Real estate text message follow-up for buyer and seller leads

Real estate text follow-up works best as a fast, personal first reply to every inquiry, then a short sequence that stops the moment the buyer or seller answers. Half of buyers who used an agent prefer texting, and 47% hired the first agent they spoke with (Zillow, 2025), so the first useful reply often wins the client.

This guide covers how fast to reply, what consent you need, when to send, and ready-to-paste sequences for buyer leads, seller leads, showings, offers and long-term nurture. It is the real estate chapter of our guide to SMS for sales and customer follow-up. Every number links to its source and year.

How fast should you text a new real estate lead?

Reply within minutes during waking hours, and make sure every inquiry gets an answer. The bar is low: in more than 100 secret shops of over 25 US brokerages, made through website forms on weekday business hours, nearly half of online property inquiries went unanswered. Among the replies, the median wait was 39 minutes and the average was 8 hours and 17 minutes (Mike DelPrete, 2024).

The first conversation often decides the hire. In Zillow's 2025 Consumer Housing Trends Report for Agents, 47% of buyers and 59% of sellers hired the first agent they spoke with, and 36% of sellers found their agent through online channels, up from 15% in 2018 (Zillow, 2025). The release does not give the survey's sample size.

Claims such as "four times more deals within five minutes" circulate without a published study behind them, and we found no recent independent study that measures how reply speed changes real estate sales. The case for speed rests on the facts above.

Related: speed to lead.

Do buyers and sellers want agents to text them?

Many do. In the same Zillow report, 50% of buyers who used an agent prefer texting or messaging apps when working with agents, against 33% who prefer phone calls. And 91% of US adults own a smartphone (Pew Research Center, 2025).

Texts suit short, practical steps: "Want to see it Saturday?" or "Seller's agent replied, can you talk tonight?" Keep pricing strategy and negotiation for a call.

What consent do you need to text real estate leads?

You need the person's agreement to receive texts from you, recorded with where and when they gave it. How you get it depends on where the lead came from. This section summarizes public rules and is not legal advice; ask a lawyer about your own program.

Lead source	What to check	What to record
They texted you first	You can reply right away. CTIA's carrier guidance says that when the consumer starts the conversation, "no additional permission is expected" (CTIA, 2023)	The first message
Your website or landing page	A checkbox or line next to the phone field saying you will text about their inquiry, with how to opt out (opt-in wording examples)	Page, date, wording
Open house sign-in	The sign-in sheet or tablet form says you will text, and they ticked or signed	Event, date, wording
Portal or referral leads	Whether the form they filled in named texts and your brokerage. CTIA says an opt-in "should apply only to the campaign(s) and specific Message Sender for which it was intended or obtained"	Portal, date, the form's wording
Numbers you found yourself (expired listings, for sale by owner)	No opt-in exists, so start with a call or letter and ask for permission to text (is cold texting legal?)	Nothing to record yet

The US rules behind this:

• Marketing texts sent with an autodialer to mobile numbers need "prior express written consent" (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2)). Whether a system counts as an autodialer is a legal question, and carriers expect an opt-in either way.
• The Do Not Call registry applies to telephone solicitations, which exclude people with an "established business relationship": an inquiry within the last three months, or a purchase or transaction within the last 18 months (64.1200(f)(5)). That exception covers the registry only; the written consent rule above still applies.
• Washington bars commercial texts to its residents' cell phones unless the person "has clearly and affirmatively consented in advance" (RCW 19.190.070).

In Canada, an inquiry gives implied consent for six months and a purchase for two years under CASL (s. 10(10)). After those windows you need express consent. Our CASL text message guide explains both.

When should you text, and how often?

Text during daytime and early evening in the lead's time zone, and send no more than one automated text a day. Several states cap solicitation attempts at three in 24 hours on the same subject.

Where the lead is	Allowed hours (lead's local time)	Source
United States (federal)	8 a.m. to 9 p.m. for telephone solicitations	47 CFR 64.1200(c)
Florida	8 a.m. to 8 p.m., at most three in 24 hours on one subject	Fla. Stat. 501.616
Oklahoma	8 a.m. to 8 p.m., at most three in 24 hours on one subject	HB 3168 (2022)
Maryland	8 a.m. to 8 p.m., at most three in 24 hours on one subject	Md. Code, Com. Law 14-4502
Canada	CASL sets no hours	CASL

Whether the state hour limits reach texts is a question for a lawyer, and we have not checked every state. Buyers browse in the evenings and tour on weekends, so a window of 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday to Saturday, fits both the rules and the way people house-hunt.

How do you build a real estate follow-up sequence?

Build each sequence around one goal, with a wait and a reply check before every follow-up.

1. Pick the goal. Book a showing, book a listing appointment, or keep a not-ready buyer warm.
2. Add only leads with consent for texts, with the columns you'll use: first name, the address they asked about, the city or area.
3. Send the first text right away. Say who you are, mention the home or request, ask one question.
4. Wait one or two days, then check for a reply. Nobody should get a nudge after answering.
5. Send two or three follow-ups at most, then a close-the-loop text.
6. Set sending days and hours in the lead's time zone, then launch and answer replies quickly.

Every template below fits in one segment (160 characters) with the fields filled in, before the opt-out line is added. Swap "Sam" and "Northwind Realty" for your name and brokerage.

Buyer lead sequence

Text 1, right after the inquiry:

Hi First name, it's Sam with Northwind Realty. Thanks for asking about Address. Want to see it this week, or should I send details first?

Wait 1 day. If no reply:

Is Address still on your list? I can also send a few similar homes in City. What matters most: price, area or size?

Wait 2 days. If no reply:

Are you already working with an agent? If not, I'm happy to set up tours around your schedule.

Wait 4 days. If no reply:

I'll leave it here for now, First name. Text me any time you'd like to see a home.

Seller lead sequence

For home value requests and "thinking of selling" forms:

Text 1, right away:

Hi First name, Sam with Northwind Realty. Thanks for asking about the value of Address. Want a quick walk-through for a more accurate number?

Wait 1 day. If no reply:

Are you planning to sell this year, or keeping an eye on the market for now? Either is fine, and it helps me send the right info.

Wait 3 days. If no reply:

I can send recent sales near Address with no visit needed. Want me to?

Wait 7 days. If no reply:

I'll leave it here. If your plans change, text me and I'll put together a full price review.

Showing reminders and feedback

Two reminders worked better than one in a trial of 54,066 patients (American Journal of Managed Care, 2018); the same pattern suits showings. More timing detail is in our reminder sequences guide.

At booking:

Northwind Realty: you're booked to see Address on Date at Time. Reply here if you need to change it.

The day before:

See you tomorrow at Time at Address, First name. Reply R if you need a new time.

After the showing:

Thanks for coming to Address today. What did you think? Happy to answer questions or line up the next one.

How should you text about offers?

Offer updates are one-to-one conversations, so send them yourself from the inbox where the thread lives. Keep them short and move the detail to a call:

Your offer on Address went in at Time. I'll text you as soon as the seller's agent responds.

We have a response on Address. Can you talk for 10 minutes tonight?

Never send wiring instructions or account numbers by text, and tell clients early that you never will. People reported $470 million lost to scams that started with a text in 2024 (FTC, 2025).

How do you stay in touch with buyers who are months away?

Use a slow sequence with long waits, and stop as soon as they reply. A wait of about 30 days between texts keeps you in touch without crowding them.

Hi First name, Sam at Northwind Realty. Still looking in City? A few new homes came up that fit what you described. Want the list?

Wait 30 days. If no reply:

Checking in, First name. Is a move still on the cards this year? Happy to help whenever you're ready.

For past clients, one or two texts a year is plenty:

Hi First name, Sam from Northwind Realty. How's life at Address? Here if you ever need a contractor name or a value update.

Describe homes and areas by their features. The Fair Housing Act bars any statement about the sale or rental of a dwelling that "indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination" based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin (42 U.S.C. 3604(c)). That covers texts too.

How should you handle replies?

Stop the sequence for anyone who replies and answer from the same number they already know. "Who is this?" needs your name, your brokerage and how they reached you ("You asked about 412 Maple Street on our site on Tuesday"). STOP and the other opt-out words end texts for good. US rules require opt-outs to be honored within 10 business days (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10)), and stopping at once is the safe practice. More reply wording is in our follow-up text templates.

Where does Textually fit?

Textually runs sequences like these for agents and teams in the US and Canada. You import leads by CSV or paste, push them into a campaign, and write Text, Wait and Condition steps with any column as a field. Textually registers your number for 10DLC in the US and verifies toll-free numbers for Canada, checks phone types so landlines are skipped, and keeps each lead on the same number every time. A text step sends only when the lead has a consent record (source and date) or the campaign has a campaign-wide consent confirmation, and only inside your sending days and hours. Each text carries the opt-out line until the lead replies, STOP and ARRET end texts at once, and a reply ends that lead's sequence and lands in one shared inbox with the full history and suggested replies. See how the rules are built in and pricing, or apply for access.

Questions

How quickly should a realtor text back a new lead?

Within minutes during waking hours. In a 2024 secret shop of US brokerages, nearly half of online inquiries got no reply and the median reply took 39 minutes (DelPrete, 2024), and 47% of buyers hired the first agent they spoke with (Zillow, 2025).

Can I text leads from Zillow or other portals?

Check what the portal's form told the person. Texting is safest when the form said they would get texts and named your brokerage, since carrier guidance says an opt-in applies to the sender it was given to. Record the portal, date and wording, and ask your broker or a lawyer if the wording is unclear.

Can I text expired listings or for sale by owner numbers?

Those owners never opted in to texts from you. Carriers expect an opt-in for every business text, autodialed marketing texts need prior express written consent in the US, and the Do Not Call registry applies to solicitations. Call or write first and ask permission to text.

How many follow-up texts should I send a real estate lead?

Three or four over about a week, ending with a close-the-loop text, then a slow monthly check-in for buyers who said they aren't ready. No independent study sets the right number, so watch your own reply and opt-out rates.

What should a real estate text never include?

Wiring instructions, account numbers, or anything that describes who should live in a home. Keep texts to the home, the time and one question, and move negotiation and money to a call.

Do I need consent to text past clients?

Yes, consent for texts still applies. In Canada, implied consent from a purchase lasts two years under CASL, then you need express consent. In the US, the Do Not Call exception for past clients covers 18 months after a transaction, and written consent rules for autodialed marketing texts still apply.