Texting sellers gets higher response rates than calling and lower resistance than mail. It also carries the most legal risk of any outreach channel in this business, so read the compliance section before the templates.
Compliance first — this is not optional
- TCPA treats an SMS as a call. Sending marketing texts to mobile numbers using automated equipment without prior express written consent is the core exposure. Statutory damages are $500–$1,500 per message.
- State mini-TCPA laws — Florida, Oklahoma, and Washington are notably stricter and have generated significant litigation. Some require consent even for manually sent messages.
- 10DLC registration — carriers require registered brands and campaigns for A2P messaging. Unregistered traffic gets filtered or blocked.
- Litigator scrubs — scrub your list against known TCPA plaintiff databases. Skip tracing providers flag these.
- Opt-out — honor STOP immediately and permanently, on an internal suppression list.
- Hours — 8am to 9pm in the recipient's time zone.
Talk to a telecom/TCPA attorney before you run SMS at volume. Many successful wholesalers deliberately use only manual dialing and mail for this reason.
What makes a text get a reply
- Short. Under 160 characters.
- Specific. Reference the street.
- A question, not a pitch.
- No links in the first message — links kill deliverability.
- Plain text. No emojis, no ALL CAPS, no "$$$".
Templates
Initial outreach
Hi [First], I'm [You], a local buyer here in [City]. Would you consider an offer on your property on [Street]? Reply STOP to opt out.
Follow-up (3 days later)
Hi [First] — just following up on [Street]. I pay cash and buy as-is, no repairs or cleaning needed. Any interest in a number?
Vacant property
Hi [First], the house on [Street] looks like it's been empty a while. I buy in that area as-is — open to an offer?
Pre-foreclosure (careful, high sensitivity)
Hi [First], I'm a local buyer. If you're thinking about selling the property on [Street] before the end of the month, I can close fast and pay cash. Worth a conversation?
After a "how much?" reply
Depends on condition. Roughly what shape is it in — anything major like roof or HVAC? Then I can give you a real number today.
After a "not interested"
No problem at all, I'll leave you alone. If anything changes, I'm at [number]. Best of luck.
Send that last one. Sellers remember the people who took no gracefully, and about one in fifteen of them calls back within six months.
The conversation, once they reply
Move to a phone call as fast as politely possible: *"Easier to explain by phone — is now okay, or is later better?"* Deals close on calls, not in threads.
What kills SMS campaigns
- Sending the same message to 5,000 numbers at once (carrier filtering)
- Links in message one
- Not scrubbing litigators
- Ignoring STOP
- Using a new number every week to dodge filtering — carriers detect this and it makes things worse
The alternative worth considering
If SMS compliance is more risk than you want, ringless voicemail carries similar exposure, but manual dialing plus handwritten letters carries far less. A slower channel you can run for years beats a fast one that ends in a demand letter.