Pricing

How to create a form from a preset for real estate forms

Create a Form from a Preset

Form presets are pre-built templates with fields, steps, and automations already wired up. Pick one, name it, and you have a working real estate form in about a minute.

What is a real estate form preset?

A real estate form preset is a pre-built form template that has the fields, steps, and automations already wired up for a specific use case. You simply pick one, name it, and you have a working form on your real estate website in about a minute.

Your SiteStakes website ships with presets for the most common real estate workflows, so most of the forms you'll ever need are one click away.

This article covers where to find form presets, which ones are available for your site type, what happens when you pick one, and how to customize after the form is created.

Where do you find form presets?

Form presets appear when you create a new form, and they're the fastest path to a working form template for real estate use cases.

  1. From your back office, go to Squeeze Forms & SMS → All Forms.
  2. Click the + New Form button in the upper right. A modal opens with two things: a form name input at the top, and a row of template cards below labeled "Start From Template."

That modal is the preset picker. The first card is always labeled Blank Form. That's how you start from scratch when no preset fits. Every other card is a preset wired up for a specific kind of form — cash offer requests, buyer signups, ebook downloads, and so on.

You don't have to use a preset. Blank Form is right there as the default. But for most common forms, a preset gets you 90% of the way to a working form before you've made a single decision.


Presets

Which presets are available for your site type?

The presets you see depend on your site type. A buying-houses site sees seller-focused presets. A selling site sees buyer-focused presets. A wholesale site sees both. The picker filters automatically, so every real estate form template you see is one that makes sense for your business.

Here's what shows up on each site type:

  • Buying Houses sites see Cash Offer Request, Ebook Download, and Contact Form.
  • Selling sites see Cash Buyer Signup, Cash Buyer Application, Ebook Download, and Contact Form.
  • Wholesale sites get both sides — Cash Offer Request for seller leads, plus Cash Buyer Signup and Cash Buyer Application for buyer leads. Ebook Download and Contact Form round it out.
  • Rental sites see Tenant Application, Book Viewing, Ebook Download, and Contact Form.
  • Land sites see Land Cash Offer, Land Ebook, and Contact Form.
  • Apartments sites see Apartment Offer, Ebook Download, and Contact Form.
  • Agent sites see CMA / Home Valuation, Buyer Consultation, Open House Sign-In, Ebook Download, and Contact Form.

Two presets show on every site type. Those are Ebook Download and Contact Form. The rest are scoped to where they make sense, so a buying-houses site never has to scroll past buyer-focused presets and an agent site never has to wonder if Cash Offer Request applies to them.

If you have multiple sites with different types, the picker shows different presets on each. The same business with a buying-houses site and a separate agent site will see seller-focused presets on one and CMA-focused presets on the other.

How do you create a form from a preset?

Creating a form from a real estate form preset takes about three clicks. The whole flow is designed to get you from "I need a lead capture form" to "I have a working form" in under a minute. Here's the exact sequence:

  1. Go to Squeeze Forms & SMS → All Forms in your back office.
  2. Click + New Form in the upper right. The Create New Form modal opens.
  3. Type a name for your form in the text field at the top — for example, "Free Home Valuation" or "Cash Offer Request."
  4. Scroll through the template cards and click the one you want. The card highlights to show it's selected.
  5. Click Create Form at the bottom of the modal.

You're done. The platform creates a new form record, copies all the preset's fields and steps into it, wires up the automations, and redirects you to the form builder with everything pre-populated. From there you can adjust anything that doesn't match your business.

If you change your mind before clicking Create Form, just click a different card or pick Blank Form to start over with an empty form.

What does a preset actually include?

A preset isn't just a list of fields. Each one ships with everything wired up so the form works out of the box — that's what makes a lead capture form preset different from a blank form. You're not just getting a head start on the field list. You're getting the field list plus everything around it that makes a form actually run.

Here's what's in every preset:

  • Fields and steps. All the fields the form needs, organized into steps if the preset is multi-step. Field labels, required toggles, and field keys are pre-set.
  • Settings. The thank-you message, captcha mode, and any ebook delivery or drip enrollment are pre-configured for that form type. For example, the Ebook Download preset already has ebook delivery turned on with a default ebook selected.
  • Automations. Email to the lead, SMS to your team, drip sequence enrollment, and any webhook actions are pre-wired with sensible defaults.
  • Lead type and pipeline routing. Each preset is tagged with the right lead type (seller, buyer, contact, etc.) so submissions go into the right CRM pipeline automatically.

That last piece matters more than it sounds. Without preset routing, every form submission would land in the same generic inbox. With preset routing, a Cash Offer submission goes into your seller pipeline, a Cash Buyer Signup goes into your buyer pipeline, and an Ebook Download goes into your nurture list. You don't have to think about it.

Can you change anything after picking a preset?

Yes. Everything. A preset is a starting point, not a lock. Once the form is created, you're in the form builder with full edit access to every part of the form. You can take the preset wholesale and ship it, or strip it down to a single field — both are fine. Most tenants do something in between.

The most common adjustments tenants make:

  • Rename the form. Change it from the default to something that matches your branding or campaign.
  • Add or remove fields. Drop a field that doesn't apply, drag in one that's missing. The preset is your starting point, not your final form.
  • Edit field labels. Change "What's your address?" to "Property address" or whatever fits your voice.
  • Swap the thank-you message. The default works for most forms, but you can replace it with custom copy or a redirect to a thank-you page.
  • Change automations. Add a new email step, change the drip sequence, wire up a new webhook. The pre-wired automations are starting points too.
  • Change the ebook. If the preset delivers an ebook, you can swap which one gets sent without touching the rest of the form.

Most tenants make small adjustments to a preset and ship it. Some rebuild it from the ground up. Either is fine — once the form is yours, the preset doesn't matter anymore.

When should you use a preset vs build from scratch?

Most tenants reach for a pre built form template first and only fall back to Blank Form when no preset matches. That's the right instinct — a preset is faster, has the routing wired up correctly, and gives you a working reference even if you plan to customize heavily. But there are cases where starting blank is the better call.

Use a preset when:

  • The form matches a standard use case. Cash offer, CMA request, ebook download, buyer signup — these are well-trodden paths and the preset is faster than building it yourself.
  • You want the routing and automations done for you. Picking the right lead type, wiring up the email, configuring drip enrollment — these all happen automatically with a preset.
  • You're just getting started. Even if you plan to customize heavily later, a preset is a working reference for how a real-world form is wired together.

Build from scratch when:

  • Your form doesn't match any preset. A maintenance request form, a vendor application, a custom intake form — none of these have presets, so start blank.
  • You want full control from the first click. Some tenants find it faster to build the form they want than to delete what they don't want from a preset.
  • You're experimenting. If you're trying a new lead capture strategy that doesn't fit a known pattern, a blank form gives you room to think.

For most real estate sites, presets cover 80% of the forms you'll ever need. The other 20% is where Blank Form earns its place. See Building a Custom Form from Scratch for that path.

What happens after you create the form from a real estate form preset?

After you click Create Form, three things happen automatically. The new form is saved to your account as an unpublished draft. The form builder opens with all the preset's fields, steps, and automations loaded. And the form gets a default URL slug based on the name you gave it. From this point on, you're working on a copy — the original real estate form preset is untouched and ready for the next form you create.

From there, the path to a live form is short. Review the fields, adjust anything that needs adjusting, click Preview to test the form in a new tab, then click Publish when you're ready. After publishing, the form is available to embed on any page through the page builder. See Form Builder Overview for the bigger picture on how the builder works, and Building a Custom Form from Scratch for the blank-form path when no preset fits.

The preset is forgotten the moment you start editing. The new form is its own thing, with its own ID and its own settings, and the original preset stays untouched for the next form you create.

Frequently asked questions

Can I create multiple forms from the same preset?+
Yes. The preset is a template — pick it as many times as you want. Each pick creates a new, independent form. A common pattern is to create one Cash Offer form for each city you serve, all from the same preset, then customize each with city-specific copy.
What if no preset fits what I'm building?+
Start with Blank Form instead. It's the first card in the picker, selected by default. You'll build the form field by field. See the article on building a form from scratch for the full walkthrough.
Can I save my own form as a preset for next time?+
Not in the current builder. To reuse a form structure, duplicate the existing form from the All Forms page — every form has a Duplicate button that creates an editable copy. The copy starts unpublished so you can adjust it before going live.
Why don't I see all the presets listed in this article?+
The picker filters by your site type. If you're on a buying-houses site, you won't see buyer-focused presets like Cash Buyer Signup. That's intentional — those presets are wired for buyer pipelines and wouldn't make sense on a seller-focused site.
Can a single form work for both buyers and sellers?+
Not from a preset, no. Each preset is tagged with a single lead type. If you want one form that captures both, build from scratch with Blank Form and pick the routing manually. Most tenants find separate forms work better anyway — buyer leads and seller leads need different follow-up.
Was this helpful?