The 3 Most-Effective Expired Listing Scripts You Need In 2023

Getting started with expired listings can seem like a nerve-racking lead generation strategy. You face rejection, having to learn scripts, presenting at the listing appointment, and selling a listing that already didn’t sell at least once.

But I’m here to tell you that it’s not nearly as challenging as you may think. It’s just a matter of overcoming the fear of the unknown. Once you successfully get one or two under your belt, it’s easy to become an expired listing master.  

The expired listing scripts I’m about to share with you will help you take that first step. In fact, these three scripts helped me set hundreds of listing appointments and close over half a million dollars in expired listing commissions throughout my career as a real estate agent.

Expired Listings Tips

Before we get to the three scripts, I want to share a few expired listing tips to set the stage and give you some clear expectations of what you should know when working with expired sellers.

Rejection

First of all, you need to understand that you’re going to get a ton of rejection when calling expired listings. Over 80% of expired listing phone calls that I make result in somebody hanging up on me, telling me that I’m the hundredth Realtor to call them, asking me to leave them alone, or not answering at all.

Follow-Up

Of the 20% receptive to my call, 10% will allow me to book an appointment with them. That’s right. If you’re doing the math, that’s around 2% that will book an appointment on the first call. That means you need to make about 50 calls to have a chance at one appointment.  

With continued follow-up, which is anywhere from five to 20 additional calls, I’ll set another three appointments out of the original 50 leads. So as you’ll see, the fortune is in the follow-up!

Mindset

Is it worth it? Absolutely! Listings are real estate gold, especially in the significant seller’s market we’re in today. It’s indeed more comfortable to obtain buyer leads and clients. However, then you spend more of your time on the back end fighting against multiple offers, driving clients all over town, and consumed by inspections and appraisal negotiations.

With an expired seller, you show them what went wrong the first time around and how you can fix the issue (usually price, staging, or marketing). Once you’ve done this and gotten the signed listing agreement, a listing is typically much less time-consuming compared to working with buyers. So while you may spend more time on the front-end turning a prospect into a lead, you’ll make up for it on the back end with the amount of work you’ll need to do.

Leverage Expired Listings

The effort of learning expired scripts and going outside your comfort zone to cold call expired sellers is also worth it because many times these deals turn into multiple sales quickly. Either the expired seller needs to buy something else, you’ll get sign calls from your listing, or you can circle prospect and share with other potential sellers in the area you are listing.

Time Blocking

Time blocking is imperative when it comes to calling expired listings. Start calling at around 8 am to be one of the first agents to contact the seller. Plan to make new expired calls from 8-10 am. Then you can start calling older expired listings and follow up afterward. A solid 3-4 hours of time-blocked calling will ensure you are constantly filling your afternoons with appointments.  

Use an Expired Listing Tool

Use a tool to speed up the process of calling expired listings. I use REDX. I’ve found that it’s the perfect balance of accuracy and pricing for my needs. When you log in, the system updates all the new expired listings and sets up a list that you can dial immediately.

When you sign up for REDX expired leads, you also receive their Vortex CRM system for free, allowing you to keep notes and put leads into different follow-up ​groups.

Finally, I recommend adding on their Storm Dialer to double the speed of manual dialing. Because REDX’s dialer integrates with the Vortex CRM system, there is a ton of extra information that pops up that you can utilize once in dialogue with a seller. Information like market values in their area, the seller’s length of ownership, how much they may still owe on the property, and much more.  

When you use my link, you’ll get your setup fee waived, saving you $149.

Alright, now that you have the groundwork, let’s jump into the three scripts and ways to handle objections ​that I recommend when calling expired listings. 

Josh Gossard’s Expired Listing Script

This first script is from Josh Gossard. It’s pretty short and straightforward. This script is a good one to master because it’s not very long and gets to the decision-making process pretty quickly. It goes like this:

Me: “Hey Sam, my name is Kyle Handy. I’m a Realtor here in the area, and I’m reaching out today because I came across a property you recently had for sale. Since I specialize in homes that didn’t sell the first time around, I wanted to see what your plans are moving forward. Do you still have plans on getting your home sold?”

This greeting is a great way to start the conversation as it immediately identifies whether or not the owner has any remaining interest in selling. Also, mentioning that you specialize in expired listings might help win them over.

Me: “Ok, awesome, do you know what type of timeframe you’re looking at here?”

Me: “Ok, I see.”

Here is where I’ll ask a few more trust-building questions. These questions are from Mike Ferry and can include any of the following:

“When you sell this home, what’s the plan next?”

“What do you think stopped your home from selling.”

“What do you know about the homes that have recently sold in your neighborhood?”

Once you have a rapport built, use this close.

Me: “I tell you what, I’d love to schedule a time for me to come over, see your house in person, and maybe shed some light on why it didn’t sell. I’d also like to talk to you a little more about what you’re looking for in your next home. Are you available later this afternoon, say 3 pm, or does tomorrow after work, work better for you, say around 6 pm?

Coach Borino’s Expired Listing Script

The following script is from Borino. This one takes a little more confidence and timing.

Me: “Hey John, this is Kyle Handy with eXp Realty. I’m not the first one calling about your house, am I?”

Them: “No”

Me: “It’s crazy, all these agents calling. Where were they when the house was up for sale? What’s happening is that all of these agents are gunning for your listing. They think they can make a quick buck by snagging it. Where were they when it was up for sale? John, have you relisted it yet? Is the house back on the market?”

Them: (No, take off-market, worn out).

Me: “I don’t blame you. I understand. Would you still consider selling in the future if a buyer walked in and offered you the right price?”

Them: (Possibly, Sure if I got the right price, etc.)

Me: “Where’d you guys want to go? What was the plan?”

Them: (Move to another state, get a bigger house, etc.)

Me: “What do you think went wrong? I’m looking at the pictures, and it seems like you have a lovely home. Nobody even made you an offer?

Them: (No, well, we got one, but it was too low)

Me: “Did you know that seven homes sold in your neighborhood in the last 30 days? Somebody’s moving.”

Them: (Really, No, I didn’t know that)

Me: “Yeah, a lot of homes are selling. Let’s do this, John, and I know you guys don’t want to sell; I’m not here to pressure you. I’m not one of those salespeople that called you earlier. Let me drive by to say hello. I’m going to drop off some information, including the seven homes that recently sold, so that way you at least know what’s going on. Who knows, maybe down the road, you guys decide to sell again, and I’ll be happy to sit down and chat. Could I swing by tonight around 5:30? Would that be ok?  

Great! I look forward to meeting you in person. 

Brandon Mulrenin’s Expired Listing Script

The final script is from Brandon Mulrenin. I really like this one because it’s very relaxed and doesn’t come across as pushy or “salesy.”

Me: “Hi Sarah, this is Kyle, a local Realtor, and I know you probably have every agent in town calling you right now, am I right?

Me: “I know that can be super frustrating, and just so you know, I’m not interested in listing your home; I was just curious, you were only asking ($400,000) for the home?”

Me: “Interesting… what happened?”

Me: “Got it, and did you get any offers at all?

Me: “Did the agent give you any feedback on what he/she thought might have happened?”

Me: “I see… I wondered; you’re not going to do anything unless it made sense, but if you had received the right offer, what were the original plans?”

Me: “I see… and is that still the plan if possible?”

Me: “Sarah, here’s my thought, I might be able to stop by the home one day quickly, and I can share some new information that would help your home to actually sell because you’re not going to do anything unless you sell, right?”

Me: “Ok, I can pop by one day this week, take a look at the home and make some recommendations, and from there, you can have information to use for the future if you do ever decide to sell the home again… and then you’ll determine what makes the most sense, fair enough?

Me: “Ok, so I’ll tentatively put you on my calendar later this week; how’s Thursday afternoon? Or I could do Friday evening?”

Me: “Great, I’ll plan on seeing you Thursday; I’ll send you a quick email with my resume to keep on file. What’s the best email?”

Me: “I’ll let you know if we need to move the meeting for some reason, but I’ll plan on seeing you on Thursday.”

Common Expired Listing Objections

Ok, so now that you have three of the best scripts to get you on the phone, you’re going to start hearing some of the same objections over and over, so you’ll want to be prepared for them. ​Below, we’ll get into a couple of the most common​. Check out this post on how to handle all real estate objections.

Same Agent

Them: “Thanks Kyle, but we are just going to go with the same agent.”

Me: “Well, sure, I get you to have some loyalty to that agent because you’ve been working with them for a while, but can I tell you why it makes me nervous that you’re going to just relist with them blindly?” 

Them: “Sure”

Me: “What I know is that your home was on the market for over six months. The average time on the market right now is between 34 and 41 days. So your agent should have sold your home 3 times by now, and he/she didn’t sell it once. So what do you think is going to happen differently this time around?”  

Sell On Our Own

Them: “I think we’re going to drop the price and sell it on our own.”

Me: “Can I share a concern that I have with that scenario there?”

Them: “Concern, sure what?”

Me: “What I know is that out of all the homes that sold this year in our market, over 98% involved both a listing agent and a buyers agent, meaning less than 2% only had a buyers agent or no agent involved. Also, those homes sold anywhere from 9 to 17% less than they could have gotten had they had a professional agent like me marketing the home. Do you really want to leave that amount of money on the table?”

Following Up With Expired Listings

Now, remember the majority of expired listings are not going to let you set up an appointment or sign an agreement with you in the first interaction. You’re going to need to follow up continually.  

A good time to follow up is when you notice any new activity in their neighborhood. This new activity could mean a new listing, a listing that goes active option or pending​, or a closing​ that you want ​to let them know the sold price of​.  

If you plan to be in the area, let them know. Sometimes you’ll time it just right, and they’ll agree to meet with you since you will happen to be ​in their area.

In Conclusion

There you have it, three of the very best expired listing scripts out there, along with how to handle the two most common objections you’ll get.

Also, check out REDX, especially if you don’t have a system for expired listings yet or are using another tool. I’ve used Vulcan7, Cole Property Resource, Mojo, and Espresso Agent, and I truly believe REDX has the most accurate data and is the most easy-to-use tool out there. My REDX link saves you $149 on your setup fee.  

And now I want to turn it over to you. Let me know in the comments if you’ve called expired listings before? What are some of your challenges? What do you like about working expired listings? Let me know.