Instagram auto-replies for real estate agents

Listing posts bring in the same handful of questions, and the caption often answers half of them already. Automate the factual ones, and keep anything involving negotiation, advice or a seller's instructions for yourself.

Tip: Put the price in the caption. Hiding it behind a comment word annoys buyers, and in the UK, Trading Standards guidance on material information expects social media listings to show the price, tenure and council tax band, and to say where the rest of the details can be found.

• A 30-second walk-through of a new listing in the order a visitor would see it, with TOUR for the floor plan. Set the word on that Reel only, so the card always shows the right home.
• A carousel of what sold in one neighbourhood last month and how long each home took, with VALUE for owners nearby. Keep VALUE off listing posts, where “great value” would set it off.
• The costs first-time buyers forget, one per slide, with BUYER for the full guide.
• A Thursday Story with the weekend's open houses and OPENHOUSE in the text.
• A short guide to one high street or park, with AREA. Talk about the coffee, the commute and the green space, not about who lives there.
• A “just sold” post, with the sellers' permission, with SELL for owners wondering about their own move.

Spring is the busiest season in many markets, with more homes listed and more buyers out at weekends. Set TOUR and OPENHOUSE up before the first busy weekend, and update the open house message each week: last week's times sent to this week's buyers cost you a viewing.

1. The auto-reply sends the floor plan, times or form, and the card links to your listing page or the booking tool you already use.
2. Email capture on VALUE and ALERTS builds a list you can download as a CSV for your newsletter and market updates.
3. If someone stops before giving their email, DMFast sends one reminder. Leave it there: a homeowner who isn't ready won't be won over by a third message.
4. Put a tracked link on the VALUE card. DMFast counts the clicks for each auto-reply, so you can see which posts bring valuation requests rather than just likes.
5. Move mortgage, income and offer talk off Instagram, onto a call or your own forms.

Selling homes in India? The DMFast store can give away a buyer's guide in exchange for an email and phone number, and take bookings for free or paid consultation calls, with payments through Razorpay. Agents elsewhere point the card at their own forms.

• Fair housing (US): the Fair Housing Act covers ads and statements, and that includes captions and DMs. Describe the home and what's nearby, never the kind of buyer it suits, and don't steer anyone towards or away from an area.
• Licence details: many US states require your brokerage's name on ads, and some count social media profiles and posts. In India, ads for a RERA-registered project should show its registration number. Check the rules where you work.
• Coming-soon homes: in the US, MLS rules can require a listing to be entered soon after you start marketing it to the public, and a social post or a DM keyword may count. Check with your MLS first.
• Boosted listings: in the US and some other countries, Meta requires ads for homes to run in its housing special ad category, which stops you narrowing the audience by age, gender or postcode.
• Sellers' privacy: get the owner's OK before posting their home, keep alarm panels, family photos and house numbers out of shot, and never mention when the house will be empty.
• Meta's limits: one private reply per comment, within 7 days, and nothing automated more than 24 hours after someone's last message. A listing that goes viral can pass Instagram's 750 private replies an hour; DMFast keeps under 700 and queues the rest.