A real estate ISA, or inside sales agent, typically costs $55,000 to $65,000 a year in-house, or a per-booked-appointment fee through Consistent Listings' Appointment Setting program. Consistent Listings prices its US-based ISA team on booked qualified appointments, not a flat retainer, with the number set on a YouTube Listings Call scoped to your market. The offer behind it is 2 signed listings in your first 100 days, backed by a full refund.
- An in-house ISA typically runs $55,000 to $65,000 a year in salary, more in year one with recruiting and ramp.
- A virtual ISA service typically costs $720 a month part-time to $3,000 a month full-time.
- An outsourced appointment-setting retainer typically runs $2,000 to $6,000 a month, usually working leads you already have.
- Consistent Listings prices Appointment Setting per booked qualified appointment, and never publishes a program fee online.
- The 100-day guarantee covers the outcome, a signed listing, not a number of appointments.
What actually drives ISA cost
The price tag on a real estate ISA depends on who is calling, not on the title. A salaried employee, an offshore contractor and a US-based team that trains daily on seller conversations are three different products wearing the same job description.
Four things move the number: how the ISA is employed (salary versus contract versus per-outcome), where they are based, how much they train specifically on seller calls versus general admin, and whether the lead source is included or something you supply yourself. An in-house hire adds recruiting, benefits and a manager's time on top of the base salary. A virtual ISA service is cheaper per month but usually leaves you writing the script and supplying the leads.
Most agents comparing options are really comparing two different questions: what does it cost to have someone dial, and what does it cost to have someone book a listing appointment that shows up. Those are not the same number.
Four ways to pay someone to call your seller leads
Here is how the main models stack up on typical monthly cost.
| Model | Typical monthly range | What is covered | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-house ISA (employee) | $4,583 to $7,083 | Base salary, more in year one with recruiting and ramp, plus a bonus per appointment or closing; you supply the dialler, CRM, leads and management | Teams closing 40 or more transactions a year with someone to manage the ISA daily |
| Virtual ISA service | $720 to $3,000 | A part-time to full-time remote caller; you usually supply the leads, scripts and CRM | Agents with steady inbound flow who can coach a caller weekly |
| General real estate virtual assistant | $595 to $4,400 | A remote assistant for admin, CRM and some calling; seller-call skill varies widely | Agents whose bottleneck is admin, not seller conversations |
| Outsourced appointment-setting retainer | $2,000 to $6,000 | A managed calling team, sometimes with a per-meeting fee on top; usually works a list you already provide | Brokerages and teams with an existing pipeline that needs working |
None of these four models include the lead generation itself. They all assume you already have someone to call. Consistent Listings runs Appointment Setting as the calling layer on top of its own YouTube Ads leads, which is why it prices differently: per booked qualified appointment, not a flat monthly seat.
The 100-day cost model, in shape
Consistent Listings does not publish a program fee, because the number depends on your market and price point. What we can show is the shape of it.
| Line item | What it is | Who pays it |
|---|---|---|
| Program fee | A one-time setup fee for scripting, landing pages and the ISA onboarding to your market | You, paid once at the start |
| Per booked qualified appointment | The fee for each appointment that passes the 10-point qualification and lands on your calendar | You, paid as appointments are booked |
| Ad spend | The media budget behind your YouTube Ads campaign | You, paid directly to Google |
the YouTube Listings Call maps those three lines to your zip codes and price points before you commit to anything. You can also see how the 100-day guarantee works before you look at a single number.
What a qualified cost per listing appointment looks like
Every lead the ads produce goes to our US-based ISA team, never straight to you. They call in an average of 48 seconds and run a 10-point qualification before anything reaches your calendar. 95% of the appointments they book show up.
A booked cost per listing appointment means the team has already confirmed all of this:
- The homeowner has decided to sell, rather than being curious about a number.
- Everyone who has to agree to the sale is on board and knows about the appointment.
- The timeline is real and sits inside a window you can work.
- The property is in your service area and at a price point you want.
- Nobody has signed a listing agreement with another agent.
- They have agreed to meet you in person, not just talk on the phone.
Before you drive out you get the call recording, the transcript and a written brief covering motivation, timeline, situation and what they expect the home is worth. You walk in knowing the story.
The honest version: what makes ISA cost go up or down
Cost goes up when the lead source is weak. A caller working cold lists or old portal leads needs more attempts per booked appointment, so the effective cost per listing climbs even if the hourly rate looks cheap. Cost goes up again when nobody trains the caller on seller-specific objections; a generalist VA on a task list is not the same skill as someone who talks to homeowners 40-plus hours a week.
Cost comes down when the ISA only works leads who already know the agent's face, because contact and qualification rates rise and fewer dials are wasted on people who never respond. It also comes down when qualification happens before the appointment is booked, not in the living room, because you stop losing evenings to tenants and neighbours who were never going to list.
That is the argument for pairing the ISA with a warm lead source rather than a cold list, whether you build that pairing yourself or run it through Appointment Setting for real estate agents.
Where the number actually gets set
Every model above is a market average, not your number. Your zip codes, your price point and how many appointments you can actually show up to all move the real figure. Consistent Listings sets its own number on a one-hour YouTube Listings Call, not on a pricing page, because a program fee that fits a modest market does not fit a high price point luxury market.
Book your YouTube Listings Call and we will map what the first 100 days look like for your market, tell you whether your area is still open, and give you the price. If we do not think we can get you results, we say so and cut the call short.
Questions, answered
How much does a real estate ISA cost in 2026, in-house versus outsourced?
An in-house real estate ISA typically costs $55,000 to $65,000 a year in salary, plus recruiting and ramp in year one. Outsourced options typically range from about $720 a month for a part-time virtual ISA to about $6,000 a month for a managed appointment-setting retainer. Consistent Listings prices its ISA team per booked qualified appointment rather than a flat monthly fee, with the number set on a YouTube Listings Call.
Is an outsourced ISA cheaper than hiring one in-house?
Outsourced options are usually cheaper month to month than a salaried in-house hire once benefits, recruiting and management time are counted. A virtual ISA service can typically run under $1,000 a month, well below a typical $55,000 to $65,000 in-house salary. The trade-off is control and training: you are not the one building the caller's seller-conversation skill, so results vary by provider.
Do I pay Consistent Listings for appointments that do not show?
Appointment Setting is priced per booked qualified appointment, and the 10-point qualification happens before anything is booked, which is why show rate runs at 95% across the client base. The program fee and ad spend are separate line items set on the YouTube Listings Call. Consistent Listings does not publish exact figures online because they vary by market and price point.
Why does a virtual assistant cost less than an ISA?
A general real estate virtual assistant costs less because calling is one task on a longer list that includes admin, CRM and social work, so the hourly rate reflects a generalist. A dedicated ISA trains 2 to 3 hours daily on seller conversations and spends most of the day on the phone, which is a narrower and more expensive skill to buy by the hour.
What is included in an outsourced appointment-setting retainer?
An outsourced appointment-setting retainer typically covers a managed calling team working a list of leads you already own or bought, sometimes with a per-meeting fee added on top. It rarely includes the lead generation itself, so you are paying separately for the leads and for someone to call them. Consistent Listings bundles both under Appointment Setting for real estate agents.
How does the 100-day guarantee affect what I pay?
The 100-day guarantee means you get a full refund if you show up to your in-person appointments and do not sign a single listing within 100 days of your ads going live. It does not change the program fee or the per-appointment cost, it protects the outcome you are paying for. Full terms are on the 100-day guarantee page.
Ready for your first listing?
Get 2 signed listings in your first 100 days. YouTube ads to homeowners in your zip codes, a US-based ISA team that books the qualified ones, and a full refund if you do not sign a listing in 100 days.