A unit went vacant on the first. The listing is live on Zillow, Apartments.com and Facebook Marketplace, and inquiries are landing at 9:40pm and 6:15am. Some will book a showing and never turn up. The ones who tour will go quiet for three days while they look at four other places. Every one of those days is rent you are not collecting.
This is the playbook for running that stretch by text, from inquiry reply to signed application. Rent, maintenance windows and renewals are in the rent reminder playbook. This one is about the empty unit.
The vacancy week on one page
| Trigger | What goes out | Wait | If no reply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inquiry arrives, any hour | Message 1: two showing slots | 24 hours | One more offer of times, then stop |
| Prospect picks a slot | Message 2: confirmation with address and what to bring | Until reminder | Slot is held |
| Evening before (morning tour) or 3 hours before (afternoon tour) | Message 3: reminder, reply C to confirm | Until appointment | One call; unconfirmed slot can be released |
| 20 minutes after a missed showing | Message 4: reschedule offer | 48 hours | One closing text, mark lost |
| Within an hour after a tour | Message 5: thanks plus application link | 24 hours | Nudge, then a 72-hour status update |
Message 1: the inquiry reply, inside the hour
The prospect is messaging four other managers, and the first human reply usually gets the first showing. The first text confirms the unit is available, offers two concrete times, and asks one scheduling question. It does not ask about kids, jobs or where they are from. Criteria that apply to everyone (move-in date, pet policy, income requirement) go in a later message, in the same words to every prospect.
Hi Jordan, this is Sam with Oakline Property Management about 2214 Birch #3. It is still available. I can show it Thursday at 5:30pm or Saturday at 10am. Does either work? Reply STOP to opt out.
After hours, an auto-reply holds the lead. Keep it honest about when a person will be back:
Thanks for reaching out about the Birch St apartment. Our leasing line is staffed 8am to 6pm and Sam will text you first thing tomorrow with showing times. If you already know when you are free, reply with a day and time.
No answer in 24 hours gets one more offer with different slots, then you stop. Two texts to an inquiry is plenty.
Message 2: book it and confirm it
Confirm in a message they can find again on Saturday morning: address with unit number, parking, how they get in, and what to bring to apply on the spot. A lockbox code goes out at the appointment time, never earlier.
You are set for Saturday 10am at 2214 Birch St, Apt 3. Street parking is on Birch; the lot is residents only. I will meet you at the front door. To apply on the spot, bring a photo ID and your last two pay stubs. Reply here if anything changes.
Save one per unit as a quick reply. The version typed in a hurry is the one with the wrong apartment number.
Message 3: the reminder that cuts no-shows
Most no-shows booked on Tuesday, toured two other places on Thursday, and forgot. The reminder is where you win them back or free the slot.
Timing matters more than wording: the evening before for a morning tour, about three hours before for an afternoon one. Scheduling tools have landed in the same place; RentEngine's defaults send 7pm for a next-morning showing and 8am for an afternoon one, then ask for confirmation a few hours out. Ask for a one-letter reply so confirming costs nothing.
Reminder: your showing at 2214 Birch #3 is tomorrow (Sat) at 10am. Reply C to confirm or R to reschedule. See you there.
No C by two hours out, and the agent makes one call. If that hits voicemail, apply the policy you set in advance: hold the slot, or release it to the next prospect. Releasing fills units faster. Either way, say it in Message 2. Queue the reminder as a scheduled send at booking, so it goes out whether or not anyone remembers on Friday night.
If the unit is still occupied, the current tenant is told first, and a text to them is a courtesy on top of formal notice, not a substitute. California's Civil Code section 1954, for example, requires reasonable written notice stating the date, approximate time and purpose of entry, and presumes 24 hours is reasonable. Other states differ. Serve the notice your state recognizes, then text the tenant so they see it.
Message 4: the no-show and the quiet prospect
Twenty minutes after a missed appointment, while you are still standing in the unit:
Hi Jordan, Sam here. I was at 2214 Birch #3 for our 10am and I think we missed each other. Still interested? I have Sunday at 1pm or Monday at 5:30pm if you want to try again.
No guilt, no lecture. Many reply within the hour with an apology and a new time. After 48 hours of silence, one closing message:
Last check from me on Birch #3. If the timing is not right, no problem, I will take you off my list for this unit. If you do want to see it, reply with a day that works.
Then mark the lead closed for this vacancy. Keep the number for a future opening only if they have said they want to hear about other units (see consent, below).
Message 5: after the tour
The hour after a tour is when the unit is most vivid. Send the application link before they reach their car:
Thanks for coming out to Birch #3 today, Jordan. Here is the application: oaklinepm.com/apply/birch-3. We review in the order received and a complete application takes about 20 minutes. Text me here with any questions.
Say what happens next, and only what is true. "Three other people are applying" is out unless they are.
No application after 24 hours:
Hi Jordan, checking in after your tour of Birch #3 yesterday. Anything I can answer about the unit, the lease terms or the application?
At 72 hours, one honest status update, then let go:
Quick update on Birch #3: the unit is still available and we are showing it through the weekend. If you want it, the application link is above. Either way, thanks for considering us.
Who answers, and what the inbox looks like
This falls apart in most offices because inquiries arrive on three platforms, replies go to whichever agent's cell was on the listing, and the maintenance coordinator ends up answering showing questions between work orders.
Fix ownership first: one leasing line, one agent responsible during business hours, a named weekend backup. In Android Texter the Android phone sends and receives, and the web dashboard is the shared inbox where agent, backup and owner see the same threads. The features that carry this job:
- Quick replies for the confirmation and application messages, one per unit, so the address and link are right every time.
- Scheduled messages for the reminder, queued at booking time.
- Auto-reply rules for the after-hours acknowledgement and for STOP handling.
- SMS forwarding of inbound replies to the weekend backup's phone or a team Telegram channel, so a Saturday "running 10 min late" does not sit unread.
- Multi-device pairing, so the leasing line and the rent-and-maintenance line are separate phones in one inbox.
Then measure five weekly counts per vacancy: inquiries, showings booked, showings confirmed, showings that happened, applications received. Booked over inquiries tests Message 1. Happened over confirmed tests the reminder. Applications over happened tells you whether the unit, the price or the follow-up is the problem. Days vacant moves when these do.
Consent, fair housing, and the current tenant
Consent. An inquiry with a mobile number is a request to hear back about that listing. It is not permission to text about other units next month. Marketing texts to a wireless number need prior express written consent under the TCPA rules at 47 CFR 64.1200, and the same rule requires you to honor a revocation made in any reasonable manner within ten business days. So ask explicitly ("Want a text when another unit opens here? Reply YES") and keep the reply. Honor STOP every time; we have covered what counts as an opt-out and why ignoring one wrecks delivery. None of this changes with the gateway you send through.
Fair housing. The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to make any statement about the rental of a dwelling that indicates a preference or limitation based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin (42 U.S.C. 3604(c)). A text is a statement. The operational answer is the one this article already pushes: identical scripted templates for every prospect, with screening done on the application against written criteria, not in chat.
The current tenant. Serve the entry notice your state requires, then text.
None of this is legal advice. Your lease attorney and your state's landlord-tenant statute govern your market.
Where this runs, and where it does not
Zillow and Apartments.com have in-app messaging, but prospects do not stay in the app, and an agent cannot run three platform inboxes plus a cell phone from a lockbox doorstep. Pulling the conversation onto one SMS line the moment you have the number is what makes the sequence above possible.
For a management company sending moderate volume from a phone the agent already carries, routing through an Android handset fits: no 10DLC brand registration, no campaign approval, no monthly campaign fee, and a real local number. The traffic is person-to-person SMS because that is what it is. The honest trade-off: a portfolio sending tens of thousands of messages a month with a registered brand and approved campaign is often better served by a mainstream A2P provider, and nothing here changes your TCPA or fair housing obligations by a word.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast should I reply to a rental inquiry?
Within the hour during business hours, by a person. Prospects message several listings at once and tour the ones that answer. After hours, an auto-reply that promises a specific time for a human follow-up holds the lead, provided the human actually follows up then.
Does a text count as notice to enter for a showing?
Not reliably. Many states require written notice with the date, approximate time and purpose, and whether a text counts as "written" is often disputed. Serve the notice your state recognizes, then send the text so the tenant sees it.
Can I text past prospects when a new unit opens?
Only if they agreed to it. An inquiry about one listing is consent to hear back about that listing. Ask plainly whether they want future vacancy texts, keep the YES, honor STOP at once, and keep that list separate.
Should showing texts come from the same number as rent reminders?
No. Keep a leasing line and a resident line. Prospects get a clean thread about one thing, and residents are not confused by availability messages for the unit next door. Multi-device pairing runs both from one inbox.
Fill the unit from a phone you already own
Android Texter turns an Android handset into the leasing line: quick replies, scheduled reminders, after-hours auto-reply, forwarding to the weekend backup, and a shared inbox the whole office sees. No 10DLC registration, no campaign fees. Pair the phone at androidtexter.com, load the templates above as quick replies, and run next week's showings from the dashboard.