How to Prospect Expired Listings

If you’re new to real Estate, you may have questions about how to start generating leads so you can close your first deal. Many agents start by contacting and expanding their sphere of influence (SOI) over the phone and on social media.

But what happens when your SOI is tapped out and you have no one else to call or contact? The answer is simple: learn how to prospect expired listings. In this blog, we’ll explore what expired leads are, the best way to reach them, and how to turn them into a sustainable source of listing leads.

What is an Expired Listing?
How to Get Expired Listing Phone Numbers
Why Expired Listings are So Valuable for New Agents
How too Prospect Expired Listings
How to Prospect Old Expired Listings
How to Contact Expireds Using a Listing Letter
Why Choose REDX for Leads
Start Taking Advantage of Expired Leads

What is an Expired Listing?

When an agent lists a home on the MLS but fails to sell the property within a specified timeframe (usually 3-6 months), it becomes an expired listing. An Expired Lead is the contact information for that expired listing’s seller, usually pulled from the MLS and skip-traced for additional data.

How to Get Expired Listing Phone Numbers

There are a lot of ways to access “leads” for expired listings, but they don’t always come with phone numbers or contact information. That’s where a lead service provider like REDX can help.

Our proprietary algorithms are designed to skip trace and supplement expired listing data from the MLS with phone numbers, emails, and other valuable insights about the seller.

Learn more about expired leads

Why Expired Listings Are So Valuable for New Agents

Expired Leads are considered to be some of the easiest lowest-hanging fruit for new real estate agents.  Why? Because Expired Leads are motivated to sell.

Their recent MLS listing tells you that they’re actively trying to sell their home and are willing to pay an agent commission. They also have a limited number of options to move forward with, making your prospecting conversations that much easier:

1. They can keep the same agent and attempt to sell it again.
2. The homeowner can get another agent and attempt to sell.
3. The homeowner can take the house off the market altogether.

Here’s where you come in! You can be the hero of their day by presenting yourself as the new, more experienced real estate agent. Just the fact you are calling about the contract expiring proves you are on top of your job to a homeowner.

REDX Expired Listing Success Story

Take it from our friend Lev Nevin who went from being a part-time agent to making 6 figures just by prospecting Expired Leads.

Successful agents like Lev understand how to craft conversations that speak to an expired homeowner’s specific goals and dreams: to get the most money out of their home and to move on to their next stage in life.

Now that we have discussed why expired listings are so valuable for new agents, let’s get into how to contact an expired lead.

How to Prospect Expired Listings

The best way to call an expired listing is to approach the conversation with empathy and kindness, acknowledging the problems they have, and offering solutions.

When Cold Calling…

In general, you can follow these tips to contacting expired listings:

1. Rather than diving into a sales pitch, ask open-ended questions to understand their needs and concerns, showing that you are more interested in helping them than just making a sale.
2. Offer Insights: Demonstrate your expertise as to why the home might not have sold.
3. Avoid attacking the previous agent: It’s never a good look to talk bad about another agent.
4. Be prepared to provide specific examples of your marketing strategy, including how you plan to attract qualified buyers and get their homes sold quickly and at the best possible price.

Cold calling an expired lead is usually the best way to establish contact. Check our latest Expired Listing Cold Calling Scripts to find out to contact an expired lead.

However, if you reach a voicemail or have trouble getting through, it can sometimes be valuable to send an expired listing letter as well.

Prospecting Old Expired Listings with a Unique Strategy

In a unique prospecting strategy, Zak Klinedinst offered some unique advice on getting in touch with expired listings that have been expired for between 3 and 6 months. Check out the 4 minute clip here:

The benefit to this approach is you might get past the initial “I’m just tired of trying to sell my home without getting results” objection.

Having a few months to reset, might allow a seller to reevaluate why they are selling and why they might want to explore selling again with a new agent with a fresh approach.

How to Contact an Expired Listing with an Expired Listing Letter

While cold calling is still the best way to get in touch with an expired lead, complementing it with a personalized expired listing letter can set you apart from other agents who might also be calling at the same time.

An expired listing letter needs a few things to help gently nudge a homeowner and remind them of their desire to sell.

1. Be Personal: personalized greetings and mentioning the property address to show you’re familiar with their situation can help you come across as professional, but courteous.
2. Be Professional: avoid using language that’s too casual. You are an expert, and your expired letter should reflect that.
3. Offer Fresh Perspectives: Expired leads highly value a new take on selling their home. Including statistics on the latest market trends and interest rates can go a long way to getting a follow-up call. Keeping Current Matters’ website can help give you this perspective to share with your prospects.
4. Ask for Action: Scheduling a meeting with you is an easy next step. Make sure to ask for a call or an email with a strong call to action.

For more tips and tricks on mailing Old Expireds, check out this podcast interview with Mail Master Jim McCord.

Why choose REDX for Expired Leads?

Vortex allows agents to successfully mine and filter through true expired leads. This system is thorough, efficient, and personal.

Vortex uses a streamlined system that filters dates, list price, status of prospecting and location when looking for expired leads.

Countless man-hours and expenses are now a thing of the past when searching for expired leads with REDX and Vortex.

Public and private databases are available for accurate contact. Customizable fields are available for each listing, allowing agents to leave custom notes, specific scripts, and up-to-date contact information to connect with homeowners for each expired lead.

Start taking advantage of expired leads

To make the most of these expired leads, it’s time to pull out your computer and get online! Get more information at http://www.redx.com/expireds. You will quickly see how your REDX expired leads and Vortex can become a lucrative business strategy.