After-hours AI playbook for realtors and landlords
Most new leads and tenant messages arrive after dinner. A hosted phone tree can cover that if you pay for one. If you are a solo agent or a small landlord, you can write the greeting, the text-back and the rules yourself, then review every message before anything cleverer goes live.
The receptionist scripts guide walks through the same pieces in more detail: AI receptionist and missed-call scripts.
The sequence
| Stage | What you do | Free prompt or tool |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Missed-call greeting and text-back | Write the voicemail greeting and the instant text you will send when you miss a call. Only text numbers that came from the caller, and include an opt-out. | Missed-call text back |
| 2. Fact sheet the assistant may answer from | List the facts it is allowed to repeat: areas you cover, how to book, what you do not discuss after hours. | Receptionist fact sheet |
| 3. Call script and never-do rules | Write what it may say, when it must take a message, and what it must never invent (price, availability, legal advice). | AI receptionist call script and rules |
| 4. Practice before you go live | Run tricky practice calls so you hear the failure modes before a real client does. | 25 practice calls to test your receptionist |
| 5. First reply to a new after-hours lead | Draft a first text, email and voicemail from what they asked, with two times you can actually keep. | Speed-to-lead builder · First reply to a new buyer lead |
| 6. After-hours repair (landlords) | If a tenant reports a repair after hours, sort emergency / urgent / routine from the words they used. A person still dispatches. | Maintenance triage · Voice agent for rental repair calls |
| 7. After-hours rental inquiry | Reply with the same facts and the same next step. Do not decide who gets a viewing in the message. | Inquiry reply generator · Rental enquiry to a booked viewing |
Checks before anything answers the phone
- Say so in the greeting. A person still handles price, contracts and anything you have not written down.
- US: TCPA. Canada: CASL — identify yourself and include an unsubscribe option.
- Gas, fire, smoke or carbon monoxide: tell them to leave and call emergency services, then contact you. Do not have an assistant "handle" that.
- Offer two times you can actually keep, or say a person will confirm. Never invent availability.
- NAR Code of Ethics Article 16 in the US; respect an existing representation agreement in Ontario.
- No questions about family, children, religion, disability, race or how someone is paid. Describe the property, not who should live there.
- Use the 25 practice calls in AL-322 before you rely on it.
How this compares with a hosted after-hours desk
EliseAI and similar platforms win if you need voice coverage wired into property software for a large portfolio — see the EliseAI alternative. Ylopo and Follow Up Boss win if you need automated sending inside a CRM — prices are on the lead follow-up page. This playbook wins if you want written rules you can paste into the phone or chat tool you already have, and a person still sends the message.
Free tools
FAQ
Can an AI receptionist book showings while I sleep?
Only for times you have already confirmed it may offer. Otherwise it should take a message and say a person will confirm. Invented availability causes no-shows and complaints.
Do I have to say it is an assistant?
Where your regulator or brokerage requires it, yes — put it in the greeting. It is good practice everywhere.
What should it do with a gas smell or a fire?
Tell the caller to leave the building and call emergency services, then contact you. Do not let an assistant treat that as a normal work order.
Is this legal advice?
No. Texting, privacy and fair housing rules still apply. You stay responsible for what goes out in your name.
Related real estate pages
AI drafts, you verify. You're responsible for facts and fair housing compliance. Not legal advice: check your brokerage, MLS, regulator and a lawyer for your market.