Your job in real estate is to be a problem solver. There is no greater problem for a motivated seller than figuring out why their home didn’t sell! You are a real estate professional, they have a home to sell. It makes a lot of sense for you to be speaking with each other.
If you do not yet have the wealth you desire and deserve, it’s simply because you have yet to figure out how to help enough people reach their goals. When you help enough people achieve their goals, achieving yours will follow!
The most logical prospect for listings in any real estate market is the homeowner of an expired listing. They clearly have a desire to sell and have demonstrated the willingness to list.
Expired Math. Let’s say you are committed to earning while you learn, that you become only somewhat efficient at prospecting expired sellers, somewhat proficient with the scripts and closing, and you win some of the time… The math is still on your side!
Let’s break down the numbers:
When you have 10 conversations per week with expired sellers, two to three will relist the property immediately. At least one will list with you. When you do this just two weeks per month, using the average sale price in the U.S. today of $400,000, netting you $9,600 after 20% expenses per transaction, that’s 2 x $9600/month = $19,200 per month x 12 months = $230,400. This is if you are only somewhat OK with this skill. Earn while you learn. As you get incrementally better, so will your expired math.
Secret: Many of our coaching clients can set one expired appointment per day, take two listings per week, and are grossing over $1 million per year. why? Because it’s not just the expired listing that you are selling, it’s the additional business it creates for you. You can sell that listing, generate buyers from your marketing, open houses, and prospecting around that listing, then lather, rinse, and repeat.
The ratios of contacts to conversions are the best of any opportunity you have in real estate. When you’re good at the script, one in 20 will turn into listings for you. When you’re great at the script it will be 1 in 10 — on some days even better than that. It’s extremely efficient.
Expired listings have been market tested. You know what the wrong price is in most cases. Sometimes you can relist at the same price and sell right away. Either way, the days on the market for relisted expireds are way less than fresh listings, especially in a shifting market. You can see this when you monitor your MLS hot sheet daily. You’ll see a home expire, get relisted, and sell in 30 days or less in most cases.
The agent you would have competed against has failed to sell the home. The seller is now serious about getting a fresh approach from someone who will solve their problem. They’re now open to listing with someone they don’t already know.
The seller of an expired home will correct any negative feedback for you when you relist it, versus resisting when it was a fresh listing. They are much more ‘coachable’ and motivated. They’ll often say, ‘Just tell me what to do to get this done!’
The listing will create more business for you as a result of all of your efforts to sell it.
The scripts are logical and easy to learn. Remember that you’re there to solve a problem, speaking to (almost always) a very motivated seller! Don’t wing it. Instead, follow a systematic approach, asking logical questions which will lead you to a prequalified appointment and then your next new listing.
Tim and Julie Harris host a podcast for real estate professionals. Tim and Julie of Premier Coaching have been real estate coaches for more than two decades, coaching the top agents in the country through different types of markets.
