Expired properties may be one of the most competitive types of listings you can target. They are easily identified; typically your MLS will send you a notification when a property expires, or allow you to perform a targeted query. The challenges presented by expireds are many.
You have to:
- Find the missing data, such as the owner’s phone number that has been removed from the MLS or by the previous listing agent
- Understand and appreciate the seller’s mindset
- Present a succinct and comprehensive marketing plan on why you are different than the previous agent
Find Missing Data
There are a number of ways to accomplish this. You could use an online cross-reference directory. If you only target expireds from time to time, this may be an attractive method because it’s free, but you can only do small batch queries. Our company,ArchAgent, offers a missing data service that will automatically find missing phone numbers and reference the Do Not Call registry for you. Alternatively, you can always knock on the door if you really desire that listing.
The Seller’s Mindset
In most cases, the seller expected to sell their home in a few weeks and six months later their home is still on the market. The seller is frustrated and not of the mindset to accept a competitive agent’s claims of why they could sell their home… unless it is substantiated. The primary challenge you will have to overcome is the distrust of the seller.
Typically listings expire for one reason: it was over-priced. The previous listing agent was unsuccessful in negotiating a price reduction. However, you will not earn the trust of the seller by stating that fact. You must appreciate their mindset; their previous agent most likely told them they could sell their home at that price, and now that it hasn’t happened they feel deceived. You could show comparables to the seller that would substantiate that the reason their listing did not sell was price, but winning expired listings isn’t about evidence - it’s about presentation.
Be Succinct and Unique
When you have the attention of the Expired, you need to be prepared and be able to present your marketing plan quickly and in a manner that focuses on making you different. At RainCamp they referred to this as the “Purple Cow.” While the seller has already expressed the desire to list with a full service real estate agent, you still need to re-establish their motivation. Ask them why they think their home did not sell. Although you probably already know why, you need to listen closely to the reasons the owner believes their home did not sell.
What the seller says are not objections, but your opportunities to demonstrate your unique selling propositions (USP) and howthese propositions will be used to overcome the reasons your seller believes their home did not sell. The USPs should be presented in an organized and specific marketing plan and stress whatever is new to the seller that separates you from your competition. Some ideas would be:
- Extreme organization with a detailed deployment of your marketing calendar
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Advanced technologies to increase exposure:
- Mobile Marketing to Smart Phones
- Address-Specific Internet Site
- Call Capture
- Immediate Contact Of Leads
Show your marketing calendar and demonstrate your advanced technologies; showing always wins over telling. It makes a difference, certainly over the agent that tells the seller the same things they had heard from their previous agent.
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