List to last!

Expired listings are a tried and true source for the seller leads everyone wants.

“Expireds” are homes whose listing agreements ran out, or were withdrawn or canceled on the MLS without selling. When a listing fails, the homeowner may be looking for a new real estate agent to complete the job the previous agent couldn’t.

These tend to be hot leads. You already know the homeowner is interested in selling. And it’s possible that you can identify a key or two as to why they failed to sell previously. Maybe it was poor photography. A high list price. Or an agent who wasn’t honest with their seller about a smelly home. Maybe it was even a listing in the wrong MLS for the local market.

Make the right fix and get it closed!

But cold calling is intimidating!

You need a good attitude. You need persistence. You need thick skin. And you need good expired listing scripts.

Expired Scripts

Kevin Ward

Kevin Ward is the King of Real Estate Scripts, coach and owner of YESMasters, and author of the book “The Book of YES: The Ultimate Real Estate Agent Conversation Guide”. His YouTube channel is chock full of training videos that are great for salespeople.

Below is his own top expired script for converting expired leads:

Hi, is this [NAME]?

Yes

• Hi [NAME], my name is [YOUR NAME]. I’m a local real estate agent and I was calling about your house for sale. I guess you are aware by now that the multiple listing service is showing your home is off the market, and I was wondering when are you going to interview agents again for the job of actually getting it sold?
• Excellent. Now if your property had sold, where were you planning to go next?
• That’s exciting. What’s taking you to [LOCATION]?
• Well good for you! So how soon did you want to be there.
• Wow. So [NAME], any idea what stopped it from selling?
• Really? How did you choose the last agent you had?
• That makes sense. How did you feel about the job the agent did?
• That’s good. So what do you think was missing that kept it from actually selling.
• Ooh. Now it sounds like you do still want to sell your property, right?
• Great. If you could get it sold for top dollar in the next 30 days and get to [LOCATION] that is still something you would be excited about, yes?
• Perfect. And if I could help you make it happen, that would be okay with you, right?
• Excellent. When would be the best time for us to get together and take a look at how we can make that happen? How about [DAY] at [TIME] or would [DAY] at [TIME] be better?

“We’re Going to List with the Same Agent”

Kevin Ward has a follow up script for when your expired seller shares they intend to relist with their previous agent.

We’re signing with another agent. Or…relisting with same agent.

• No. No. No. No. You can’t. You can’t…not until you…meet with me first.

Why?

• Because…you want to make sure you get the best result…right?
• At least take a look an option that will give you the best shot at getting the most money…GUARANTEED. Fair enough?
• When is the best time for us to get together…?

Verl Workman

Verl Workman is the coach and founder of Workman Success Systems. Here he is using the REDX Storm Dialer to do a sample expired call.

Verl does regular script rehearsal and practicing your scripts is an important component of his coaching program.

Hi, is [NAME] available?

“No”

• Oh, OK, I’m looking for [NAME]
• I apologize, I’m calling about the property for sale at [ADDRESS], am I calling the right number?
• Do you happen to have a phone number for the property owner?

“Yes”

• Hi [NAME], my name is [YOUR NAME] with [BROKERAGE]. I’ve noticed that after being on the market for a while your home hasn’t sold and is now off the market. I was curious to know
• What you think stopped your home from selling in the first place?
• Was there anything that your former agent did that you liked?
• What do you feel they should have done?
• Well, [NAME], it sounds to me like you still want to sell it right?
• When do you plan on interviewing the right agent for the job of selling your home?
• If you sold this home, where you go next?
• How soon do you have to be there?
• [NAME], if you could get your home sold at top-dollar in a time frame you were comfortable with, is that something you would be excited about?
• And if I could help you make it happen, that would be OK with you, right?
• Then when would be the best time we could get together and discuss how we can make that happen? Would [DAY] at [TIME] or [DAY] at [TIME] be better?

Mike Ferry

Mike Ferry needs no introduction. His real estate coaching and training has been a staple of the real estate industry.

Below is his script with an example walkthrough.

Hi, I’m looking for _______ … Hi _______ … my name is _______ with _______ …

I’m sure you’ve figured out that your home came up on our computer as an expired listing … and I was calling to see …

1. When do you plan on interviewing the right agent for the job of selling your home? (Never) Terrific! / Really!
2. If you sold this home … where would you go next? (LA) That’s exciting!
3. How soon do you have to be there? (Already) Ouch!
4. ________ … what do you think stopped your home from selling? (The agent) Really!
5. How did you happen to pick the last agent you listed with? (Referral) Great!
6. What did that agent do … that you liked best? (Nothing) Ouch!
7. What do you feel they should have done? (Sold my house) Really!
8. What will you expect from the next agent you choose? (Sell my house) Terrific!
9. Have you already chosen an agent to work with? (No) Wonderful!
10. I would like to apply for the job of selling your home … are you familiar with the techniques I use to sell homes? (No) You’re Kidding!
11. What would be the best time to show you … Monday or Tuesday at ____?

Expired Listing Training, Resources, and Tips

Tips and Tricks

• Open-Ended Questions. All the scripts heavily feature open-ended questions for the obvious purpose of getting folks talking. Once you can open them up and turn it into a conversation, the easier it will be to earn trust and demonstrate your value.
• Use Their Name. You know people love the sound of their own name. Use it!
• Know The Market. Sure, there are scripts. But as you ask open-ended questions and start to engage, you’ll find yourself going off-road pretty early in the call. Expired listing homeowners are savvy homeowners who have already been through the real estate experience and have worked with an agent very recently. They will come to the conversation with expectations and awareness. Aside from shoring up your core competencies, the best thing you can do is set yourself as the neighborhood expert. Be prepared to talk about the market and their neighborhood in particular and what is going on.
• Set Your Own Expectations. Results may vary! But many teams talk about getting a listing presentation once for every two to four hours of calling. That is maybe one appointment for every 50 calls. And that is a lot of rejection! But that’s also a lot of appointments and would be wildly successful if you can sustain that. Understand what to expect and don’t let a bad experience calling unsuccessfully for a few hours a day get you down.
• Educate Yourself. You’re not alone! There are tens of thousands of agents walking this path with you. Below are some resources to start learning from their experiences and sharing and learning.

Old Expireds

You aren’t the only one calling expired seller leads. You might be the 5th, 7th, or 25th agent to call these folks. Standing out from the crowd can be tough. And these homeowners become inoculated against you after call after call.

Instead of expired listing leads, consider “old” expired leads.

Many list services have lists of homeowners who tried and failed to sell a year ago, or two years ago, but did not relist the home for whatever reason.

These probably aren’t folks getting drummed on by other agents anymore, and they may be more receptive to starting a relationship and trying again!

Coaches and Training

Real Estate Uncensored

Real Estate Uncensored is a top real estate podcast and YouTube show. They often focus on prospecting and dialing as their primary lead generation strategy.

They’re definitely worth following and learning from if your marketing plan includes any dialing!

Vulcan7

Vulcan7 is a dialer company with lots of consistent YouTube content for expireds and everything dialing. They and the other dialers frequently have great resources to help you make the most of their tools.

Jackie Kravitz

Jackie Kravitz is a new YouTube channel on my radar, and has several helpful videos focused on making the most of your expired calls. Give her a follow!

Her coaching business is at SalesXTraining.

Example Live Expired Calls

Bryan Casella’s prolific YouTube channel has a bunch of live expired listings calls. Below is just one.

Here is Ricky Carruth, from Zero to Diamond, using RedX to call “old expireds”.

Here’s Lillie Nefwani making calls and sharing some knowledge! WHAT???

And one more expired call from the prolific Brandon Mulrenin! Follow his YouTube channel if you don’t already!

Using a Dialer

There are a variety of dialers out there, from beginner-friendly REDX, rapid-fire Mojo, a simple dialing Chrome extension in Kixie, or the pricier but well-regarded pro systems of Espresso Agent or Vulcan7.

I wrote a list of these best dialers to go look through if you are prepared to make that jump.

Many of these companies provide expired contact information, or you can bootstrap and use MLS seller contact information if your MLS posts that information on listing pages.

Conclusion

Hopefully, these expired listing scripts, tips, and tools used by our industry’s top-producing teams will help you when breaking the ice on the phone and getting to the listing presentation!

If prospecting expired listings is outside your comfort zone, you may want to consider alternative real estate marketing techniques like inbound marketing, also known as content marketing. But the results are not going to be as quick as working through an expired list on a dialer.

Also, check out my other scripts!

• FSBO scripts.
• Objection handling scripts

Updated April 9, 2024; Originally published August 17, 2019.