You are in the middle of a showing. The clients are loving the master bath, but your pocket is vibrating. It is an unknown number. Do you take it and look rude to your current clients? Or do you ignore it and risk losing a hot lead to the agent down the street who did pick up?
This is the classic dilemma for real estate professionals. In this industry, speed to lead is not just a metric, it is survival. If you are not answering immediately, someone else is collecting your commission. But you cannot work 24 hours a day, and hiring full time front desk staff is a massive overhead headache.
That is where a specialized real estate answering service comes in. The game has changed though. You need a solution that qualifies leads, books showings, and integrates with your CRM while you sleep. Below, we break down the best answering services for real estate so you can stop bleeding revenue and start scaling.
TL;DR: Best Answering Services for Real Estate
Here is a quick snapshot of the top answering services for real estate agents and teams, and who each is best for.
- ServiceAgent.ai: Best overall answering service for real estate, ideal for scaling teams that want AI voice + full operations automation.
- Smith.ai: Best hybrid human + AI virtual receptionist for teams that want strong human coverage.
- Ruby: Best premium live receptionist for brands that prioritize a high touch human experience.
- PATLive: Best 24/7 human answering service for investors needing detailed scripted intake.
- AnswerConnect: Best for small real estate businesses that want flexible month to month live answering.
What is a Real Estate Answering Service?
A real estate answering service is a specialized call answering solution that handles inbound calls for agents, brokers, and property managers. It responds to buyer and seller inquiries, screens spam, schedules showings, and captures new leads, so real estate professionals never miss opportunities when they are in appointments or after hours.
A real estate answering service is a specialized communication solution that manages inbound calls for agents, brokers, and property managers. Unlike generic call centers, these services are trained to handle property inquiries, schedule showings, screen solicitors, and capture buyer or seller leads according to specific industry workflows.
Modern solutions range from traditional live receptionists to advanced AI Voice Agents. The goal is simple, ensure a professional response 24/7 so agents never miss an opportunity, regardless of whether they are in a closing, on a showing, or asleep.
Why Do Real Estate Agents Need an Answering Service?
The real estate market does not pause at 5:00 PM. In fact, that is when most buyers start browsing Zillow and making calls. If your phone goes to voicemail, you have likely lost the client to another agent or team that picks up.
1. Speed to lead is everything
Responding to a lead within five minutes can increase contact and qualification rates by up to 400 percent compared to waiting longer (Source: Lead Response Management Study, 2011). A real estate answering service ensures that the response happens instantly, even if you are busy in a showing or listing appointment.
2. Eliminating spam and solicitors
Your number is public. That means a large percentage of your calls are vendors, marketers, or scams. Answering services act as a firewall, filtering out the noise so you only spend energy on revenue generating conversations.
3. Capturing the after hours market
Serious buyers often call early in the morning or late at night. A 9 to 5 receptionist misses these critical windows. A 24/7 real estate answering service captures the night owls and the early risers, so you are always open when prospects are ready.
4. Professionalism and brand image
A voicemail box, or worse, a mailbox full of messages, screams hobbyist. A professional answer, whether by a polished human or a sophisticated AI, tells prospects that you run a serious, high volume real estate operation.
Top 11 Best Answering Services for Real Estate (Ranked)
Below are the best answering services for real estate agents and teams, from AI operations platforms to traditional virtual receptionist firms. Use the comparison tables first, then dive into each provider.
Real Estate Answering Service Comparison Table
| Service | Price Range | Ease of Use | Integration Ecosystem | AI Agent Features |
| ServiceAgent.ai | Usage-based, typically lower than live answering | High | Deep CRM, calendar, payments, marketing integrations | Natural voice AI, lead qualification, booking, workflows |
| Smith.ai | From ~$285/month (per-call bundles) | High | CRM & calendar integrations | Basic AI screening + live agents |
| Ruby | From ~$235/month | High | Basic CRM connections | Human-only reception |
| PATLive | From ~$239/month | Medium | Limited integrations | Human-only answering |
| AnswerConnect | From ~$149/month | Medium | Basic CRM connections | Minimal AI |
| Davinci Virtual | From ~$129/month | Medium | Limited | No AI |
| VoiceNation | From ~$64/month | High | Minimal | No AI |
| Abby Connect | From ~$279/month | Medium | Limited | Human-only |
| GoodCall | Freemium → paid tiers | High | Limited | AI answering |
1. ServiceAgent.ai: Best Overall Answering Service for Real Estate Agents & Teams
ServiceAgent.ai is not just an answering service, it is an AI Operations Platform designed to replace the fragmented stack of tools most real estate agencies use. While traditional services just take messages, ServiceAgent.ai acts as a fully trained digital employee. It answers calls 24/7, qualifies buyers and sellers based on your specific criteria, and books showings directly onto your calendar.
For growth focused owners, this is the unfair advantage. You get the capability of a full front office staff without recruiting, payroll taxes, or sick days. ServiceAgent integrates directly with your existing CRM, so every interaction is logged and actionable immediately.
Key features:
- 24/7 AI Voice Agents that sound natural and can handle complex property inquiries (price, schools, availability, qualification).
- Instant setup so you can go live in minutes, not weeks.
- Full integration with real estate CRMs, Google Calendar, and payment gateways.
- Zero missed calls, handling infinite concurrent calls with no busy signals during marketing blitzes.
- Cost efficiency, with usage based pricing that is significantly cheaper than human receptionist services and has zero wait times.
G2 rating & pricing: ServiceAgent.ai holds a high satisfaction rating on review platforms and offers usage based pricing, with plans typically far below the cost of a full time receptionist. For details, see the pricing page on ServiceAgent.
How ServiceAgent compares:
Compared to Smith.ai or Ruby, ServiceAgent.ai delivers deeper automation and real estate specific workflows. Unlike Insighto AI or GoodCall, it operates as a unified operations platform, not just a standalone bot, so your lead intake, qualification, and bookings are fully automated end to end.
Best for: Real estate agents and teams scaling rapidly who want to automate operations, protect speed to lead, and stop paying for idle human time.
2. Smith.ai
Smith.ai is a well known virtual receptionist service that combines AI technology with human agents. They handle calls, chats, and SMS, and position themselves as hybrid receptionists who can cover 24/7.
Key features:
- 24/7 North America based agents.
- CRM integration with tools like Salesforce and HubSpot.
- Spam blocking and basic call screening.
G2 rating & pricing: Smith.ai is generally well reviewed on G2 with ratings above 4.5/5, and pricing typically starts around $285/month for call bundles. Check their site for current plans.
Use cases:
Teams that want a mix of human receptionists and some AI assistance, especially for general small business or multi practice environments.
How ServiceAgent differs:
Where Smith.ai splits tasks between humans and AI, ServiceAgent.ai focuses on advanced AI that can handle full workflows for real estate, including lead qualification, booking, and CRM automation. This reduces per call costs for high volume real estate teams while maintaining speed and accuracy.
3. Ruby Receptionists
Ruby (formerly Ruby Receptionists) is often seen as the gold standard for traditional, cheerful human receptionists. They are famous for their friendly tone and wow factor. If your brand relies heavily on high touch human interaction for every single call, Ruby is a strong contender.
Key features:
- Highly trained remote receptionists.
- Mobile app for real time status updates.
- Outbound call capabilities.
G2 rating & pricing: Ruby typically has strong ratings on review platforms, often above 4.5/5, with plans starting around $235/month based on minutes used.
Use cases:
Boutique brokerages that want a premium brand feel and are willing to pay more for live human receptionists.
How ServiceAgent differs:
Ruby excels at human charm, but scaling is limited and expensive. ServiceAgent.ai, by contrast, is built for unlimited concurrent calls, deep automation, and tight CRM integration, which is more efficient for high volume real estate teams running aggressive lead gen.
4. PATLive
PATLive is a dedicated human answering service known for flexibility. They allow for fairly complex scripting, which is useful for real estate investors who need to ask specific questions about property conditions, such as whether the roof is leaking or if there is a mortgage.
Key features:
- 100 percent US based agents.
- Flexible web based scripting tool.
- 24/7 availability.
G2 rating & pricing: PATLive generally scores above 4.0/5 on review platforms. Plans often start around $239/month based on minutes.
Use cases:
Real estate investors and wholesalers that rely on scripted, question based intake handled by humans.
How ServiceAgent differs:
PATLive scripts still depend on human capacity and minute based billing. ServiceAgent.ai automates these intake flows with AI voice agents, so you can qualify leads at scale and forward only the most qualified opportunities to your team.
5. AnswerConnect
AnswerConnect operates as a cooperative model with distributed agents. They are a solid, middle of the road option for general small businesses, including some real estate teams. Their positioning focuses heavily on always open live answering.
Key features:
- 24/7 live answering.
- Appointment scheduling and message taking.
- Bilingual agents available.
G2 rating & pricing: AnswerConnect typically has ratings around 4.0/5, with pricing starting near $149/month depending on minutes and features.
Use cases:
Small real estate firms needing a straightforward live answering solution without heavy automation needs.
How ServiceAgent differs:
AnswerConnect is a generalist service. ServiceAgent.ai is built specifically for real estate and home services, with AI that can reference listings, qualify leads, and push data into your CRM automatically, which reduces manual follow up work.
6. Davinci Virtual
Davinci is often used by agents who need a virtual office address for Google Maps SEO along with their phone answering. They provide physical addresses for mail drops and meeting rooms, paired with a basic call center service.
Key features:
- Live receptionist services.
- Virtual business addresses and mail handling.
- Lobby directory listings and meeting rooms.
G2 rating & pricing: Davinci’s ratings are generally around 4.0/5, with virtual office plus answering bundles starting near $129/month.
Use cases:
Solo agents who want to appear larger with a physical office address and basic message taking.
How ServiceAgent differs:
Davinci helps with presence, but its answering service is basic. ServiceAgent.ai focuses on converting calls into appointments and deals through AI qualification and calendar booking, which has a more direct revenue impact.
7. VoiceNation
VoiceNation is known for instant activation. They target the solo entrepreneur or agent who needs a number and a live body to answer it right away. Their dashboard is user friendly and allows for quick script adjustments.
Key features:
- Instant activation and quick setup.
- Simple dashboard analytics.
- 24/7 coverage.
G2 rating & pricing: VoiceNation reviews typically hover around 4.5/5, with starter plans as low as ~$64/month depending on minutes.
Use cases:
Solo agents needing immediate coverage with minimal configuration.
How ServiceAgent differs:
VoiceNation is great for getting started fast with live receptionists, but it does not offer the automation depth of ServiceAgent.ai. As volume grows, ServiceAgent’s AI operations platform becomes more cost effective and efficient for handling many concurrent real estate calls.
8. Abby Connect
Abby Connect focuses on providing a dedicated team of receptionists, usually five to ten people, so that the same voices answer your phone. This creates familiarity for repeat callers, which can be beneficial for high end luxury brokers.
Key features:
- Dedicated receptionist teams.
- Bilingual answering.
- Custom transfer music and messages.
G2 rating & pricing: Abby Connect usually has strong ratings above 4.5/5, with plans often starting around $279/month depending on minutes and team size.
Use cases:
Luxury real estate brokerages that value a small, consistent human team answering their lines.
How ServiceAgent differs:
Abby Connect offers a boutique human touch, but scale is limited. ServiceAgent.ai can handle unlimited concurrent calls, maintain consistent scripts, and log everything into your CRM, which is better suited for high volume lead generation environments.
9. GoodCall
GoodCall is a newer entrant focusing on AI driven conversational agents specifically for small businesses. They aim to democratize AI answering for local pros, including real estate agents and property managers.
Key features:
- Organizes skills into specialized agents.
- Integration with Yelp and Google for business info.
- Simple, self serve setup.
G2 rating & pricing: GoodCall receives positive feedback on ease of use, with freemium and low cost tiers. Detailed ratings and pricing are best confirmed on their site.
Use cases:
Local pros and smaller real estate teams that want a simple AI answering layer without complex backend automations.
How ServiceAgent differs:
GoodCall is user friendly but often lacks the deep backend operations, complex CRM integrations, analytics, and billing automation that ServiceAgent.ai provides. For teams that want AI to function like a real operations employee, ServiceAgent is more robust.
10. Nexa
Nexa has expanded aggressively into the home services and real estate sectors. They offer voice, chat, and SMS services, along with integration to industry specific software.
Key features:
- Lead qualification intake.
- Outbound calling options.
- SMS and text answering.
G2 rating & pricing: Nexa typically has ratings around 4.0/5, with plans starting around $269/month, depending on usage.
Use cases:
Multi agent real estate teams that want live receptionists plus SMS coverage, especially across home services and property management.
How ServiceAgent differs:
Nexa provides multichannel human support, but consistency can vary between agents. ServiceAgent.ai delivers consistent AI driven interactions, full automation, and deep real estate integrations that reduce manual admin work for your team.
11. Insighto AI
Insighto provides customized AI agents for phone and web. They focus on personality customization of the AI, allowing you to tweak the voice and style of the responder.
Key features:
- Customizable AI voice personalities.
- Multilingual support.
- Appointment setting and basic automations.
G2 rating & pricing: Insighto AI is a newer player with limited public ratings. Pricing is typically custom and implementation driven.
Use cases:
Businesses that want tailored AI voice personalities and multilingual support across industries.
How ServiceAgent differs:
Insighto functions more as a standalone AI tool. ServiceAgent.ai, on the other hand, is a unified operations platform built specifically for real estate, tying calls, lead qualification, appointments, and CRM updates into a single automated workflow.
How to Choose the Best Answering Service for Your Real Estate Business?
Selecting the best answering service for real estate is not just about price, it is about workflow, integrations, and long term scalability. Use these criteria to evaluate vendors.
1. Integration support
Does the service connect to your CRM, such as Follow Up Boss, LionDesk, Salesforce, or a real estate specific platform? If an answering service takes a message but does not log it in your CRM, you are creating administrative debt. You need automated data entry and task creation to keep your pipeline clean.
2. Scalability and burst handling
Real estate is cyclical. If you launch a Facebook or Google Ads campaign on Friday, you might get 50 calls on Saturday. A human service might put 40 of those on hold or send them to voicemail. An AI answering service can answer all 50 simultaneously. Choose a provider that scales with your marketing, not against it.
3. Lead qualification capability
You do not just need a message taker, you need a gatekeeper. Can the service ask specific questions like, Are you pre approved, How soon are you looking to move, or Are you working with an agent, and route the call or appointment differently based on the answers? For real estate teams, this determines which leads go to inside sales, agents, or nurture sequences.
4. Onboarding speed
Can you get set up today, or does it take two weeks of training meetings and script reviews? In fast moving markets, agility matters. AI solutions like ServiceAgent.ai often let you upload your website, listings, and FAQs to train the system in minutes.
Why Do Real Estate Agents Choose ServiceAgent.ai?
Real estate is moving faster than ever, and the old way of managing calls, hiring expensive receptionists or letting calls go to voicemail, is killing growth. Agents choose ServiceAgent.ai because it is the ultimate force multiplier for real estate operations.
ServiceAgent.ai provides a level of operational efficiency that human teams simply cannot match.
- It learns your business. The AI ingests your website, listings, and PDFs to become an expert on your inventory and service area.
- It books the meeting. It does not just say, I will pass the message. It looks at your Google Calendar or integrated appointment system and locks in the showing or consultation while the lead is hot.
- It cuts overhead. Instead of paying thousands per month for a receptionist team that cannot scale beyond one call at a time, you pay only when the AI is working for you, with usage based pricing.
With ServiceAgent.ai, you are not just buying an answering service. You are installing a revenue generating engine that works 24/7, never complains, and handles every real estate lead with consistent professionalism.
Conclusion
The difference between a top producing real estate team and a struggling agent often comes down to systems. If you are still relying on voicemail or an overpriced, inconsistent call center, you are handing market share to your competition.
The future of real estate answering services is automated, intelligent, and instant. Whether you experiment with a hybrid model or go full AI, ensuring every call is answered and captured in your CRM is non negotiable.
If you want the best answering service for real estate that combines AI voice, deep integrations, and true operations automation, ServiceAgent.ai is built for you.
Ready to stop missing commissions and convert more calls into closings?
Sign up for ServiceAgent.ai and launch your AI answering agent today.
FAQs
1. What is the difference between a virtual receptionist and an answering service?
A traditional answering service typically acts as a message center, taking basic details and emailing them to you. A virtual receptionist, especially AI powered ones like ServiceAgent.ai or hybrid providers like Smith.ai, acts more like a team member, answering questions, booking appointments, and integrating directly with your CRM and calendar.
2. Can AI answering services handle specific real estate questions?
Yes. Advanced platforms like ServiceAgent.ai and GoodCall let you upload knowledge bases, property flyers, and FAQs. The AI then uses this data to answer specific questions about square footage, school districts, pricing, and availability, rather than just taking a name and number.
3. How much does a real estate answering service cost?
Traditional human services such as Ruby, PATLive, Nexa, and AnswerConnect usually range from about $150 to over $1,000 per month depending on minutes and features. AI solutions like ServiceAgent.ai and GoodCall are generally more cost effective on a per call basis, while also offering unlimited capacity and 24/7 coverage.
4. Which is the best answering service for real estate agents?
For most growth focused real estate teams, ServiceAgent.ai is the best option thanks to its AI voice, lead qualification, and deep CRM automation. Other strong options include Smith.ai for hybrid human + AI, Ruby for premium human receptionists, PATLive for scripted human intake, and AnswerConnect for small business live answering.
5. Do I need to change my phone number to use a real estate answering service?
No. You typically keep your existing business number and set up call forwarding to the number provided by the service. You can forward all calls, or use conditional forwarding after a set number of rings so the answering service, like ServiceAgent.ai, only picks up when you cannot.
