Circle prospecting means calling the neighbors around a recent sale or new listing to find out who else might move. Scrub the list against Do Not Call first. In Baylor's study of agent cold calls, 28 percent were answered and one appointment took about 330 calls, so plan by the block.
Free circle prospecting planner
Enter the address, your list and your pace. The planner writes a call block plan, expected answered calls and appointments, and a re-scrub date. It also writes a script that opens with your name, your brokerage and a phone number or address, plus a neighbor note to print. Rates start from Baylor. List and block numbers are assumptions, so replace them.
Circle prospecting planner
The home at the center of your circle
Who is calling
Your list and your pace
Scrub again before you call after December 4, 2026. This plan runs 5 weeks, longer than the 31 day window, so it needs a second scrub partway through.
Call block plan
| Week | Blocks | Dials |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 90 |
| 2 | 5 | 90 |
| 3 | 5 | 90 |
| 4 | 5 | 90 |
| 5 | 4 | 60 |
The same plan if fewer or more people answer
| Answered per dial | Answered calls | Appointments |
|---|---|---|
| 15% | 63 | 0.7 |
| 28% | 118 | 1.3 |
| 40% | 168 | 1.8 |
Circle prospecting plan around 412 Maple Street 1. Scrub 300 numbers against the national Do Not Call Registry and your own do-not-call list. Assumed: 90 come off, 210 remain. 2. Call in 60-minute blocks, 5 a week, about 18 dials a block. That is 24 blocks over 5 weeks. 3. Expect about 118 answered calls and 1.3 appointments at the assumed rates. These are assumptions, not a forecast. 4. Call only between 8am and 9pm at the neighbor's location. Baylor found 10am to 2pm worked best. 5. Scrubbed November 3, 2026. Scrub again before calling after December 4, 2026. 6. Log every request to stop calling and honor it next time you prospect this street.
Hi, this is Jordan Lee with Sample Realty. My number is (555) 010-0142. I'm a real estate agent calling neighbors because my brokerage helped with the sale of the home at 412 Maple Street, and I'd like to see if I can help with any plans you have to move. Do you have 30 seconds? If yes: Did you hear about it? How long have you lived on this street? Have you thought about moving in the next year or two, or do you plan to stay? Is there anyone you know who has mentioned wanting to live around here? If they are thinking about it: Would it help if I came by for 20 minutes and went over what homes nearby sold for? Which works better, Tuesday or Thursday? If they ask you to stop, or are not interested: I understand. I'll add you to my do-not-call list. Have a good day.
FCC identification check: pass. The opening line gives your name, your brokerage and a phone number or address.
Hello neighbor, My brokerage helped with the recent sale of the home at 412 Maple Street, so I wanted to introduce myself to the neighbors. If you ever want to know what homes on your street are selling for, or if you know someone who wants to live here, I am glad to help. There is no cost to ask. If you already work with an agent, please disregard this note. Jordan Lee Sample Realty (555) 010-0142
Runs in your browser. Nothing is stored or sent. Dials per hour, answer rate and appointment rate default to Baylor's 2012 study of Keller Williams agents. List size, scrub share, attempts and blocks are assumptions, so replace them with your own numbers after one week. The name, brokerage and phone number in the example are samples.
Key takeaways
- In Baylor's 2012 test, 50 agents placed 6,264 calls over about 350 hours: 28 percent answered, 19 appointments.
- A registry scrub can be no more than 31 days old on the day of the call, and federal hours are 8am to 9pm at the called party's location.
- The FCC says a call offering your services to an owner is a telephone solicitation whether the listing has lapsed or not. Expireds need the same scrub.
- The FTC's telemarketing guide, read November 2026, lists a civil penalty of $53,088 per violation of that rule.
| Method | Who you contact | Where the list comes from | Do Not Call scrub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circle prospecting | Neighbors around a sale or listing | Public records, or a data vendor | Yes |
| Expired listings | Owners whose listing ended | MLS, or a data vendor | Yes. No exemption |
| Reverse prospecting | Agents with matching buyer searches | MLS feature | Runs through your MLS, not a cold call to an owner |
What is circle prospecting?
Circle prospecting is a real estate lead method where you contact the homes around a specific address, usually right after a sale or a new listing, by phone, note or door. The event gives you a true reason to call. You share the news, then ask about their plans and whether they know anyone looking.
It works on a small human truth: people will take a call about their own street that they would not take about your services. Neighbors want to know what the house down the road went for. Plenty of them will not tell you that on the phone, but they will stay on the line a little longer to hear it.
This page covers the method. For the wording across expired, FSBO and other calls, use the real estate cold calling script builder.
How big should your circle be?
Size your circle by how many appointments you want, not by a round number of homes. The Closesuggests 20 to 50 homes around the subject property. That is a good radius for a personal note or a door knock. For phone calls, Baylor's rate of one appointment per 330 calls says 50 homes is unlikely to produce one.
Run 300 numbers in the planner. An assumed 30 percent comes off in the scrub, leaving 210. Two tries each is 420 dials, or 24 one-hour blocks at 18 dials an hour. You can expect about 118 answered calls and 1.3 appointments. Baylor counted 1,612 of its 1,774 answered calls as not interested, so most of those 118 will be short.
Baylor's data is from 2012 and from cold calls generally. Treat it as a starting point, then replace it with your own numbers after a week. The same study found 10am to 2pm worked best, while evening calls made up 42 percent of dials and 21 percent of the appointments and referrals.
How to scrub a circle prospecting list for Do Not Call
Check every number against the national registry and your own do-not-call list before you dial. The registry data can be no more than 31 days old when the call is made. A neighbor is not an exception because you are nearby or because you only want to share news. Your purpose is to offer your services, and that is what the rule looks at.
- 1
Get access to the registry
The FTC guide says the first 5 area codes are free and each further one is $85 a year. Many data vendors and brokerages scrub for you, so ask who is doing it and get the date. - 2
Remove registered numbers
Remove your own do-not-call list too. Someone who told you to stop last spring stays off the list this spring. - 3
Write down the scrub date
The planner adds 31 days and tells you when a long plan needs a second scrub. At 5 blocks a week, the example runs past the window. - 4
Identify yourself on every call
The FCC rule requires your name, the entity you call for and a phone number or address. The generated script opens with all three. - 5
Honor stop requests
Log them while you are still on the call. The FTC says it is a violation to call someone who has asked not to be called again.
State rules can be stricter than this, and some add registration or shorter hours. Check yours with your broker or a local attorney before you start. Autodialers and AI voices have separate rules, covered in the automated calling guide.
What you can and cannot say to the neighbors
Say only what is true about the sale, and say nothing about who lives nearby or who is moving in. The planner asks whether you or your brokerage took part in the transaction, and it changes the wording if you did not. That single checkbox prevents the most common false claim in a just-sold call.
- Claiming the sale. NAR's Standard of Practice 12-7 limits claiming a property sold to Realtors who took part as listing or cooperating broker. Without that, say the home recently sold.
- Talking about the neighborhood. The Fair Housing Act at 42 USC 3604(e) bars inducing someone to sell for profit by describing who is moving in by race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin. Keep the call to homes and prices.
- Pretending to have a buyer. The FCC exception covers agents who represent only a buyer and call to discuss a sale to that buyer. If you are looking for listings, it does not apply.
Circle prospecting software: what it does and costs
Circle prospecting software pulls the owners and phone numbers around an address, and often adds a dialer and a scrub. You can do this with public records and a spreadsheet, which is slow. Buy it when your time on the list costs more than the data. Ask how the vendor handles the 31-day scrub before you sign.
| Vendor | Neighborhood data | Expired data | Dialer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mojo | Neighborhood Search, $49 a month | Not checked | $89 single line or $139 triple line per license a month, plus $10 per user Agent Access |
| REDX | GeoLeads, $60 a month or $600 a year | $60 a month or $600 a year | Bundled: $299 a month with single line, $349 with multi-line |
What is a dialer in real estate?
A dialer in real estate is software that calls your list and connects you when someone picks up. A single-line dialer calls one number at a time. A multi-line dialer calls several at once and connects the first person who answers, which can leave the others in silence. Federal rules limit that. A telemarketing call counts as abandoned if no live rep joins within two seconds of the greeting, and the FCC caps abandoned calls at 3 percent of those answered live, per campaign, over 30 days. We read this in November 2026.
Best dialer for wholesaling: how to choose
We do not name a best dialer for wholesaling, because we have not tested them and two pricing pages are not a ranking. Choose by your list. A small list of motivated sellers can favor a single line, since nobody gets a dropped call. Check list import, a dated do-not-call scrub, CRM sync and the full license price with add-ons. Wholesalers calling homeowners should read the rules above too. Then plan for the sellers who ring back, which cold calling callbacks covers.
What is reverse prospecting?
Reverse prospecting is an MLS feature that finds agents whose saved buyer searches match your listing, so you can contact those agents. ARMLSdescribes it as a tool to market your listing to buyer's agents. It is the opposite direction from circle prospecting: you are looking for a buyer through agents, and not for a seller on a street.
Use both on a new listing. Reverse prospect on the day it goes live, then circle the block the same week. Availability and wording differ by MLS, so check your MLS help pages for what your system offers and whether agents can opt out.
Expired real estate listings as a list source
Expired real estate listings are homes whose listing agreement ended without a sale. They are a list source much like a circle, with one difference: these owners have already said they want to sell. Everyone with MLS access can see them, so expect competition at 8am on the day after expiration.
An expired listings system in five steps
- 1
Pull the list on a schedule
Use the MLS each morning, or a data vendor. Same time, same filter. - 2
Check it is not relisted
Standard of Practice 16-4 says Realtors shall not solicit a listing currently listed exclusively with another broker. Look it up before you dial. - 3
Scrub it
The FCC refused to exempt lapsed listings when NAR asked. An expired owner on the registry is off limits by phone. Send a note instead. - 4
Call in a block
Mix it into your circle plan as a separate session, because the conversation is different. - 5
Log and return
Keep the outcome and a next date. One call rarely settles it.
The wording for that call lives in the expired listing scripts, so we will not repeat it here.
The call nobody plans for: the neighbor who calls back
Baylor's numbers leave out something a call block creates. You leave 40 voicemails and 40 notes with your number on them. At 6:10 that evening, in the middle of dinner, one neighbor calls back about what the house sold for. That is the warmest conversation of the week, and it happens outside the block by definition.
Callbacks are why answering your cold calling number matters. callflo.ai answers those inbound calls 24/7, asks your questions and sends you the lead, and the page for agents shows the setup. Starter is 39 dollars a month on annual billing or 49 dollars month to month, with 120 minutes and 0.98 dollars a minute after that. On VIP it also books on your calendar.
It does not do circle prospecting for you. Starter answers calls that come to you, and outbound campaigns are VIP only. They are for your own leads, and AI voice calls to a cold list raise consent problems the automated calling guide covers. If you make 20 calls a month and always pick up, you do not need it.
Hear what answers when the neighbor calls back
Call callflo.ai's own AI agent and ask it anything about your business. When you are ready, pick a plan: no setup fee, no contract, and you do not pay unless you are satisfied.
Starter is $39 a month on annual billing. Live on your line about 5 minutes after you sign up.