a sunny bay window, making it super friendly! Might be right up your alley, want to see it?”

No one wants to rewrite the same texts over and over—it’s a time waster! Text Templates in Follow Up Boss allow you to send relevant messages in a couple of clicks.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Texting Your Real Estate Leads

Think about your daily life as a real estate agent, it can be hectic right? 

The same is true for your leads.

Have you ever received a text, or even an email, that you just had to push aside because you needed to come back and “process” that information? The last thing you want is to overwhelm your prospect with a lot of unnecessary wording. Instead, send a message that requires a short reply to encourage back-and-forth communication.

Let’s take a quick look at an example.

This is way too much for a text:

Hey, Matthew, this is Danielle with Follow Up Boss Real Estate Team here in San Francisco. We have a lot of great homes, and I see you’re looking at 555 Main Street. That’s right in one of my favorite neighborhoods. Ready to see it? Let me remind you that my website has the latest homes and you can search 24 hours a day. www.FUBRealEstate.com.

Danielle Martin

FUB Real Estate

628-333-2031

This is better:

Hey, %contact_first_name%! Since you like %inquiry_address%, would you be interested in seeing more homes like it?

This message works because:

• It gives them a chance to reply.
• It’s an easy question.
• You’re not overloading your prospect with information.
  

Your prospect’s reply can open multiple doors of communication. If they say yes, you can try to set up an appointment, for example:

“Great! There are 3 homes that are similar, each with their own strengths that you can really get a feel for in person! Would this Saturday work for a quick tour?”

Or, if they’re not ready yet, you can direct them to your website:

“Got it! Not quite a good fit. You can see all the latest homes here: ABCRealEstate.com. I’ll check back in a day or two to see if one of those catches your eye!”

“The minute the lead comes in, three things have to happen. They need to be added to our Real Estate Webmasters website. Every lead goes through Follow Up Boss, then gets automatically added to the website. They’re immediately set up on a search so they get ongoing listing notifications in their area of interest. Then they’re called and texted within 90 seconds.” — Justin Seeby, Owner, The Seeby Group

What about those super cool text signatures?

Honestly, we recommend nixing the text signature altogether. 

It can distract from the call to action, which in this case, is to hit reply so you can talk about more homes and get one crucial step closer to booking an appointment. Plus, your prospect can easily call the number from which you’re texting—so there’s no practical reason to have a fancy text signature with your contact information.

At Follow Up Boss, our bias is firmly on simple, focused conversion tactics you and your agents can stick to. In that same vein, we don’t want to create a lot of hard and fast rules around timing, however we do have recommendations for what typically works best.

The Do’s:

• Text a lead within 5 minutes of them submitting an inquiry on your website. If you aren’t able to call, send a text message after they’ve had some activity on your website, like favoriting a property.
• Strive for times where they aren’t as busy, like in the afternoon.
• Some stats show Wednesday and Thursday to be the best days for texting. Again, not a hard rule, just something to experiment with.
• Respond as quickly as possible if the lead has initiated a text to you, even if it’s just to say that you’ll get back to them. Never leave someone hanging.
• If you’ve already called and left them a voicemail, send a quick text. For example, “%contact_first_name%, looks like we keep missing each other! Still interested in chatting?”
  

The Don'ts:

• Do not repeatedly send messages several days in a row if they haven’t replied.
• Do not treat texting like a replacement for calls.
• Do not send broadcast texts that aren’t explicitly relevant to that lead.
• Do not promote contests, no matter how legitimate, via text. These include things like your iPad giveaways or holiday promotions.
• A text isn’t the right method for communicating if an offer fell through, people passed on a house, or any other serious issues that have come up.
• If you need to send documentation that is binding, keep that to email.
  

In short, keep it classy and common sense. You know what type of relationship you have with the people in your database. If you feel it’s time to send a relevant text message, then go ahead and shoot!

Is Texting Table Stakes? Stay Ahead of the Curve in the New Game of Real Estate

At the end of the day, it’s better for both you and your prospects if you’re able to send your text messages on your terms—and that includes having the choice to text your leads from your mobile or your PC and always from your own number (not some random bot’s).

Because when everyone starts rushing in to leverage text messaging, sending relevant human-to-human messages will be the only foolproof way to stand out.

With Follow Up Boss, you don’t need to wait until your next strategy meeting to start converting leads faster with texting. Our simple, intuitive platform and done-for-you templates makes it easy to get up and running fast, even in group text scenarios.

Not sure where to start? No problem.

Our team of (completely human) customer success pros will help you identify which of your leads and nurture sequences could benefit from text messaging and support your agents to get up and running quickly to close more deals faster, minus the spam.