Real Estate Lead Assistant

Build a lead qualification assistant for a real estate brokerage — a chatbot that answers questions about current listings and neighborhoods, qualifies visitors by budget, timeline, and intent, and captures structured leads your agents can act on the same day.

The distinctive lesson in this guide is lead qualification fields: not just capturing a name and email, but capturing the specific structured information that tells an agent whether a lead is ready to tour, still researching, or needs six months. That distinction changes how the agent follows up — and capturing it automatically, at scale, is the commercial point of the tool.

What your agent will do. We’ll use Beacon Realty, a fictional boutique brokerage in Brooklyn, New York, as the worked example. By the end of this guide, the assistant should handle conversations like:

“What do you have in Park Slope under $900K?” — answered from the listings snapshot, with a reminder that availability changes daily.
“What’s the difference between a co-op and a condo?” — answered from the FAQ in the knowledge base.
“How does the 421-a tax abatement work?” — answered from the neighborhood guide.
“I’m thinking of buying a 2BR somewhere in Brooklyn, budget around $1.2M, probably looking to move in the fall.” — agent qualifies and captures: inquiry type (buy), bedrooms (2), budget ($1.2M), timeline (fall 2026), neighborhood preference (open), then collects name and contact.
“I just want to browse — what are your cheapest rentals?” — answered from the snapshot; no lead capture forced.

Snapshot framing is a feature, not a caveat. The listings in this guide’s knowledge base are a point-in-time snapshot, not a live MLS feed. The agent is explicitly instructed to say so — always. This is the legally and operationally correct behaviour for any real estate chatbot, and it’s what prevents a visitor from relying on stale availability data. The honest framing (“confirm with an agent”) is also a natural lead-capture trigger: the visitor needs a human to confirm availability, so they leave their details.

Prerequisites

A Jhunkoo.ai account and an active subscription.
The sample knowledge source, hosted as a public URL — attach one of these to the agent:
- Markdown (.md) — beacon-realty-listings-and-neighborhood-guide.md · recommended for cleanest table and price preservation
- Word document (.docx) — beacon-realty-listings-and-neighborhood-guide.docx · for operators who maintain their listings sheet in Word
- PDF (.pdf) — beacon-realty-listings-and-neighborhood-guide.pdf · for operators whose listings document is already a PDF

This guide uses no built-in tools (no Show Map, no Google API) and no external APIs. The agent’s behaviour comes entirely from the knowledge base and Lead Capture.

Picking the format. All three formats work. The listings document contains structured tables (listing details, prices, neighborhood price ranges) — Word and Markdown preserve these most cleanly. PDF is fine for prose-heavy content like the neighborhood guide and FAQ sections; dense listing tables can occasionally fragment in PDF extraction.

See the Knowledge tool doc for the RAG explainer.

Build the agent

Create the agent

Sign in and go to Agents.
Click Create Agent.
Enter a Name (e.g. Beacon Realty Assistant) and optional Description.
Click Create.

Set basic instructions

Open the Persona tab and paste this into Instructions. We’ll refine it later — for now, plain English is enough.

You are a helpful assistant for Beacon Realty, a boutique residential brokerage in Brooklyn, New York. You help visitors learn about our current listings and neighborhoods, answer questions about the buying, selling, and renting process, and connect interested visitors with the right Beacon agent.
 
Be knowledgeable, warm, and honest. Never fabricate listing details or availability — always remind visitors that the listings you can see are a snapshot and may have changed.

Still on the Persona tab, scroll down to the advanced settings and enable one option:

Add current date and time to system prompt → enable this checkbox. Listings carry availability dates (“available June 1,” “rented through February 2027”), so a visitor will ask “is the DUMBO loft available next month?” or “can I move in before summer?”. Without knowing today’s date, the agent can’t resolve “next month” against those dates. It also keeps the snapshot caveat honest — the agent knows how recent “as of our last update” actually is. (Leave Chat history at its default — qualification rarely runs long enough to need the larger window.)

Save.

Attach the knowledge source

Open the Knowledge tab.

Under URLs, add the source you chose from the Prerequisites. For example:

https://files.jhunkoo.ai/demo/beacon-realty/beacon-realty-listings-and-neighborhood-guide.md

Wait for Training to finish.

Expand Retriever description and add when the agent should search the knowledge base:

Search for information about Beacon Realty — our active listings (for sale and for rent), listing details (address, price, size, type, availability, contact agent), neighborhood guides (Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, DUMBO, Crown Heights — transit, character, price ranges, who buys/rents there), the buying and renting process, co-op vs. condo, 421-a tax abatements, board approval, our agents, our office and contact details, and anything else from the listings and neighborhood guide. Use this tool whenever a visitor asks about listings, neighborhoods, prices, the buying or renting process, or anything specific to Beacon Realty.

💡

Once you have a URL source in Knowledge, Jhunkoo automatically enables the search_knowledge_base tool — no toggle required on the Tools tab.

Configure Lead Capture

This is where the guide’s distinctive lesson lives. Open the Tools tab and enable Lead Capture.

Step 1 — Built-in contact fields

In the Lead Capture Fields section, configure the three built-in contact fields:

Field	Required	Purpose
`name`	Yes	Visitor’s name
`email`	Yes	Required — primary follow-up channel for real estate
`phone`	No	Optional — for visitors who prefer a call

Step 2 — Custom fields

Below the contact fields, click Add field to add each of the following under Custom Fields. These are the qualification fields that turn a contact into a lead an agent can act on:

Label	Type	Required	Description hint
`Inquiry Type`	Text	Yes	Buying, renting, selling, or just browsing — routes the lead immediately
`Budget Range`	Text	Yes	Purchase budget or monthly rent ceiling
`Bedrooms`	Number	No	Number of bedrooms needed
`Neighborhoods`	Text	No	Preferred neighborhoods (can be multiple or “open”)
`Timeline`	Text	Yes	Ready now, within 3 months, within 6 months, just researching
`Message`	Text	No	Free text — anything else the visitor wants to add

The key for each custom field is derived automatically from the label. Inquiry Type becomes inquiryType, Budget Range becomes budgetRange, and so on. You’ll see the derived key displayed below the label as you type in the Add field dialog.

Why Budget Range is Text, not Number. A budget at the inquiry stage is a band — “around $900K”, “up to $4,000/month” — not a single figure, so it belongs in a Text field. Bedrooms, by contrast, is a clean integer, so Number is the right type there. Match the type to what the visitor will actually say.

Why these three fields are the qualification core

Inquiry Type, Budget Range, and Timeline are the fields that tell an agent how to prioritize a lead.

Inquiry Type routes the lead to the right agent and the right workflow. A buyer and a renter need different things. A seller needs a market analysis, not a listing tour.
Budget Range filters the follow-up conversation before it starts. An agent who knows a visitor’s budget can pull relevant comps and speak to specific listings in the first call.
Timeline separates the hot leads from the long-nurture ones. A visitor who says “ready now” gets a same-day call. A visitor who says “just researching” goes into a 6-month email nurture. Without this field, every lead looks the same.

These three fields together are what distinguish a qualified lead (someone the agent can act on immediately) from a contact (someone who left their email). The difference in conversion rate between the two is significant.

Why email is required, phone is optional

Real estate follow-up in a boutique brokerage context typically starts with a personal email — it’s less intrusive than a cold call and gives the visitor a record of the conversation. Phone is collected as an option for visitors who prefer to be called, but we don’t require it.

This is different from the service-business guides in this set (Northside Plumbing, Stovepipe & Co.), where phone is the primary channel. In real estate, email is the norm for the first contact; a call follows after the agent has reviewed the lead.

Timing: when to capture

Call lead_capture_tool when the visitor signals clear interest in being contacted or in acting on a specific listing. Examples that warrant capture:

“I’d like to hear more about the Carroll Gardens condo.” — yes.
“Can someone show me the DUMBO loft?” — yes.
“I’m looking to buy a 2BR in the fall.” — yes, even without a specific listing.
“How much is the Park Slope co-op?” — no, answer the question.
“What neighborhoods are good for families?” — no, answer the question.

A visitor who says “I’m just browsing” should get helpful answers, not a contact form. Don’t pre-empt with “would you like to speak to an agent?” — let the visitor decide.

Refine your instructions

Now that the knowledge base and Lead Capture are wired up, replace the placeholder instructions with the full version.

Go back to the Persona tab and replace the instructions with:

You are a helpful assistant for Beacon Realty, a boutique residential brokerage in Brooklyn, New York. You help visitors learn about our current listings and neighborhoods, answer questions about the buying, selling, and renting process, and connect interested visitors with the right Beacon agent.
 
## Tone
 
Knowledgeable, warm, and direct — the voice of a local agent who knows Brooklyn well and doesn't need to oversell. Speak plainly. Don't use real estate jargon without explaining it (e.g. if you say "co-op," explain what that means for someone new to New York). Don't use hyperbolic language ("stunning," "rare gem," "dream home"). Let the listings speak for themselves.
 
## When to use the knowledge base
 
For any question about Beacon Realty — our listings, neighborhoods, prices, the process, agents, or office — call the `search_knowledge_base` tool before answering. Do not fabricate listing details, prices, or availability.
 
If the knowledge base returns no results, say honestly that you don't have that information and offer the office line at (718) 555-0100 or [email protected].
 
## Snapshot framing — always
 
The listings in our knowledge base are a **point-in-time snapshot**, not a live MLS feed. Availability changes daily. Every time you answer a question about a specific listing — its availability, price, or status — include a brief reminder that the visitor should confirm current availability with an agent before making any decisions.
 
This is not optional. Never imply a listing is definitely available. Always include: "this is as of our last update — confirm with the listing agent."
 
## Inquiry routing
 
When a visitor mentions they want to buy, rent, or sell, note their intent early and use it to shape the conversation:
 
- **Buying:** Ask about budget, bedrooms, preferred neighborhoods, and timeline. Surface relevant listings from the knowledge base.
- **Renting:** Ask about budget, bedrooms, move-in date, and neighborhood. Surface rental listings.
- **Selling:** Do not try to generate a price estimate or valuation. Say that the right first step is a market analysis from one of our agents, and offer to connect them.
- **Just browsing:** Answer helpfully. Don't push toward contact capture.
 
## When to capture a lead
 
Call `lead_capture_tool` when the visitor signals intent to be contacted or act on a listing. You need at minimum: name, email, inquiry type, budget range, and timeline. Collect the others if they've come up naturally in the conversation — do not interrogate for fields the visitor hasn't mentioned.
 
Do not capture a lead for a visitor who is asking general questions and shows no intent to be contacted.
 
## What the agent cannot help with
 
- **Live MLS availability.** Always caveat: this is a snapshot, confirm with an agent.
- **Legal or mortgage advice.** Refer to their attorney and lender.
- **Valuations or CMAs.** Refer to an agent for a proper market analysis.
- **Neighborhoods outside our core six.** We can refer to a partner brokerage — offer to capture details and pass them on.
- **Scheduling showings directly.** The listing agent handles scheduling — provide their contact or capture the lead.
 
## Formatting
 
Use plain prose for most answers. Use a brief list when comparing multiple listings or neighborhoods. Keep answers concise — a visitor researching a $1.5M purchase is reading carefully; don't bury the answer. Lead with the direct answer, then add context.

Save.

Prefer not to maintain prompt rules by hand? The Prompt Builder generates a stricter version of these rules from a form. Both approaches work — use whichever fits your workflow.

Configure each tool

Knowledge base

A single URL source forms the agent’s source of truth: the Listings & Neighborhood Guide. It contains:

Snapshot framing — explicit “this is a snapshot, not a live feed” disclaimer, prominent at the top.
6 for-sale listings — co-ops, condos, townhouses, and a multi-family, across Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, DUMBO, Cobble Hill, Crown Heights, and Gowanus. Each listing includes address, price, type, size, monthly costs, floor/building details, and the listing agent’s direct contact.
4 for-rent listings — apartments across Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Crown Heights, and DUMBO. Each includes rent, size, lease terms, availability date, and pet policy.
6 neighborhood guides — character, transit times, who buys/rents there, and approximate price ranges per neighborhood.
Working with Beacon Realty — buying, selling, and renting process overview.
Common questions FAQ — co-op vs. condo, 421-a abatements, board approval, pre-approval, first-time buyers.
Honest scope section — what the chat can and can’t help with.

Updating the listings. When the brokerage’s inventory changes, update the source document and re-train the agent by removing and re-adding the URL on the Knowledge tab. The agent’s instructions, Lead Capture config, and publishing settings are unchanged — only the knowledge is refreshed.

Why one document, not separate listing sheets? Keeping listings and neighborhood context together means the agent can answer “what’s the 2BR in Carroll Gardens like, and what’s the neighborhood like?” in a single retrieval step, rather than needing to stitch results from two separate sources. For a brokerage with a small, focused listing set, this works well. For a larger brokerage with rotating inventory, a separate listings sheet (updated weekly) and a stable neighborhood guide (updated quarterly) is a better split.

Lead Capture

The qualification fields above — Inquiry Type, Budget Range, Timeline — are what make this more than a contact form.

Each chat session produces one lead. If the agent calls the tool more than once in the same conversation, the existing lead is updated rather than duplicated, and custom field values are merged so an earlier partial capture is never lost. Two separate conversations create two separate leads. This is built into the Lead Capture tool — no configuration needed.

Where leads land. Captured leads appear in the agent’s Leads view in your Jhunkoo dashboard (/agents/[agentId]/leads). For a real estate brokerage, the next step is typically exporting to a CRM (most brokerages use one) — see Lead Capture for export options.

Snapshots, not MLS: the legal framing

This section matters more in real estate than in any other vertical in this guide set.

A real estate chatbot that implies a listing is available when it isn’t — or that implies a price is current when the market has moved — can create legal exposure for the brokerage. Visitors may rely on stale information to make decisions. At minimum, the brokerage looks sloppy; at worst, there are fair-housing and misrepresentation implications.

The right framing is built into the document and reinforced in the instructions:

The knowledge base document leads with a snapshot disclaimer. The first substantive section says: “The listings in this document are a point-in-time snapshot, not a live MLS feed.” This gets embedded as one of the agent’s earliest retrieved chunks.
The instructions require the agent to caveat availability every time. The “Snapshot framing — always” rule is non-negotiable. Every listing answer includes “confirm with the listing agent.”
The agent never schedules showings. Scheduling creates a stronger implication of confirmed availability. The agent captures a lead and points to the listing agent’s contact; the agent handles the booking.

This framing is also commercially useful: “confirm availability with an agent” is a natural handoff to a real human, which is where a real estate brokerage makes its money.

Test in the studio

Use the chat panel on the right of the agent configuration page. A test script that exercises every capability:

Listing query. “What do you have for sale in Park Slope?” — agent should surface the 7th Avenue co-op with price, size, monthly maintenance, snapshot caveat. Should not fabricate additional listings.
Budget filter. “I’m looking for a 2BR under $1.2M in Brooklyn.” — agent should surface relevant listings (Carroll Gardens condo, Crown Heights two-family) and note that DUMBO and Cobble Hill are above budget.
Rental query. “What rentals do you have?” — agent should list all four rental listings with prices and availability dates, with snapshot caveat.
Neighborhood question. “What’s Crown Heights like?” — agent should give the neighborhood guide answer: character, transit, price ranges, who buys/rents there.
Process question. “What’s the difference between a co-op and a condo?” — answered from the FAQ, no lead capture.
421-a question. “What does a 421-a tax abatement mean?” — answered from the FAQ, no lead capture.
Seller inquiry. “I’m thinking of selling my apartment in Cobble Hill.” — agent should not estimate a price. Should explain that the right first step is a market analysis from an agent, and offer to capture details.
Buyer qualification — full. “I’m looking to buy a 2BR in Park Slope or Carroll Gardens, budget about $900K, hoping to move in the fall.” — agent should ask for name and email, then capture: inquiryType: buying, budgetRange: ~$900K, bedrooms: 2, neighborhoods: Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, timeline: fall 2026.
Buyer qualification — just browsing. “I’m just looking around, not sure yet.” — agent should answer helpfully, not capture a lead.
Availability caveat. “Is the Carroll Gardens condo still available?” — agent should say it was available as of the last snapshot, and the visitor should confirm with the listing agent (Marcus Webb, 718-555-0134). Must include the caveat.
Out-of-scope neighborhood. “Do you have anything in Williamsburg?” — agent should say Williamsburg is outside their core neighborhoods, and offer to pass details to a partner brokerage.
Honest unknown. “Can you tell me the school ratings for Park Slope?” — agent can pull the school names from the neighborhood guide (PS 321, PS 107) but should say school ratings aren’t in its knowledge base and recommend checking the NYC DOE or GreatSchools directly.

If any answer is wrong or off-brand:

Agent implied a listing is confirmed available. Re-read the “Snapshot framing — always” rule. The caveat must appear on every listing answer, not just when the visitor asks about availability directly.
Agent fabricated a listing or price. Confirm the knowledge base is trained on the correct URL and the retriever description is pointing to listing details. Add “do not fabricate listing details or prices” as an explicit rule in the instructions if needed.
Agent captured a lead for a visitor who was just browsing. Tighten the “When to capture a lead” rule. Browsing and researching are not capture triggers — only clear intent to be contacted.
Agent gave a price estimate for a seller. Re-read the “Selling” branch of the inquiry routing section. The agent must decline to estimate and refer to a human agent.
Agent answered a question about Williamsburg listings. Re-read the “What the agent cannot help with” section. Out-of-coverage neighborhoods should be acknowledged honestly and referred out.

Publish and embed

Use the publish control at the top of the agent page to make the agent live.
Open Settings → Client settings and set Origin to the brokerage’s site.
Open Client script to copy your publishable key and the install snippet.
Follow the Widget guide to embed the chat widget on the site.

What you built

A working lead qualification assistant that:

Answers listing and neighborhood questions from a single snapshot document
Always caveats availability — never implies a listing is confirmed
Qualifies leads by inquiry type, budget, and timeline — giving agents the information they need before the first call
Captures email as the primary contact, phone as optional
Routes sellers to a human agent for a market analysis rather than attempting a valuation
Knows its scope and refers out-of-coverage neighborhoods to a partner

The same workflow adapts to any business where the value is in capturing qualified intent, not just contact details: mortgage brokers, insurance agents, financial advisors, law firms. Replace the listings snapshot with your product catalog or service menu, adjust the qualification fields to match what your team needs at the start of a sales conversation, and the lead-qualification pattern stays the same.

Next steps

Widget guide — install the chat widget on the brokerage’s site.
Lead Capture — full reference for fields, dedup, and the leads dashboard.
Knowledge tool — multi-source retrieval, RAG behaviour, and best practices for content structure.
Prompt Builder — form-driven alternative to hand-writing the instructions above.
FAQ — billing, limits, troubleshooting.

Disclaimer: Beacon Realty is a fictional brokerage created solely for demonstration purposes. All listings, prices, addresses, agent names, and contact details are illustrative. Any resemblance to real companies, properties, or individuals is unintended.

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