There is nothing like knocking on the door or calling.  Just be sure to check the Do-Not-Call list...Mary

I am not sure if the Code of Ethics will let you say what other Realtors will do or not do for you (the property owner).  You might want to just say what you are offering to the property owner.  Short and sweet message is best.  Then, I would follow up by stopping by, in person.

It's a Good Life!

Fran

I'm curious how you get the addresses of the people who have moved away?  The problem with vacant expireds is there is no way to contact the owners.  Is the questionaire just another mailing in place of or in addition to the weekly postcard? Again, I'm curious because I'm not sure if the strategy is aimed at getting info for the seminar or letting the expired know you care.

As far as an incentive to get them to fill it out, you could just provide postage and see if that works.  If that doesn't work or you feel some additional incentive is needed you could try including a scratch off lottery card for their effort, and that might guilt them into filling out the survey.  If you think a bigger incentive is needed and only want to give it following the return of the filled out survey; offer to send them a $5 Starbucks card once you have the completed survey.

Let us know what you end up doing and how it works.  I love a system that is proven and works.  Good Luck to you!

Good luck. Are you planning on a seminar or just mentioning it in the letter? Make sure you always tell the truth. I like Pam's idea about the gift card.

Thank you to those who have commented so far!

Mary: Unfortunately, I can only find numbers for about 20% of them, most of which are on the DNC list.

Fran: Thanks, I'll take that line out or revise it.

Pam & Gita: I try to find them on the tax records and occassionally, when the post office puts the yellow forward sticker on mail and returns it to me it will have their current address on it. If I can't find them, I just move on.

The questionnaire is in addition to the postcards. The main reason for doing this is for knowledge. Alot of homeowners in this area don't trust Realtors. For some reason, we rank right up there with attorneys. Alot of these expired listings were only listed for 6 months and never relisted, and I am curious as to why.

The seminar is a bonus for these people and FSBO's or anyone that is planning to sell their home. I used to have a Canine Narcotics Detection/Canine Training Company and held seminars every few months on different topics as a public service and thought I would try it in real estate too. It was great PR as well as informative to the public. What better way to get your name out there?

I hadn't thought of the gift card. The only thing I could come up with was entering their name in a monthly drawing for a $50 gas card. The gift card would probably work better though.

Good luck on getting some new listings. I think that is very proactive of you to go out there and try to make some deals happen instead of just waiting for them to fall in your lap.

It looks as though you have a great start. I'll have to follow the comments, as I also want to try to get some expired listings this year. I've never gone for them before.

Sounds like you have things in order.  The approach is nice but I do think you will have to entice them to return your survey. 

I think the best motive is to just get right to the point.  You need some sort of incentive for them to return the survey though.  Maybe offer a free market analysis, or coffee, something along those lines.

Ask them to help you by filling it out and returning it and in turn, the results will help others to get on track making  future sales of homes marketable and will get more homes sold.  This will eventually help balance the market back out for all.  Good luck, great idea.

Lissa,

The benefit letter is a great way to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack.  I like that you articulated the problem to your prospects and immediately offer a solution, or at least a proposal that is different from many of your peers.  When we teach RedX clients about prospecting expired listing leads, we always teach that the value proposistion (your unique selling prposistion) is the most important differentiator that you can have.

 -4MySales

Thank you all for responding. It's so nice to have such a fantastic support system. I now have the letter written and will try it out on a few of the expired owners. I suppose if I don't get much of a response, I'll try something different. I also have several thank you cards to send out to those who participate, along with a $5 gas card. It isn't much, but at this point, it's all I can afford.

After I'm finished with this project, I plan to try something similar with FSBO's. I've seen a few that have had a sign in their yard for over a year.

Thanks Again,

Lissa

I am finding that mail doesn't do it. I get on the phone and cold call. You might want to get a hold of Mike Ferry scripts. They work well for me. I also follow up with a personal note. I have been receiving more call backs.

Lissa,

The one group I have never targeted was expireds.  There was always some kind of mental block for me...maybe just scared.  I think the none threatening survey is a great idea.  It might give the expired a chance to vent, and maybe, if they think they are helping you or other homeowners, they may actually do it.  When I was brand new, I found that telling people I was new and needed all the information I could get helped.  They were impressed with my honesty.  I actually got my first listing that way.  You might just end your letter by asking the homeowners to be as honest as possible on the survey, and to assure them that you will use their comments will make you a better agent! 

I haven't had any success with mailings- but that is just me. What I plan on doing now is hand deliver listing packages (I am thinking of investing in ENeighborhoods Software ) to expired listings. And if I mail some ( at least 10 a week by Wednesday ),it should be there by friday. So saturday,I will go visit them in person dressed up and tell them how I am going to market their property and sell it for top dollars. Also,with a listing package,instead of gift cards,I will put a mug,pen,notebook or calendar. Gift card will be spent very quick. But a pen,notebook or calendar can even end up in somebody's else hand and they will probably call you asking you to help them buy or sell their next house. Anyway,much luck to you. Please let me know how your seminar went. Great post.

Thanks for sharing so many awesome ideas.  Also, great comments, very useful.

When the listing expired on our home, we received 30 calls from wanna-list realtors on the day after the listing expired -- DESPITE THE FACT THAT WE'RE ON THE DO NOT CALL LIST. The calls began coming in at 7 AM.

Hey, realtors, FOLLOW THE LAW and CHECK THE DO NOT CALL LIST before you begin harassing home owners. I didn't appreciate the flooding of calls and the mountain of voicemails.

Home sellers are intelligent enough to proceed on their own when selling their homes. STOP  THOSE TACKY, INTRUSIVE, AND ANNOYING TACTICS -- THE HARASSING CALLS, THE ANNOYING MAILINGS, AND THE UNWANTED DOOR KNOCKING.

Don't call us ... we'll call YOU.

Realtors stop the harassment: I'm very sorry you have had such a negative experience with agents in your area. Please understand that in real estate, just like every other profession, we are all unique in our own way.

I will admit that some of the agents that have contacted you probably want nothing more than another listing, however there are many of us that want to help you and our buyers. Many of us do not want to waste our time, efforts, and money on a listing that will not sell. Being a listing agent can be very expensive.

I understand that you are frustrated because your home did not sell while it was on the market. There are many variables that may have affected the outcome of your listing. I would sincerely like the opportunity to help you realize the circumstances surrounding your situation. I AM NOT ASKING FOR A LISTING. Merely the opportunity to help you. If you would be willing to complete my questionnaire, and allow me to review and send you back my professional opinion, it would help you to make a wise decision should you decide to market your home again. In return, it will help me to provide a better service to my clients.

Please e-mail me at lissasells4u@earthlink.netto receive your copy of the questionnaire to complete. I will provide you with a self addressed, stamped envelope to return it in and promise no phone calls unless you request me to do so.

Hi.  Excellent idea. 

As you I write to homeowners whose listing expired.

However I never thought of the survey.  Would you mind sending me a copy of the survey questions which I could use in my area (Santa Paula, CA., and surrounding areas).

What has been the response to the survey? 

One always learns something.

Thank you.

John Duffner (http://www.venturacountyretalk.com)

John: Hope you find it helpful.

Lisa:  Mike Ferry uses some great scripts that really could get you going.  They feel strange at first, but the key to asking the questions is to find out how motivated the family is to move.  I think that if you want to get more expired listings, check the do not call list, put on a friendly voice and call.  The agents that have that personal phone contact are the ones that will get the listing.  You can find the scripts at www.mikeferry.com

Good luck Lisa,

Keep us posted on how this survey works. I would like to see your survey too. I'm South of Dallas, Texas in the suburbs. We have always worked the expireds and have picked up some good listings. Please keep us informed. A new approach works everytime. One approach I did and it worked very well was that I mailed out a certificated for a free market analysis. I used that for at least two years.

Folks, I've been a Real Estate Broker for about 33 years now and owned my own companies for about 20 years. 

I'M AM PRETTY MUCH ALIGNED WITH "MR. REALTORS STOP THE HARASSMENT"

Reason being is in all the years I've done business (1) I've NEVER made a telephone call to a stanger for a listing or to be a buyers agent.  (2) I've NEVER cold call knocked on the door of a stranger (3) I NEVER rant and raved about Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate to the point people want to walk the other direction when they see me coming (4) I've NEVER "bidded" a listing.  What I've done is what everyone else for the most part forgets in all their seminar pump-you-up-talks and that is I SIMPLY MAKE FRIENDS EVERYWHERE I GO.

I have received 90% of all my business through the years from REFERRALS because I make a lot of friends by being Honest and Selfless, Helpful and Friendly.  People do business with Friends!  It continues to amaze me of all the agents that spend COUNTLESS hours pursuing "new leads" from every source from A to Z and forget about all the clients from the past!  You know why?  I've discovered that the reason is SIMPLY BECAUSE A LARGE NUMBER OF AGENTS PISSED OFF THEIR CLIENT IN ONE WAY OR THE OTHER AND WOULDN'T USE THEM AGAIN!  That's a shame.  Take care of the current prospect...go the extra mile...STAY IN CONTACT via phone, newsletter, email, birthday card...whatevers' best for you, but stay in contact.

You put the wood in the stove before you demand heat.  I had a guy call me yesterday that I sold his house to him in 1998 (that's 10 long years ago) that moved from Little Rock to Myrtle Beach and decided to sell his house in LR.  He said "boy I had a hard time finding your phone number....I had to dig out all our old closing papers to find your number...we want to sell our house in LR."  He remembered me after all these years because #1, I impressed him that much 10 years ago and #2 I stayed in contact via eNewsletters and we're "Friends"...even though I haven't talked to him personally in some 6 years.

Sorry to make this blog comment so long.  I ought to do an entire blog on this subject, but there are too many Used Car Salesman mentality agents out there that give the good agents a bad name and THAT's why Mr. Realtors Stop the Harassment" feels the way he does.

David, what you said holds true, I think alot of agents need to get back in touch with prior clients--Bart

Hi Lisa -- Just wanted to let you know that I've been trying to email you from your web site but it keeps telling me I entered the security code incorrectly. (Maybe I did once, but not 3 times.)

Anyway, I was just writing to ask how your expired listings survey was going.

Lisa, in my past occupations I have used customer survey or questionaires, it was my experience that the return rate increased when I kept things short.  but not by a significant amount.

Lisa, keep us informed please of your success or not.  Paul, at least it sounds like you HAVE a return rate.  That is encouraging.

I really like this idea. I am not sur how many people will actually take the time to fill it out, but it is does stand out from the common approaches. Good Luck!

I would divide the questions in two groups: personality, and actual sales work.

Personality: try to find out if the reason for listing not getting sold was really a personality war between the seller and the  agent. If they couldn't agree in anything, didn't like each other, were not able to communicate at each other's level, or persived each other a certain way (too pushy, not pushy enough, not enough experience, to busy with other listings to care, crossing lines of professionalism, ethics, personal relationships and such)

Actual Sales and marketing of the property: What did the listing agent do or didn't do to get the property sold: flyers,  signs, open houses, advertising in newspapers, magazines, websites, MLS, other... See if you can find a common thread to all these expired listings. Good luck with your project!

David, I have to agree with you. Simply staying in touch with past clients works wonders. Investing your time & efforts with what's happening in the industry, your community or your city and then sharing it does at least two things... makes you a knowledgeable agent (the go-to guy) and it gives you a reason to make contact with a past client. However, they don't all have to be past clients. Include your friend & family members. They can be a great source of referrals. I recommend also staying in contact with your (SOI) sphere of influence. Insurance, mortgage, inspector, A/C repair, plumber, etc. REFERRALS ARE GREAT!!

Hi

Send a lottery ticket (hopefully one for education) and another one when the survey comes back.  Total outlay is $2 and maybe someone will be a winner.  On the first mailing, state you could be a $50,000.00 winner or whatever.  They will a least remember you, and it could be construed as a tax write off for education purposes.  Just make sure you do not break any laws, by offering incentives!

Dick Beals