Starting with an empty canvas in the form builder instead of a preset. You add every field, set up the automations, and write the thank-you message yourself. Slower than a preset, but full control over what shows up on the form. This is the right path when you need a custom real estate form that doesn't match any of the pre-built templates.

A blank form template makes sense in a few specific situations. Use it when:

• No preset fits your use case. Maintenance request, vendor application, or any custom intake — start blank.
• You want a minimal form. Just an email and phone, for example. A preset with 10 fields is more cleanup than help.
• You're testing an unusual lead capture idea. Starting blank gives you room without preset assumptions getting in the way.

For anything that matches a standard real estate use case — cash offer, CMA, ebook, buyer signup — start from a preset instead. See Creating a Form from a Preset for that path.

1. Go to Squeeze Forms & SMS → All Forms in your back office.
2. Click + New Form in the upper right.
3. Type a name in the modal — for example, "Property Maintenance Request."
4. Leave Blank Form selected (it's the first card, default).
5. Click Create Form.

The builder opens with an empty canvas and one default step ready for fields.

Fields live in the Palette on the left, organized into five categories: Basic, Contact, Advanced, Property, and Legal. Drag and drop form fields onto the canvas to add them — the same drag-and-drop pattern as on every other form on the platform.

Click any field to open its settings in the Inspector panel on the right. Every field has:

• Label. What the lead sees on the form.
• Field key. Internal identifier for the form data.
• Required toggle. Whether the field blocks submission.
• Help text. Optional sub-label.

Some field types add their own settings — dropdowns have option lists, address fields have the autocomplete toggle, SMS Consent fields have the consent text. The Inspector only shows what applies.

Auto-save runs as you work. No save button. For every field type and what each one does, see Form Field Types Reference.

Forms automatically score each lead based on what they fill out. A seller who says "I need to sell in 30 days" scores higher than one who says "just exploring." After submission, the lead shows up on your record with a clear label:

• ❄️ Cold (0-19 points) — low priority, just nurture
• 🌤 Warm (20-49) — interested, keep following up
• 🔥 Hot (50+) — call them today

Default scores are already set on common fields. Property full address is worth 75 points, property city 50, property state 25, property zip 25, and mortgage balance 50. For dropdown and radio fields with options like timeline or condition, each option has its own pre-set points — "ASAP" scores higher than "Just exploring," "Needs major repairs" scores higher than "Excellent condition."

You don't have to configure any of this. Scoring works the moment you publish. If you want to tweak the defaults on a field, click the field on the canvas and scroll down in the Inspector to Lead Scoring. Adjust the values or leave them alone.

Click + Add Step at the bottom of the canvas. A new step appears with a default title. Drag fields into it from the palette, same as step 1. You can drag fields between steps and reorder steps from their headers.

For longer forms (3+ steps), turn on the step indicator in Form Settings so leads see their progress. See Multi-Step Forms and Step Indicators for the full guide.

Two buttons in the header switch the Inspector panel:

• Settings. Captcha, thank-you message, ebook delivery, drip enrollment. See Form Settings.
• Automations. Email to the lead, SMS to your team, drip enrollment, CRM push, webhooks. See Form Automations.

Blank forms start with no automations configured. Submissions still save to the inbox, but nothing else fires until you wire it up.

Click Preview in the header to open the form in a new tab. Submit it, check the thank-you message, confirm automations fire. Preview submissions don't create real CRM leads.

Click Publish when ready. The form becomes available to embed on any page through the page builder. You can publish, edit, and re-publish anytime — edits go live next time someone loads the form.

Using the real estate form builder from scratch gives you freedom, but freedom is what makes new forms fail. A few rules that keep a custom real estate form from going sideways:

• Start minimal. The smallest form that captures what you need. Add fields later if missing data becomes a problem.
• Required is for blockers, not preferences. Mark a field required only if a missing answer means you can't follow up. Marking everything required tanks conversion.
• Always preview before publishing. The things you catch in preview are the same things that would lose you leads on the live form.