Top Realtors Are Selling From Instagram: How Lauren Delamater Generated $10M in Closed Sales From Instagram

Lauren Delamater gave herself a six-month deadline. If Instagram didn't work, she'd move on. Spoiler — it worked.

In less than a year, she's closed roughly $10 million in transactions that started with a DM and currently has $25 million in pending or active clients. All from Instagram. We asked her how she got here.

How she got into real estate

"My grandfather was actually a realtor for probably, gosh, 25, 30 years. And I was always super intrigued by the industry, going to his office in the Chicago suburbs. It just seemed so glamorous."

Life had a different timeline in mind. Lauren had her kids young, so she built other things first — a cafe with her mom, a wedding planning company. When her family eventually moved to Charleston, South Carolina, the timing finally lined up.

"I've always owned my own business," she says. Real estate was the next one.

That was eight and a half years ago.

What her marketing looked like before Instagram

"I was trained by a very — he's not old, but he operates very old school. So we did a lot of print marketing and that was it."

She was fed leads on a team, got lucky with a few big luxury deals early on, and built from there. Then three and a half years ago, she left for an independent brokerage. No more leads. Everything on her own.

"I realized very quickly, oh, I need to replace those leads I was getting from the team."

She started watching what was working in Charleston.

"I was seeing some people in Charleston have success with it that were not very experienced and not very great agents, to be honest."

That was enough to make her pay attention. In December 2024, she made a decision.

"I just decided I was gonna go all in January 2025. I'm going to figure this out. I'm going to post consistently and do what they say, and if it hasn't worked after six months, I'll go back to something else."

The strategy she committed to was Coffee & Contracts — a membership platform built for real estate agents who want to grow on Instagram. She followed the playbook.

"Spoiler alert, it worked."

The numbers

"This year so far, every single closing I've had is from Instagram. I mean, how wild is that?"

Lauren has closed approximately $10 million in volume sourced directly from Instagram and currently has $25 million in pending or active clients — all of whom found her the same way. She's not a mega-team. She's not running ads. She's a single agent in a competitive Charleston market.

Why her Instagram clients are her favorite clients

"One thing that I am constantly — I don't shut up about — is my favorite clients have been the ones that have found me on Instagram. By the time they've reached out to me, there's no converting that needs to happen."

By the time someone DMs Lauren, they've already watched her talk about neighborhoods, seen how she handles market questions, and decided they trust her. The relationship starts somewhere other than zero.

Her advice for agents who are scared to start

"You just have to do it. I know that's like what everybody says, but at least try. If it doesn't work, fine, but if you follow the playbook and do exactly what Coffee and Contracts has laid out, it will work."

She's honest about the learning curve.

"There's definitely a learning curve, like figuring out how to film prettier listing videos. You do have to become a bit technologically savvy. I am very much not, so if I can do it, anyone can."

And on what actually stops most agents:

"A lot of people don't do it because they're afraid what other agents in their market are going to think. You just have to get over that. They don't pay your bills. Instagram can."

Lauren Delamater is a Charleston, SC real estate agent and a member of Coffee & Contracts. Coffee & Contracts is a marketing platform helping real estate agents attract clients through Instagram. Learn more at coffeecontracts.com.