5 real estate email templates and outlines to build relationships with clients

Email marketing is a powerful tool that helps real estate agents generate leads, keep prospects engaged, establish authority, and nurture new leads.

Once you’ve spent some time planning an email marketing campaign for your real estate business, you’re ready to start sending emails. But what exactly should you be sending to your clients and where do you even begin? 

Explore these real estate email templates to help you get started with your email marketing campaigns.

<a href="#what-is-email-marketing" class="anchor-link">What is email marketing exactly?</a>
<a href="#email-marketing-for-real-estate-agents" class="anchor-link">How is email marketing different for real estate agents?</a>
<a href="#why-invest-in-email-marketing" class="anchor-link">Why should real estate agents invest in email marketing?</a>
<a href="#good-real-estate-email-outreach" class="anchor-link">What makes for good real estate email outreach?</a>

• <a href="#welcome-email-template" class="anchor-link">1. Welcome email template</a>
• <a href="#referral-email-template" class="anchor-link">2. Referral email template</a>
• <a href="#testimonial-request-template" class="anchor-link">3. Testimonial request template</a>
• <a href="#follow-up-outline" class="anchor-link">4. Follow-up outline</a>
• <a href="#newsletter-outline" class="anchor-link">5. Newsletter outline</a>

<a href="#build-relationships" class="anchor-link">Build relationships with real estate clients through email outreach</a>

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What is email marketing exactly?

Email marketing is a form of digital marketing designed to connect you directly with prospects and customers by reaching them in their email inboxes. It helps raise brand awareness, increase brand authority, and support other marketing efforts. Through email marketing, you can promote your products or services, celebrate your achievements, and share valuable content with customers to increase your brand authority. 

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How is email marketing different for real estate agents?

Email marketing for real estate agents focuses on building long-term client relationships. Buying a home is one of the biggest purchases your clients will make. Selling one is just as big a deal. A real estate email marketing campaign needs to reflect that importance. 

Most marketing campaigns conducted through channels like social media or podcast ads tend to focus on available products and services. In short, they’re trying to make a sale. 

Email marketing is different because it focuses on content that provides value and shares information.

So what kind of content should realtors be sending to existing and potential clients? Here’s a short list: 

• Listing announcements
• Open houses
• Neighborhood guides
• Success stories
• Opinion pieces on the local real estate market

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Why should real estate agents invest in email marketing?

Email marketing is one of the most effective tools that real estate agents have to build authority and rapport with their clients… and to stay top of mind until the client is ready to make a sale or a purchase.

73% of home buyers interviewed only one real estate agent while searching for a home. 

Only one!

That means you need to position yourself as that one real estate agent by interacting with potential clients long before they decide to buy a new home. You need to start a dialogue and establish your authority, so when the prospect is ready, they approach you. 

Furthermore, personal relationships are the lifeblood of the real estate market: 40% of clients find a real estate agent through referrals. 

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What makes for good real estate email outreach?

You’ll want to send different types of content to your clients to build the relationship and provide relevant information during each stage of the customer journey. 

A good email marketing strategy for real estate agents will connect with clients at 5 crucial points of their customer journey. 

The templates and outlines below offer examples to help you get started with an email campaign for your real estate business, but remember to personalize each email so it represents your brand. Make sure each email helps the client understand what kind of partner you will be for them along the buying or selling process.

Let’s take a closer look at each real estate email template.

5 real estate email templates and outlines to connect with your clients

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1. Welcome email template

Sending a welcome email immediately after a prospect has signed up for your email list will help them explore your offerings and get to know you as a real estate agent. 

You may want this to be a stylized email with images, your logo, and CTA buttons.

Welcome to our community! We’ll occasionally send you resources to help explore the neighborhood and stay up to date with [property listings, homeowner tips, market trends, etc.]. 

Ready to get started? Check out our [neighborhood guides, or other resource] and [most recent listings] today. 

I’m grateful for the opportunity to be your partner in this journey. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or if you could use some advice along the way. 

Best,

[your name]
[your email] 
[your phone number]

Including images of yourself, recent listings, or other brand assets will help make a lasting impression so the client remembers you and your brand.

These friendly emails provide you with an excellent chance to:

• Make a good impression on your prospects
• Set the tone for what the subscriber can expect in terms of future content and emails
• Direct them to your listings
• Guide them through next steps in your process

Another advantage of welcome emails is that they have an average open rate of 68.59% and an average click-through rate of 16.05%, making them nearly three times more effective than your average newsletter.

Don’t let this opportunity slip and build a strong connection from the outset.

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2. Referral email template

Don’t hesitate to ask your past clients or repeat clients for referrals. You don’t need to make it seem like you’re asking for a favor – you’re simply offering your services to the people in the client’s circle who might need them. 

This should probably look like a personal email from your email address, instead of a branded email template.

Here’s a template to give you an idea of how to write a referral email: 

Subject line: Congratulations!

Hi [first name], 

Congratulations on the purchase! I’m so excited about your house, I’m sure you’re going to love it.

I’m writing to you today because I genuinely enjoyed working with you, and I’d be interested to hear if you know more people like you who might need our services. 

We work mostly through referrals, so if you think of any friends or family members that might need real estate advice, we’d be more than happy to help. 

Either way, it’s been a pleasure working with you, and hope to hear from you soon!

Best, 

[your name and headshot]
[phone number and email address]
[links to the website, social media, etc.]

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3. Testimonial request template

Like referral requests, asking for a testimonial requires a personal touch, so you'll want to send this as a regular email from your address instead of a branded or templated email.

These tips will help you get a great testimonial from your real estate clients: 

1. Ask for a testimonial a couple weeks after closing a deal. This gives the client some time to breathe after a big transaction, but still connects with them while your services are top of mind. 
2. Make a connection. You’ve probably worked closely with this person, so be sure to write a personable message instead of sounding like you’re making a formal request.
3. Make it easy to provide a testimonial. Link directly to a page where they can write a testimonial, or instruct them to reply directly to your email if you don’t have a form available.

Your testimonial request could look something like this: 

Subject line: A small favor

Hi [first name],

I was driving through the [neighborhood] the other day and thought of you. I feel so good about your purchase, I think you’ve made the right decision. 

With that in mind, I have a small favor to ask. 

I’m collecting testimonials from my clients to help me grow my business. Would you mind taking a couple of minutes to write a testimonial on [platform with a hyperlink]? A couple of sentences would be great. I truly enjoyed working with you, so any highlights from our time working together would be appreciated. 

I’d like to thank you for your help in advance. 

Best, ‍

‍[your name]

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4. Follow-up outline

The real estate market often requires you to play the long game. 

Buyers usually spend 4.5 months shopping for a home, and sellers spend six months just thinking about listing their homes. 

To truly succeed, you need a way to stay top of mind with clients who are stuck in this lengthy consideration phase. 

That’s where follow-up emails come into the picture. They’re a great way to stay in touch, offer useful information, and perhaps even help buyers and sellers overcome their hesitation and pull the trigger. 

You can choose here whether or not to send your follow-up email as a regular plaintext email, or to include more branding, images, buttons, etc.

So what should you include and remember when writing a follow-up email? 

• Keep your emails short
• Mention or thank them for a recent interaction you had or action they took
• Say that you’re following up, but don’t mention they didn’t respond
• Outline the next steps so they’re clear on what to expect or provide some more information to help them along the process
• Include a call to action (CTA)
• Don’t pressure them by threatening to end the relationship if they don’t respond

Finally, remember to answer any client emails immediately because 80% of buyers rate agent responsiveness as an extremely important quality. 

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5. Newsletter outline

Email newsletters are an excellent strategy for engaging with passive real estate leads. 

Newsletters are the most frequently used marketing tactic, with 81% of content marketers relying on them.

In a real estate newsletter, you can list the opportunities available to potential buyers and inform them of the changes in the market. These work well as a branded email with images, buttons, and templated layouts, but some real estate agents choose to make it look like a plaintext email with some updates and links.

Examples might include: 

• Recent news or updates from your business
• New listings you’re managing
• Income tax information for local homeowners 
• Local real estate reports
• Housing affordability studies
• Home renovation tips
• Tips on navigating the current real estate market

You can stay top of mind through newsletters and be ready to capitalize on the moment your subscribers decide to purchase or sell a home.

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Build relationships with real estate clients through email outreach

Getting a client to meet you for a coffee or even pick up the phone can feel like pulling teeth. Once you have their email address (and permission to reach out to them) you can start building your relationship right in their inbox. 

These 5 real estate email templates and outlines will help you create effective email outreach campaigns to connect with clients during important moments throughout their buying and selling journeys.