How Estate Agents and Professionals Join Group Chats

This article explains how professionals and estate agencies can join existing chats, the rules around invitations, and how lead access works when collaborating across roles.

Last updated 8 months ago

1. 👥 Who Can Join a Group Chat?

Group chats on Matchouse are designed to help users collaborate across property or service journeys. Here’s how it works:

Role Can Join Group Chat? Requirements

Estate Agent (Agency Profile)

✅ Yes

Must be hired or invited into chat

Service Professional

✅ Yes

Must purchase the service request lead

Landlord / Buyer / Tenant / Seeker

✅ Yes

Can create and invite professionals into chat

Agency/Business Team Members

✅ Yes

Must be assigned or auto-joined by admin

💡 Only professionals with valid lead access or direct invites can join a chat. This ensures privacy and relevance.

2. 🧠 How Joining Works: Lead Purchase Required

For service professionals or estate agents to join a client’s chat:

  • They must purchase the corresponding service request lead

  • Once purchased, they’re auto-added to the chat thread

  • The professional can then view full details and start messaging

✨ Example Scenario
A buyer posts a request for a mortgage advisor. You see it in your Leads tab, purchase it, and are instantly added to a chat with the buyer. You introduce yourself, answer questions, and build trust from there.

3. 🤝 Collaborative Chat Invites

Landlords, tenants, and buyers can invite professionals they’ve hired into a group chat.

This allows them to:

  • Manage conversations with multiple parties in one place

  • Collaborate on property purchases, repairs, contracts, etc.

  • Keep all updates, offers, and documents in a single thread

💬 Example: A landlord hires an estate agent and a gas engineer. They invite both into a group chat so the agent can coordinate access, and the engineer can update everyone on repairs.

4. 🔐 Team Access Settings for Agencies & Businesses

Verified agency and business accounts have access to advanced chat settings. They can:

  • Set auto-join rules by role or user

  • Assign specific team members to incoming chats

  • Limit chat visibility to only assigned roles

How to Set It Up:

  1. Go to Dashboard > Agency/Business Settings

  2. Click Chat Settings

  3. Choose whether users should auto-join by:

    • User (e.g. James from Lettings)

    • Role (e.g. All Moderators)

🛠️ Internal Chat Groups
Agencies and businesses can also create internal-only chat groups. These are perfect for maintenance coordination, sales handovers, or team updates — no clients are involved.

5. ✅ Summary of How Joining Works

Scenario Can the Professional Join? What’s Required

Buyer invites mortgage advisor

✅ Yes

Lead must be purchased

Landlord hires estate agent

✅ Yes

Agent receives invite and joins chat

Tenant messages a service pro

✅ Yes

Pro must purchase lead to join chat

Agency creates internal team chat

✅ Yes

No lead required (internal only)

Pro tries to access chat without lead

❌ No

Must buy service request first

FAQs

Can I invite professionals to chat without hiring them?
No. Only hired professionals or those who purchase a lead can be added to a chat.

Do all team members see the chat?
Only if your agency or business admin has enabled auto-join or manually assigned access in settings.

Can professionals join multiple chats at once?
Yes, as long as they’ve purchased the relevant leads or been invited.

💬 Need Help?

Use the Live Chat button to ask how to configure chat access or assign team members. You can also check your Leads tab or Chat Settings to manage invites and permissions.