A Twist from Expired Listing Agents

Good morning Joan. Nice try. As a seller I would say bring the offers. Let them put their contract offers on the table and have you there for guidance. Bet he does not show up! Enjoy your day.

Good morning, Joan... how agents chase expired listings has not changed in decades. And sellers hate being harangued this way. I wonder why agents don't realize that. I once had a listing that we withdrew from the market while the sellers renovated the kitchen. One agent kept coming to their door to list with him. They kept telling him when they were ready to come back on the market they'd be listing with me again. He kept coming back. My seller finally told him the next time he came, she would call the police and tell them he was trespassing. That finally stopped it.

The number of calls these withdrawn/canceled or expired sellers get is absurd.  I had a client who pulled it off for a personal reason.  I forewarned them about the calls they would receive.  Boy, did they!  They said the agents calling were actually saying that I didn't do my job, and that's why their home didn't sell.  My client said they set them straight whenever there is criticism about me.  It's been a couple of months now, and they say they are still getting calls.  They are beyond frustrated. 

This is often the case. We listed a house we own, then decided to rent instead. When I expired it I received about a hundred reasons why I should list with different agents. When they realized who I was they would just hang up. We have a lot of skank Realtors in our business. 

Good morning Joan,

It's crazy the number of agents chasing listings when they have been withdrawn or expired. We now have another feature called HOLD. If someone is doing some updating and then wanting to come back on it is put on HOLD. It is only paused and sellers don't get bombarded with calls.

Hi Joan,
I never wanted (or needed) to be in the "ambulance chaser" category. I did have a few expireds call me, though. 

Yes indeed, the amount of calls sellers should expect after their property is expired is nuts. As for the message sent above in purple font - exactly, why didn't they bring an offer when it was on the market? Because they don't have one!

I don't call expired listings. I know these owners are getting inundated with calls and I refuse to add to their pain. While there is a decent chance the owners will ultimately pick one of these brokers that are aggressively following up- it's just not how I want to conduct myself and represent my business. 

As to the broker claiming to bring offers first...wow that's a lot of chutzpah. If he was legit, then he would have brought those offers while listed. 

Hello Joan and great information we can all learn from here in the Rain.  Hope you are having a great day!

Hi Joan- I'm glad your seller thought to call you to find out about the agent offering to bring buyers in first. You're right...i you had buyers, why didn't you bring them when it was listed!

Hello Joan - as entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary from the Shark Tank reality television show might say, "Agents who pursue expired listings are dead to me".  Just kidding.  Well - mostly. 

Of course, those of us who have industry experience likely know of some practitioners who have made expired listings a part of their business strategy - some quite successfully.  Real estate is not simple - not for sellers, buyers or practitioners.  

Thanks so much for sharing this insightful post, Joan Cox. Your honesty about the ups and downs of selling really hits home, and I appreciate you shedding light on the tricks some agents use. It’s a good reminder to stay genuine and focus on real value. Thanks again for the thoughtful read!

Joan Cox - The old say, talk is cheap is so true! I've known many agents who never walked the talk. Their pride was in the stealing the listing, but they couldn't put their money in their pockets because they couldn't sell either. 

Joan Cox I had a similar situation, except we took it temporarily off the market. The seller had pushy agents calling them, which is not allowed. The seller finally took the number down of one of the agents who called. I called the agent and asked if he understood what the status meant. As they violated the MLS rules by calling the seller   

That's such a humbling and frustrating story about the low-hanging tactics agents will use, Joan Cox, and your clients asked the perfect question: why wouldn't they have sent those "offers first" when the house was active? That kind of creative and misleading messaging is a true disservice, but thanks for revealing this twist for everyone to see!

It is amazing what people will say and do in our business sometimes. Sounds like your client is pretty smart to see thru the BS.  

I agree with you about selling or buying something once in awhile to see what hoops buyers or sellers have to go thru these days!!