Real estate conversation starters: 28 openers that actually get a reply
Your day is the only marketing asset nobody can copy. Here are 28 conversation starters built out of it: 14 things that happen in a normal week, a stat and a story version of each, and the six ways to ask so people actually text back.
No newsletter, no CMA, no calendar link. Three lines that are true, about them, and cheap to answer.
I got off the phone with a client listing her house after 26 years. Then I sent this to someone else.
Just got off the phone with a client who's listing her house after 26 years. Made me think of you. Any changes in your plans I should know about?
Three lines, no link and no calendar. It works because it's true, it's about them, and it costs almost nothing to answer. That text came from a phone call I was already on. The conversation created the next conversation.
The whole method, filmed the day I sent that text.
One event, three people, the easiest question. If you only have a minute, watch this instead of reading the rest.
Watch on InstagramWhy agents run out of things to say
Ask an agent what they're sending their database this month and watch them go blank. Same agent had eleven conversations today.
- 01A listing appointment
- 02An inspection that went sideways
- 03A buyer writing their fourth offer
- 04A neighbor asking what the corner house went for
- 05An appraiser who came in high
- 06A seller who finally agreed to the April price
Every one of those is a specific, unrepeatable reason to reach out to someone else. Most agents throw all of it away by six o'clock, then sit down Sunday night to come up with content.
You never run out of things to say. You run out of things you're willing to notice.
The grudge: this industry spent thirty years teaching agents to ask for the appointment, and that ask is why nobody answers. Your call whether it goes in print.
Your day is the only marketing asset you own that nobody can copy.
Three parts, in this order
A number, a street name, a timeframe. "26 years" does more work than "a client." "Two streets from you" does more work than "in your area."
"Made me think of you." That's it. You're giving attention, not asking for it. Nobody has ever been offended by being thought of.
Answerable in four words while they're standing in line for coffee.
Hi Susan, hope all is well. The market is heating up in your neighborhood and now could be a great time to sell. Would you like to schedule a time to discuss your options?
Susan, I just listed a house two streets over for a couple who lived there 26 years. Made me think of you. Any changes in your plans I should know about?
The first one is about the market. Nobody in your database woke up caring about the market. The second one could only have been sent by you, to her, today.
The version you got wrong. A message you'd take back, or the stretch where you ran the bad version before you figured this out.
Stats or stories
Neither is better. They reach different people, so the same Tuesday gives you two messages for two halves of your list.
conversation starters, ready to send
Fourteen sources, two versions each, written out in full. Same shape every time: name, one thing that happened, one easy ask. Swap the bracketed parts for your week and send it as is. Report the event, don't spin it. Nothing here is framed as good news or bad news, because the second a text sounds like a sales pitch or a warning, it reads like marketing.
Hey [First Name], it's [Your Name].
I sat at [3] listing appointments this week. Two of them were people who told me last spring they were waiting.
Any reason I shouldn't put you on the list for a value update?
Hi [First Name].
I'm preparing [2026] home value reports for a few clients this week after a listing appointment on [street].
Thought you might appreciate an update for your home as well.
Hi [First Name], it's [Your Name].
I listed [address] on [day] and had [11] showing requests before Saturday.
[Your town] has been quietly moving. Some streets more than others.
Have you checked your numbers recently?
Hey [First Name], it's [Your Name].
I almost talked myself out of sending you this, but the house I just listed on [street] is the closest comp to yours in the last year.
Worth sending you what it went out at?
Hey [First Name], just came off an open house on [street].
[40] people through, and four of them asked what else was coming up on that street.
Worth sending your way what I told them?
Hi [First Name].
I've had the same buyer at two of my open houses now, and he's only looking at [your street].
Any reason I shouldn't tell him about your house if you ever get to that point?
Hey [First Name], it's [Your Name].
I almost talked myself out of sending you this, but I've written [4] offers in six weeks for buyers who are very serious about being in [your neighborhood] this year.
Would you be open to the idea of selling if you got a great offer?
Hi [First Name].
I'm digging up off-market options for a few buyers this week, and [your street] is the first place they ask about.
Any reason I shouldn't keep your house in mind?
Hi [First Name], it's [Your Name].
I closed [address] this week at [102]% of list in [9] days.
That one resets the comps for your side of [street]. Have you checked your numbers recently?
Hey [First Name].
This just happened and I thought you'd appreciate an update. The sellers I closed with today bought their place the same year you did.
Want me to run what yours would look like on paper?
Hi [First Name], it's [Your Name].
This just happened and I thought you'd appreciate an update. An appraisal came in [$15k] over contract this week, on a house smaller than yours.
Have you checked your numbers recently?
Hey [First Name].
Random question. If the appraiser put your house higher than you think it is, would that change anything for you right now?
Hey [First Name], it's [Your Name].
An inspection on my file came back at [$22k] in repairs this week. The buyer asked for all of it, we settled at [$6k].
If you ever want to know what would come up at your place before a buyer finds it, I can walk it.
Hi [First Name].
The inspector on my file today found [the thing] in a house built the same year as yours.
Worth sending you what he told me to look for?
Hey [First Name], just pulled the data from [month].
[5] homes in your zip cut price, and all five launched above the last comp.
I put together a short breakdown of what I'm seeing. Worth sending your way?
Hi [First Name], it's [Your Name].
A seller of mine took the number I gave her back in April, after four months on the market.
If your house was worth more than that listing, would that change anything for you right now?
Hi [First Name], it's [Your Name].
I pulled [9,336] expired listings from the last 12 months. More than half never went back on the market.
Any reason I shouldn't send you what I found about yours?
Hey [First Name].
I almost talked myself out of sending you this, but your house came off the market last year and nobody has followed up with you since.
Would you be open to the idea of selling if you got a great offer?
Confirm attribution and timeframe
Hey [First Name], just pulled the market data from [month].
Days on market in your neighborhood went from [14] to [31], and there are a few things happening that I think more people should be aware of.
I put together a short breakdown of what I'm seeing. Worth sending your way?
Hi [First Name].
Third person this month has asked me what's going on with [your street].
Any reason I shouldn't send you what I'm telling them?
Hi [First Name], it's [Your Name].
This just happened and I thought you'd appreciate an update. Assessments went out and your neighborhood came in [8]% higher on average.
Do you want me to send you the one for your house?
Hey [First Name].
Random question. Your assessment says the county thinks your house is worth [$X].
If the market number were higher than that, would that change anything for you right now?
Hi [First Name].
This just happened and I thought you'd appreciate an update. Rates on my last three deals came in at [6.1%, 5.8%, 6.4%]. I'm already seeing more buyer activity.
If they drop again, do you want me to let you know right away?
Hey [First Name], it's [Your Name].
A buyer of mine waited two years and bought this week, because [what changed].
Is this year still the plan for you, or has that moved?
Hey [First Name].
I'm digging up off-market listings for a few clients this week. [3] of my last [10] sales never went on the MLS.
Any reason I shouldn't send you what I find?
Hi [First Name], it's [Your Name].
I spent yesterday calling [your street] looking for something off-market for a buyer, and [what people said].
Would you be open to the idea of selling if you got a great offer?
Hi [First Name], it's [Your Name].
[4] builders asked me about lots in your area this month. One of them named your block.
Any reason I shouldn't send you what they're paying?
Hey [First Name].
Random question. A builder called me this week asking for [what he wanted]. Your lot is the closest thing to it.
Would that change anything for you right now?
If you can't fill a story line with something real, leave it and send the stat. A blank is better than an invention, because the invented one falls apart the first time someone asks you which house.
The questions that kill your reply rate
Most agents write a good opener and then bolt a terrible question onto the end of it. Questions have a cost. Stack them and you get a hierarchy.
"Do you want to sell your house?"
A decision they haven't made yet, in writing, for someone they aren't paying. The honest answer is "I don't know," and nobody texts back "I don't know." So they don't text back.
"Can I stop by Thursday at 4?"
Costs time and commitment. Great after trust exists. Brutal before it.
"Are you thinking about moving in the next 12 months?"
Softer, but you're still asking them to declare something, and declaring feels binding.
"Any changes in your plans I should know about?"
Almost free. It assumes nothing. It hands them a graceful no, and a no is still a reply.
"What'd you think of the house that sold on the corner?"
Zero friction. Opinions are free and people like giving them. And the answers are full of timeline data anyway. "Way too high for what it is, we walked that one" tells you more than any timeline question would have pulled out of them.
People tell you the truth when you're not asking for it.
The touch with no question at all
Assessments went out this week. Yours went up 8%. No reply needed, just wanted you to have it.
No question. Nothing owed. You'd think the reply rate would be zero. It isn't. The ones who answer anyway are telling you something the other rungs can't: they wanted to talk to you.
Level 0 buys standing, not answers. Use it two or three times before you use anything else.
Which question you've earned the right to ask
Every terrible prospecting message in this business is the same mistake: a Level 5 ask sent to a Level 1 relationship. "Do you want to sell your house?" is a fine question for someone who already told you they were thinking about it.
A no is a conversation. Silence is not. Everything here is designed to make replying cheaper than ignoring you.
One event, six ways to ask
A house on their street went pending in six days.
"Should we get yours on the market too?"
"Free Saturday to walk through yours?"
"Is this year still the plan?"
"Anything change since we talked?"
"Did you see what the house on the corner did? Curious what you thought."
"The house on the corner went pending in six days. Thought you'd want to know."
Same event, same thirty seconds, and the reply rates aren't close.