How to run an open house sign-in by text

Sunday, 1 to 4. A couple walks in at 2:15, glances at the clipboard on the kitchen island, and writes "J. Smith" with an email that's missing its domain. A family arrives behind them, skips the sheet, and is gone before you finish answering a question about the roof. An open house sign-in by text lets each visitor sign in on their own phone, in about the time it takes to read the flyer, and puts their details in your CRM before you lock up.

With Textiful, the sign-in table gets a QR code and the yard sign gets a keyword. Visitors scan or text, answer three short questions, and get the listing sheet as a text. You get an email for each one with their name, phone, email, and whether they already have an agent.

The problem with open house sign-in sheets

The sheet asks people to write their contact details on a page every other visitor can read. Plenty of visitors write a first name only, an email they never check, or nothing at all. The ones who do write clearly still need to be typed into your CRM, usually that evening, from handwriting.

The sheet also tells you almost nothing about who matters. You can't see at a glance which visitors are buyers without an agent, which are neighbors, and which are working with someone else. That's the first thing you want to know, and you learn it on the follow-up call.

Then there's the drive-by. Someone walks past the yard sign on Tuesday, wants the details, and has no way to get them without calling.

Why the usual fixes fall short

• A tablet sign-in app fixes the handwriting, but it's one screen at the door, and a busy hour still makes a line.
• A QR code to a web form asks visitors to fill in fields on a phone while they're trying to look at the kitchen.
• Asking each visitor out loud means you're writing while you should be talking about the house.
• A flyer box on the yard sign hands out the details and collects nothing back.

How to set up an open house sign-in with Textiful

1. Start from the "Give away a download" template. It trades a file for an email. Upload the listing sheet as a handout: a PDF with photos, room sizes, and your contact details.
2. Set the trigger. Use a QR code for the sign-in table. QR codes are free and unlimited and don't use a keyword. For the yard sign, add a keyword such as MAPLE on 33777, so anyone who walks or drives past can text it once they're parked or home. One keyword is included on every plan, and each extra one is $10/month. A QR code and a keyword can each start a copy of the same flow.
3. Keep the capture sequence to three questions. Ask for full name, then email, then a single-choice custom question: "Are you working with an agent? Reply A for yes, B for no." Textiful asks one question at a time and asks again when an email doesn't look right.
4. Add actions. Use "Text a handout" so the listing sheet arrives while they're still in the house, or "Email a handout" to send it to their inbox. Add "Email me a notification" with your address and your assistant's, so each new visitor reaches you by email with their name, phone, email, and answer. Add "Tag the contact" with the listing address. Then add "Add to HubSpot", or connect your CRM through Zapier if it works with Zapier.
5. Print the sign-in table tent. Download the QR code as an SVG and put it on a tent card with plain words: "Scan to sign in and get the listing sheet. Opens a text, tap send." Put the keyword under it for anyone who prefers to type.

What should the sign-in ask?

Three questions cover what most agents need. Across Textiful flows over 90 days in 2026, flows with 2 questions finished 83.1% of the time and flows with 3 questions finished 85.0%. Four-question flows finished 66.0%, though that sample was small (247 starts).

Name, email, and the agent question cover the follow-up call. You get their phone number already, because they texted you, and HubSpot receives it with the contact. If you want a timeline question ("When are you hoping to move?"), swap it for the agent question on a second flow and compare. Ask only what you'd ask on a paper sheet, and follow your brokerage's rules for what you collect and how you follow up.

Variations

• One flow per listing. Duplicate the flow for each property and change the handout and the tag. Each flow reports separately, so you can see how many people signed in at each open house.
• The yard sign on weekdays. Leave the keyword on the sign after the open house. Anyone who texts it gets the same listing sheet and lands in the same CRM list, tagged with the address.
• A broker's open. Copy the flow, swap the agent question for "Which brokerage are you with?" as a text answer, and tag it separately from the public open house.
• Open house feedback. Add a single-choice question such as "What did you think of the price? A low, B about right, C high" to the broker's open copy.

Before and after

	Clipboard on the counter	Textiful QR code and keyword
Who writes the details	The visitor, by hand, in a hurry	The visitor, on their own phone
Bad emails	Found when your follow-up bounces	Asked again during the flow
Phone number	Only if they wrote it	Comes with the contact, because they texted
Knowing who has an agent	Found out on the call	In the notification email, as they finish
The listing sheet	A stack of flyers by the door	Texted or emailed as a handout
Getting it into your CRM	Typed in that evening	HubSpot built in, others through Zapier

Each visitor who starts the flow counts as one conversation, however many questions you ask. Plans start from $19/month; see pricing. For the printed side, read how to design a QR code sign.

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