Ever been told, “You need more inventory. Why don’t you call a few expired listings?”

Ever responded along the lines of, “I’d rather commit suicide than call an expired listing. They scare me to death.”

In other words, you’d rather expire than call one.

Without exception, regardless of market conditions, the agent with the most quality listings is in control of the marketplace. I have never seen a valid exemption to this rule. You list! You prosper!

With this thought in mind, to maximize the results of one’s daily activities, you must determine how to most effectively and quickly build your listing inventory. It is relationship building that produces, over the long haul, a steady stream of listings. Relationships build residual income and enduring success. However, building relationships is like building a home. It takes time. The results are often deferred for 12-18 months.

Most agents don’t have the financial ability to survive until the building of a loyal clientele starts paying dividends. They need to find some way to generate income during the building process. Those car and house payments don’t make themselves. They need money now! They need listings immediately!

That said, the most effective tool to quickly create a substantial listing inventory is a powerful expired listing system, especially in today’s real estate environment. Working expired listings can be an extremely efficient process. Here’s why:

• We know the “expired” homeowner (who is not dead, but may feel has had a near death experience with the last agent) has an interest in selling.
• We have a homeowner who knows an adjustment must be made to get the home sold.
• We have a homeowner who knows there is something the prior agent didn’t know – that unknown “something” is what must to be done to sell his/her home.

In other words, we have an educated homeowner who is willing to listen and learn. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Why is it then, if working expired listings is an effective and efficient way to generate income quickly, that so many agents absolutely dread it? Rejection. It is something all sane agents fear. I don’t care what any trainer says; rejection is not fun and is not a necessary part of our business. Put bluntly, rejection sucks! It is not good for you! It is not good for our industry!

99.9% of the rejection in an agent’s career is self-induced. Agents are rejected when they call expired listings because of their approach. They tell the homeowner everything he doesn’t want to hear: how wonderful the agent is, how they’re God’s gift to the real estate world, how they can sell a home in 15 seconds or less, and so on. You can bet the owner’s prior agent, the one who did not get the home sold, told the seller everything all the realtors who call are now saying. Every agent who calls the expired is #1… at least somewhere (whether they’re the #1 agent at their desk or the #1 agent in the bathroom at their office).

The homeowner has heard it all before and doesn’t believe a word of it and to no one’s surprise, they reject agent after agent. The key to success, when calling expired listings, is to be different.

The secret to getting in the door to do an “expired” presentation is to offer a solution to the homeowner’s problem: that they own a property they no longer want to own. The solution is, of course, to discover what caused the home to not sell (usually price or condition) and to then implement a strategy that eliminates the cause. Once the cause of the problem is gone, a sold sign in the front yard will follow shortly thereafter. The following script, because it answers the “why” question for the owner, does a great job of getting you in the front door of expired listings. Try it. You’ll like it!

• Good morning, Mr. / Mrs. (Smith). I apologize for calling so early. You have probably been contacted by several real estate agents. I sincerely hope it hasn’t been a problem for you.

• My name is (your name) with (your company).The reason I’m calling is that the listing on your home is showing as having expired.

• Have you re-listed your home?

If “Yes” – “Thank You! I’ll do all I can to help your agent get it sold.”

If “No” – “Do you want to sell?”

If they don’t want to sell – “Are you going to put your home back on the market in the future?”

If they do want to sell – Continue with the following:

• Do you know why your home did not sell? (Wait for response)

• Mr. / Mrs. Smith, when a home is available to the buying public and doesn’t sell, it is always for one of 6 reasons. These reasons are: price, terms, location, condition, marketing, market conditions.

• Which of these six reasons do you think caused your home to not sell? (Wait for a response. You may have to repeat the six reasons.)

• I’m asking this question because it is critical, when there is a problem, to identify its cause. Until the cause has been identified, the problem cannot be eliminated.

• I have a the expertise to pinpoint the exact reason your home did not sell. If you allow me just 10 minutes of your time, we can quickly identify the reason your home is not sold. Once the cause of the problem is recognized, I can help you make the corrections needed to place a SOLD sign in your front yard.

• There is no cost and no obligation for this service. And, you have my word that there will be no high pressure sales tactics!

• Is there a time when we can get together?

Before you use this script, you must master it. Of course your goal when using this script is to schedule an appointment as soon as possible. Be sure to go to the meeting with a complete listing presentation package. Be prepared to present and to write. Once you are face-to-face with the homeowner, the rest of the process comes easily.

You will be competing against other agents. Be the first agent that gets an appointment and 9 times out of 10 times you will leave the house with a listing agreement. If you fail to schedule an appointment, don’t quit. Be persistent! Follow the call with a mailing and follow-up call campaign.

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