I built my Instagram to over 300,000 followers by focusing on engagement and evolving with Instagram’s constantly changing algorithm. To help you crush it on Instagram this year, I decided to share nine engagement hacks that I used to build my account.

1. Switch Up Your Location Tags

Most agents know that they should be geotagging every post when relevant. After all, you are trying to get business from clientele in a specific area, right? What many agents don’t know is that switching up location tags can help get you in front of more people and is a great way to boost engagement.

So try tagging different neighborhoods, small towns, businesses, country clubs, coffee shops (aka places your clients/future clients might be), and broader locations like cities or states. Mix it up and see which locations get you the most reach.

Instant engagement hack: You don’t have to physically be in a location to tag it as long as the location is relevant to the post or caption.

2. Share Your Best Feed Posts to Your Stories

Before we dig into this tip, let’s address the elephant in the room: This engagement strategy can be annoying AF for your followers. When I tap my way through Instagram stories, I want to see something different than what I already see on the feed. But, there are some tactical reasons to share feed posts to your story:

It gives your followers TWO chances to see the same piece of content.

Like most people, I feel like I spend more time watching stories than I do flicking through the feed these days, especially during summer. I want to see people inhaling white claws on boats! So if it’s not on your Story, chances are I won’t see it, and some of your followers won’t either. Why not double the odds that your followers see your content?

It gives you content to post to your story, and the Algorithm LOVES that.

You should be posting to your story five to eight times a day (an arbitrary number I came up with) to stay top of mind and to show Instagram you are an obedient user and prisoner to the platform. When people view and interact with your Story, they are more likely to be shown your content in the feed. This will give your posts more engagement and favorable feed placement to Story viewers.

Instant engagement hack: Always share your Reels to your Story too, because Story views ALSO count as Reels views.

3. Slide Into DMs

Direct messaging back and forth with people is an excellent strategy to get more engagement on your posts. How, you ask? Well, any kind of interaction with other users notifies Instagram that your accounts are connected. The more you DM with someone, the more they will show up in your feed and vice versa.

I don’t have a specific strategy here other than not to be creepy. A simple move is just to respond/react to other people’s stories with an emoji. Like commenting, you should respond to every *appropriate* DM you get.

Instant engagement hack: Right after you post something, go into your inbox and respond to people. Doing so will help your post rank in their feed and possibly get you more engagement.

Stop Asking Me The Same Question Every Agent Asks

At least once a day an agent will slide into my DMs and ask, “I want to post funny content, but I have no idea what to post… and I’m not funny. Can I share your stuff?”

That’s why I teamed up with Coffee & Contracts to provide exclusive content for agents to customize, brand, and share to social media. Become a member to get access to monthly posts created by me in addition to the entire Coffee & Contracts platform and community!

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4. Add Engagement CTAs to Your Stories

You can also use your Story as a call to action to your feed by saying something like, “Go leave a comment on your favorite bathroom” or “Guess how much this house is worth!”

To get more views and interactions on your actual story, use questionnaires, polls, quizzes, stickers, emojis, or GIFs as your calls to action (CTAs). These will lead to increased engagement on your Stories … which leads to increased engagement on your feed … which leads to increased serotonin levels in your brain!

Questionnaires with video or written responses are perfect for agents. Post something like, “Ask me anything about today’s real estate market,” and watch the responses flood in like a tidal wave. We are lucky to be in an industry that almost everyone finds interesting, and practically no one understands.

5. Use Your Story to ‘Tease’ Your Followers Into Visiting Your Feed

You can also use your Story as a “tease” to the feed by hiding the content with a sticker, GIF, emoji, or text. This way, people must click on the actual image to reveal the secret! Bikini models do this all the time for a simple reason—it works. Why not do the same with your best listing photos?

Also, the algorithm likes when users spend time on your profile. When the algorithm sees users going from your Story to your feed, it assumes you have high-quality content.

6. Use Engaging Captions

Your captions are another place you can boost engagement. If you’re having trouble coming up with engaging captions, just ask yourself: “What statement or question can I post to trigger more comments and engage my audience?”

Here are some examples:

• “Which view do you like better? 1 or 2?”
• “Scale of 1-10, how important is the backyard when considering a house?”
• “Would you rather live in a house with no air conditioning or a house with no heat?”
• “Tag someone who needs a bidet in their bathroom!”

You can also tell people to like, comment, and share your post, but that’s cringe AF in 2022.

Instant engagement hack: Long captions force people to read longer, which signals to Instagram that they are spending more time on your post, which signals that your content should be pushed to more people. So try using your caption to tell a story about a house, a deal, or a client.

7. Post Engaging Comments on Your Own Photos

Yes, you read that correctly. Comment on your own photo and think of it as a secondary caption. Doing so generates more comments and catches the attention of people who may not read the entire caption but may head straight to the comments. Sometimes I’ll give one call to action in the caption and then another in the comments!

Here is an example from my feed that got 481 comments. I posted an engaging caption and TWO comments on my own post like an absolute SAVAGE!

Look. At. That. Engagement. I had people captioning the photo and replying to my comment about showing the house with the snake around the lockbox. I also shared this post to my Story and used the “vote” feature to see if they would show it or not. It was a masterclass in engagement. My phone almost exploded with notifications.

Instant engagement hack: Comment with your other accounts if you have them (we know you do). This way, you can get more engagement and control the direction and narrative of the comments. I have conversations with myself in the comments all day long.

8. Reply to All Comments on Your Posts

Comment back to everyone who comments on your posts. This is especially crucial for the first hour of the post. If people see a post with a bunch of comments, they are more likely to stop scrolling, take a look at what all the fuss is about, and possibly comment themselves.

Also, when people see an account commenting back, they get excited at the opportunity to interact with that person directly. Gary Vee responded to my comment once, and now I comment on every photo hoping to relive the best moment of my life.

Most importantly, commenting back doubles the number of comments on your post.

9. Learn the Do’s & Don’ts of Using Hashtags Strategically

Hashtags are another great way to boost engagement, but only if you use them strategically. This is why learning the do’s and don’ts of using hashtags is crucial.

Let’s start with don’ts:

1) DO NOT over-hashtag: The maximum number of hashtags you can use per post is 30, but you should use less. Hashtags are like drugs; the more you use them, the less effective they are. I don’t know if that’s entirely true, but it sounds cool, and from my experience (with hashtags, of course), it seems accurate.

2) DO NOT use the same hashtags over and over: Do not use the same hashtags in every post or even in back-to-back posts. You must switch them up constantly, and they must be relevant to the actual content of the post.

3) DO NOT use hashtags in every post: On my account, I have noticed that if I use hashtags in two to three posts in a row, my engagement and reach significantly drops. I could just be paranoid, but I have been testing this theory for a while now, and it seems to check out. So, what I’ve been doing is using hashtags sparingly, maybe once every three to four posts. They seem to be way more potent when I use them less.

Large hashtag blocks are also aesthetically unpleasing, spammy, and can direct the algorithm away from the discover page as it is presented with too many options. The sweet spot I have recently found to be is three to 10 hashtags per post.

Instant engagement hack: Like location tags, it’s smart to use a variety of hashtags. Let’s use a post about an open house in Tucson as an example:

1. Content-specific hashtags refer to the actual content of the post: #openhouse #openhouses #sundayopens #sundaysareforopens (good T-shirt idea)
2. Location-specific hashtags refer to the location of the post: #tucsonrealtor #tucsonagent #tucsonrealestate #tucsonopenhouse
3. Global hashtags are hashtags that have hundreds of thousands of posts attributed to them. Some examples would be #realtor, #realestate, #realestateagent, and so on. Use these sparingly because they are less effective but good to throw in the mix now and then.
4. Branded hashtags are what you use for your business. Mine would be #brokeagent or #thebrokeagent.

BONUS TIP: Use ALL of Instagram

As I previously mentioned, the Instagram algorithm LOVES when you use all of the site’s features. So post a variety of content, including slide shows, videos, IGTV’s, Stories, and of course, Reels. Instagram loves it when you use its newest features, like Reels.

If you want to learn more about Reels, I wrote an entire e-book on how agents can get more engagement and followers using this feature. You can download it here.

Get My Reels E-book

Don’t have time for yet another e-book? Here’s a quick strategy from the e-book you can use right now: Post as many Reels as you can because the reach and discovery on the Reel Feed are bananas. Instagram’s algorithm is focusing primarily on promoting vertical video and original content.

Over to You

How are you boosting engagement on Instagram? Let us know in the comments!

The post 9 Easy Instagram Hacks to Get More Likes, Comments & Followers appeared first on The Close.

That’s why I decided to share some of my best strategies for agents to create engaging Instagram Stories. These strategies helped me build my Instagram account to over 325,000 followers, and I’m sure they can help you too.

1. Use Instagram’s Create Mode

Instead of posting a note, tweet, or screenshot, use Instagram’s Create Mode to post text-related stories. Instagram’s algorithm likes when you use the app as intended, so creating something organically on Instagram tends to perform better than something uploaded from your camera roll.

I like using create mode to introduce a Story like a title page or hook. I’ll say something like, “Want to see the craziest text exchange with a client that you’ve ever seen?” I might even include a little poll to boost user engagement with the story immediately.

For agents, I would say something like, “Want to see the coolest house you’ve ever seen?” Or let’s play “would you rather” and throw up a bunch of comparisons, as I mentioned above.

Add polls on each one, and boom—engagement city. Another trick is to post a long, text-based story in Create Mode. The longer the text, the longer people stay on your story. Yes, Instagram tracks how long users spend on a post. They also know when you zoom in on a post …

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2. Post Stories Throughout the Day, Not All at Once

My goal is to have a new story up every time someone goes on Instagram. Top of feed, top of mind. I avoid bunching stories unless the posts are connected and must appear immediately after one another to finish a thought.

By spreading out your stories, you’re more likely to hit people using the app at different times. Also, it’s important to remember that the Instagram algorithm likes when you use Instagram. Staying consistent throughout the day with stories lets Instagram know that you are a loyal user—and they might just reward you with more engagement and a crippling social media addiction!

3. Use CTAs (Calls to Action) Regularly in Your Stories

Unlike feed posts, you can basically force engagement on stories with polls, quizzes, questions, and slides. You can poll your audience on housing styles, bathroom decor, neighborhood preferences, or anything else that is popular with your audience. Adding a CTA to a Story with low engagement can sometimes give you an immediate boost.

If you’re not sure what your audience wants, you can gauge what your audience might like by posting “would you rathers?” or “this or thats?” to see what people are interested in and (more importantly) get them to click on your story.

  Pro Tip

My favorite “story hack” is to use the questions feature and respond with text or actual videos of myself answering questions. Once people see that you are responding, they will want to submit a question just to see if it gets answered.

The easiest question you can ask as an agent is “AMA about the (insert your local market here).” AMA is short for “Ask Me Anything” and is a very popular format for posts on social media. You can also create contests like “Guess the price of this house” and give away a gift card to whomever gets closest to the price.

4. Add Music

One of my favorite things to do on stories now is to provide further context to my content with music. For example, if I’m sharing a story about a creepy crawl space, I’ll add something spooky like “The Shining” theme song. Or, if I’m sharing an angry meme about a buyer backing out, I’ll throw some Skrillex on the story for extra effect.

I’m not entirely sure that adding music provides more engagement, but it certainly makes stories more entertaining. Every property tour is 10 times better with music. Just remember to add a “Sound On” sticker so people watching know there is music in your story.

5. Tell a Multi-part Story

Instagram Stories are called stories for a reason. It was literally designed for people to tell stories! Telling slightly longer stories in multiple parts is an excellent way to build engagement.

Creating teaser “slides” where people have to click to the next story to reveal what’s happening is a great strategy to keep people on your profile. You can also tell stories by physically telling a story, like with your actual mouth.

For example, “I want to tell you a quick story about the house my buyers just closed on … they wrote 15 offers on 15 different properties and thought they would never find a home … but …”

Or something like, “This restaurant has been a staple in the community for decades … I’ve gotten blackout drunk here for years.” Instagram always prefers original content that isn’t shared from another account, so the more you show your face, the better.

6. Add Hashtags & Locations

Like with feed posts, adding hashtags and locations will help expand the reach of your stories. Unlike feed posts, you can actually hide hashtags and locations by dragging them off-screen where they are not visible.

Use one to three specific hashtags on your story and tag the location if it’s relevant to what you’re posting. Definitely hide the hashtags in your story because it looks ridiculous to have them there—unless it’s an ironic hashtag like #winning when you’re clearly losing.

7. Add Captions

Adding captions to Instagram Stories is one of its newest and best features. You can find the “caption” button on the toolbar that has GIFs and stickers. The new caption sticker automatically translates what is being said in the video to text.

About 50% of Instagram users watch stories with the sound off, so captions will help provide context. It’s kind of like watching movies with subtitles on; once you do it, you will never go back.

8. Post Reels to Your Story

Reels are formatted perfectly for stories. Share your Reel or someone else’s and blow it up with your fingers to the size where it covers the entire story. It’s a sneaky way to keep people on your profile by acting like the Reel is part of your story.

If it’s a smaller size, people might click on the actual Reel and leave your profile. Of course, you should always credit the user who posted the Reel, but story views count for Reels anyway, so you are doing users a favor.

[Related article: 10 Agents & Coaches Crushing It on Instagram Reels]

9. Ask People to DM You

Instagram sees direct messages as one of the most valuable interactions on their platform. When a story gets a lot of DM responses, it gets a lot of views. Naturally funny or shocking content will get DMs, but a more straightforward approach is to post a story asking people to DM you for something in return.

Here are some examples: “DM me if you want to see how much this house is worth.” Or “DM me if you want me to send you a market breakdown of (insert area).” Or “DM me if you want to see nudes.” That one will work 100% of the time.

10. Use GIFs & Stickers

Like adding music, adding GIFs or stickers provides context to your stories. An extra surprised GIF may get someone to look at your story for a bit longer and see what the shock is all about. Also, Instagram rewards accounts that use all of its features. Always remember: Instagram wants you hooked on Instagram.

11. Tell People to Watch Your Story in Your Feed Post Caption

If your feed post relates to your story or vice versa, use this as an opportunity to plug your story in the caption. For example, if you’re posting listing photos to your feed, you can say something like “Check my story to see the backyard” or “Check my story for showing details.”

I recently did this when an FSBO accidentally uploaded pictures of his own balls to Zillow. I did a feed post on it and then said, “Check my story to see the actual pictures.” Naturally, that story did better than any story I’ve ever posted, and then I used that opportunity to plug my content platform.

12. Be Consistent

As cliché as this sounds, it is most important. Story posts are so much easier because you don’t have to worry about the number of likes, comments, and engagement seen by the public. Try to post daily to your story.

Over to You

What strategies are you using to crush it on Instagram Stories this year? Let us know in the comments.

The post Instagram Stories for Agents: 12 Easy Ways to Drive Engagement appeared first on The Close.

But since I actually want to see you all succeed this year, I thought some tough love might be in order. Consider this your intervention. I’m going to rip the Band-Aid off and talk about five ways to be the most boring realtor on Instagram. Then I’ll show you how to stop being boring while still posting real estate content that will make your phone ring.

Want more Instagram tips I used to grow my account to over 350,000 followers? Get my FREE e-book, 11 Secret Instagram Tips, here:

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1. You Only Post ‘Just Solds’ & ‘Just Listeds’

If you want to have the most boring Instagram in the game, flood your feed with repetitive announcement graphics every time you sell a house, list a house, or put a house under contract. These types of posts guarantee a quick “scroll by” and little to no engagement. They aren’t interesting, they don’t provide value, they aren’t funny, and they invoke zero emotion.

To be clear, I’m not saying to NEVER post them. Of course you should advertise your properties and let people know you’re an active, successful real estate agent. Just don’t dedicate your entire feed to these types of posts.

How to Be Less Boring in 2022: Tell a Story With Your Listing Posts

Instead of posting the announcements as individual posts, do a weekly or monthly “round-up” where you bunch all of your Solds or Just Listed(s) in one post. You can do this as a slideshow style-post, a single template with multiple pictures, or as a video Reel.

Title it “Monthly Round-up” or “Inventory Check” and flash some photos or videos of the properties. This way you are still showing what you have going on without being boring over and over again.

How to Tell a Story With Your Listing Posts

Instead of just mentioning the price a house sold at, tell the story about the property. Talk about the sellers (with their permission, of course), what they did to the house, what it meant to them, why they sold it, the history, the offer situation, or anything else you found interesting about the deal.

Maybe mention something crazy that happened during the transaction or comment on why people fell in love with the house. Was there a particular selling point or something that made the house unique? Just saying it sold “over ask” isn’t cool anymore because everyone sells everything over ask in this market. Talk about how many offers there were and what the buyer had to do to secure the property.

Check out this post from Taya Dicarlo for inspiration. See how much more interesting that is than JUST a graphic? Shoutout to social media savant and friend, Tessa Bella, for teaching us these strategies on an episode of our Over Ask Podcast on how agents can make their Instagram (IG) feeds more entertaining.

2. You Only Post Real Estate Content

All real estate all the time is overwhelming for you AND your IG followers. You don’t want people to think, “We get it, you’re in real estate.” Posting only real estate content can make you seem like a one-dimensional, salesy, work robot.

How to Be Less Boring in 2022: Show Your Authentic Self

Show the authentic version of yourself. A great way to do this is on Instagram Stories, where you don’t have to worry about engagement. You like the Yankees? Post about it. You hated the new Matrix film? Post about it. You like eating upside down like a bat? Post about it. Here are a few realtors you can take inspiration from:

Editor’s note: Here’s the picture from Matt’s IG. I thought it would be silly to not point out that while his Ramones shirt is admirably broken in and looks pretty great under a blazer, he was also standing next to the most famous real estate agent on planet Earth. So maybe the Ramones shirt wasn’t doing all the heavy lifting here … but he DID get the client.

Katie Day, an agent in Houston, treats her IG story like a vlog. Following her is entertaining because she posts her entire day from start to finish, showing her audience real estate content and everything in between. We see her workouts, her favorite restaurants, her dogs, and her family + friends. Like Sara, you feel like you really know Katie from following her on Instagram.

Looking for meme templates to post on Instagram to spice things up? You can get all my funniest, most viral meme templates along with hundreds of other Instagram templates on Coffee & Contracts.

Visit Coffee & Contracts

3. You Only Post Your Wins

When I first started The Broke Agent, real estate Instagram was infested with grind culture: success after success, fitted suits, closings, nice cars, bottle service, motivational quotes, nauseating photo shoots, and so on. It was win after win, suited, and booted professionals. It was like everyone was playing a character of a realtor and that character lived the perfect life.

Showing your success is necessary, but only showing your success is unrelatable and boring.

How to Be Less Boring in 2022: Be More Relatable

Show your losses in real estate AND in life. You’re hungover and look awful? Show people. You lost out on a deal? Film a video and tell your audience what happened. Can’t think of what to say in a property description? Got a bad Zillow review? A buyer’s dad just ruined the deal? Pull out your phone and post about it.

I bet this content will perform better than a more traditional “win” post. You can be educational and provide just as much value by showcasing what went wrong in a deal and what can be done differently next time. Be relatable.

4. You Only Show Off a Luxury Lifestyle

A lot of agents when they first start out make the mistake of thinking their IG feed should look like a highlight reel from “Million Dollar Listing” or “Selling Sunset.” They go to broker opens and film other agent’s listings and act like they are doing deals north of $20 million when they barely know how to put a property in the MLS.

If your brand is luxury and you actually are doing that type of business, do you and absolutely show that lifestyle. But, if your clientele is looking at $150,000 fixers, this might not be the best strategy. It can also be boring for your audience to see the same pristine, unaffordable houses over and over.

How to Be Less Boring in 2022: Show the Lifestyle Your Clients Will Actually Get if They Buy

Show a variety of homes and lifestyles. Better yet, show the lifestyle and market that YOUR clients will likely be selling or purchasing. I know agents who have lost business because their followers think they only do luxury, and think that the agent wouldn’t want to represent them at a lower price range.

Another thing you can do to make your feed more interesting is to show the BAD real estate pics you come across on showings, open houses, and so on. Show shoddy contracting, awful paint jobs, wacky staging, and strange floor plans, for example. Sometimes the housing flaws are more interesting and engaging than the beautiful, perfect houses.

5. You Never Vary Your Posting Style

A feed using the same style of post over and over again gets boring. Unless you’re doing something like podcast clips or news, you should probably mix it up. Having the perfect-looking, uniform IG feed may be aesthetically pleasing, but I can assure you that your audience doesn’t care. They just want to be entertained.

How to Be Less Boring in 2022: Mix It Up

Mix it up. Hit your audience with slideshows, still image posts, text-based posts, videos, Reels, stories, Lives, reactions, and so forth. Look at my page for inspiration: it’s not just memes anymore. I have two to three different styles of posts every day because I know that people like to consume content in different ways.

Also, IG likes when you tap into all of its features and it’s good for their algorithm. I know Reels are IT right now (and you should definitely post as many as possible—it’s the best way to grow on the platform), but filming them and editing can get exhausting. Sometimes a text-only post can get your point across just as much as video.

Mixing up your content shows your versatility as a content creator and keeps your audience guessing. If you post the same style repeatedly, people might scroll right by because they already know what to expect. Variety will keep your audience more engaged and it makes your page way more interesting.

Over to You

How do you keep your Instagram from putting your followers to sleep? Let us know in the comments.

The post 5 Ways to Be the Most BORING Agent on Instagram (& How to Stop!) appeared first on The Close.

I remember thinking, “Is everyone in real estate killing it besides me?” So I started to call out these fake “sales gurus” on @thebrokeagent and quickly realized I was not alone. The real estate community rallied around the posts in agreement that the half-agent, half Gary Vee-style life coach content needed to go.

Because my job revolves around consuming real estate content all day, I thought it would be cool to put together a list of 11 hilarious real estate agents who I think are doing it right on Instagram. All of the agents on this list have found unique and entertaining ways to promote their real estate business without being too sales-y. Check them out if you need some inspiration for your own Instagram (IG) account or just need a good laugh.

**NOTE: These are in no particular order, so don’t get mad at me.**

1. Taya DiCarlo @tayadicarlo

Taya DiCarlo is a Compass agent in the South Bay of Los Angeles. If I had to recommend one profile for new agents to draw inspiration from, this would be it. Her feed is a perfect variety of real estate posts, market updates, humor, education, personal hobbies, and family life.

Her content is both professional and relatable as she showcases her wins, her losses, and her charismatic personality. My favorite part about her Instagram is her weekly show on IGTV called Taya’s 2 Cents, where she educates her followers on real estate definitions and the aspects of a deal.

2. Matt Lionetti @matt.lionetti

Matt Lionetti is a “top producer” with The Agency in Toronto. He also happens to be my arch nemesis and the “co-host” of the Over Ask Podcast. So, this pick is slightly self-serving because I’m the other host.

But, as much as I hate to admit it, Matt produces the funniest and most accurate real estate videos on Instagram. His first posts were skits of frustrating, yet all too relatable phone conversations with clients and other agents. He really started to gain traction after his infamous “Freddie Mercury” parody.

He does a great job at using his passion for music and comedy to promote his listings and real estate business. Matt’s content has continued to evolve with Instagram as his focus has shifted to high-quality vertical video and Reels. As of this writing, his account has exploded to over 24,000 followers (no thanks to me, of course), and he has started to get a lot of leads on Instagram from his videos.

3. Aken Moose Musa @yourfriendlyneighborhoodmoose

Aken Moose Musa, aka “Moose,” is a Connecticut agent with one of the best personalities on Instagram. He takes the happiest closing pics with his clients that I’ve ever seen. It’s actually kind of annoying because I’m cynical and jealous that he has clients and successful transactions, but it’s hard not to smile at his page.

Moose posts a wide variety of content on Instagram that includes home improvement tips, wacky marketing promos, rap parodies, and memes. He’s also recently made multiple appearances on HGTV’s “House Hunters.” He looks like a fun guy to have 10 closing drinks with, and I imagine his followers and clients feel the same.

4. Derrick Gregory @derrickswflrealtor

Derrick Gregory is a Florida Realtor whose Instagram strategy has been to go heavy on high-quality comedy videos. He does parodies, Reels, memes, character-skits, and has a fun IGTV segment called “Real Real Estate Stories.”

When you go to his feed, you will immediately notice eye-catching thumbnails and hyper-relevant content. It seems like he’s got a video for every holiday or pop culture event that takes place. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a video for “Flag Day.” Another thing I like about Derrick is that he has the guts to go Live on Instagram. Even if he’s just playing the ukulele to seven viewers, he understands that going live pushes his name and content to the top of people’s feeds.

The goal of a real estate agent is to stay top of mind, and Derrick Gregory is always at the top of your feed. He should make a shirt that says: “Top of your mind and top of your feed.” Actually, no, he shouldn’t.

5. Dan O’Neil @danoneil

Dan O’Neil built the number one team on Long Island while maintaining a perfectly trimmed beard and neckline. He caught my attention when he posted a hilarious real estate parody of the Netflix show, “You.” He seems to outdo himself with every video, as he can be seen falling off jet skis, riding horses, and smashing fax machines with a bat.

Next, Dan is going to tightrope walk the Grand Canyon supported by nothing but a “Just Listed” sign for balance. Recently, Dan’s been posting previews of his new Vlog to Instagram, where he displays agent interactions, client negotiations, commutes, showings, and the overall day-to-day of a busy agent. He cries in one of them.

Also, it’s important to mention that the production value of all his videos is insane. I don’t know how he got Michael Bay to direct his open house tours, but the kid knows how to brand and entertain. The only strange thing I noticed about Dan is that he always seems to have a small hand towel draped over his shoulder, like a caddy waiting to clean a golfer’s club. He’s a must-follow.

6. Buffalo Real Estate Lady @buffalorealestatelady

Kim Santana is a Buffalo real estate agent—and I know this because her Instagram handle says so. Kim has a unique Instagram where she actually memes herself and puts captions above her own pictures and poses. She must have read my e-book.

My favorite part about her Instagram is her story strategy. She does funny rants in her car and consistently engages her followers with polls, votes, and questionnaires. If you follow her, you will also get the pleasure of occasionally seeing her cute and fluffy doodle, Louie.

7. Dan Lee @dan_lee_plum

Dan Lee is an Australian agent with Plum Property. His Instagram is full of high-production, fast-paced, comedic listing and marketing videos that look like they were shot in Hollywood. He recently posted a seven-step series called “The Road to Tosser,” where he plays the character of an insufferable real estate asshole similar to the ones I mentioned in the intro. It’s basically a “What Not to Do” guide for real estate agents, and he nails every single one of them. The series is legitimately laugh-out-loud funny.

One other thing I’ve noticed about his content is that he starts every video off with a quick-hitting joke. He understands that the first three seconds are critical to keep the audience engaged and to continue watching.

8. Byron Lazine @byronlazine

Byron Lazine is a real estate renaissance man building teams and selling luxury properties in Connecticut. He is an agent/podcaster/speaker/awful golfer who I consider to be the Joe Rogan of our industry. The only difference is he’s not jacked, not funny, and the biggest guest to appear on his show was either me or Tom Ferry.

Jokes aside, Byron’s Instagram content is unique in the real estate space because of his podcast clips. Byron displays his vast real estate knowledge with commentary on the market, opinions on current events, critiques of opinions, brokerage gossip, and more. I like the way he formats his clips with super-engaging titles that almost force you to watch.

He’s also recently started to dabble in Reels, where he performs cringe-inducing reactions and gives advice to new agents with a very stern demeanor. The more you watch Byron’s content, the more you learn about what’s going on in the real estate industry.

9. Yackeline Leiderman @yackelineleidermanrealtor

Yackeline Leiderman is a Miami Realtor who has also gone the comedy route to grow her Instagram. Like Kim, Yackeline memes herself in videos and pictures with real estate captions that make fun of current market conditions and agent-client interactions. She must have a full-time photographer following her around because she has a pose or video for every scenario and trend. What really sets her content apart is her unique ability to match facial expressions to her captions. She should win an Emmy or Property Spark award for her acting abilities.

10. Jason Cassity @jason_cassity

***Please disregard this fake business call post … I believe this was a momentary lapse in judgement by Jason.***

Jason Cassity is a luxury realtor with Compass in San Diego. He loves Compass and Compass loves him. What I like about Jason’s Instagram is that it doesn’t annoy me. He posts with a purpose and focuses on quality over quantity. For example, during the height of the pandemic, he filmed videos that promoted restaurants and small businesses and provided COVID resources for his followers.

He comes across as a genuine, approachable community leader who isn’t constantly trying to jam real estate down everyone’s throat. Almost all of his content is educational or helpful to people in San Diego. I can’t believe I’m saying all these nice things about him because I know him. I hope he doesn’t read this. Anyway, he also did a cool IG Live series where he interviewed other agents, organizers, and marketing experts that were later published in full to IGTV.

11. Eric Simon @thebrokeagent

Editor’s note: I was given the rather unpleasant task of editing Eric’s “article” and wanted to point a few things out. First, he handed in his first draft on crumpled up Burger King napkins he found under the seat of his car. Second, Eric is way too modest for someone who runs a bona fide real estate comedy empire. @thebrokeagent is the funniest real estate Instagram account around and it’s not even close. So if you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years and don’t know about The Broke Agent, do yourself a favor and follow him right now.

Over to You

There are so many more agents I can name who are crushing it on Instagram, but top 10 lists do better for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, so I had to stop there (more or less). Overall, it’s been awesome to see so many agents embrace their personalities and utilize humor as a tool for Instagram growth and marketing. Who are your favorite agents to follow on Instagram? Let me know in the comments.

The post 11 Hilarious Real Estate Agents You Need to Follow on Instagram Right Now appeared first on The Close.

Wondering how to get real estate leads from Craigslist? Well, most agents can’t capitalize on Craigslist because they don’t know the strategies necessary to capture these anonymous browsers and actually turn them into clients.

In this article, we’ll walk you through how to get your listings (or any listings, for that matter) in front of interested buyers, and how to convert those lookers into contracts.

New to Craigslist? Here Are the Basics

Craigslist is a website for digital classified ads where users can buy and sell anything from toasters to tube tops, race cars to real estate.

On your local Craigslist page, you can look for or post a job, join community conversations, search for services, or buy and sell just about anything (legal) under the sun. Seriously, if you haven’t been on Craigslist before, take some time to poke around—it’s pretty wild.

For the purposes of this conversation, we’re interested in the “Housing” section of Craigslist, specifically, “Real Estate For Sale.” Here, people create ads marketing homes, condos, property, and everything in between for sale. These can be ads created by sellers who are trying to sell FSBO-style, or by agents and brokers trying to get their listing in front of another audience.

What Kind of Leads Will I Get on Craigslist?

For the most part, buyer leads.

Most of the people who are cruising the listings on Craigslist are looking for a home to purchase. The people who are posting are the ones who have a home to sell. There’s a strategy for capturing seller leads from Craigslist, but more on that later.

By and large, the leads you’re going to get on Craigslist are buyers who are interested in properties you’ve got listed for sale. Capturing a buyer lead for your own listing is a great way to “double-dip” a transaction, getting both sides of the commission.

Don’t have any listings at the moment? Not to worry. Most listing agents would love to have more exposure for their properties. Try going to your broker or top performers in your office and ask them for permission to market their listings.

Remember, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Code of Ethics requires that you must disclose the name of the brokerage through which a property is listed, and it also prohibits creating the impression that a listing is yours if it isn’t. But, with listing agent (and broker) permission, you’re welcome to market another listing in pursuit of buyers.

How to Post a Real Estate Ad on Craigslist

Posting a real estate listing on Craigslist (the first step to actually getting a lead) is easy. Here’s the step by step:

1. Go to www.craigslist.org and select your local page
2. Find the “Housing” category on the homepage and click on “Real Estate For Sale”
3. In the top right hand corner, click on “Post”
4. When prompted what type of post you’re making, select ”Housing Offered”
5. In your category, select “Real Estate – By Broker”
6. Agree to the Craigslist Terms of Service
7. Fill in the required listing information
8. Add some photos of the property
9. Confirm your listing’s location on the map
10. Review your listing and publish

Creating a listing takes less than five minutes, but most agents miss out on the power-ups that actually turn Craigslist (CL) into an active lead generator. Here are the seven things you can do to take your CL strategy to the next level.

How to Get Real Estate Leads From Craigslist: 7 Killer Strategies

Let’s dig into how you can maximize your converting leads.

1. Create a Craigslist Account, DON’T Post as a Guest

Posting on Craigslist is easy. So easy, in fact, that you can do it without even creating an account on the site. But, this is often the first mistake that real estate agents make. The benefits of having an account are huge.

On Craigslist, postings are displayed on the page newest to oldest. Unlike on platforms (like Facebook), where an algorithm is tailoring what you see based on your behavior, likes, and dislikes, everyone sees everything, based on when it was posted.

Users with a Craigslist account can easily log in and see every single post they currently have active on the site. With a couple clicks, they can renew their listing (an option available 48 hours after your listing goes live) so that it gets pushed back to the top of the Craigslist feed.

Users without an account can also renew their posts, but to do so, they’ll need to hunt through their inbox for the email they received when they completed the initial post and jump through hoops to verify that the post was actually theirs every time they want to update, edit, or renew—a laborious and time-consuming process.

An account allows you to renew all your ads from a single screen with just a couple of clicks.

2. Write a Great Headline

We here at The Close know a few things about headlines. In fact, we eat, sleep, and breathe headlines. Through years of experience writing content for the website, making social media posts, and crafting email, we know that if a headline doesn’t grab your attention, you just aren’t going to click. The same goes for Craigslist.

Most agents use mediocre headlines like, “For Sale: 345 Main Street.” This headline might tell us the address, but it doesn’t give us a reason to click through.

Instead, try something like, “STUNNING Four Bedroom Meadowbrook Home Just Listed For Sale.”

This headline uses a flashy adjective (“stunning”), it describes a physical feature (“four bedrooms”), calls out a prestigious neighborhood (“Meadowbrook”), and adds some urgency (“just listed”). Most browsers of Craigslist are scrolling relatively quickly through the listings page. If your headline doesn’t stand out, it’s going to get ignored.

Still not confident in your headline abilities? Check out this headline analyzer from CoSchedule to get some feedback on your headlines.

3. Write Fantastic, Motivating Ad Copy

Ad copy on Craigslist is deceptively important. Here’s why.

On a typical MLS listing, you’ve got categories of searchable information that a home shopper can sort by: square footage, acreage, bedrooms, bathrooms, township, style, and so on. Though some of these dimensions are searchable on Craigslist, most searchers aren’t using them. This means that your ad copy has to display all of the most important information for a listing, and do it in a way that will entice your reader to learn more.

There’s a fine line when it comes to Craigslist ad copy—you want to provide enough information that a buyer is interested in the home, but you don’t want to provide so much that they feel like they can make their decision on whether to see the home without first talking to you.

Here’s an example of some excellent Craigslist real estate ad copy:

copy to clipboard

“If you’re looking for a fantastic home on the west side of the city, you’ve found it. 123 Main Street is a practically new home (built in 2018) that comes complete with top-of-the-line finishes throughout, including marble countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms, maple hardwood floors on the spacious first floor, and plush Berber carpet with a double-thick pad upstairs.

“With four bedrooms and three full baths, this home has enough room for families of any shape or size. When it’s time to relax, step outside into your fenced backyard and spend some time on the newly laid patio.

“To see more photos, learn more about this property, find out any special buyer incentives the seller may be offering, and to set up a showing, text or call today.”

This ad copy is clear, engaging, and paints a picture of the experience of being in the home, not just objective details. The goal is to motivate a reader to want to learn more, and that’s what we’re going to do in Strategy #4.

Not much of a writer? Don’t worry, there’s a solution for that. We found lots of highly experienced Craigslist Ad Experts on Fiverr who can write all the content for you, some starting as low as just five bucks. Check out Fiverr to see what freelance options are available.

Visit Fiverr

4. Create a Clear Call to Action

Craigslist’s terms of service make it so the typical call to action for real estate ads (something like, “Visit our website to learn more about this home and to schedule a showing!”) isn’t allowed. You’re not even allowed to include a hyperlinked URL in the ad copy itself, and attempts to get around this rule (like saying “copy and paste this URL to learn more”) are sure-fire ways to get your ad flagged.

This roadblock is another place where real estate agents stumble with Craigslist because their path to contact conversion is blocked. But we’ve got the solution for you.

You are allowed to include a phone number with your listing; in fact, you’re encouraged to do so.

When creating your ad copy, use a phrase like, “Text or call me to learn more about this home, including any special incentives the seller may be offering, and to set up a showing.”

By making the call to action a call or a text, you give your buyers options, depending on their urgency and comfort level.

5. Include the Right Photos, But Not All of Them

Craigslist ads without photos are like cheeseburgers without buns. Sure, there’s some nourishment there, but honestly, who eats a burger without a bun? Most browsers won’t take action on an ad unless they have some visual to back up your ad copy, so choose the best listing photos you’ve got and include them just like you would on your MLS listing.

However, stop short of including all the photos. In fact, we suggest only including five to seven photos. That way, you can include in your call to action a request to text or call you for access to the rest of the property images.

6. Plan Your Renewal & Reposting Cadence

Remember back in Strategy #1 when we told you about how easy it is to renew your ad if you’ve got a Craigslist account? It’s easy, but only effective if you actually do it.

Craigslist ads are displayed newest to oldest, so in order to stay at the top of the feed, you’ve got to constantly be refreshing your ads.

Our suggestion? Set aside some time every morning to work on Craigslist stuff. When you log into your account, you’ll see which of your ads are eligible for renewal. Push anything that you can back to the top of the feed, but don’t renew more than five posts in a single day.

The reason we suggest not doing more is that Craigslist has some automated monitoring in place to flag spam accounts. If your renewal volume gets too high, you may trip one of those safeguards and have to start all over with a new account.

Also, set a reminder on your calendar to remove and recreate posts after 21 days. Most of the browsers on Craigslist are repeat viewers, meaning, they come back to the site day after day to look for something new. If they clicked on your ad but didn’t convert, seeing it at the top of the feed again is most likely not going to trigger a call or text.

However, a new ad (for the same property) with a new headline, some new photos (another good reason not to post all the photos at once), and some refreshed ad copy might, which makes the reposting of an ad a valuable strategy for properties that aren’t getting many leads right out of the gate.

7. Have a Solid Lead Conversion Strategy

You’ve created an account and posted a great-looking ad with all the right photos and intriguing ad copy. Mow what? Now you need to actually convert the leads you get into clients.

Most of the leads you’ll see from Craigslist are high-funnel buyers, usually in the “Just Looking” phase of their real estate journey. This can be frustrating to some real estate agents, but you should be happy about it. Here’s why:

Generally, these early-stage buyers haven’t spoken to a mortgage lender or a real estate agent. They don’t know what they want—they just know they want to look. This gives you an opportunity to provide value early in their process, cementing yourself as a trusted resource and partner in their mission.

What to Do When a Lead Call or Text Comes In

When someone calls or texts you from a Craigslist ad, don’t delay in providing that value. Ask for their email so you can send them the full listing of the property as a link from your website. This does two things: First, it gets you an email address to add to their lead information. The second thing it does is gets them into a traditional lead ecosystem where you can manage them alongside other leads in your customer relationship manager (CRM).

Ask for a Showing

Next, immediately ask if they’d like to schedule a showing. Sometimes a little momentum is all it takes to push the “Lookers” into being “Shoppers.” This gives you space to ask if they’ve been preapproved (if they haven’t, it gives you an opportunity to make a referral to a mortgage lender you like), and to continue the conversation about what they’re looking for in a home.

Start Your Long-term Nurture Strategy

If you get an email address from the lead, set them up to receive property alerts from your website of homes in the area that match the basic criteria of the property they requested information on.

Before you activate the drip, shoot them a message and say something like, “I was just doing a search on my website for properties for another client (a demonstration that you’re a successful agent with a high-functioning website), and I saw some homes that I thought you might like too. I’ve set you up on a property alert for homes like these; feel free to let me know if you want me to adjust the criteria or pause it at any time.”

This allows you to create a cadence of regular contact with the lead, which then gives you a reason to check in once every couple of weeks to see if there’s anything you can do.

Need Help With Lead Nurturing?

The key to success with any real estate lead generation strategy (not just Craigslist) is consistent nurturing and follow-up. There are lots of ways that real estate agents go about this, but the most efficient and effective way is to use a real estate CRM. We’ve written an entire buyer’s guide all about The Best Real Estate CRMs, but in case you just want one suggestion, our top pick is LionDesk.

LionDesk makes Craigslist lead follow-up easy, automates the bulk of the process, and keeps you in the loop on the progress your leads are making down the funnel. And, with a 30-day free trial (you don’t even need a credit card), you can check out LionDesk for yourself, risk-free.

Visit LionDesk

Bonus Strategy: Go After Seller Leads

This article has been all about capturing buyer leads—what you’ll find most on Craigslist. But, there’s a strategy for capturing listing leads too.

Remember, there are a LOT of FSBO posts on Craigslist. Most of these FSBOs include a phone number for more information, and just about everyone offers email as a contact option.

You can work these FSBOs just like any other, but we suggest starting with a quick comparative market analysis (CMA) of their property (chances are you can get most of the details you need from their Craigslist ad) so that in your initial conversation with them, you can offer them an idea of the value of their property.

If you come up with a number vastly different than what they’re listing their home for (even if it is much lower), you’ve got an entry point to get the conversation started.

If you’re not sure what to say when cold emailing or calling FSBOs, make sure to check our article, 5 Best FSBO Scripts & Why They Work.

Your Turn

Still have questions on how to get real estate leads from Craigslist? Getting ready to start your first push onto Craigslist? We’d love to hear your questions or results—tell us in the comments below.

For more advice on lead generation tactics like using Craigslist, make sure to join our Facebook Mastermind Group.

The post How to Get Real Estate Leads From Craigslist That Actually Convert appeared first on The Close.

To make matters worse, Facebook and Google both changed their algorithms which means getting leads from your feed or organic search is harder than ever, if not straight up impossible.

Scary right? It doesn’t have to be…

Smart agents are learning how to adapt their real estate marketing plans for 2022 to keep pace with all the crazy changes.

In today’s uncertain times agents need a solid marketing plan more than ever. That’s why we created this handy template so you can prioritize and organize your marketing strategies to come out of this with your feet firmly on the ground.

Download My Free Real Estate Marketing Plan Template

In order to get you thinking strategically, here are 21 foolproof real estate marketing strategies that will work no matter what curveball comes your way.

1. Market Yourself on the World’s Biggest Real Estate Website

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to 10x your business: The world’s largest real estate website has only gotten bigger…  

See that guy in the middle there? The one with the huge smile on his face? That’s Luke Monroe, Managing Broker for Kendrick Realty.

He’s smiling because he grew his brokerage from nothing to more than 50 agents by doing something very simple.

He buys each agent $3000 worth of Zillow leads every month.

His agents get to focus on selling, (what they do best), and Luke gets to focus on scaling his business.

Everybody wins.

If you’re serious about scaling your business, then you need to start taking advantage of the hyperlocal marketing opportunities available on Zillow.

You can sponsor targeted local listings, get prime placement in the agent finder, home valuations, and more.

See what’s available in your zip code below.

Visit Zillow

2. Schedule Email and Text Messages to Your Nurturing Clients

Are you still sending every single email and text messages to your clients, one at a time? If so, I’ve got some really good news for you. 

Many of the messages we’re sending to clients still in the nurturing stage of their journey are designed to keep you top of mind. Rather than sucking up your time every single day, using a CRM like CINC allows you to schedule these messages to be sent at just the right time, allowing you to focus your precious time on clients that are ready to close.”

Check out CINC today to see what they have to offer for you, your team, and your brokerage. 

3. Use Paid Lead Sources to A/B Test Marketing & Nurturing Ideas Quickly

Statistics can be tricky. While closing one of the two leads you got in a month is technically a 50% closing rate, what would happen if you got 100 leads?

In order to truly test the viability of a real estate marketing strategy, you need leads. Lots and lots of leads. If you want to run a seller’s drip campaign, you’re going to need seller leads. If you want to run an SMS drip to buyer’s, you’re going to need buyer leads.

Luckily, you can cut out the middleman and just buy leads.Once you get a decent number of leads, you can try A/B testing different strategies with different lead sets to see what works best quickly.

Best Resources for Getting Paid Leads to Test Marketing Ideas Quickly

The post 21 Real Estate Marketing Strategies (Hint: None Are Facebook) appeared first on The Close.

Sure, your email drip campaigns work great, but you’re still only getting a fraction of your leads to read your messages.

Luckily there is a MUCH better way to engage with your leads.

It’s so good that according to a study by Hubspot, this method boasts open rates that are 242% higher than email.

It’s actually dead simple: Facebook Messenger marketing.

What The Heck is Facebook Messenger Marketing?

Facebook Messenger marketing let’s you reach your leads on the feature of Facebook they use more than any other. Facebook Messenger.

For some people, Facebook Messenger IS Facebook. Their feeds might as well not even exist.

For real estate marketers, it offers a few amazing benefits that email or display ads don’t:

1. You get access to their profile
2. People are much more likely to engage with you on Facebook Messenger
3. Many people, especially millennials, rarely use email
4. You can offer people instant responses via chat bots 24/7
5. You can target users on Instagram messenger as well as Facebook
6. A larger audience. Believe it or not, messenger apps have already surpassed active users on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin.

Don’t believe me? Check out this chart from Business Insider’s Messaging App Report:

Sounds pretty sweet right? Okay, let’s dive into the weeds a bit to see if this could be the real estate marketing strategy that takes your business to the next level.

The 4 Facebook Messenger Marketing Strategies 

Okay, by now you’re probably dying to know more about Facebook Messenger Marketing, so here is a quick rundown of your options to reach leads with Facebook Messenger.

1. Facebook Click to Messenger Ads

Click to Messenger Ads are basically identical to regular Facebook ads. They show up in your audience’s news feed, and you can target your audience exactly how you would for a normal Facebook ad.

The main difference and reason they’re awesome is the CTA. A CTA on a Click to Messenger Ad entices your leads to start a conversation with you (or a chat bot) via Messenger.

Here’s an example of what a Click to Messenger Ad will look like in your audience’s news feed.

On the left, we have what the ad will look like when someone is scrolling through their news feed. Note that the CTA here is “Learn More” but you can change that to “Send Message” or “Chat now” depending on your campaign.

Other than the CTA, Click to Messenger ads work just like normal Facebook ads. Your audience can like, comment, or share your ad like any other.

On the right, is what the ad looks like when someone clicks on the CTA. As you can see, the ad opens in Facebook Messenger and encourages the lead to chat with you or a chat bot you’re set up to qualify leads.

More on this later.

2. Facebook Messenger Homepage Ads

Another option that Facebook offers are ads that show up on the homepage of your audience’s Facebook Messenger account.

Here’s an example of what a Facebook Messenger Homepage ad:

These ads work just like the Click to Messenger ads. When your lead clicks on the CTA, they open up a chat window where they can interact with you or a chat bot.

Here’s what this particular Messenger Homepage ad looks like when a lead clicks on the CTA and opens a chat window in Messenger.Note how Facebook offers them a choice of two pre selected responses. In this case, leads can choose “Find a Nearby Store” or “Hours”. The response the chat bot gives them will depend on which response they choose.

Fun right?

These pre selected responses are customizable and offer Realtors a powerful new way to segment or qualify leads automatically.

Sponsored Message Ads

Sponsored Message Ads take it a step further and actually send your lead a message to their Messenger account inbox.

Because you are sending a lead a direct message, Facebook sponsored message ads are only offered for leads you are “retargeting”. In other words, leads that have already engaged with your Facebook ads in the past.

Here’s what a sponsored message ad looks like:

Engaging Visitors to Your Website with Facebook Messenger Chatbots

Another way you can market your services to your leads with Facebook Messenger is to embed Facebook Messenger Live Chat or a Facebook Messenger Chat Bot on your website.

The cool part is that you can use Facebook Messenger on your site to offer your visitors a lead magnet like an Ebook to get their contact info, for lead qualifying, or even for general inquiries and customer service requests.

Here’s what a CTA using Facebook Messenger looks like on Botacademy.com:Here’s another one from their homepage that offers a free ebook as a lead magnet:When you click through each CTA, you open messenger and begin a pre-scripted chat with a bot designed by Bot Academy.

While there are a lot of great live chat options for your website like Drift that are free, using Facebook Messenger on your site give you the option of knowing who your leads are. You can also retarget them with sponsored message ads.

How to Design Irresistible Facebook Messenger Marketing Campaigns for Buyers and Seller

Now that you have an idea of why you should be using Facebook Messenger Marketing to generate leads, here’s some ideas to inspire campaigns:

Campaigns Ideas for Buyer Leads

Free Ebooks on specific market data

Think outside the new homebuyer’s guide and get creative. What behind the scenes data do you have that will be irresistible for your leads?

No matter what you choose, just remember to be as specific as possible in your title.

Something like “This one type of Austin Home Sold 4x Faster” will work much better than “Fastest Selling Homes in Austin”.

Did you notice how specific the title of this article was? That wasn’t an accident.

An “Ask Me Anything” No Strings Chat Session

Another lead magnet that works to Facebook Messenger’s advantages might be an “Ask me anything” chat session. This would be great for new buyers and can also be used later on in chat bot sessions.

Campaign Ideas for Seller Leads

A Locally Focused Home Staging, Renovation or Curb Appeal Guide

A great one for FSBO or first time sellers, these guides are pretty easy to write, and something that many sellers are looking for second opinions on.

Free CMA or In Person Home Valuation

These work great in display ads, and will work even better for Messenger ads.

Automating Replies Using Chat Bots

One of the most intriguing things about Facebook Messenger marketing for real estate is the ability to build chat bots to engage with your leads.

Chat bots are simple scripts that respond to your leads when they interact with your ad. While some bots can “read” your leads responses and respond accordingly, many just offer them multiple choice suggestions for responses.

For example, a chat bot for your buyer campaign might ask if they are looking to buy or rent. Or, you might ask when they need to move then give a range of “1-6 months”, “6-12 months”, or “Just Looking.”

You can program the bot to respond differently depending on the answer your lead gives them.

Where to Create Chat Bots for Free

While chat bots for Facebook Messenger campaigns are easy to build, for brevity’s sake we’ll just point you to some resources where you can learn how to build chat bots for free.Want to learn more about making and using bots? Start here.Chatfuel let’s you build your own custom real estate chatbot for Facebook Messenger for free. You can use the bot on your website or in a campaign.

The only drawback is that Chatfuel adds their branding to your bots. To remove the branding you can get a pro account for $30 per month.Onsequel is another place where you can build a bot for free and publish to Facebook or Kik.Manychat lets you build chat bots with an easy to use visual interface.Another great site to build your chat bot for free. Paid plans offer bots that work for Alexa, 1,000 users, and a website chat bot.

How to Set up Facebook Messenger Campaigns

If you’re already advertising on Facebook, setting up Messenger campaigns is pretty straightforward.

You can find Facebook’s step-by-step guide on Facebook Messenger Ads here. 

Over to You

Have experience or opinions about Facebook Messenger marketing? Let us know in the comments.

The post This Strategy Gets Open Rates 242% Higher Than Email… appeared first on The Close.

That’s why I decided to share what I think are the best real estate social media templates of 2022. I’ve included templates for Facebook posts, Instagram posts, Instagram Stories, and Highlight covers. I’ll also share the best places to get real estate templates and explain why we prefer paying for high-quality ones instead of using the many free options available.

Free Template: Housing Market Infographic

Real Estate Facebook Post Templates

1. You Only List Once Facebook Post Template

Type: Promotional Facebook Post
Style: Modern
Pricing: $59 per month
Available on: LCA Marketing Center

While there are a ton of “just listed” templates on Canva, they never have catchy copy like this promotional template from LCA Marketing Center. If you’re not great at writing copy, why not use social media templates that have customized real estate copy done for you?

Customize on LCA Marketing Center

2. Modern Testimonial Facebook Post Template

Type: Testimonial Facebook Post
Style: Luxury
Pricing: $25 per month
Available on: Agent Crate

Facebook is the perfect place to show off your testimonials from happy former clients, and this simple template from Agent Crate will make them look great too. There are a ton of client testimonial templates out there, so just make sure you stick one that fits your personal brand. This template should work with pretty much any brand.

Customize on Agent Crate

3. Modern Price Reduced Facebook Post Template

Type: Testimonial Facebook Post
Style: Modern
Pricing: $25 per month
Available on: Agent Crate

While reducing prices might be something of a rarity these days, that doesn’t mean you won’t need a “price reduced” template in the future. This attention-grabbing example from Agent Crate is a solid choice.

Customize on Agent Crate

4. Referral Request Facebook Post

Type: Referral Request Facebook post
Style: Luxury
Pricing: $54 per month
Available on: Coffee & Contracts

If you want to get more referrals, then you need to ask for them. Many people might not know just how important referrals are for your business, or might be so busy packing, moving, and settling in that they forget.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

5. Down Payment Pitch Facebook Post

Type: Down Payment Pitch Facebook Post
Style: Modern
Pricing: $59 per month
Available on: LCA Marketing Center

More snappy copy from LCA Marketing Center! This template can be deadly for the few months after April 15. This is an aggressive pitch for sure, but will work like a charm used sparingly in your feed.

Customize on LCA Marketing Center

BONUS: Have Social Media Posts Created for You

Tired of coming up with ideas for social media content and want to spend more time selling houses? In 2022, smart agents are using services like Artur’In to give their social accounts a boost from the pros while they concentrate on selling houses.

For a flat monthly fee, they will create and post engaging local, branded photo and video content to your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts. They will also design and run Facebook ads for you with MLS integration, and even write your blog. It’s like having a dedicated marketing team for less than what you probably spend on lunch every day.

Visit Artur’In

6. Pastel Just Listed Facebook Post

Type: Just Listed Facebook Post
Style: Boho Chic
Pricing: $59 per month
Available on: LCA Marketing Center

We love this trendy boho chic just-listed template from LCA Marketing Center. The colors, the design, and the crisp typography all ooze elegance and charm. If your personal brand is on the softer side, this will work perfectly for you.

Customize on LCA Marketing Center

Instagram Posts Templates

7. Make It Simple Carousel Instagram Post

Type: Promotional Instagram Post (4 of 12 total slides shown here)
Style: Chic
Pricing: $54 per month 
Available on: Coffee & Contracts

This 12-slide carousel post from Coffee & Contracts is a great way to promote your real estate services to your audience. It’s subtle, helpful, and manages to be self-promotional without slamming them over the head with a hard sell.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

8. Mortgage Rate Forecasts Instagram Post Template

Type: Educational Instagram Post
Style: Luxury 
Pricing: $59 per month
Available on: LCA Marketing Center

Educational posts are a vital tool to remind your followers of the potential value you can add to their financial future. The key is to post these on a schedule, whether it’s weekly, monthly, or quarterly, so your followers know when to expect them.

Customize on LCA Marketing Center

9. New Realtor Announcement Instagram Post

Type: New Realtor Announcement Instagram Post
Style: Modern
Pricing: $54 per month
Available on: Coffee & Contracts

Once you’ve built a personal brand you’re proud of, the next step is to shout it from the mountaintops so everyone in your sphere knows you’re there to help. This simple, clever template from Coffee & Contracts does just that.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

10. Modern Open House Template

Type: Open House Instagram Post
Style: Luxury
Pricing: $25 per month
Available on: Agent Crate

While open house announcements generally work better as stories, posting them to your feed is a great way to remind your followers just how busy you are. If they see you grinding, they will know how hard you work and over time will associate your personal brand with hard work, dedication, and success.

Customize on Agent Crate

11. The Broke Agent Valentine’s Day Meme Template

Type: Meme Instagram Post
Style: Funny
Pricing: $54 per month
Available on: Coffee & Contracts

We love this customizable real estate meme template from our friend Eric Simon, aka The Broke Agent. If you think memes are just for kids, think again. Even the biggest brands in the world use memes to market their brands these days.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

12. Modern Just Listed Instagram Post Template

Type: Just Listed Instagram Post
Style: Modern
Pricing: By subscription at $59 per month 
Available on: LCA Marketing Center

This just listed social media template from LCA Marketing Center is clean, simple, and elegant. Perfect for promoting a new luxury listing, or lending a little class to a starter home. Great photography is key for a template like this, so make sure to hire a great photographer or read our guide if you DIY.

Customize on LCA Marketing Center

13. Luxury Just Listed Template

Type: Just Listed Instagram Post
Style: Luxury
Pricing: $25 per month
Available on: Agent Crate

We love the muted pastel tones of this just listed template from Agent Crate. It’s perfect for waterfront listings, historic listings, or anything listing that deserves some casually luxurious design

Customize on Agent Crate

14. Officially Off the Market Instagram Post

Type: Just Sold Instagram Post
Style: Luxury
Pricing: $54 per month 
Available on: Coffee & Contracts

Just because you “just sold” another listing doesn’t mean you need to plaster the words “just sold” all over your Instagram feed. This template from Coffee & Contracts adds a little cleverness to your just-listed posts.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

15. Track Record Instagram Post

Type: Track Record Instagram Post
Style: Luxury 
Pricing: $59 per month 
Available on: LCA Marketing Center

Always remember: If you actually did it, it’s not bragging! If you have some wins under your belt, then sharing them with your followers is a no-brainer. This elegant template from LCA Marketing Center is a great way to show off those wins.

Customize on LCA Marketing Center

16. 5 Reasons to Work With Us Instagram Post Template

Type: Promotional Instagram Post
Style: Luxury
Pricing: $59 per month
Available on: LCA Marketing Center

While getting engagement is crucial on Instagram, sometimes you need to just pitch your services directly. This simple, clean, template from LCA Marketing Center is a great way to do it. If you can’t come up with five reasons to work with you, take the time to work on your mission, vision, and values before you edit this template. Sean’s guide below is for brokerages but works for agents too.

Customize on LCA Marketing Center

17. Did You Know Carousel Post

Type: Promotional Carousel Instagram Post (4 out of 7 slides total shown here)
Style: Modern
Pricing: $54 per month
Available on: Coffee & Contracts

Another direct pitch for your followers, this modern template from Coffee & Contracts has great design, great copy, and draws your followers in to read the whole series. The seven slides in this carousel post template ends with a call to action.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

Instagram Stories Templates

18. Under Contract Instagram Story (Animated)

Type: Under Contract Instagram Story (2 of 8 total slides shown here)
Style: Modern
Pricing: $54 per month
Available on: Coffee & Contracts

This animated story template is a great way to brag about your recent success without sounding too salesly. There are eight total slides in this carousel with different styles and closers.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

19. Open House Instagram Story

Type: Open House Instagram Story
Style: Modern
Pricing: $59 per month
Available on: LCA Marketing Center

A great open house story template that is perfect for luxury listings. If you don’t have a luxury listing for this, try asking a luxury listing agent in your brokerage if they’ll let you run one for one of theirs. Promoting luxury open houses in your stories is a great way to associate your personal brand with luxury.

Customize on LCA Marketing Center

20. Real Estate Mythbusters

Type: Educational Instagram Story (3 of 9 total images shown here)
Available on: Coffee & Contracts
Pricing: $54 per month
Style: Modern

We love this quick educational carousel from Coffee & Contracts. It manages to educate your followers in a fun way. Quick hit educational or entertainment content does great on Instagram and is what Stories were designed for.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

21. Describe Your House in Emojis Template

Type: Engagement Instagram Story
Style: Fun
Pricing: $25 per month
Available on: Agent Crate

Fun prompts like this one from Agent Crate are a great way to increase engagement with your followers. If you want to build your account, increasing engagement should be job one. You can learn more engagement-building tricks from Eric Simon, aka The Broke Agent below.

Customize on Agent Crate

22. Market Update Instagram Story Template

Type: Market Update Instagram Story (2 of 3 total images show here)
Style: Light/Modern
Pricing: $54 per month 
Available on: Coffee & Contracts

This market update template from Coffee & Contracts is perfect for agents who have chic personal brands. If you want a little more contrast, try the black version.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

23. Linen Open House Instagram Story Template

Type: Open House Instagram Story
Style: Luxury
Pricing: $25 per month
Available on: Agent Crate

Simple, clean, and attractive, this template is a great way to show off your open house next Sunday.

Customize on Agent Crate

24. Yes/No Quiz Story Template

Type: Quiz Instagram Story
Style: Modern
Pricing: $25 per month 
Available on: Agent Crate

Another great template to spark engagement, this one from Agent Crate asks your followers one of the most contentious questions that people have about real estate. You might even get some fellow agents arguing in the comments.

Customize on Agent Crate

25. Open House Instagram Story Template

Type: Open House Instagram Story
Style: Modern
Pricing: $59 per month
Available on: LCA Marketing Center

Another modern, elegant open house template from LCA Marketing center. This will work perfectly for sleek modern listings like the example photo in the template.

Customize on LCA Marketing Center

26. This or That Home Design Instagram Story

Type: Home Design Instagram Story (3 of 7 total images shown here)
Style: Boho Chic
Pricing: $54 per month
Available on: Coffee & Contracts

Some say there are three ways to build an Instagram following: engagement, engagement, and engagement. That’s why posting fun quizzes like this “this or that” home design template from Coffee & Contracts will help you build your account.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

Instagram Highlights Covers

27. Black Modern Instagram Highlight Cover Templates

Type: Instagram Highlight Covers
Format: Canva 
Style: Modern, Bold
Pricing: $2.50
Available on: Etsy

Even if you have killer stories, your followers might not see them right away. This is why using highlights covers like these from Etsy on your profile highlights is important. Instead of random images, your highlights will be clearly categorized and easy for your followers to decide if they want to watch.

Download This Template on Etsy

28. Luxury Gold Instagram Highlights Cover Templates

Type: Instagram Highlight Covers
Format: Canva
Style: Luxury
Pricing: $2.99
Available on: Etsy

If your brand is a bit more elegant, then these metallic gold highlights covers are a great way to lure your followers into watching more of your stories on your profile.

Download This Template on Etsy

29. Icon Instagram Highlights Covers

Type: Instagram Highlight Covers
Style: Luxury
Pricing: $54 per month
Available on: Coffee & Contracts

Here’s another simple, clean highlights cover template from Coffee & Contracts. When choosing social media templates or highlights covers, make sure they work with your personal brand.

Customize on Coffee & Contracts

Where to Get the Best Real Estate Templates for Social Media (Free vs Paid)

If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t include any of the hundreds of thousands of free templates on Canva in this article. Why am I telling agents to spend $50+ per month instead of $5 for a Canva Pro account? 

The quality of the free and even Pro templates on Canva doesn’t compare to the companies creating templates specifically for agents. The layouts don’t look as professional and the copy is generic and not written by agents. Sure, they might work in a pinch, but are you trying to build a lasting career or save fifty bucks a month?

The ROI for Paid Social Media Templates Is Clear: Design, Copy & Variety 

If you’re trying to build a career selling houses and think social media is the right way to do it, then high-quality templates are no longer optional. Not when you’re competing with agents who buy high-quality templates. 

The most compelling reason to always use paid templates is that the design quality is head and shoulders above free options. If you don’t believe me, go look for just listed templates on Canva, and then compare them to the templates in this article. 

The second reason why paid templates have such a good return on investment (ROI) is that they offer much more than just pretty designs. Paid template companies like Coffee & Contracts and Lab Coat Agents (LCA) include snappy copy written by top-producing agents. Coffee & Contracts even includes Reels scripts. 

Finally, the companies that sell templates with a price tag also offer templates for print materials like business cards, flyers, postcards, open house signage, one-sheets, and much more, making your branding more cohesive. Many even have fully written blog posts, CMAs, and buyer’s guides. 

4 Places to Buy the Best Real Estate Social Media Templates in 2022

If you’re in the market for high-quality real estate social media templates, here is a quick breakdown of the best places online to buy them. 

1. Coffee & Contracts

Pricing: $54 per month
Contract required? No
Best for: Instagram Stories & Reels
Drawbacks: You still need Canva to edit their templates

Coffee & Contracts templates combine great copy along with beautifully designed templates. Many of theirs come ready to go with checklists, buyer’s guides, quizzes, and more. They even offer video scripts for Instagram Reels. 

The only drawback is that Coffee & Contracts does not have an in-app editor. You will need Canva to edit their templates. That said, most agents are already familiar with Canva, and Canva is easier to use and offers more features than other in-app editors.

Visit Coffee & Contracts

2. Lab Coat Agents Marketing Center

Pricing: $59 per month
Contract required? No
Best for: Teams and Brokerages
Drawbacks: Designs are generally more masculine

LCA Marketing Center also offers beautifully designed templates with great copy. Their aesthetic is a bit more masculine than Coffee & Contracts, but they told us they are working on designing more soft-edge Pinterest aesthetic templates this year.

Visit LCA Marketing Center

3. Agent Crate

Pricing: $25 per month
Contract required? No
Best for: Affordability & variety
Drawbacks: Graphic design is not quite as nice as Coffee & Contracts and LCA Marketing Center

Agent Crate is a super-popular template platform that offers agents pretty much all the marketing materials they need. It’s also more affordable than LCA Marketing Center and Coffee & Contracts at just $25 per month. 

The only drawback for me is that the design quality on Agent Crate is not quite at the level of either LCA Marketing Center of Coffee & Contracts. Coffee & Contracts also offers more fully fledged carousel posts and Stories for Instagram.

Visit Agent Crate

4. Etsy

Pricing: $2.99+
Contract required? No
Best for: Affordability and variety
Drawbacks: Lower design and copy quality

If you don’t want to sign up for a monthly subscription, then Etsy is another great place to buy real estate social media templates. Many sellers on Etsy offer packages that include a hundred or more templates for a one-time price. 

The drawback with using Etsy is that while the designs are slightly nicer than Canva, they’re not quite on the same level as Coffee & Contracts or LCA Marketing Center. The copy is also nowhere near as good. You get pretty designs and that’s about it.

Visit Etsy

Over to You

Where are you getting your real estate social media templates from this year? Do you agree that free templates don’t offer the same ROI as paid templates? Let us know in the comments.

The post 29 Best Real Estate Social Media Templates for Facebook & Instagram appeared first on The Close.

Barbara Corcoran talks about resilience as key to success in pretty much every interview she gives. Psychologists have singled out conscientiousness, the clinical term for resilience, as one of the key elements of professional and personal success.

That’s why we were excited to have a chance to sit down with Louisiana Realtor and developer Terrica Smith. When she was younger, Terrica faced the ultimate test of resilience. Homelessness and abuse.

Here’s her amazing story:

Sean Moudry:
Good morning, Closers. It’s Sean Moudry and we have an amazing guest today. She’s inspirational. She’s powerful. And you’re going to love this interview. Terrica Smith, welcome.

Terrica Smith:
Yes, thank you for having me. Yay, I’m so excited.

Sean Moudry:
I’m really excited to interview you today, and what a cool story you have. Can we talk a little bit about that? Because it sounds like that’s where your passion for real estate kind of came in, is that correct?

Terrica Smith:
For me, I think everybody had their own life struggles. If I’m being honest, it just so happened mine was abuse. And I went through a lot of childhood abuse. Five years old, my mother gave me over to her drug dealer and by the time I was 9, 10 years old, I was into the foster care system. By the time I made 16 years old, I was already pregnant with my first child. And at this age, when you went through so much as a child, you’d naturally think “can’t nobody tell you anything,” like you’re an adult now. So now I’m going to try to make the best decisions for myself.

And I started traveling the road. I was selling magazines. I actually got pregnant on the road, selling magazines. And I came off the road, went back to New Orleans after I found out I was pregnant and I just, I didn’t have no family.

Terrica Smith:
And so I ended up homeless, living up under a bridge for a night with my child. And that was like a real defining moment for me, because I just had my baby, I’m 17 years old. And the person who I resent the most, which was my mother at the time, I’m now looking exactly like her. And I knew that I wanted to make a change. I did not want my son to go through what I’ve been through.

I didn’t want him to experience being hungry. I didn’t want him to experience not having power on in the house. I didn’t want him to experience abuse. So I was very overprotective over him. Didn’t want nobody to touch him or tell him anything. And so for me, that night up under the bridge, I had to make a decision: Is this going to be my reality? If this is going to remain real, then I’m going to be exactly like the person who I’ve been running from my whole life and who I resented the most.

Terrica Smith:
And so for me, I needed to change that. And that night is so crazy. I was like, “All right, I’m going to do this. I’m going to figure it out.” The next morning, I reached out to this landlord in New Orleans. I had no money; I just had my food stamps. I offered him my full food stamp card just to get me a place to stay. I would have figured out the rest later. And he was just amazed at how bold I was to call him and offer him something illegal, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to be off the streets. And he didn’t want to take my card, he didn’t want to take anything.

Terrica Smith:
He just was, “I’ll work with what you have.” And so I was able to get welfare and then I was able to pull some money together. And then eventually I was able to pay him. But he gave me a few months free—he really helped me out. And that was a changing moment in my life. Because when I was traveling the road, I’ve seen all of these megamansions, people living in these beautiful houses. And I’ve never seen anything like that in Louisiana. It always stayed with me, even whenever I was homeless. And these people had these big mansions, and I’m like, “I’m no different than them, and why they have a better life than me and why they have … Why these kids have loving parents, I didn’t have that.”

Terrica Smith:
So I was always like that victim. And then what happened was once he gave me that first stepping stone, I realized that I had more power within me than what I really thought I had.

Because somebody who don’t have any money and homeless the day before turned their situation around the very next day by simply asking. And so for me, once I realized that, and you know, I got into my apartment, was like, “All right, I’m going to go to school.” Well, I ended up at Delgado Community College. I’m fast-forwarding through the story quite a bit. But I ended up at Delgado Community College, then lasted all of about 30 days. Because I was going up for nursing school and I realized I did not want to help, I’m not compassionate like that. I don’t want to clean people for a living or do that service. That’s just not me.

Terrica Smith:
And so the teacher set out to be able to tell you right away, if you guys are going to be able to stay in nursing. And she was like, “During surgery you have to prep.” And then she told us everything you have to do to prep a female, everything you have to do to prep a male. And some of the things you may have to clean up during surgery. And I was like, “All right, I’m out. This is not for me.” So I got out of the class real fast.

Hurricane Katrina came; by this time, I’ve had two kids and I’m 19 years old. I’m like, “All right guys, something got to change.” So we end up relocating to a city in Louisiana, called Lafayette, Louisiana. And that’s where I started in real estate back in 2006. That was a defining moment, because everybody who I met that lived in these megamansions always said they were in real estate.

Terrica Smith:
So I was like, “All right, I’m going to get into real estate. And I’m going to make all this money and I’m going to be this fabulous person.” And then the first year I sell $5,000 in real estate. Literally. That was like, “Oh my gosh, people at McDonald’s make more than me.” I failed this exam seven times. So you would think, why do people do this? This exam was extremely hard for me.

So I was like, “I’m going to hang in there.” And then the next year I knocked it out of the ballpark. I became Century 21. I was like a rookie of the year for them. I went on to receive their Ruby award, then their Diamond award. Then later I became their office manager. In 2012 I opened up my real estate brokerage. And then from there into 2012 we started Cachet Real Estate, which I built on three principles: I wanted us to be vibrant, I wanted us to be strong, and I wanted us to be courageous.

Because when I started this business, I failed the exam seven times; no broker wanted to have me on their team. Because it was a little different, those years. It was, you wouldn’t think, but it was very different. You needed to look a certain way to go to these big luxury companies. And I didn’t look that way. I just told you, I just come from being poor. So you know, no money, I didn’t look the part that they wanted me to be at their office, right? And so I needed them to remember that you needed to be courageous, even when things like that come up against you. I need you to be vibrant, because your energy is what’s going to attract your business.

Terrica Smith:
And if you’re vibrant, then nobody’s going to want to do business with you. And in this business, you have to be strong. You have to be willing to go with the lows and with the highs. Because if you’re only going with the highs, when the market crashes, you’re going to fold. So you have to be strong in this business and you have to know people are going to talk to you like you’re nothing, and they’re going to treat you like you’re a dirty car salesman. But I just need for you to be strong.

And so from there we birthed Cachet Real Estate. Then I joined forces with Real Broker, LLC, which is who I’m with right now. We actually just went public. So I’m so super-excited.

Sean Moudry:
Awesome, congratulations.

Terrica Smith:
Yes. I’m so super-excited about that. And from there, that’s really how my real estate career was launched, tied into my personal story as well.

Sean Moudry:
What a great story. So, can you go into a little bit more depth on, like, the new agent? So, if I’m a brand-new agent, and I’m listening to your story. I mean, like you’re inspirational. So what advice would you give a new agent?

Terrica Smith:
The advice I would give a new agent is: Build your own book of business. Don’t sit around for a duty call. Don’t sit around waiting for your broker to feed you, because you will starve, right?

Pick up the newspaper, go on the internet, go door knocking. I literally hit the ground. I would knock on doors and it’d be like, “Why would I want to work with you?” And I’m like, “Because I have time. All these other agents you’re reading about in the magazine, they have all of these properties. You would be my only client. So I promise you, I’ll give you 110% of me. I’m going to know you on a first-name basis, I’m not going to have you as a number.”

And that’s how I was able to get my foot in the door. So don’t wait for somebody to hand you something because then you’ll be waiting your whole entire career. And whenever things change or whenever that broker gets a favorite, guess what? You’re hungry.

Sean Moudry:
Yeah. Oh man, you’re great. Do you have a favorite deal? Like a favorite transaction or a favorite story? A real estate story?

Terrica Smith:
Yes, so obviously mine says Madeline Cove, right? That is my heart. And Madeline Cove, so I’ll give you a little back story. Back when I was a new agent, and this is why I say don’t wait on somebody to feed you. They used me as the open house agent. And for people that may not understand what an open house agent is, you’re like the agent, they go to all the open houses and do all of the work and meet all of these people and get none of the deals.

And so I was that person, and I didn’t know, I just was so tenacious, I wanted to win. I wanted to not be poor, I wanted to not be under that bridge again. And so all of that played into how my work ethic was in real estate.

Terrica Smith:
And they were developing this community here in Lafayette. It’s on the north side of town. It’s in the inner cities, right? And this was supposed to be this huge revitalization project. And I’m an African American woman, so I was going to be able to relate to the people. I was going to understand their pain points because I’ve been through so much.

And then the partnership went south and that project never came alive. And so I literally watched this project for a decade. It sat there, it went through bankruptcy. It had to go through court proceedings. It had all types of judgments and liens with the city. Nobody could ever touch this property because it was just too defiled. And so back when President Trump created what is called the Opportunity Zone, this particular project fell within the Opportunity Zone Act.

Terrica Smith:
And I was like, “Oh yeah.” So then the wheels start turning. I went into prayer. I said, “All right, God, if this is going to work, I need your blessing. Because this land, it has been cursed for decades. It has not been successful. Everybody who’s tried to come and buy this property has failed miserably. The city is tired of talking to people about bringing this property back into commerce, so I am asking for grace and I’m asking if this is going to work, then I need for you to be the steering wheel of this. I need for you to steer this for me. And I’m just going to be in the driver’s seat.” Boom, that’s all I said, OK. I called a few business partners and I said, “Hey, there is this property that falls within an Opportunity Zone. I would like us to go and get it.”

Terrica Smith:
They’re like, “Hey, OK, cool. We’re in, how much is that?” I’m saying, “Right now they want $1.5 million.” They’re like, “What? $1.5 million in what part of town?” I’m like, “Yes, but I’m believing we’re going to get this property for almost nothing.” They’re like, “All right, we believe in you, Terrica. So we’ll follow your lead, but we ain’t paying $1.5 million, we’re telling you that now.” Like, “All right, cool. I get it.” So, from there I started reaching out to our mayor. I started reaching out to our leaders in the community, city councilman, blah, blah, blah.”

Terrica Smith:
And then I found out enough information that made me comfortable to say, “OK, I’m going to put a contract on this property.” So they were asking $1.5 million. I offered them $800,000. No, I lie. My first offer was $250,000. They said, “No, get out of here with that.” Everybody was like, “How could you insult them so bad?” I’m like, “The property’s sitting here, they owe a ton of taxes. It don’t make sense for them to keep this.” So I went back, I shot them another offer, went up 350,000, then I … They countered me back. They said, “OK, we’ll counter you back at $900,000.” I’m like, “OK, we’re making progress, $1.5M to $900K, OK.” So then ultimately we ended up agreeing to $700,000. So I got it for 50% less than what it was, right?

Sean Moudry:
Good job.

Terrica Smith:
Yeah. But this is my favorite part about this. This is the community, it has all the roads. It has all of the infrastructure, all of the hard costs, all of the soft costs. The sewage is already installed. Everything is there, except the vision. And while I was able to relate to this property because this property was abandoned, this property was thrown away, this property was looked down at. Nobody wanted to touch this property, and if they did, they just wanted to keep the stigma of where it’s at and don’t bring the people in the community up with it.

Terrica Smith:
It wasn’t going to be anything positive, but it’s going to be more of a subsidized housing type of event. And I was like, “I don’t think that’s something that we need to be doing. This is something that can rebirth an entire community, right? We’re going to be the first to create a work, live, eat, play type environment.” And so when I came in with this huge design, the city couldn’t even believe that. There’s like, “There’s no way you’re going to be able to do as much as you want to do on these 15 acres. That don’t make sense, Terrica.”

Terrica Smith:
And I had an engineer and an architect who saw the vision of being able to put new home owners with millennials, with the seniors, with a grocery store in the front and a few restaurants to be able to cater to the community. And by the time I finished the vision and working with all of the people that’s involved, we came up with almost 200 doors.

Sean Moudry:
Wow.

Terrica Smith:
Two hundred doors in this community. And so that story literally went viral all over the world. It went to Africa, it went to Germany. We were in Italy featured. Washington, of course. I don’t know if you know this, they invited me to the White House because of the work that I was doing in regard to this community. And the White House is very supportive of this project. In fact, Scott Turner has literally come out to the property twice. Well, yes, once and should be coming back twice to be able to shine light on the work that we’re doing here in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Terrica Smith:
And I say all that to say, this is something that was just thrown away. Nobody wanted it. And I connected with that. It pulled on my heartstrings and I was able to tie my heartstrings with this property heartstrings, and be able to birth it with some amazing business partners who believed in this. And so that’s why the article you may be reading would be like, homeless to raising $14 million for a development. And I was told no a million times. Remember, I said, “You got to be strong in his business.”

So every time somebody told me, “No,” literally I just put a check. You ever put a line across a tally when you hit number five, that was me. And I’m like, “F#$&*, I’m running out of people. I’m still going.” And then before you know it, it was none of the people that I knew. None of the people that I knew really I got behind this project. It was all people of other people who believed and kind of supported this. That’s amazing to me.

Sean Moudry:
Amazing. You’re amazing. So, what phase is that project in now?

Terrica Smith:
So right now we are looking to break ground in September.

Sean Moudry:
Amazing. Amazing. And you wrote a book. Can we talk a little bit about your book? The title is “Frightened, Scared, and Alone No More!!!,” right?

Terrica Smith:
Yes, yes, yes. I think the title says everything, right?

Sean Moudry:
Yeah. Your story is amazing. I love how you tie your purpose, that story with that connection under the bridge with your child, to your brokerage, to your project. I mean, I think one of the biggest reasons people fail is that passion and that connection. And when you anchor that, like you said, you said your heartstrings. I love those words, by the way, I’m writing down, taking notes, I love that. When you anchor those things, I mean, there’s no choice but to be successful, right?

Terrica Smith:
Yeah. Yes.

Sean Moudry:
Because it’s part of you.

Terrica Smith:
Yes, there’s no other option. There’s no plan B. There’s no plan C. It’s only, this is the plan—it has to work.

Sean Moudry:
It’s amazing. What an amazing story. So, where do you go from here? You’ve achieved so much already. And I think I did the math. Are you still under 30?

Terrica Smith:
No. I’m 35.

Sean Moudry:
OK, I did my math really wrong. That’s still super-young, though. What does your future look like?

Terrica Smith:
So, my whole purpose in life is to be able to help people who don’t believe that they can help themselves. And I know that I’ve placed myself in a position where now I’m able to give back to people who are less fortunate, and not just by giving them a dollar, right? That don’t help people, but by changing their mindset, by giving them knowledge. And so for me, if I can give what I have within me, if I can share everything that I’ve been through to as many people as I know for them to say, “OK, my life is not this bad. So if she went through that, then I should be able to go through this.” And with that, have people’s lives be changed through that.

Terrica Smith:
It’s so important that people understand that your reality is not real. Even in this moment right now, that may sound crazy to you, but it is not real right now. What is real is what you allow yourself to believe is real. So for instance, I’ll translate that to you. When I was homeless up under the bridge, that wasn’t real, right? Because I’d still be there if I believed that that was real.

My mind wouldn’t allow me to leave if I believed it was real. So I look at every situation like that in life. My reality, if it’s not good for me, if it’s not comforting for me, then it’s not real. It’s temporary, and I’m going to get through this, but I just have to be able to see past what’s supposed to be reality right now. And that’s where a lot of people fell at because they just look at reality and they can’t see past it. And so for me, I’m always looking to the left, I’m always looking to the right. I’m always looking, because my reality is not real, especially if I’m uncomfortable.

Sean Moudry:
I completely agree with you. And that is a very hard concept to teach people.

Terrica Smith:
Yes, it is, it is. But I’m hoping …

Sean Moudry:
How inspiring.

Terrica Smith:
I’m hoping, through this project of Madeline Cove, that we’ll be able to transform the thinking of a lot of individuals in the lower-end communities who don’t really understand the importance of home ownership, who don’t understand the importance of being in an area where it’s more important to pay property taxes. I’m hoping that we can educate them through the courses that we’re creating to be able to give them the knowledge that they need to continue moving forward.

Sean Moudry:
I love it. If somebody wanted to learn more and to maybe be in support of you, or your mission or a cause that you care about, where do you suggest they go?

Terrica Smith:
So I recommend that they go to saltcapitalequitygroup.com, that is a company that me and some friends started to allow normal people such as yourselves to be able to come and invest with us on our projects. But not just invest—get the education of becoming a developer and or an investor or a landlord or whatever it is that this person seeks to be.

Go to saltcapitalequitygroup.com and click the “inquire” button for more information. And then someone from my team would reach out to them within 48 hours and be able to explain to them exactly what it is we’re doing. But we are a real estate platform that brings in unaccredited investors to be able to invest with us.

Sean Moudry:
Oh, amazing. Man, I could learn so much from you. Terrica Smith, it was absolutely a pleasure interviewing you today. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

Terrica Smith:
Yeah, I would like to share just for the agents out there, do not do this without a purpose. Do not do this without a strategy. Make sure while you’re doing this, you know what you’re doing it for. Because this business is hard, and it would chew you up and it will spit you out. So if you don’t know what your purpose is, if you don’t have a strategy, then you’re going to be zigzagging in this business and you’re going to become a statistic. And that, my friend, is what you don’t want to become.

The post Exclusive Interview: Terrica Smith—From Homeless to Real Estate CEO appeared first on The Close.

Check out our top picks in the table below and read on to get an in-depth review of each product.

7 Best CRMs for Real Estate Agents, Teams, & Brokerages

Real Estate CRM	Prices Starting At	Best For
LionDesk	$25 / month	(BEST OVERALL) Budget-conscious agents who want automated email, texting, follow-up tools, and more
Top Producer	$60 / month	Agents looking for specialized lead nurturing tools like market snapshots and email drip sequences
Elevate	$110 / month	Agents who are looking for social media marketing
Market Leader	$139 per month, plus $25+ per lead (varies by market)	Agents who are also looking for built-in lead generation tools
IXACT Contact	$39 / month	New agents
Propertybase	$79 / month (per user)	Teams and brokerages
Wise Agent	$29 / month	Agents looking for best-in-class customer support

(Prices as of January 2022)

Now that we’ve shared how these customer relationship management (CRM) tools stack up against each other, let’s dig a little deeper into each one.

Best Overall Real Estate CRM: LionDesk

Prices starting at $25 / month
LionDesk sets itself apart by doing the fundamentals really well and by offering unique add-ons perfect for real estate professionals who are growing their business. They also stand out for their full-featured, 30-day free trial that doesn’t require a credit card.

When we first published this article, we’ll admit that LionDesk was in our top five but they weren’t our number one. What changed? Their consistent commitment to upgrading their products and rolling out new features like video messaging and their exclusive artificial intelligence (AI) assistant “Gabby.” We also love their best-in-class customer service that delivered prompt answers to us via phone and email.

LionDesk’s incredible value and affordable cost is what every other CRM product is now measured against.

LionDesk Pros & Cons

LionDesk Pros	LionDesk Cons
Easy to use and get value from, even on your first day	So many options create a slightly cluttered dashboard
Excellent mass communication tools, including bulk text messaging	Transaction management is very basic
Customizable lead profiles	Not the best option for scaling teams or brokerages
Artificial intelligence (AI) lead follow-up
Integrated dialer for click-to-call convenience

[Read more: LionDesk Review: The New King of the Real Estate CRM Jungle?]

How Much Does LionDesk Cost?

Plan Name	Cost per Month Billed Annually	Cost per Month
Starter	$21	$25
Pro Plus	$42	$49
Elite	$83	$99

LionDesk Pricing Details

LionDesk offers three plans ranging from $21 to $99 per month, depending on which package you choose and whether you bill annually or monthly.

• Starter ($21 per month): Robust and full of features—you won’t find yourself lacking in capability.
• Pro Plus ($42 / month): Includes add-ons like a dedicated local phone number, video texting, and custom text-to-sell shortcodes, great for sign riders and other physical marketing.
• Elite ($83 / month): Offers everything you’ll find in the Starter and Pro Plus plans, plus white glove, hands-on service and support that includes third-party integrations. This is worth mentioning because finding customer support when you’re trying to get your tools to work together is sometimes a no-man’s land. It’s hard to find companies willing to help you with someone else’s product, but that’s not true with LionDesk.

Our Favorite LionDesk Feature: Gabby, Your AI-powered Inside Sales Agent (ISA)

One of the biggest factors that affect a real estate agent’s conversion rates for leads is how quickly they can respond, or speed-to-lead. In an on-demand world, interested buyers and sellers expect a response within minutes, not hours or days.

But, we all know this isn’t always possible. We’ve got appointments, we’ve got closings, and, quite frankly, we’ve got to sleep sometime. That’s why LionDesk’s Lead Assist features are so powerful.

Their AI-driven text responder, known as Gabby, automatically follows up with any of your leads promptly, naturally, and with an uncanny ability to sound genuine and interested in what your leads are asking about.

Unless you identify to your lead that they’re not talking to a real person, many people can’t tell the difference until they’ve had a number of interactions.

[Read more: Is the Real Estate World Ready for an AI Assistant? LionDesk Thinks So]

Is LionDesk Right for You?

There are lots of things to like about LionDesk. Mixed automation, a customizable interface, graduated texting options, and AI responsiveness make LionDesk worth your time and money. LionDesk offers a 30-day, full-featured trial, no credit card required. Whether you’re ready for a change to your existing CRM or in need of your first CRM, LionDesk is a great option.

Try LionDesk

Best Real Estate CRM for Specialized Lead-nurturing Tools: Top Producer

Prices starting at $33.33 / month
Top Producer is one of the OGs in the real estate CRM space, and sometimes, being a product category originator can make you outdated and irrelevant, but not this product.

Top Producer has been working hard to not only keep up with the changing needs of real estate professionals but also to anticipate our next set of needs. Their forward-thinking approach is evident in their latest CRM iteration: Top Producer X.

Many CRMs offer an IDX feed as a part of their features, but Top Producer takes this a step further, adding value by actually connecting directly with your MLS to access all the data your MLS possesses. To put that in context, most IDX feeds pull about 20 data points for each property. An MLS feed pulls closer to 300 (or more) for every current listing, sold property, and even for expired listings.

Top Producer Pros & Cons

Top Producer Pros	Top Producer Cons
One of the best-integrated CRMs on the market, connecting with hundreds of different third-party platforms	12-month contract required
Excellent transaction management features that will eliminate the need for another tool	No automated SMS texting
Automated communication options that integrate with MLS data, making nurturing easier and more effective	No website included in any of the base plans

[Read more: Top Producer CRM Review + Video Walk-through]

How Much Does Top Producer Cost?

Plan Name	Cost per Month Billed Annually	Cost per Month
Starter	$33.33	$40
Professional	$58.33	$70
Advanced	$66.67	$80

Top Producer Pricing Details

Top Producer offers three different tiers, ranging from $33.33 per month up to $80 per month. The costs depend on which plan you choose and whether you plan on paying annually or monthly. Top Producer also offers an add-on of a Top Producer website for just $10 more. They require a one-year commitment.

Our Favorite Top Producer Feature: FiveStreet Lead Management

FiveStreet is a product included in Top Producer’s Advanced plan, and if you’re running a team or dealing with a high volume of leads, this is a must-have.

This lead response and management tool offers next-level tracking for agents who want to know where leads are coming from, assign them custom paths to get to the right agent (or, if you’re operating solo, prioritized in the right order), and measure your results afterward.

The real power comes from the analytics you get. Imagine what you could do if you could get a report generated that would tell you how each of the agents on your team is performing based on lead type, their response time performance, and how far their leads are getting in the funnel? Next-level stuff.

This tool is a great way to maximize the effectiveness of the lead generation pipeline you’ve worked so hard to build by making sure that the right lead gets to the right person at the right time, every time.

Is Top Producer Right for You?

If you want to get to the next level when it comes to providing market-level data to your contact via an MLS integration, or if you have a team where your lead routing needs some work, definitely give Top Producer a closer look.

Try Top Producer

Best Real Estate CRM for Social Media Marketing: Elevate

Prices starting at $110 / month
Elevate is a real estate CRM that recognizes managing your contacts and nurturing your sphere isn’t just about sending automated emails and text messages—it is about maintaining a marketing presence among your sphere of influence such that when the topic of conversation turns to real estate, you’re top of mind.

Elevate achieves this by offering content creation services, social media management, and paid lead generation, all as a part of the CRM package. For agents who are looking for a CRM and help to get social media marketing in shape, Elevate is a great option.

Elevate Pros & Cons

Elevate Pros	Elevate Cons
A unique, overall marketing and nurturing ecosystem	Limited analytics and performance tracking
Social media content creation done for you	Can be pricey if you’re choosing a package that includes paid lead generation
A fantastic, built-in CMA tool	Limited CRM capabilities for the most basic package

[Read more: Elevate Real Estate CRM Review + Video Walk-through]

How Much Does Elevate Cost?

Elevate Package	Price Per Month	Includes
Social Pro	$110	CRM*, social media content, blog content
DMS	$200	CRM, website, blog content
DMS + Buyer Leads	$300	CRM, website, blog content, social media content, approx. 10 buyer leads per month
Elite Leads	$750	CRM, social media / blog content, approx 30 buyer or seller leads per month
Elite Pro	$2,000	CRM, social media / blog content, approx 80 - 120 buyer & seller leaders per month, up to five team licenses

*CRM access is limited to basic functionality and does not include automated email marketing.

Our Favorite Elevate Feature: Content Marketing Services

Creating content to demonstrate to your local market that you’re an expert, you’re involved, and you’re active is time-consuming and difficult, which is why most realtors don’t do it well.

However, well-curated content on your blog and on social media is often the difference-maker when it comes to winning a contested listing. Elevate takes the time and grunt work out of content creation by providing:

• Original content, written by Elevate’s in-house experts
• Market-specific, data-driven content perfect for including in your marketing (like mailers or email newsletters)
• Content that is automatically uploaded to your Elevate website blog and social media accounts for you

[Watch: Elevate Real Estate CRM Review + Video Walk-through]

Is it a completely hands-off solution? No. You’ll need to be in charge or interacting with anyone who interacts with you. You’ll also need to step in and tweak content occasionally, especially if there’s something only someone who has spent time on the ground in your community would know.

Overall, this is a powerful marketing tool that takes the Elevate CRM to the next level.

Is Elevate Right for You?

If your needs include marketing strategy and content as well as a CRM, Elevate is the perfect combo for you. They bill themselves as more than a CRM—more as a marketing solution for real estate agents with growing businesses. If that’s you, you should check out Elevate today.

Try Elevate

Best Real Estate CRM for Agents Also Looking for Lead Generation: Market Leader

Prices starting at $139 / month
Some of you may be asking, “Why is Market Leader on this list? Aren’t they a lead generation company?” You are correct, Market Leader is primarily a lead gen company, but they offer a CRM as a part of their platform that is so good it needs to be in the conversation for best CRM as well. The real kicker? You can integrate the Market Leader CRM with virtually any real estate lead source, not just their own.

This is a platform that has all the bells and whistles of a top-rated CRM and also happens to be The Close’s first choice for real estate lead generation companies—worth a look for sure.

Market Leader Pros & Cons

Market Leader Pros	Market Leader Cons
Fully functional CRM with excellent automation options	Doesn’t have some of the more advanced analytic features
Great mobile app	The included website isn’t great
Easily scalable to teams and full brokerages	No onboard transaction management, CMAs, or other advanced features

[Read more: 5 Smart Ways to Buy Real Estate Leads]

How Much Does Market Leader Cost?

Since Market Leader is first a lead generation tool, their costs depend on leads, not on the CRM. Access to the Market Leader platform starts at $139 per month, plus an additional $25 or more per lead, depending on your market. Most Market Leader agents pay around $350 to $400 per month to get started.

Our Favorite Market Leader Feature: Guaranteed Leads

Again, you may be asking, “Why all the leads talk in a guide about CRMs?” Hear me out. Your CRM isn’t a static collection of contact information. It is a growing, living database that needs to be constantly fed with new contacts in order to fuel the growth of your business. Market Leader’s value proposition as a lead generation tool is that they guarantee a certain lead volume every month.

From a CRM perspective, that means that you’ll have new contacts in your database every single month, new people to run through your nurturing campaigns, and new opportunities to turn your contacts into transactions. With Market Leader, you’ve got a CRM with a 100% chance of growth.

Is Market Leader Right for You?

The crossover between paid lead generation and CRM makes a lot of sense, and with Market Leader, you get an excellent CRM platform as well as one of our top-rated lead generation options. Yes, you need a healthy budget to make this play work, but if you’ve got the scratch for it, Market Leader is a fantastic option.

Try Market Leader

Best Real Estate CRM for New Agents: IXACT Contact

IXACT Contact rivals Propertybase in terms of coming close to offering that all-in-one real estate agent solution we’ve been wondering about for a while.

For our money, nobody is quite there yet, but IXACT Contact is on the doorstep. IXACT Contact’s robust CRM also includes options for an IDX website and social media content, bringing them ever closer to completing that lead-generation-to-closing-table journey.

IXACT Contact Pros & Cons

IXACT Contact Pros	IXACT Contact Cons
Sleek design with user-friendly UX	The add-on websites aren’t competitive in terms of features and connectivity
Contacts’ social media handles auto-populated in their lead profiles	Doesn’t sync as easily as you’d expect with some third-party applications
A postcard and mass mail function built into the CRM	No mobile app

[Read more: IXACT Contact Wants to Solve All Your Problems… Can It?]

How Much Does IXACT Contact Cost?

IXACT CONTACT OFFERS SIX MONTHS OF THEIR SERVICE FOR FREE TO ANY AGENT WHO HAS BEEN LICENSED LESS THAN A YEAR.

Let that sink in for a moment. If you are a new agent in the industry, IXACT Contact is giving away their service to you. This is a singular offer in the CRM game—nobody has anything like it.

Now that we’ve got the shouting out of the way, the rest of IXACT Contact’s pricing model is intriguing, and there is a lot to unpack here. They offer an a la carte price option for real estate agents, so you aren’t paying for services you don’t need.

IXACT Contact Pricing Details

• Basic version for a single user of the CRM plus an agent website: $33 per month
• IDX website add-ons: $13 per month (standard), $33 per month (professional) plus $65.00 setup fee
• Add team members: $23 per team member, per month
• Additional IDX websites: Starting at $13 per month plus $65 setup fee
• Social Stream: $20 per month
• Mass emailing: Varies by volume

Our Favorite IXACT Contact Feature: Social Media Support

Obviously, we are pretty geeked about the free six months offered to new real estate agents.

If you somehow missed that above, IXACT Contact offers their CRM FOR FREE to any agent who has been licensed for less than a year. Nobody else is doing this, and if you are a new real estate agent looking for a quality CRM, you can get one. FOR FREE.

Also, their Social Stream option adds another level of service to this CRM that the others in the space just aren’t providing. It isn’t original content, but it is a lot of relevant articles from reputable sources, like Huffington Post and Better Homes and Gardens, that will actually be interesting to your contacts.

Is IXACT Contact Right for You?

IXACT Contact is easy to try. If you are looking for a CRM with an IDX website component, something with some social options, or, gosh darn it, SOMETHING FREE, you should give IXACT Contact a go. They also offer a five-week free trial to really kick the tires, so you don’t have anything to lose here.

Try IXACT Contact

Best Real Estate CRM for Teams & Brokerages: Propertybase

The Propertybase Salesforce Edition CRM is robust and full-featured, designed for real estate teams and brokerages that need more than just a place to store contacts. Propertybase, powered by Lone Wolf Technologies, also has a single-agent and small teams option called Propertybase Go that is perfect for smaller operations.

Propertybase offers all the features that high-powered teams and brokerages are looking for, including advanced analytics, lead routing, an integrated brokerage, team and agent website experience, and much more.

Their solid, easy-to-use CRM combined with a potent website development arm and a very effective lead generation platform make Propertybase an option all real estate agents should consider.

Propertybase Pros & Cons

Propertybase Pros	Propertybase Cons
Built on the rock-solid Salesforce platform	Certain functions like a dialer or SMS texting are not available natively
CRM and website are both fully MLS-integrated	High price point
Mass email functions allow you to get rid of email marketing platforms like Mailchimp and just use your CRM	Not available without a long-term contract

[Read more: Propertybase Review: The (Old) New Kids on the Block Get Serious]

How Much Does Propertybase Cost?

Propertybase Salesforce Edition is ideal for larger teams and brokerages, starting at $79 per user, per month with a minimum of 10 users. The additional IDX-integrated website is an additional $299 per user, per month.

If you’re interested in Propertybase but don’t have the team or budget to support Propertybase Salesforce Edition, make sure to check out Propertybase GO—a great option for individual agents as well as smaller teams, with prices starting $349 per month for their award-winning CRM and a fully integrated IDX-website.

[Read more: Propertybase GO Review: The Next Generation of Real Estate CRM?]

Our Favorite Propertybase Feature: Advanced Lead Scoring

Most CRMs offer some sort of lead score evaluation to allow real estate agents to quickly glance at a lead profile and determine what sort of attention that lead needs today. But no other CRM that we’re aware of allows you to adjust the criteria for that lead score, and certainly not with the granularity and detail that Propertybase offers.

Make adjustments to your lead scoring criteria based on things like a contact’s response to your outreach campaigns or time since last contact.

Is Propertybase Right for You?

Propertybase offers a fantastic CRM with tons of customization options, from the dashboard and user interface all the way down to how your lead scores are evaluated. But their value doesn’t stop at providing a great CRM—they also offer website and lead generation services that make them as close to an end-to-end platform as we’ve seen.

They offer a free, no-obligation 14-day trial—try them today.

Try Propertybase

Best Real Estate CRM for Real Estate Agents Looking for Comprehensive Support: Wise Agent

Wise Agent has been in the real estate CRM space for a long time (since 2002!). Even though the look and feel of Wise Agent sometimes reminds us of Windows 98, they’ve learned things along the way that make them a valuable platform for real estate agents.

If you’re looking for a CRM with great automation options and 24/7 support included with every package, Wise Agent is for you.

Wise Agent Pros & Cons

Wise Agent Pros	Wise Agent Cons
Offers data-based testing like A/B testing of your automated communication	Old-school interface feels dated
SMS texting included in your base package	Not a great choice for teams or brokerages
Straightforward, affordable pricing	No website option

[Read more: Wise Agent CRM Review: Packs a Mean Punch for Agents & Teams]

How Much Does Wise Agent Cost?

Wise Agent has a straightforward pricing structure: $29 a month or $299 per year. Both options include a one-on-one onboarding call and round-the-clock support, 365 days a year.

Considering the fairly long list of features (great email automation, integration partners, and SMS texting, to name a few), you get a good bang for your buck with Wise Agent.

Our Favorite Wise Agent Feature: Extensive Customer Support

We know we’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: 24/7 support, 365 days a year, with a real person. If you have a question about Wise Agent, there is literally always someone ready to answer it.

We wrote an in-depth review of Wise Agent if you want to really get under the hood and see how things function—check it out.

Is Wise Agent Right for You?

If service and support are number one for you, Wise Agent is a great CRM to check out. Their price is very affordable, and you can even try it for free. With a 30-day, full-featured trial, you can put Wise Agent through its paces and see how it could benefit your business.

Try Wise Agent

Frequently Asked Questions about Real Estate CRMs

Here at The Close, we talk a lot about CRMs. Everyone from rookie solo agents to multi-office brokers wants to know how they can get the most out of these platforms.

Of course, we get a lot of “Which platform is right for me?” (which is why guides like this one exist), but we’re also asked a lot of other questions. Here, we answer some of the most popular ones. Feel free to ask anything we haven’t covered here in the comments section.

Do I need a CRM with a website included?

Are there any worthwhile free real estate CRMs?

What’s the biggest mistake people make when starting with a new CRM?

How do I make sure my team / brokerage is using their CRM?

Bringing It All Together

With so many different business models, philosophies, and real estate agent types out there, it is easy to see why there are so many different real estate CRMs. Which of these seven is right for you? Is there a real estate CRM that we need to add to our guide?

Drop a comment below and tell us about your favorite CRM. Is it on this list? How has it changed the way that you do business?

The post The Best Real Estate CRM for 2022: In-depth Reviews & Pricing appeared first on The Close.