Real Estate Text Message Marketing Guide for Busy Agents

Profitable, successful real estate doesn’t come down to your well-designed business card or your impressive speed at finding listings.

It’s all about strong relationships. 

With that in mind, it’s not surprising that you’ve turned to text messaging to connect with your clients and prospects and sell homes more quickly.

Here’s how to use text message marketing and software like SimpleTexting to give you more flexibility and control over your communications.

There’s a contradiction at the heart of modern real estate sales and marketing. There have never been more ways to reach people, yet people have never been harder to reach.

That’s because people are exposed to between 4,000 and 10,00 ads per day—and notice less than 100. 

On the communication front, email open rates continue to decline, and fewer than half of received phone calls are answered. 

Text messages, on the other hand, have an average open rate of 98% and a response rate of 45%. 

Texting helps real estate agents like you:

• Catch clients’ attention
• Increase response rates
• Generate more leads
• Close on houses faster

If that all sounds good to you, I’ve got even better news: The majority of people want you to text them. 

In our 2023 SMS Marketing report, 71% of consumers said they opted in to a business’ text messages. That means they trusted the business enough to give them their personal phone number—and home buyers and sellers may do the same for you.

How you text is just as important as what you text

You can enjoy most of these benefits of texting from a standard cell phone. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll reach more people in less time when you upgrade to an SMS marketing platform.

With a dedicated text messaging service, you can:

• Reach hundreds or thousands of contacts at once with mass texting.
• Have meaningful conversations with two-way text messaging.
• Set up SMS keywords that make it easy for leads to join your list.
• Seamlessly send and receive texts from mobile or desktop.
• Add other team members, like assistants and other agents, to help you manage your inbox.

This doesn’t just go for SimpleTexting’s real estate text messaging app (though there are plenty of reasons why SimpleTexting is trusted by hundreds of agents and brokers). You can compare top SMS platforms to see which is the perfect fit for your business—check out the section below “Top 5 SMS Marketing Services for Real Estate Agents” to get a head start.

Not sure what to send to your buyers and sellers? Check out these SMS ideas and examples below to start planning your campaigns.

9 real estate text messaging ideas

• Warm up cold leads from your website
• Promote property listings
• Text price reduction alerts
• Send open house invites
• Nurture open house leads
• Schedule and confirm appointments
• Request reviews and testimonials
• Ask for referrals
• Share real estate content

1. Warm up cold leads from your website

Engage potential clients who’ve shown interest in your real estate website but haven’t taken any further action. 

Example text: “Hi [NAME], thanks for requesting more info about my services! Are you looking to buy or sell?”

2. Promote property listings

Inform house hunters about new or existing property listings that may be of interest to them. 

Example text: “Exciting news, [NAME]! We just listed a stunning 3-bedroom home in [NEIGHBORHOOD]. Take a virtual tour and explore the beautiful features: [PROPERTY LINK]. Let me know if you’d like to schedule a showing.”

3. Price reduction alerts

Notify buyers about price drops on specific properties to encourage them to reconsider previously overlooked listings. 

Example text: “Great news, [NAME]! The price for the property at [ADDRESS] you showed interest in has been reduced by [PRICE REDUCTION AMOUNT]. Check it out here: [PROPERTY LINK]. Interested in scheduling a showing?”

4. Send open house invites

Invite potential buyers or interested parties to attend an upcoming open house event so they can explore the property in person.

Example text: “Join me this Saturday for an open house at [ADDRESS] from 12 PM to 4 PM! You’ll have the chance to experience the spacious rooms, scenic views, and modern amenities. Will I see you there?”

5. Open house lead nurture

Keep open house attendees engaged and answer any questions they may have.

Example text: “[NAME], thank you for visiting the open house at [ADDRESS]! If you have any further questions or would like to schedule a private showing, feel free to reach out. I’m here to help you throughout your home search.”

6. Schedule and confirm appointments

Schedule and confirm appointments with clients and prospects, like property viewings and consultations. 

Example text: “Hi [NAME], I have you down to view the property at [ADDRESS] on [DATE] at [TIME]. Does this time still work for you? If not, let me know and I can find an alternative that suits your schedule.”

7. Review/testimonial requests

Ask satisfied clients to provide reviews or testimonials about their experience working with you to buy or sell their home. 

Example text: “Hi [NAME], I hope you’re enjoying your new home! I’d greatly appreciate it if you could share your experience in a review. Your feedback will help others make an informed decision. Here’s the link to leave a review: [REVIEW SITE LINK]”

8. Referral requests

Encourage past or current clients to refer friends, family, or acquaintances who may be interested in buying or selling real estate. 

Example text: “Hi [NAME], I’m honored to have helped you [BUY/SELL] your home! If you know anyone who is looking to buy or sell a property, I’d be grateful for your referral. I strive to provide the same exceptional experience to those you recommend. Thanks in advance for your support!”

9. Share real estate content

Share informative or engaging real estate-related content, like market updates, tips for home buyers and sellers, or relevant articles to stay connected with clients and nurture leads. 

Example text: “Good morning, [NAME]! I thought you might find this article about [TOPIC] helpful: [CONTENT LINK]. Let me know if you have any questions or if there’s anything I can help with!

💡 For more real estate text examples, check out our real estate SMS templates and scripts guide. 

Before you send your first promotional text message, keep this in mind:

SMS marketing is legal for real estate, but only if you follow industry compliance guidelines. 

It’s a common myth in real estate that you can buy or scrape a list of potential buyers and sellers and start messaging them. I see threads on Twitter and Reddit about cold texting all the time, especially for wholesale real estate. 

When it comes to texting people who haven’t signed up for your promotional texts, though, there’s no gray area. It’s considered spam, and it’s not allowed.

5 real estate SMS compliance rules you should know:

• Get express written consent to send promotional messages to buyers and sellers.
• Include a disclaimer in your invite to join your list (known as a call-to-action).
• Send a CTIA-compliant confirmation text to new contacts.
• Don’t text during quiet hours, as defined by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

⚠️ I’m not a lawyer, so please consult your legal counsel if you have any specific questions about SMS compliance guidelines or texting laws. You can learn more about how to legally text real estate contacts in our text message marketing compliance guide.

Agents use real estate text message marketing in two main ways — to nurture leads and follow up with contacts. 

I’ll outline how both work and cover some other ways you can use them in your text messaging strategy.

Generating leads using SMS real estate marketing

Real estate text message marketing can help you attract and nurture leads. You can collect contact information for interested buyers and sellers, promote listings, generate sales, and even handle sign-in sheets for open houses. 

There are a couple of different strategies you can apply here.

One of the most popular approaches involves keywords. An SMS keyword is a word that people can text to your number to agree to receive your messages.

Here’s how easy it is to create one.

Now that you’ve created a keyword, you’re probably wondering how they work in practice. 

Let’s say a house hunter walks by one of your listings and spots a sign or flier with the keyword “321MainSt” alongside your phone number.

You now have a new lead you can follow up with. To save time, you can automatically send them a series of texts using our autoresponder feature.

Thanks for your interest in 321 Main St! Here’s some info: 3 BR, 2 BR, 1,400 sqft, $305,000. Call or text (555) 328-8121 anytime to schedule a viewing. Click for a virtual tour: [link]

Are you still interested in the 321 Main St. property? Feel free to reply to this text with any questions you may have!

With text message marketing, you can also send a real estate text blast to prospective buyers’ phone numbers.

You can use that text blast to let your new contacts know about a new property that’s for sale, including photos of the property and links to the online listing.

Our real estate customers also connect their Facebook Lead Ads or web forms to SimpleTexting so they can instantly send an automated text message to new leads.

Texting one-on-one with leads and clients

Along with generating new leads, you can use texting to get quick responses from your contacts.

SMS is by far the quickest way to engage your leads, given that over 30% of consumers check their text notifications within 60 seconds (according to 1,400 respondents of our 2023 SMS Marketing survey).

To make contacting you even easier, add a click-to-text button to your website to encourage leads to send you a text. 

This tool is more important than ever as mobile devices continue to take a bigger slice of the real estate web traffic pie, with 89% of new home buyers using their mobile devices to search as they look for a home.

Short response times leave a positive impression on clients, making them more likely to use your services and recommend you to others.

As you send texts to your leads and clients, don’t forget to:

1. Personalize your messages.
2. Introduce yourself.
3. Automate your SMS workflows.
4. Keep it short.
5. Use visuals.

Personalize your messages

Use details like the contact’s name and location so they feel valued and like they’re talking to a real person.

Introduce yourself

Include your name and company in your welcome text, and prompt subscribers to add you to their contacts. This will help them remember who you are so they’re more likely to respond to your message.

Automate your SMS workflows.

Instead of manually sending each message, automate texts like welcome texts, appointment reminders, helpful real estate content, out-of-office messages, and answers to FAQs.

Keep it short

Keeping a message as brief as possible allows the contact to scan it and respond before you lose their attention.

Use visuals

Make your texts stand out and pique your contacts’ interest by including media like real estate photography, videos, GIFs, audio, and PDFs. 

Texts that include media are known as MMS, so make sure your SMS marketing platform has this service available.

Not sure which text messaging platform is right for your real estate business? I get it—there are dozens to choose from, and evaluating them can be overwhelming.

Here are a few popular SMS marketing services for agents:

1. SimpleTexting for independent real estate agents and brokers
2. EZ Texting for agents who are new to bulk text messaging
3. TextMagic for flexible pricing
4. Twilio for deep campaign analytics
5. Podium for real-time customer management features

You can see how texting apps like SimpleTexting compare in our latest real estate texting software guide.

If you’re just getting started with SMS for real estate marketing, here are some of the boxes you’ll want to tick when choosing a service:

• Some text messaging platforms allow you to either text one-on-one with customers or send bulk texts. You want a platform (like SimpleTexting’s real estate text messaging software) that will let you to do both.
• If you need to integrate with other pieces of software, like your CRM, or send real estate autoresponder messages, find a service that makes it easy to connect apps.
• Real estate professionals should be careful of services that limit the number of keywords and contact lists they can create (we don’t).
• If you plan on using a real estate texting service for two-way messaging with customers, you’ll want an SMS inbox that can manage multiple conversations and help you organize them.

The final point for you to consider is the cost of SMS for real estate marketing. The per-message price is a huge factor. 

It’s also worth understanding whether your credits will roll over from one month to the next.

What is SMS marketing in real estate?

SMS marketing in real estate is when realtors use text messaging to promote properties and communicate with potential buyers. It involves sending targeted messages to potential buyers or sellers to generate leads, provide property information, schedule showings, and close deals.

Is it legal to send marketing text messages?

Yes, it’s legal to send marketing text messages to real estate contacts, but only if you have their explicit permission. Be sure to follow the guidelines and recommendations from the TCPA and CTIA to avoid fines.

How do you text a real estate listing?

To text a real estate listing, you’ll first need to get your contact’s permission to send them promotional messages. Then gather the property description, write a short message highlighting the key points, and use a reliable texting platform to send your text.

Can realtors send unsolicited text messages?

Generally, real estate agents can’t send unsolicited text messages, according to U.S. consumer protection laws. You must get your recipients’ permission before sending them marketing texts.

Can I text a real estate offer?

Yes, you can. However, if possible, we would recommend speaking face-to-face or over the phone when making a serious financial decision such as putting an offer in for a house. This will help both you and your buyer avoid a misunderstanding.

Is it illegal to send text blasts as a real estate agent?

No! If you have consent from your contacts to collect their numbers, mass marketing is a great way to advertise new listings.

Why do customers use SMS to communicate with real estate agents?

House hunting and selling are time-sensitive things. We find customers and their clients prefer using text messages because it’s the fastest method of communication. You don’t need to worry about missing an offer when you use SMS.

Why are real estate agents using SMS services?

Texting is a convenient way for all parties of a real estate deal to stay in touch. Real estate agents are constantly on the go, so having a way to contact clients without being glued to a laptop is the best way to close deals faster.

This article was published June 28, 2023. It was updated August 31, 2023. Nathan Ellering contributed to this piece.