Real estate answering service
You can't take the call in the middle of a showing.
Bloombilt answers while you're with a client. It asks what you'd ask, books the tour onto your calendar, and texts back the ones who hang up. You get a qualified lead instead of a missed call and a callback list.
Built and run in the Twin Cities. We install it ourselves and answer the phone when you call us.
The lead goes to whoever picks up.
Nobody calls one agent. They open a listing site, find three properties they like, and work down the numbers until a person answers. Being second is the same as not being on the list, and the caller does not think of it as rejecting you, because they never spoke to you at all.
That's what makes this business different from most. The call you miss isn't waiting for you when you're free. It's already been handled by somebody else, and the only trace it leaves is a number you don't recognize.
The hours you can't pick up.
- Mid-showing
- You're walking a buyer through a kitchen. The phone goes in your pocket, because taking it in front of a client is worse than missing it. That's forty minutes of leads going to voicemail, several times a day.
- Driving between listings
- The gap between appointments is where the calls stack up, and it's the one time you genuinely cannot pick up. By the time you're parked, the caller has already worked down their list.
- Evenings and weekends
- Buyers browse listings at nine at night and on Sunday afternoons, which is exactly when they call. That is not after hours in this business, it is the busy shift.
What it does while you're busy.
- Answers every call, text, and website inquiry while you're with a client
- Asks the qualifying questions you'd ask: timeline, financing, price range, area
- Books the showing straight onto your calendar
- Texts back the callers who hang up before you can reach them
- Sends the whole conversation to your inbox, transcribed, with the details attached
A service that only takes a message hands the work back to you. This one asks the qualifying questions and books the showing while the caller is still on the line, so what reaches you is an appointment rather than a name to chase.
Or call it a virtual receptionist.
If you've been pricing a realtor virtual receptionist, this is the same job under the other name. The distinction people usually draw is that an answering service takes a message and a virtual receptionist acts like your front desk. Ours does the second: it answers the question, qualifies the caller, and books the appointment.
The difference that matters isn't the label. It's whether what reaches you is a booked showing or a list of people to call back.
Running live
Our front desk runs live today at Norblom Plumbing, a St. Paul shop that's taken Twin Cities calls for about a hundred years. That's a plumbing shop, not a brokerage, and we'd rather say so than imply a real estate customer we don't have yet.
The job is the same one: answer the call the owner can't take, get the details, and book the work. Ask us on the call and we'll show you exactly how it handles a listing inquiry.
How many showings went to the next agent?
Fifteen minutes. We'll walk through how it would answer for your listings.
Common questions.
Will it qualify a lead or just take a message?
It qualifies. We set the questions with you during onboarding, so it asks what you'd ask: are they pre-approved, what's the timeline, what price range, which areas, are they working with another agent. That lands in your inbox as a lead with answers on it, not a name and a number you have to call back to find out whether it was worth calling back.
Can it book a showing on my calendar?
Yes, and that's the point. It offers the times you're actually free, the caller picks one, and a confirmation text lands while they're still on the phone. A message-taking service hands you the same callback list you already had; this puts the appointment on the calendar before the caller has a chance to keep dialing.
What does it do with a listing inquiry it can't answer?
It answers what it's been told and does not improvise the rest. Square footage, taxes, HOA dues, and anything else you load in, it will give. Anything it doesn't know, it says so, takes the question, and passes it to you rather than guessing at a number that ends up in a contract conversation later.
Does it work for a team, or only a solo agent?
Both. It can route by agent, by listing, or by whoever is on duty, and tags every call so it's clear which agent it belongs to. A solo agent and a small brokerage run the same system with different routing rules.
Do I have to change my phone number or my CRM?
No. It runs on top of the phone you already carry, so your number and your provider stay as they are. During onboarding we point your unanswered calls at it and connect it to the calendar and inbox you already use.
How much does a real estate answering service cost?
The traditional ones bill per call or per minute, which gets expensive in exactly the months you're busiest, and some charge a premium for evenings and weekends when most of the calls actually arrive. Ours is quoted per brokerage and billed flat, because we build the front desk around your listings, your areas, and your hours. There's no per-call fee and no surcharge for the hours you'd otherwise miss.
Is this an answering service or a virtual receptionist?
Both words describe the same job, and different shops use different ones. An answering service traditionally takes a message; a virtual receptionist is expected to act like your front desk, which means answering questions and booking the work. Ours does the second: it answers, tells the caller what you do and when you can come, books the appointment, and sends you the transcript. Call it whichever you like.
How long until I'm using it?
Most customers are live in two to three weeks from signed agreement.
Will this work with the tools we already use?
Yes. Our products connect to the systems your team already uses: Google Workspace, CRMs, calendars, Slack, email, and other common business tools.
What if I want to cancel?
Cancel anytime with reasonable notice. We'll export your data and hand back anything we run for you, like a website or phone number. The rest stays yours.
Where does our data live?
Your data stays yours. It's encrypted in transit and at rest, isolated from every other customer, and never used to train AI models, ours or the third-party services we use to deliver the product. Subprocessor list available on request. Full details in our privacy policy.
Get in touch.
Tell us about your business and where the hours go. A real person reads every note, and we reply within a day or two.