Blog / Costs

What a missed call costs a real estate agent

Real estate search ads averaged $102.51 per lead in 2026. Here is what a missed call costs you, with sourced benchmarks and a way to work out your own number.

By AetherFL Team. September 28, 2026. 5 min read.

The short version

• Real estate search ads averaged $102.51 per lead in 2026, and $157.59 for residential agent campaigns.
• 80% of sellers contacted only 1 agent before choosing one.
• No study we could check says how many calls agents miss. Count your own for 2 weeks.
• What a call is worth to you: what you paid to get it, plus your commission times your close rate.

You pay for attention before the phone ever rings. Postcards, yard signs, Google ads and Zillow all cost money up front. When the call lands in voicemail, that money is already spent.

This post puts numbers on that moment. Every figure links to its source, and the examples are labeled as examples.

What a lead costs in 2026

The best public data on ad costs comes from the agencies that run the ads. LocaliQ studied 894 US real estate search campaigns on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads, from April 2025 to March 2026.

• $3.22 Average cost per click, real estate search ads (source: LocaliQ)
• $102.51 Average cost per lead, real estate search ads (source: LocaliQ)
• $157.59 Average cost per lead, residential real estate agent campaigns (source: LocaliQ)

A lead here is a conversion the advertiser tracks, such as a form or a call. Real estate has the third highest cost per lead of 23 industries, after legal services and furniture. The average across all industries is $66.69.

Campaigns for individual agents convert at 1.29%. By our math, that is about 78 clicks for every lead.

Those costs add up fast next to a typical budget. The median Realtor spent $9,530 on all business expenses in 2025. For example, 10 leads a month at $157.59 would cost about $18,900 a year, close to twice that.

Other channels

Search ads are one way to buy attention. Here is what other common channels cost, from the published numbers.

The Facebook number looks cheap for a reason. A lead campaign collects a form inside Facebook, so the person has not called you or visited your site yet.

A Zillow connection is different again. Zillow introduces the shopper to you live by phone, once they say they are ready to talk to an agent.

Why the first call matters

Paying for a lead is half the cost. The other half is what happens when the person reaches out and nobody answers.

In NAR's 2026 generational trends report, 80% of sellers contacted only 1 agent before choosing one. The most common way buyers first contacted the agent they used was a phone call, at 26%.

Zillow's research points the same way. 47% of buyers and 59% of sellers hired the first agent they spoke with.

These studies don't prove that a missed caller hires someone else. They do show that most people don't shop around much once they talk to an agent.

Work out what a call is worth to you

A missed call has two costs. There is the money you spent to make the phone ring, and the commission you might have earned from the caller.

The second cost depends on numbers only you know: your average price, your commission and how often a caller becomes a closing. Here is the math with round numbers.

Swap in your own numbers. Your CRM can show your close rate by lead source, which beats any national average.

No solid data on how many calls agents miss

Vendor blogs quote precise figures for the share of calls agents miss. We looked for the studies behind them and found no primary research we could check, so we leave them out.

Your own phone is a better source. For the next 2 weeks, count the missed calls from numbers you don't know, and note how many left a voicemail.

Then call a few of them back and ask what they needed. If you run ads, give each one its own number, so you know which ad made the phone ring. Our guide to tracking calls by ad shows how.

Where missed calls hide

• Showings and listing appointments. Your phone is on silent for an hour at a time.
• The open house. You are talking to the people in the room while the sign out front makes your phone ring.
• Evenings and weekends. People call after work and on Saturdays, while you're at dinner or at a showing.
• Two calls at once. While you talk to one caller, the second one hears voicemail.
• Voicemails you meant to return. A callback 2 days later is a first call to someone who has moved on.

Ways to catch more calls

There are four common fixes. Each one trades money against the hours it covers.

• Answer every call yourself. It costs nothing, but you can't pick up in a showing, at a closing or on I-275 at 5 PM.
• Hand calls to a teammate. It works when someone is free, and fails when you're both busy at once.
• Hire an ISA or an answering service. A person answers, for hundreds or thousands of dollars a month. Our cost comparison has the numbers.
• Use a virtual assistant. Software answers after your phone rings, asks your questions and books the appointment.

Yara is the fourth option. Your phone rings for about 20 seconds first. If you don't pick up, Yara answers, says she's your virtual assistant, and asks the LPMAMA questions.

The call is recorded and transcribed, and you get a text summary within 1 minute. On Pro and Team, she also books the appointment and logs the call in Follow Up Boss.

Pro is $199 a month, or $2,388 a year. In the example above, one $10,000 commission covers about 4 years of Pro, before your broker split. Run it with your own numbers on the pricing page.

To hear Yara take a call, have her call you. To start your 30-day free pilot on Pro, set up Yara.

What to do this week

1. Count your missed calls from unknown numbers for 2 weeks.
2. Look up your cost per lead for each channel you pay for.
3. Pull your close rate by lead source from your CRM.
4. Multiply it out, and decide what an answered call is worth to you.

Set up Yara, hear a live call or see pricing.

Sources

1. LocaliQ. Real Estate Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026. September 14, 2026. 894 US search campaigns on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads, April 2025 to March 2026.
2. National Association of Realtors. 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends, Exhibits 4-5 and 7-2. April 15, 2026. PDF copy hosted by Inman. Transactions from July 2024 to June 2025.
3. WordStream by LocaliQ. Google Ads Benchmarks 2026. September 16, 2026. Over 13,000 search campaigns in 23 industries.
4. National Association of Realtors. 2026 Member Profile, Exhibits 2-19 and 3-1. June 2026. 2025 data. PDF copy hosted by bnar.org.
5. WordStream by LocaliQ. Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2026. September 14, 2026. Almost 1,800 Facebook ad campaigns.
6. Zillow. Zillow Premier Agent, frequently asked questions. checked September 2026. Average cost per connection.
7. Zillow. Connecting You to Motivated Leads. January 23, 2025.
8. Zillow. Zillow report: Online research now shapes how most agent relationships begin (2025 Consumer Housing Trends Report for Agents). December 30, 2025.

Blog / Lead response

Speed to lead in real estate, by the numbers

Calling a web lead within 5 minutes instead of 30 made reaching it 100 times likelier. What the speed to lead research says, and a routine for a showing day.

By AetherFL Team. September 28, 2026. 5 min read.

The short version

• In a 2007 study, calling a web lead within 5 minutes instead of 30 made reaching it 100 times more likely.
• In 2024, 47% of online property inquiries to US brokerages got no response at all.
• 80% of sellers contacted only 1 agent before choosing one.
• Answer calls before voicemail does, and reply to web leads within 5 minutes when you can.

Speed to lead is the time between a person reaching out and you reaching them. It's one of the few parts of lead follow-up that you control completely.

The research on it is older than most agents expect, and most of it isn't about real estate. Here is what it says, where it's thin and how to use it on a showing day.

What the research found

Two studies get quoted everywhere. Both measured web leads, and both involved the same researcher, James Oldroyd.

The 2007 Lead Response Management study

InsideSales.com and Dr. Oldroyd, then at MIT, studied over 15,000 leads and over 100,000 call attempts. The data came from 6 companies over 3 years.

• 100 times more likely to reach a web lead when calling within 5 minutes instead of 30 (source: InsideSales.com and Dr. James Oldroyd (MIT))
• 21 times more likely to qualify that lead, in the same comparison (source: InsideSales.com and Dr. James Oldroyd (MIT))

The same study found that the odds of reaching a lead dropped more than 10 times within the first hour.

The 2011 Harvard Business Review audit

In 2011, Oldroyd, Kristina McElheran and David Elkington published The Short Life of Online Sales Leads. They audited 2,241 US companies by sending web inquiries and timing the replies.

Companies that tried to reach a lead within 1 hour were nearly 7 times as likely to qualify it. That is compared with companies that tried even 1 hour later. Against companies that waited 24 hours or longer, the gap was more than 60 times.

What happens in real estate today

In 2024, industry analyst Mike DelPrete ran over 100 secret shops at over 25 US brokerages. His team sent property inquiries through brokerage websites during weekday business hours.

• 47% of online property inquiries got no response (source: Mike DelPrete)
• 39 min median time to a response (source: Mike DelPrete)
• 8 h 17 min average time to a response (source: Mike DelPrete)

The gap between the median and the average tells you something. Half of the answers came within 39 minutes, and a few slow ones pulled the average past 8 hours.

His open house visits looked no better. 42% of hosting agents never asked for contact information, and 62% of visitors got no follow-up.

A lead that never gets an answer can't be won by anyone on your team. Speed only matters once you've decided to answer at all.

Why the first conversation counts

Speed matters more when people don't shop around. In real estate, most of them don't.

• 80% of sellers contacted only 1 agent before choosing one to sell their home, in NAR's 2026 report.
• 47% of buyers and 59% of sellers hired the first agent they spoke with, in Zillow's 2025 research.
• 52% of buyers said contacting an agent was their very first step in buying a home.

The first agent to have a real conversation starts with an edge. A lead that waits a day may have had that conversation with someone else by then.

What these numbers don't tell you

Read the famous multipliers with care. The 2007 and 2011 studies covered many industries, not real estate, and they measured web forms, not phone calls.

They also show a link, not a cause. Companies that respond fast may do other things well too, like buying better leads or training their callers.

And a caller is different from a form. Someone who dials your number wants to talk now, so your window is the few rings before voicemail picks up.

Fast is only useful if the call goes somewhere

Reaching a lead first gets you a conversation. What you ask in it decides whether it turns into an appointment.

Many agents use LPMAMA as a checklist for the first call. It covers six questions in any order that feels natural.

• Location. Where do they want to buy or sell?
• Price. What price range are they thinking about?
• Motivation. Why are they moving, and why now?
• Agent. Are they already working with another agent?
• Mortgage. Have they talked to a lender or been pre-approved?
• Appointment. When can you meet or show them a home?

The last question matters most. A fast call that ends without a time on the calendar is a fast call and nothing more.

A speed to lead routine for a showing day

You can't answer every call in the middle of a showing. You can decide in advance what happens when you don't.

1. Calls first. Have someone answer before voicemail does. Voicemail leaves it to the caller to try again.
2. Web leads within 5 minutes. Call when you can. If you can't, send a short text with your name and when you'll call. In Zillow's research, 50% of buyers preferred texting or messaging apps when working with agents.
3. A set follow-up schedule. Decide the touches before the lead arrives. One example: a call and a text on day 1, a call on day 2, then a text on day 4.
4. Log every touch. Put calls, texts and notes in Follow Up Boss, so anyone on your team can pick up where you left off.
5. Measure your own speed. Once a week, check the time from first contact to first reply for your last 10 leads.

Before you call or text a lead, check that you have their permission. Our post on TCPA and Florida rules covers consent, calling hours and opt-outs.

Where Yara fits

Yara covers the first step today. Calls to your campaign numbers ring your phone for about 20 seconds, then Yara answers if you don't.

She asks the LPMAMA questions and texts you a summary within 1 minute. On Pro and Team, she books the appointment, and every call is logged in Follow Up Boss with the recording and the transcript.

Calling back website sign-ups within a minute is (coming soon). Those callbacks will only go to people who agreed to be called.

To hear Yara take a call, have her call you. To start your 30-day free pilot on Pro, set up Yara. Booking and Follow Up Boss logging start on Pro, $199 a month, as the pricing page shows.

Set up Yara, hear a live call or see pricing.

Sources

1. InsideSales.com and Dr. James Oldroyd (MIT). Lead Response Management Study. 2007. PDF copy of the executive summary, hosted by onecavo.com.
2. Mike DelPrete. Secret Shopping: 47% of Online Property Inquiries Are Ignored. August 13, 2024.
3. National Association of Realtors. 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends, Exhibits 4-5 and 7-2. April 15, 2026. PDF copy hosted by Inman. Transactions from July 2024 to June 2025.
4. Harvard Business Review. The Short Life of Online Sales Leads, by James B. Oldroyd, Kristina McElheran and David Elkington. March 2011.
5. Zillow. Zillow report: Online research now shapes how most agent relationships begin (2025 Consumer Housing Trends Report for Agents). December 30, 2025.
6. Zillow Research. Buyers: Results from the Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report 2025. November 6, 2025. About 10,200 recent buyers surveyed from April to September 2025.

Blog / Costs

AI receptionist vs ISA for real estate agents

A Florida ISA earns $50,386 a year on average, and live answering starts at $250 a month. What each option costs an agent, with sources, and where each fits.

By AetherFL Team. September 28, 2026. 5 min read.

The short version

• A real estate ISA in Florida earns $50,386 a year on average, before benefits, taxes and any bonus.
• Live answering services start at $250 a month for 50 minutes or $300 for 30 calls.
• Yara costs $99, $199 or $399 a month, and extra minutes are $0.25 each.
• An ISA brings judgment software doesn't. Many teams use both.

When calls start slipping, agents usually look at three fixes. Hire an inside sales agent, pay an answering service or use an AI receptionist.

The three differ a lot in cost, and even more in what happens on the call. We make one of the options, so we've linked every price and labeled our own math.

What an ISA costs

An inside sales agent, or ISA, is a team member who calls leads, qualifies them and sets appointments. Pay plans vary, and some include a bonus per appointment or closing.

• $50,386 average yearly salary of a real estate inside sales representative in Florida (source: Salary.com)
• $44,394 to $56,814 the middle half of Florida ISA salaries, 25th to 75th percentile (source: Salary.com)

Salary is not the whole cost. In June 2026, wages were 68.5% of employer costs for full-time private industry workers. Benefits and payroll taxes made up the other 31.5%.

Recruiting, training, software and a phone line come on top. One ISA also covers about 40 of the 168 hours in a week, unless you hire more than one.

What an answering service costs

An answering service puts a live receptionist on your line. Two well-known services publish their prices.

Smith.ai adds $1.50 a call to book appointments and $0.25 a call for recordings and transcripts. Ruby lists no setup or onboarding fees and answers around the clock.

A general answering service isn't built around real estate. Before you sign, ask which questions they'll ask your callers and how the answers reach your CRM.

What an AI receptionist costs

AI receptionists answer with a computer voice and cost less per call. Smith.ai's AI receptionist, for example, has a free tier for 25 calls a month. Its Pro plan is $150 a month for 75 calls, or $2.00 a call.

Yara is our virtual assistant for Florida agents. Here is what she costs.

Extra minutes are $0.25 each. Every call is recorded and transcribed, and you get a text summary within 1 minute. On Pro and Team, Yara also books into your calendar and logs each call in Follow Up Boss.

We set up your numbers, and on Pro and Team your calendar and Follow Up Boss. You're live in 48 hours.

The same month, three ways

Prices only make sense next to a real call volume. Here is one made-up month for a solo agent.

The gap is large, but cost is only one column. What each option does on the call matters more.

What you get besides the price

An ISA brings judgment Yara doesn't. A good ISA can read a hesitant seller, push for the listing appointment and stay in touch for months in a personal way.

Yara is built for the first call. She won't value a home, negotiate or promise anything, and those questions become an appointment with you.

She also tells every caller that she is your virtual assistant and that the call is recorded. Callers always know who they are talking to.

Questions to ask before you sign

Whichever way you lean, the same questions sort out the good fits from the bad ones. Ask them of a candidate ISA, an answering service or an AI vendor.

1. Which hours are covered? Ask about nights, weekends and holidays, not only office hours.
2. What will they ask my callers? Get the exact questions, and check that they cover location, price, timing and financing.
3. How do they introduce themselves? Callers should hear your name, and hear that the call is recorded.
4. Where do the notes go? A message in an inbox is not the same as a lead in Follow Up Boss with the recording attached.
5. Can they book into my calendar? A caller with a time on the calendar is worth more than a callback request.
6. What happens in a busy month? Look at overage rates, and at what a month with twice your usual calls would cost.
7. How do I leave? Check the contract length, any cancellation fee and who keeps the phone numbers.

Which one fits

• You get a few calls a week and answer most of them. Measure what you miss first. You may not need anything yet.
• You miss calls during showings and after hours. An answering service or an AI receptionist covers those hours for far less than a salary.
• You have more leads than you can call back. An ISA makes sense. Yara can take the first call and the notes, so your ISA works the callers who are ready.

For the cost of the calls you miss, see what a missed call costs. To hear how Yara handles a real call, have her call you. To start your 30-day free pilot on Pro, set up Yara.

Set up Yara, hear a live call or see pricing.

Sources

1. Salary.com. Real Estate Inside Sales Representative Salary in Florida. as of September 1, 2026.
2. Ruby. Plans and pricing. checked September 2026.
3. Smith.ai. Virtual receptionist plans and pricing. checked September 2026.
4. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026. September 9, 2026.
5. Smith.ai. AI receptionist plans and pricing. checked September 2026.

Blog / Compliance

TCPA and Florida call rules for agents using AI

AI voices count as artificial voices under the TCPA. What federal law and the Florida mini-TCPA say about AI calls, texts, calling hours, recording and opt-out.

By AetherFL Team. September 28, 2026. 5 min read.

The short version

• The FCC ruled in 2024 that AI-generated voices count as artificial voices under the TCPA.
• Florida's mini-TCPA requires prior express written consent for sales calls that use automated dialing or a recorded message.
• Florida limits sales calls to 8 AM to 8 PM, and to 3 calls in 24 hours on the same subject.
• Florida requires every party's consent to record a phone call.

AI can answer your phone, call back a lead and send a text. Each of those runs into rules written long before AI voices existed.

This post covers the rules Florida agents ask about most. Each one links to the text of the law.

AI voices count as artificial voices

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA, limits calls made with an artificial or prerecorded voice. In February 2024, the FCC ruled unanimously that AI technologies that generate human voices fall under that rule.

That settled the main question for AI calling. If software speaks on a call you place, the TCPA's artificial voice rules apply.

What the TCPA requires

These are the federal rules that matter most when you place calls or send texts.

• Consent for calls to cell phones. No call with an artificial or prerecorded voice to a cell phone without the person's prior express consent, except in emergencies.
• Written consent for marketing calls. Telemarketing calls with an artificial voice need prior express written consent: a signed agreement that names the phone number.
• Say who is calling. An artificial voice message must identify the caller at the start and give a callback number. Telemarketing messages must offer an automated opt-out within 2 seconds.
• Calling hours. No telephone solicitation before 8 AM or after 9 PM, in the called person's time zone. Numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry are off limits for solicitations, with narrow exceptions.
• Opt-outs. People can revoke consent in any reasonable way, including a reply of stop to a text. You have 10 business days to honor it.

Damages are $500 per violation, and a court can triple that to $1,500 if the violation was willful or knowing. Every call or text can count as a separate violation.

Two recent changes

The FCC's one-to-one consent rule for lead generators never took effect. The Eleventh Circuit, which covers Florida, struck it down in January 2025.

Part of the newer revocation rule is also on hold. The part that makes one stop apply to all of your unrelated messages is waived until January 31, 2027.

Florida's own rules

Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act, often called the Florida mini-TCPA, adds its own layer. It covers calls, texts and voicemails made to sell something.

• Written consent for automated sales calls. An unsolicited sales call that uses an automated system to select and dial numbers, or plays a recorded message, needs prior express written consent.
• What counts as consent. A signed agreement that names the phone number and says clearly which calls the person agrees to. Checking a box counts as a signature, and consent can't be a condition of any purchase.
• What is not unsolicited. A call made at the express request of the person called is not an unsolicited sales call. Neither is a call to someone with a prior or existing business relationship.
• Give your name. A person making an unsolicited sales call must give their true first and last name and the business they call for, right away.
• Do not call. Florida keeps its own no-sales-solicitation list. Anyone who has told you they don't want your calls or texts is off limits too.
• Texts and stop. Before suing over sales texts, a person must reply STOP. You then have 15 days to stop texting, and you may send one confirmation.

Florida's list has one exception for agents. It doesn't apply to a licensed agent calling a seller or landlord about a yard sign or ad they placed themselves.

Damages match the TCPA: $500 per violation, up to $1,500 if willful or knowing, plus attorney fees for the side that wins.

Calling hours and call limits in Florida

Florida's cutoff is an hour earlier than the federal one. Under the Florida Telemarketing Act, no commercial solicitation call may be made before 8 AM or after 8 PM, in the called person's time zone.

The same section allows no more than 3 solicitation calls to a person in 24 hours on the same subject, from any number. Real estate licensees are exempt from most of that act, but not from these two rules.

Recording calls in Florida

Florida requires the consent of all parties to record a phone call. Recording without it is a third-degree felony in most cases.

The civil side costs money too. A person recorded unlawfully can recover at least $100 a day or $1,000, whichever is higher, plus punitive damages and attorney fees.

That is why the recording notice belongs in the first sentence of the call, before the caller shares anything.

Answering a call is different from placing one

The consent rules for artificial voices and automated dialing cover calls and texts you place. When someone dials your number, they started the call.

The recording rule still applies to calls you receive. So does being clear about who is answering.

A text you send after the call is a message you place. Check that you have the consent it needs, and ask your attorney where the lines fall for your business.

A checklist for Florida agents

1. Put clear consent language on every form. Name calls and texts, AI voices and the phone number.
2. Say that consent is not a condition of buying anything.
3. Keep a record of each consent: the form, the exact wording, the date and the number.
4. Call Florida numbers only from 8 AM to 8 PM, and no more than 3 times in 24 hours on the same subject.
5. Honor stop and do-not-call requests quickly, and write them down.
6. Check numbers against the federal and Florida do-not-call lists before any sales call.
7. At the start of each call, say who you are, who you work for and that the call is recorded.
8. Have a Florida attorney review your forms and scripts once a year.

How Yara handles these rules

Today, Yara only answers calls to your numbers. Every call opens with your name, the words 'virtual assistant' and a recording notice.

Callbacks to website and lead portal sign-ups are (coming soon). They will only go to people who ticked a box agreeing to calls, including from an AI voice.

Those callbacks will run from 8 AM to 8 PM, at most 3 times in 24 hours, and saying stop ends them for good. Our TCPA compliance page has the details.

For how fast to reply to new leads, read our speed to lead guide.

To hear Yara take a call, have her call you. To start your 30-day free pilot on Pro, set up Yara, or compare the plans on the pricing page first.

Set up Yara, hear a live call or see pricing.

Sources

1. Federal Communications Commission. Declaratory Ruling FCC 24-17, AI-generated voices under the TCPA. February 8, 2024.
2. The Florida Legislature. 2026 Florida Statutes, section 501.059, Telephone solicitation. checked September 2026.
3. The Florida Legislature. 2026 Florida Statutes, section 501.616, Unlawful acts and practices. checked September 2026.
4. The Florida Legislature. 2026 Florida Statutes, section 934.03, Interception and disclosure of communications. checked September 2026.
5. Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute. 47 U.S. Code 227, Telephone Consumer Protection Act. checked September 2026.
6. eCFR. 47 CFR 64.1200, Delivery restrictions. up to date as of September 24, 2026.
7. Venable LLP. Eleventh Circuit Overrules FCC's One-to-One Consent Rule. January 2025.
8. Hunton Andrews Kurth. FCC's TCPA Global Revocation Rules Now Effective January 2027. January 15, 2026.
9. The Florida Legislature. 2026 Florida Statutes, section 501.604, Exemptions. checked September 2026.
10. The Florida Legislature. 2026 Florida Statutes, section 934.10, Civil remedies. checked September 2026.

Blog / Marketing

How to track which ad makes your phone ring

Give every postcard, sign and ad its own phone number, and you'll know which ones pay for themselves. A simple call tracking setup for real estate agents.

By AetherFL Team. September 28, 2026. 5 min read.

The short version

• A phone call is the most common way buyers first contact the agent they end up using, at 26%.
• Give each campaign its own number, so every call tells you where it came from.
• Google Ads tracks calls from ads with its own forwarding numbers, which you cannot reuse in print.
• Once a month, compare calls, appointments and cost per call for each number.

Most agents know what they spend on marketing. Far fewer know which postcard, sign or ad made the phone ring.

Calls are harder to track than clicks. A website visit carries a tag, but a phone call arrives with nothing but a number. Here's a setup you can run with a phone and a spreadsheet.

Why calls deserve their own tracking

People still pick up the phone. In NAR's 2026 report, a phone call was the most common way buyers first contacted the agent they used, at 26%.

Zillow's 2025 buyer survey shows where buyers first found their agent. 22% found them on a real estate website or app, 5% on a for-sale or open house sign and 2% through direct mail.

Those are national averages. Your farm and your listings may look very different, and only your own numbers will tell you.

Budgets are tight, too. The median Realtor spent $950 on marketing their services in 2025, and $620 on marketing listings. With budgets that size, you want to know which dollars come back.

One number per campaign

The idea is simple. Every campaign gets its own phone number, and every number rings your phone.

1. List your campaigns. For example: the Seven Oaks postcard, your yard signs, your Facebook ad, your Google ad and your website.
2. Get a number for each. Local numbers with your area code look familiar to callers. Call tracking services and phone carriers rent them by the month.
3. Forward them all to your cell. You answer as usual, and the number the caller dialed tells you the source.
4. Show the source when it rings. Forwarded calls show the caller's number, not the one they dialed. Many services can play a short message that names the campaign before the call connects.
5. Log the source with every lead. In Follow Up Boss, set the lead source to the campaign name, so you can sort by it later.

Keep each number for as long as the campaign might still be out there. A postcard can sit on a fridge for months, and a sign rider stays up until the listing sells.

Tracking calls from Google ads

Google Ads has call tracking built in. With call reporting on, your ad shows a Google forwarding number, and calls to it ring your business line.

Google then reports each call's start time, duration and whether it connected. It can count calls longer than a length you choose as conversions.

Two limits to know. Google's forwarding numbers belong to Google and can change, so you can't print them on a postcard. And to show your own tracking number in ads, you turn call reporting off.

What to measure each month

Once a month, count three things for each number: calls, appointments and closings. Then divide what you spent by each count.

In this example, the signs bring the cheapest calls and the Google ad the most expensive. Before you cut anything, look at appointments and closings, since those pay the bills.

Give each campaign a few months before you judge it. Real estate is slow, and one closing can change the whole picture.

Count the calls you missed as well. A campaign that makes the phone ring while you are in showings looks weak on paper, when the problem is who answers. Our post on what a missed call costs shows how to price that.

Mistakes that break call tracking

• One number on two campaigns. Once the postcard and the sign share a number, you can no longer tell them apart.
• Your cell on the ad. Every call that goes straight to your personal number lands in the column called unknown.
• Numbers switched off too early. Old postcards keep getting calls, and a dead number makes a campaign look worse than it was.
• Sources left blank. A call you took but never logged is a call your monthly numbers will never show.
• Counting calls only. 10 calls from people who want to rent may be worth less than 1 call from a seller.

Keep your numbers yours

A tracking number becomes part of your brand once it's printed. Make sure you can keep it if you change services.

In the US, you can usually keep your number when you switch providers in the same area, though companies may charge a fee. Before you rent numbers from any service, ask how moving them out works and what it costs.

How Yara uses campaign numbers

Campaign numbers come with every Yara plan: 1 on Starter, up to 5 on Pro and up to 15 on Team. Calls ring your phone first, for about 20 seconds.

If you don't pick up, Yara answers. The call is recorded and transcribed, and she texts you a summary within 1 minute. On Pro and Team, she also logs the call in Follow Up Boss with its source, the recording and the transcript.

On Pro and Team, the Friday call report shows your calls by number. To see it with your own campaigns, start your 30-day free pilot on Pro and set up Yara. To hear her first, have her call you, or compare the plans on the pricing page.

Set up Yara, hear a live call or see pricing.

Sources

1. National Association of Realtors. 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends, Exhibits 4-5 and 7-2. April 15, 2026. PDF copy hosted by Inman. Transactions from July 2024 to June 2025.
2. Google Ads Help. Google forwarding number. checked September 2026.
3. Zillow Research. Buyers: Results from the Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report 2025. November 6, 2025. About 10,200 recent buyers surveyed from April to September 2025.
4. National Association of Realtors. 2026 Member Profile, Exhibits 2-19 and 3-1. June 2026. 2025 data. PDF copy hosted by bnar.org.
5. Google Ads Help. About call reporting. checked September 2026.
6. Federal Communications Commission. Porting: Keeping Your Phone Number When You Change Providers. November 17, 2023.

Blog / Paid leads

Getting more from Zillow and other paid leads

Zillow connections average $139 to $223 each, and Zillow calls the next agent if you miss one. How to answer, follow up and track paid leads so more close.

By AetherFL Team. September 28, 2026. 5 min read.

The short version

• Zillow Premier Agent connections average $223 in major metros and $139 elsewhere.
• Zillow calls agents in turn until one picks up, so answer its calls on your own phone.
• Zillow Preferred takes a success fee of 15% to 40% of your commission when a lead closes.
• Fast replies, a set follow-up schedule and source tracking decide what paid leads are worth to you.

Most Realtors don't buy leads at all. In 2025, 31% got at least some business from paid third-party lead generation, and the median Realtor spent $0 on it.

If you're in that 31%, every lead has a price tag. This post covers how Zillow's programs work, what they cost and the habits that turn more paid leads into closings.

How Zillow leads reach you

Zillow Premier Agent sells advertising by ZIP code. Your share of voice, your share of the ad spend in a ZIP code, sets how many leads you get there.

Zillow sends 3 kinds of leads. Direct contacts picked you, connections are introduced to you live by phone and nurture leads are not ready to talk yet.

Connections get the most attention. When a shopper is ready, Zillow calls Premier Agents in turn until one picks up, then texts that agent the shopper's details.

• $223 average cost per Premier Agent connection in major metros (source: Zillow)
• $139 average cost per Premier Agent connection in other metros (source: Zillow)
• 15% to 40% Zillow Preferred success fee, as a share of your gross commission (source: Zillow Help Center)

Answer the connection call yourself

If you miss a connection call, Zillow calls the next agent. Zillow says you only need to answer about half the time to get your fair share, so one miss does not cost you your share.

Answering still pays. Each answered connection is a live conversation with a shopper who asked for an agent a moment ago.

Zillow calls from 206-539-0456, so save that number. Zillow also asks agents to turn off call screening and recorded greetings, which interfere with its automated calls.

For the same reason, keep the number on your Zillow profile on your own phone. Connection calls are meant for a live agent, so an assistant or an answering service should not pick them up.

Follow up in minutes, then for months

Speed matters most at the start. In one study, calling a web lead within 5 minutes instead of 30 made reaching it 100 times more likely.

In real estate, the bar is low. Secret shoppers found that 47% of online property inquiries to US brokerages got no response at all.

Most paid leads aren't ready on day 1, though. Zillow sends nurture leads because not every shopper is ready to talk to an agent, so plan for months of follow-up.

Texts help here. In Zillow's 2025 research, 50% of buyers said they prefer texting or messaging apps when working with agents.

Check consent before any call or text you place. Our TCPA and Florida guide covers the rules, and our speed to lead post covers the research.

Know what a closing costs you

With Premier Agent, you pay up front for connections. With Zillow Preferred, Zillow's pay-at-closing program, you pay a share of your commission when a lead closes.

Zillow's help center says the fee currently ranges from 15% to 40% of your gross commission, depending on the ZIP code and the sale price. It is based on your commission before any splits.

Track every paid lead from first contact to closing, with its source in Follow Up Boss. After a year, you will know your cost per closing for each source, and which ones to keep.

Other paid sources work the same way

Realtor.com, Facebook lead ads and Google ads reward the same habits. Answer fast, follow up on a schedule and track the source.

Costs vary a lot. Real estate Facebook lead ads averaged $13.74 per lead in 2026, while real estate Google search ads averaged $102.51.

A form filled in on Facebook and a phone call from a search ad are different leads. Compare what each source costs per closing, since that is the number you get paid on.

To give each source its own phone number, see how to track which ad makes your phone ring.

Questions to ask before you buy leads

1. Where do the leads come from? Ask which sites and which ads, and whether the person asked to hear from an agent.
2. Are they yours alone? A lead sold to 3 agents at once turns into a race you may not win.
3. How do they arrive? A live phone introduction needs you on your phone, and a form needs a fast call back.
4. Did they agree to calls and texts? You need that consent before you call or text, and so does anyone who calls for you.
5. What happens to bad leads? Wrong numbers and renters should come with a credit or a clear policy.
6. How do you cancel? Check the term, the notice period and any fee for leaving early.

Where Yara fits

Yara answers the calls your own marketing brings in. Calls to your campaign numbers ring you first, and she answers the ones you miss, then on Pro and Team logs them in Follow Up Boss. Zillow's connection calls stay on your own phone.

Follow-up on Zillow and Realtor.com leads is (coming soon). Yara will book the leads who are ready now and keep in touch with the rest. She will only call people who agreed to be called.

To hear Yara take a call, have her call you. To start your 30-day free pilot on Pro, set up Yara, or see the plans and prices.

Set up Yara, hear a live call or see pricing.

Sources

1. Zillow. Zillow Premier Agent, frequently asked questions. checked September 2026. Average cost per connection.
2. Zillow. Connecting You to Motivated Leads. January 23, 2025.
3. Zillow Help Center. How to Calculate Success Fees. checked September 2026.
4. National Association of Realtors. 2026 Member Profile, Exhibits 2-19 and 3-1. June 2026. 2025 data. PDF copy hosted by bnar.org.
5. Zillow. Supporting Your Success. January 26, 2025.
6. InsideSales.com and Dr. James Oldroyd (MIT). Lead Response Management Study. 2007. PDF copy of the executive summary, hosted by onecavo.com.
7. Mike DelPrete. Secret Shopping: 47% of Online Property Inquiries Are Ignored. August 13, 2024.
8. Zillow. Zillow report: Online research now shapes how most agent relationships begin (2025 Consumer Housing Trends Report for Agents). December 30, 2025.
9. WordStream by LocaliQ. Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2026. September 14, 2026. Almost 1,800 Facebook ad campaigns.
10. LocaliQ. Real Estate Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026. September 14, 2026. 894 US search campaigns on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads, April 2025 to March 2026.