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Podcast Summary: Your Daily Real Estate Podcast with Tristan Ahumada

Episode 682: 4 Texts That Revive “Dead” Leads
Host: Tristan Ahumada
Date: October 12, 2025

Episode Overview

In this concise, practical episode, Tristan Ahumada shares four text message templates he and his team currently use to “revive” inactive or “dead” real estate leads from massive databases. Drawing from real-life experience managing over 140,000 leads, Tristan breaks down how these simple scripts can reignite conversations, spark engagement, and ultimately bring lost prospects back into the pipeline.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Purpose of Reviving “Dead” Leads

Context: Many leads go silent, often after showing initial interest months prior.
Goal: Use targeted, proven scripts to reengage these leads and find out their current status.
- “These are four texts that will bring your database back from the dead... I was like, man, I should share these with people because they actually work.” (00:07)

2. Four Proven Text Scripts

Text 1: Motivated Sellers List

Script:
“Hey Joe, I could pull a list of homes where sellers might be motivated to make a deal. Are you still actively looking?”
Best Use: For leads who were actively searching 6-8 months ago but have since disappeared.
Approach: Read through your CRM notes for context and send as a mass text.
- “I send it to people that haven't responded back for a while, that I noticed a while ago... and then all of a sudden they just disappeared.” (01:03)

Text 2: Targeted Open House Invite

Script:
“Joe, 10 plus open houses this weekend in Malibu. Want me to text you the best ones or email the full list?”
Evolution of Script: Originally longer, now streamlined for higher response (20% response rate even on “dead” leads).
- “Now it's maintaining its 20% response ratio, which is pretty big. These are people that have never responded. Remember?” (02:03)
Follow-up:
- If lead responds, clarify their criteria and call to discuss details.
  - “They usually say, ‘text it.’ I say, ‘Great, Joe, I'll text it over. Do I have your right criteria?’... and then I pick up the phone and call.” (02:30)

Text 3: Off-Market Listing Tease

Script:
“Got a home hitting the market soon. Not on Zillow yet. Want me to send it over to see if it fits what you're looking for?”
Important Caveat: Only use if a true “coming soon” listing is available, per brokerage rules.
Best Use: Especially effective for recent open house leads still actively searching.
- “You have to have the home, so don’t lie. Or your brokerage has to have a home that’s coming up...” (03:22)

Text 4: The Direct Approach

Script:
“Joanne, real talk here. Is buying or selling still on your radar or should I stop bugging you?”
Tone: Direct, slightly playful, intended to trigger an honest response and streamline the pipeline.
- “I'm just direct, right? That's it. And I do get people to say, ‘Yeah, you can stop.’ And that's okay, I want to remove those.” (04:08)
Next Steps:
- If lead says “stop”, don’t text again, but keep sending automatic property email drips—these remain highly engaging.
  - “They'll still engage if they're interested with the property drips, the number one email opened by anyone. Just remember that.” (04:37)

3. Mass Texting Strategy and Call to Action

Practical Tip:
- “Use this in a mass text way ... The whole goal is to get them to that stage first and then call them and engage with them.” (04:52)
Intent: Move unresponsive contacts toward a phone call for deeper engagement.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

On Lead Dormancy:
“These are people that have never responded. Remember?” (02:11)
On Iteration:
“I've tweaked this over the years... I wasn't getting the same responses...” (01:48)
On Being Direct:
“Sometimes just to get people activated, I actually have the ‘real talk’ there.” (04:05)
On Email Drips:
“The number one email opened by anyone… just remember that.” (04:38)

Important Timestamps

00:07 – Introduction to the four revive texts
01:03 – Text #1: Motivated Sellers
01:40 – Text #2: Open House List and response strategy
02:40 – Explanation of call follow-up after text response
03:22 – Text #3: Off-market/Coming Soon Listing
04:05 – Text #4: Direct “Real Talk” script, when to stop following up
04:37 – Importance of continuing property drips
04:52 – Mass texting strategy and next steps

Conclusion

This short but value-packed episode arms real estate professionals with four actionable text scripts to revive silent leads quickly and effectively. Tristan stresses the importance of iteration, context-aware messaging, and directness, helping agents maximize their engagement—even with contacts that seem long gone. The key: use these texts to start the conversation, then swiftly move to a phone call and personalized relationship-building.

For more scripts and prospecting ideas, Tristan encourages listeners to subscribe to his free real estate prospecting newsletter (details in episode description).

Host: Tristan Ahumada
Episode Length: 5 minutes
Podcast: Your Daily Real Estate Podcast

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Transcript1 lines

[00:00]
A
These are four texts that will bring your database back from the dead. We currently use these. We test them out. We're always tweaking things. These are not. These are four of the many that we use. We try to pick our best ones. I know I probably left out two, but I was using. As I was using them this week, I was like, man, I should share these with people because they actually work. We've got a database of 140,000 people. Between our database in Lofty and follow up, boss, here we go. I'm Tristan. This is your daily real estate. It's a podcast. It's a show. Five minutes every single day to better your business and life. If you need this, just message me. This is episode 682. 682. We're almost gonna hit 700. 682. Dang. All right, four texts that bring leads back to life. Number one. Hey, Joe, I could pull a list of homes where sellers might be motivated to make a deal. Are you still actively looking? Question mark. That's it. Super easy, this one. I send it to people that I that haven't responded back for a while. That I noticed a while ago, six months, eight months, were actively looking, and then all of a sudden they kind of just disappeared. Right? So I do read the notes and I mass text this one. Really easy. Number two says, Joe, 10 plus open houses this weekend in Malibu. You pick your area. Malibu. Want me to text you the best ones or email the full list? Now, I've tweaked this over the years because I used to say, hey, Joe, I'm not sure if you're here this weekend, but I've got a list of open houses. Do you want me to text that or email it to you? That was a little lengthy. And I wasn't getting the same responses, which was I was going. One out of every five would respond back. 20% of these are dead people. Dead leads. Not dead people. Dead leads. And so I tweaked it a little bit, and now it's maintaining its 20% response ratio, which is pretty big. These are people that have never responded. Remember? Now, people often ask me on this one, tristan, why would you do that? Why would you want to send them an open house list? I'm going to look, listen. At this point, they haven't responded to me. I'm going to give them what they want because the next step is Great Joe. They usually say, text it. Say, great, Joe. I'll text it over. Do I have your right criteria? And I just look at what they were looking at. And I say, are you still just looking in Thousand Oaks in Westlake village for under 900,000? And they usually say, yeah, great, got it. And then I guess what, I pick up the phone and I call. I say, hey, Joe, it's Tristan. Listen before I send you that list. And then I talk. That's how easy that one is. But that one's a good one. Number three, text three. Got a home hitting the market soon. Not on Zillow yet. Want me to send it over to see if it fits what you're looking for? Now you have to have the home, so don't lie. Or your brokerage has to have a home that's coming up tomorrow or this weekend or being fixed up, something, right? I don't know what brokerage you're with. Some brokerages allow for coming soon, some don't. So this is really good for us especially, especially for open house clients that came through the last 30 days or so because they're always looking. They're still looking. And you hit them with this one, they'll be like, yes, send it over. Say, great, I'll text it over to you. And then I'll call you just to let me just. So you let me know what you think. There's always a follow up to this once they respond back. All right, number four. Joe, let's use Joanne. Joanne, real talk. Just really. I just try to throw things a little bit sideways sometimes just to get people activated, but I actually have the real talk there. I said, joanne, real talk here. Is buying or selling still on your radar or should I stop bugging you? I'm just direct, right? That's it. And I do get people to say, yeah, you can stop. And that's okay, I want to remove those, right? I'll stop texting them. I'll keep dripping them with property by email, right? But at least I won't be following up because guess what happens? They'll still engage if they're interested with the property Drips, the number one email opened by anyone. Just remember that. So what I want you to do is use this in a mass text way with people. Remember, these people have never responded to you or they stopped responding. The whole goal is to get them to that stage first and then call them and engage with them. Those are the four. Hopefully it helps. And if you haven't subscribed to the newsletter, please do so. It's in the description. It's your. No, it's not that one. It's real estate prospecting. It goes out every Friday. 5:30 Pacific, 8:30 Eastern. Have an awesome day.