Real estate chatbots have progressed to the point that demand for chatbots has grown four times during the last decade.
However, many real estate agents believe that real estate chatbots are a nuisance to clients or worse – a threat to their jobs.
The best chatbots for real estate may take over realtors’ jobs but only the boring ones. ;)
Real estate chatbots help you determine where a buyer is in the pipeline CRM and help move them to the next stage. A typical chatbot for real estate example would be handling routine property enquiries that give agents more time and space to focus on higher-priority tasks.
But the best chatbot for real estate doesn't stop with simply answering client questions. When used wisely, they can be the best assistant to any realtor.
Now let's take a look at the best 10 examples of a chatbot for real estate to use on your website!
Chatbot for real estate example #1: Easily answer client questions
When a buyer or renter is looking for a home, they naturally have a lot of questions – like location availability, purchase application procedure, pricing, pet regulations, and so on. Think of these questions as what a ‘consumer’ would have for a real estate professional.
The best chatbot for real estate can tap into your more comprehensive resources and provide quick responses. They don’t have to wait for a human agent to help in obtaining information about any property. And studies show chatbots answer up to 69% of frequent client queries successfully.
Real estate agents can normally only be available to clients during the day. Because real estate chatbots are available 24/7, your clients’ questions can be answered even when you’re not available to answer them.
Chatbots can be the first line of defence to respond to clients instantly, giving them an estimated time for resolution or, in the case of a complex query, transferring the client to a live agent through the live chat feature.
Being able to engage clients at their preferred time also improves satisfaction and loyalty towards your brand.
Chatbot for real estate example #2: Do a virtual property tour
In the real estate industry, you come across clients who cannot visit the property due to time constraints or distance to the property. Not being able to travel to a property for a property tour doesn’t actually imply that they’re not serious buyers.
The current industry solution is to do an online property tour before visiting a property in person. This saves a lot of time for clients and real estate agents alike.
And it saves agents even more time when they don’t have to do each virtual tour. You can design a full-page chatbot to provide prospective buyers with a virtual tour through the bot.
The chatbot offers a 360-degree view of any property, showing off property details and allowing for different viewing options.
The best chatbot for real estate can not only share images and videos of the properties but also provide a complete virtual tour to interested clients. This full-page real estate chatbot can be interactive and allow clients to zoom in and view every nook and cranny of the property. Clients can be fully aware of the pros and cons before scheduling a property visit.
Chatbot for real estate example #3: Create customised property lists
Every client has unique needs and given their preferences, you’ll send them property lists accordingly. But in reality, it’s hard to compile a list of properties based on client preferences of location, type of property, pricing, availability to buy, and so on.
As an agent, it takes a considerable chunk of time to provide clients with customised lists. Now, this is where a full-page property chatbot comes in. And you’re going to want this on your website!
A full-page chatbot for real estate interacts with the client using FAQs. It asks the clients important questions regarding their location, ideal price range, and all the important information that’s crucial to qualify the client.
The chatbot then dynamically captures data the client provides, saving it and instantly creating a property list of all the relevant properties that meet that client’s search intent.
Not only does this save you time in showing clients potential properties but it also helps you qualify clients accordingly. For example, if a client selects autumn 2022 as their time to buy, you now know to focus more and prioritise this client as their buyer potential is high.
Check out below for an example of a real-time property list compiled by the Serviceform Chatbot:
Chatbot for real estate example #4: Convert website visitors into leads
Why’s a client visiting your website? Because they need information on a property. There’s no way to create a homepage that answers all possible questions a client might have.
This is precisely why your real estate website needs a chatbot. When a user lands on a real estate website, a chatbot appears. If you want to capture your website visitors and convert them into leads, a chatbot for real estate is the tool for you. With the immediate and personalised attention they provide, chatbots engage visitors by asking them helpful (and important!) questions.
When real estate chatbots start communication with web visitors, they ask them whether they’re looking to buy, sell, or anything else. Additionally, chatbots can reach out to clients via email or text about promotions on properties or campaigns for rental homes. You can also use real estate texting software to nurture your leads.
Chatbot for real estate example #5: Schedule meetings
You can also set up chatbots to end with an offer to schedule a meeting!
Most industry chatbots are programmed to wrap up conversations with ‘Did I answer all your questions today?’ or something similar.
If the answer is ‘no’, you can invite them to book a meeting with your agent directly. Ourly: Meeting scheduler can be integrated into your chatbot for exactly this opportunity to book with your client! With Ourly, now clients can book meetings with you directly.
Once the prospect has progressed further down the sales funnel, the bot anticipates a meeting and from there can introduce the client to the real estate agent.
Offering a call with a live agent – rather than providing an email and phone number – is a much more personal and effective way to capture potential buyers while also putting the power in their hands to decide the next step.
The best chatbot for real estate also schedules property walkthroughs with a real estate agent for prospective buyers. The chatbot goes through the realtor’s calendar in real-time and provides potential buyers with available dates and times. Once they decide on a date, leads s can book a property viewing or agent meet from there for viewing or meet the realtor through a chatbot.
Chatbots in the real estate industry can even schedule a property visit without making any calls or sending emails. Clients select a time directly from the available time slots and visit the property when it works for them.
This feature reduces the number of calls and emails for both property dealers and real estate agents, allowing all parties to focus more on converting prospects into paying clients.
Chatbot for real estate example #6: Collect reviews
Reviews are another great source of building trust and increasing traction for your business website, app, or social media platforms. Especially in the case of properties, clients rely a lot on reviews and ratings.
With the help of chatbots in the real estate industry, businesses can easily collect client reviews. It’s also easier for clients to give reviews on a chat while interacting instead of filling out forms or speaking with an agent.
After purchasing a property or signing a rental contract, the chatbot can collect feedback from prospects via email by requesting they fill out a survey, or then via text by having a conversation and saving the overall experience shared.
Collecting client reviews helps businesses understand the strengths and weaknesses of their strategies. Client reviews can also be published on social media or business channels to increase credibility and influence the decision of clients (and leads!) when choosing a real estate agency.
Chatbot for real estate example #7: Increase client engagement
Visitors coming to your website or other channels will stay if there’s engagement. With the best chatbot for real estate, you can reduce your bounce rate and increase client engagement without any extra effort.
You can, for example, deploy a chatbot simply to welcome visitors, have a chat, and lead them to web pages most relevant for them.
Chatbot for real estate example #8: Provide financial assistance
Buying or renting a property isn’t so easy. Clients really consider all possible options and then choose a property that provides the most manageable loan or mortgage options. It’s crucial for any real estate business to provide complete details about available payment options to the client.
What’s the best way to tell your clients that they can apply for financial loans? Real estate chatbots can help businesses share this information with their clients without any agent intervention. Clients can now calculate loans themselves and are even offered seasonal or promotional deals right there inside the chatbot.
To protect the confidentiality of data, any sensitive information given by the client is securely routed to both the backend and the assigned agent for the property in question.
Chatbot for real estate example #9: Subscribe them to your newsletter
To be honest, no client is going to buy from you right away. They need their time to think and assess.
So give them the opportunity to subscribe to your newsletter, nurture them, and over time build trust and credibility with your client. A client may need more financial means or necessity to buy right now.
But months or years down the road, they could easily convert into clients. And when they do, they’ll remember you from your newsletters! What better way to maintain client relationships than entering their inbox directly and providing them with valuable content?To: But months or years down the road, they could easily convert into clients. And when they do, they’ll remember you from your newsletters! You can also use newsletter templates to give a personalised touch to your newsletters and also increase conversion. What better way to maintain client relationships than entering their inbox directly and providing them with valuable content?
The best chatbot for real estate makes it easier for you to help clients subscribe to your newsletter. You can either capture their information, do a native integration, or add them to your email list. Even embed a link to your newsletter subscription form in the chatbot and direct them to it!
Chatbot for real estate example #10: Ask them to follow you on social media
This is an example that I’d also personally recommend. It’s a best practice to ask your clients to follow you on social media. By doing this, there’s low risk and high reward in communicating they’ve nothing to lose by simply hitting that ‘follow’ button.
The clients who choose to follow your business are warm leads. They already know your business and have made a deliberate effort to stay in touch.
You can expand your circle of influence by posting content that touches on reasons why people choose to follow brand(s) online: recommendations from family or friends; supporting loved ones; learning about new products or services; staying current on company news like promotions, entertainment, and education; even for inspiration – to name a few.
And the easiest way to suggest they follow you on social media is through chatbots. You can include all your social profiles and clients instantly hit that ‘follow’ button. And you can even showcase some of your best social media content through your real estate chatbots! This gives them an idea of what kind of content they can expect by following you.
Chatbot for real estate in a nutshell
With chatbots becoming smarter, new use-case avenues are opening up that improve client communication processes across startups and enterprises.
The best thing about client communication automation is it allows you to communicate with website visitors who don’t immediately want to share their contact information with a live agent. Chatbots for real estate are really both starting and continuing conversations for higher lead conversion.
Don’t forget to see why chatbots are better than live chat for the real estate industry and also how Serviceform can help you with the best real estate chatbots.