Expireds Guide - Authorify

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Reasons Listing Expireds is a Must Chapter 2: Understanding the Expired Market Chapter 3: Don’t Neglect Old Expireds Chapter 4: Positioning Yourself as an Expired Expert Chapter 5: Cultivating an Expired Marketing Process Chapter 6: Using Social Media for Marketing Chapter 7: Following Up With Expireds Chapter 8: Likely Reasons a Home Didn’t Sell Chapter 9: Home Situations that Scare Buyers Chapter 10: All About Price Reductions

Introduction Hi everyone, Calvin here. Have you been listing expireds lately? The reason I’m so enthusiastic about expireds is because I’ve found them to be a lucrative niche with a constant source of leads, regardless of the market. You just need to know where to look. (And if you don’t know, read on to find out.) In general, focusing on a specific niche enables you to become an expert in that niche, which in and of itself can get you more business. Instead of scrambling after whatever leads you can get, a niche helps you focus so you can work smarter, not harder. In other words, with less time, energy, and stress, you will get more listings and money. Sounds good, doesn’t it? The techniques we’ve written about in this guide are all methods we tested ourselves. We’ve included a few real-life examples because I want to make it clear that these techniques really do work . Joe and I will go over a few different ways to reach out to these leads, as well as how to follow up with them once a connection is made, including easy-to-follow scripts where appropriate — so you can jump right in and not have to go through the trial and errors we did. You may find there are some techniques you currently use or have tried in the past — and some new ones you never heard before. Regardless, my hope is that our specific, proven approaches to these strategies offer you a new way to look at and grow your business. Happy prospecting!

Chapter 1: Reasons Listing Expireds is a Must Do you remember how bad the housing market was the last time it crashed? I know I do — it crashed especially hard for agents in my area. We all know a future slowdown is inevitable; the market always rises and falls over time. Even if the market doesn’t crash as severely as it did last time, you can anticipate the rise of other challenging conditions. Wouldn’t you like to avoid the pain when that happens? You can survive, thrive, and even prosper in the next crash. Here’s how: get really good at working with expired listings. Expireds can become your “bread and butter” whether the market is hot or not. But you can make a lot of money even during market slowdowns by focusing on expireds. #1. There will be a tremendous opportunity to get listings because the market will be flooded with expireds. You can make a ton of money by working the expireds and cherry-picking only the sellers who are motivated. Right now, we have approximately 10,500 resales every six months in the Jacksonville, Fl. area. During the bust of 2009 and 2010, that number was only around 3,500 sales every six months. That’s less than half of what it is now, but notice that it didn’t drop to zero. #2. When the market slows down, the number of real estate agents drops. Many agents become demoralized and quit to pursue other jobs. If you’re a good, hardworking, aggressive agent, you can easily grow your market share during a market slowdown. Expireds are the key, so if you’re concerned about a market slowdown in the future, that’s where your focus should be. #3. There are always expireds, even in a “hot” market. Let’s imagine you’re in a market that’s so hot there are no expireds. Here’s the secret: there are actually thousands — potentially tens of thousands — of expireds hidden below the surface. I’m talking about what I call the “old expireds.”

When I first started listing houses, I was 20 years old and selling real estate in Gainesville, Florida. I had worked as a buyer’s agent for a year and decided I wanted to get into listings. I found some new expireds, and I worked those leads, but I also started working the old expireds. I found one that had expired about a year previously and contacted the sellers. I put their house on the market for $229,900. It sold for $296,000 in 10 days. I made an $8,800 commission, despite my disadvantages: ● I was only 20 years old. ● I was extremely green at listings. ● I didn’t have a great listing presentation. I got the listing, and everything went smoothly because I was the only agent knocking on the sellers’ door. I had no competition because all the other agents focused on the new expireds. We’ll talk more about old expireds later. But the lesson is, if you’re in a red-hot market, start with the homes that expired three to six months ago. Then, work the listings that expired six to twelve months ago. Once you’re done with them, you can start working the older leads. Even expireds that are three or four years old are good leads. #4. Listing expireds can help you find short sales. Here in Florida, the market slowdown of a decade ago was pretty rough. In the markets with which I’m familiar, prices dropped dramatically — 50% drops were common. The number of regular sales — not short sales, foreclosures, or bank-owned properties — dropped dramatically, as well. In Jacksonville, statistics in the multiple listing service for the last six months prior to the slump indicated approximately 10,000 houses sold that weren’t new construction. In the middle of 2011, probably the slowest time in the market, the number of regular sales was down to about 3,500 in six months. That’s approximately 67% less than the current sales rate, but, despite the plunge, many agents did very well during that time — only one third as many houses were sold as usual. There were two main reasons: 1. First, even though the number of sales went down to barely a third of its regular level, the number of agents also probably dropped by 50-60%. As competition dropped by the wayside, agents who stayed in the game were able to pick up a lot of market share. ● I wasn’t tremendously confident. ● I didn’t have superstar sales skills.

2. They also listed a lot of expireds because that’s what they focused on. At the same time, sellers whose listings expired naturally sought out and listed with the few agents who were left standing. But here’s what else is interesting: expireds were also the best way to list more short sales. Remember when the short sales were happening in 2010 and 2011, when every agent wanted to list as many short sales as possible? Often, the easiest way to list short sales was through expireds. A lot of people who put a house on the market as a regular seller realized they couldn’t sell, then decided to short sell their home — after it expired. With that in mind, it’s easy to see that expireds can be your ticket to survive and prosper during a slowdown in the housing market. #5. Even inexperienced agents can list expireds. If you believe you have to be awesome or super slick to get listings, then you’ve been the victim of one of the biggest lies in real estate. The reality is that even an average agent can get listings — as long as there isn’t much competition. For example, I once listed a house where the seller was an immigrant. He had lived in America for 20 years, but he couldn’t speak English well. I remember setting up my first tentative appointment with the seller. The appointment was informal — something to the effect of “Hey, are you going to be around tomorrow? Let me check my schedule, and I think I can meet you at 9:00 a.m.” Then, I set up a better-quality appointment with another seller for the same time. I didn’t go to the first appointment. I didn’t even call him back. Yes, I actually stood up the seller! It’s embarrassing to even admit it. I’m ashamed of my rudeness. My only excuse is that I didn’t think the seller was serious. After my other appointment, I checked my voicemail. It was the seller I had stood up. He said, “Hey, I’m at the house. We were supposed to meet today. Please call me back.” Immediately, I realized I had messed up. I called him back, scheduled another appointment, and met with him. Despite his challenges with English, I got him to understand that I could sell his house. He told me he’d have me meet with his daughter, who would be in town a few days later. When we all met, his daughter translated for us. She realized that I would do a good job selling the property, and they hired me to list the house.

Almost any agent could have gotten that listing. I didn’t have to be awesome. All I had to do to get the listing was to show up and to demonstrate that I would do my best. Now, if you’re competing with three other agents, and the seller is interviewing a bunch of people, then yes, you probably need to be slick. But if you’re not slick, you can always take the easier option and do what I did — find opportunities where you won’t encounter a lot of competition. And of course, the best way to do that is to work old expireds. Expireds are usually very easy to list. With old enough expired listings, sometimes all you have to do to stand out and get the listing is show up when nobody else does! #6. Little towns and less populated areas are great for expireds. No matter your stage of development in your business, you can find a way to get listings from expireds. I figured out a way to be successful with expireds, despite my many disadvantages. When I was a young agent, my presentation skills were weak, and so was my confidence. In an effort to get listings, I worked a lot of FSBOs (For Sale By Owner) and some expireds. The market was extremely hot at the time, so expireds were scarce. My first attempts were unsuccessful. At my first three or four appointments, I got turned down. I wasn’t a good enough salesperson, and often the sellers were concerned I was too young. But I kept trying. My breakthrough opportunity came when I began focusing on old expireds and expireds on the outskirts of town. Where I worked in Gainesville, Florida, the market for new expireds was extremely competitive. But there were five little towns on the outskirts of Gainesville, only 10–20 minutes away. Most Gainesville agents didn’t bother to work those areas. I quickly realized that the agents in the small towns weren’t very aggressive. As an agent from the “big city,” it was fairly easy for me to get the listings. So what’s the moral of the story? If you’re not a big fish, don’t be afraid to find a smaller pond. You might find yourself suddenly becoming a bigger fish! You can find similar opportunities in your area, too. It might be on the outskirts of your primary market area, or it might involve focusing on old expireds, but if you put in the effort, you’ll find the right combination of reduced competition and eager sellers. Either way represents an opportunity. #7. Expireds will consider you a hero if you can sell the home—and inspire your momentum!

You can be a godsend to expired sellers. This sounds like a crazy claim, doesn’t it? Fortunately, it’s pretty easy. Simply bring the expireds a new strategy that will sell their house. For example, when a certain house expired near me, I did some quick research and discovered that the house didn’t show well. Why not? It was vacant — eerily empty — and it had a very strange floor plan, which only looked weirder in the absence of furnishings and proper staging. I remember contacting the seller and talking to her about it. I told her how staged homes tend to sell for 5% to 10% more money. I told her she needed to stage her house and that I knew someone who could stage it for free. She was very interested and talked to me. She and her husband lived four hours away. They met me the next time they came to town, and I listed their house. I only did one thing differently from the other agents who had contacted the couple. But that one thing got me the listing ... and a $7,200 commission! Here’s what I did: When I contacted the sellers, I suggested staging the house. I brought them a solution to their problem. Here’s how to bring expireds a ready-to-go solution: You say, “Your home isn’t selling because of X problem. However, if you do Y, then your home will sell. And here’s some proof that Y works and will sell your home.” We will talk about reasons a home didn’t sell later in this guide, and you can share these reasons with sellers. When you do that, you’re going to get listings. Every expired listing has a problem that has kept it from selling; if you can offer a solution for that problem, you’ll practically be a godsend to the sellers! Remember, always back up your claims with statistics. Whenever I talked about staging and how it causes homes to sell for more money, I provided real-life examples of different homes that sell for different prices.

Chapter 2: Understanding the Expired Market Before you break into the expired market, you’ll need to understand these peoples’ mindset so you can relate more efficiently and solve their problems. Not all expired leads are the same, either — some have totally lost interest in selling and are not worth your time. It’s really about identifying the right prospects so you can get the best return on investment. It's about finding the sweet spot and having the quantity and quality match up. If you're going after every listing and you're not getting any of them, it's just a waste of time. Wouldn't you rather know how to identify a quality expired lead and then put a little bit more energy into that and have it convert into a listing?

What makes the perfect prospect for an expired listing? There are three things:

1. Number one, they are motivated to sell. 2. Number two, they are willing to adjust price if necessary. 3. Number three, they are willing to consider listing with a real estate agent! Identify your target price range

One thing I would encourage you to do is to identify the price range you want to work in. Do you feel more comfortable working with luxury homes or starter homes? What's your sweet spot, and what price range of homes are selling the best in your area? Both of these factors should play a role in your target range. If you can identify these, you may end up with 30 expireds one week, and if you can narrow it down to the 10 best ones and spend your energy and time on that, you will get a much better return on investment. Understand that prospects are motivated by pain or gain. Once you’ve identified an expired prospect, it’s time to find out whether they are motivated by pain or by gain. Most people are motivated by pain. Unless something is hurting or uncomfortable, most people put off changing it. For example, let’s say you’re bothered by a stomachache to the point where you finally go to the doctor — but you’ve been avoiding it. Then, when you finally get to your appointment, the doctor says you should have come in to see him or her sooner; the problem is more serious.

This scenario, while not great, is typical, since most people are motivated by pain. Therefore, as real estate agents, we need to find out the pain that motivated the expired seller to sell their home in the first place.

While there are different types of motivation, you will often discover that there is a hidden pain point underneath a seemingly painless motivation. Here is a list of common motivators for sellers:

● A job transfer or a new job opportunity ● Starting or ending a relationship ● Seeking a different school district ● Caring for a sick or aging relative ● Being closer to family or friends

Now, here is a list of the corresponding pains that could be underneath these motivators:

● Financial troubles, being laid off ● Romantic trouble, infidelity, divorce ● Kids struggling academically or socially in current school ● Emotional guilt and/or obligation ● Loneliness and isolation

The best way to figure out the seller’s secret pain is to ask as many questions as possible and gather as much information as you can. Once you have the exact information you need, things fall into place fairly quickly — you’re able to “heal” the seller’s pain points and sell the home. It’s also useful to remember the four things that motivate every decision people make. These four things are: fear, desire, wants and needs. Let’s quickly go over how each one can motivate a seller and how they are different. ❏ Fear — Fear is a prime motivator for many sellers. A seller might fear not being able to sell a home if they wait any longer. They may also fear the repercussions on their lives if they don’t sell. ❏ Desire — Do you think that desires and wants are one and the same? You aren’t alone, but desires actually indicate a want that is longer term. Sellers may desire to live in a more affluent neighborhood one day or get out of debt, for example.

❏ Need — A need is typically stated in simple terms — “I need to move for a new job. I need to be closer to my elderly mother.” However, don’t be fooled into thinking that the simple statement of a need is the whole story; it usually isn’t. ❏ Want —We’re all familiar with wants. Wants are different than desires because they are shorter term. A seller might want to live on a golf course or buy a home with a pool. But wants are usually negotiable, which means they are at the bottom of the list and usually covering something more significant. Keep in mind that not every seller will be willing to open up to you right away about their true fears or long-term desires in life. That said, if you can figure out what emotion the seller is operating on, you won’t need to have lengthy discussions about it with them (you aren’t their therapist, after all!) but you can use the information to help them reach their goals. Examples of Expireds with Different Pains Here are 3 Expired Sellers that I know personally. Read over these and you’ll see that not all expired sellers are in the same boat. Intense Pain Seller Reason for selling: Dan owned a house in Jacksonville. His wife owned a TV Production Company in New York and he was a stay-at-home Dad. They had bought his mother’s home in order to help his mom get out of it and buy another home. Story: They hired a reputable agent they knew in Jacksonville, but the home didn’t sell. Turns out that agent was a lazy, incompetent loser who didn’t put any effort into selling the house. They hired a new agent who did a better job and received an offer. Everything looked good and then the sale died. Turned out the inspector found some mold and the buyer wanted them to open up the entire wall to see if there was any mold inside. The seller said no, and the sale died. In the meantime, Dan’s wife started complaining about paying for “your mom’s house in Jacksonville.” They got in a big fight one night, and she told Dan he was a financial moron. Dan didn’t agree with her and told her she was wrong. They barely spoke to each other for a week. Eventually, they put the house back on the market. Another offer came in. Finally, Dan was going to be able to get his wife to stop telling him he was an idiot. Turns out the next inspection found more issues, and they had to reduce the sales price by $12,000.

Dan’s wife complained bitterly because now they were losing $12,000 on “your mom’s stupid house in Jacksonville.” But, they took their losses and moved forward with the lower price. Then, the worst happened. The appraisal came back $30,000 lower than the new price and the sale died. Motivation Level: 8 Pain Level: 10. Dan was mad as hell. Mad at himself for buying his mom’s house. Mad at the stupid buyer who was getting a good deal, but wouldn’t pay cash above the appraisal price. Mad at the appraiser for screwing him over. Mad at his wife. Bottom line: He was mad at everyone and lashed out at everyone involved. They took the house off the market and rented it out at a loss of $300 a month. Minimal Pain Seller. Reason for moving: They were 65 years old with no family in Jacksonville. They had 3 grandkids in Nashville that they wanted to be closer to. The wife (grandmother) really wanted to sell. Her husband (the grandfather) was ok with moving but would have been happy staying in Jacksonville. The wife was the one who really wanted to move. Story: They listed the home with a reputable agent that sold a lot of homes in the area. It was priced at $225,000 and didn’t sell. The agent put in a good effort, and the market simply wasn’t strong enough to sell. Motivation Level: 4. Pain Level: Husband: 2. Wife: 6-7. She had pictures of her grandkids around the house and clearly wanted to live near them. She didn’t have time for fun and games, just whatever would enable her to sell her house and be closer to the grandkids. Moderate Pain Seller. Reason for selling: Carol owned a home on the Far Northside of Jacksonville. Then, her job moved her to Fleming Island, South of Orange Park. Her daily commute was 1 hour in either direction, twice a day. Story: Her kids had moved out and Carol didn’t need a big house on 2 acres anymore. She was tired of mowing and maintaining the house. So she bought a home in Fleming Island near her work and listed her house. She hired one of the top agents in the area who talked a good game and seemed to do a good job. But, the home didn’t sell. She got a lowball offer but turned it down. Motivation Level: 7. Pain Level: 7. Carol was paying two mortgages and knew that if she rented out the house, she’d lose $300 a month and put herself at risk. So, she really wanted to sell.

Chapter 3: Don’t Neglect Old Expireds By now, you know expireds offer a great listing opportunity. But that’s not enough. You need more listings coming through. Your hard work needs to pay off — not require more of you.

What if I told you that there’s another practically foolproof way to get listings?

Yes, expireds have been a great source of listings for many agents. In fact, they’ve made many agents rich.

But there’s an even bigger listing opportunity in today’s market.

With this listing opportunity, you face close to zero competition. While new expired owners get barraged with 100s of phone calls, these listing leads are totally ignored. Few agents are interested in them.

I'm talking about old expireds.

Most sellers won’t put their houses back on the market right away — not after the frustration of a failed sale. They want to take a pause and get over the frustration.

People will often wait three months, six months, even a year to clean up something or do a remodel.

The beauty of old expireds is that they have a good price, the market’s improved a little bit and they’re ready to sell. They’re not getting called by 100 other agents. It’s a pretty easy listing opportunity. Go after expireds that are six months old, a year old, two years old, three years old, four years old, et cetera. In fact, I personally know a real estate agent who just got a $700,000 listing from going through very old expireds. He recently listed the house in 2018, and the house had expired in 2013. Five years later, he got a $700,000 listing with no competition by simply reaching out to the homeowners. He was the only agent who contacted them.

Here are some other examples of agents that made a lot of money from old expireds.

One agent got an $805,000 listing in a very competitive market. He got this $805,000 listing in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, by going after an old expired.

Then, there was another agent who was not a great salesperson, didn't have a great offer. He was newer to the business, but he got a $300,000 listing from going after all of the old expireds in his area and actually got quite a few.

Over the course of a couple of months, he listed 10 old expireds and made a lot of money — all because he was the only agent going after them.

How do you get these listings?

Everything you need to get started is in your MLS.

A. Pull the leads from your MLS.

Once you’re logged into your MLS, begin the process by researching expired listings, 1-3 months old.

Then, you can go 3-6 months old, 6-12 months old, 1-3 years old, etc. (1-3 year old leads are great. See why below.)

You can print out each lead’s MLS Sheet, download them as an Excel CSV File, or copy the addresses over to a document.

Helpful hint: When you are just beginning, it’s probably best to concentrate on one area at a time.

B. Make sure the lead has not been relisted.

You can do that manually by checking their address in the MLS.

C. Research the lead’s contact info.

You can find your leads’ mailing address on your local Property Appraiser or Tax Assessor’s Website.

Finding the contact information for your leads can be time consuming and discouraging.

And in this day and age, access to cellphone numbers is often a necessary challenge that can make the process even more complicated.

There are several different ways to find their phone numbers:

Whitepages.com . This is a free service that can help you find basic contact information. Intelius. ( Intelius.com .) This service does have a monthly fee of $20, but it’s great for sourcing cell phone numbers. REDX. ( TheRedx.com .) Though it does cost $60-70 a month, Redx is a terrific asset for agents seeking contact information and more. This service can research hundreds of leads for you and will provide landline (when present), as well as cell phone numbers.

Once your leads are uploaded, the RedX system will automatically check the listing status and provide you with an address and contact info.

The biggest benefit of using the Redx is that you can download 500 Old Expired Leads from your MLS, upload them into the Redx Expired Lead System, and they’ll do all the research work for you. Don’t overlook the 1-3-year-old expireds!

Here’s why. Yes, I’m aware that a 3-year-old expired sounds, well, old. But I know an agent who just listed a $375,000 house because he went back that far.

Finishing up a sale in a particular neighborhood, this agent decided he’d like to find more listings in that area. He dug through the MLS and found a listing that had expired three years earlier.

He figured he had nothing to lose, so he contacted the owner, and he was able to re-list the home! Once it was on the market, the house sold very quickly, and the agent walked away with a nice commission. So when you begin searching for leads, don’t ignore those that have been expired for a significant amount of time. Sometimes, those sellers are most ready to take advantage of a new market and fresh opportunities.

Chapter 4: Positioning Yourself as an Expired Expert Expireds want to know that the real estate agent they choose the SECOND time (ahem) is a true expert in the niche of working with expireds. You’ve already taken the first step by reading this guide. What else can you do to prove to your community and the expired leads you are targeting that you are the best person for the delicate job of selling their home? When it comes to expireds, it’s critical that we speak their language and cater to them versus just telling them what they need. Create content that shows your expertise. In today’s environment, where “content is king,” you’ll need to create content that proves you know what you’re talking about. ❏ Make videos and post them. Want more views on social media, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram? Create a video. Videos earn views even if they aren’t done professionally — an entertaining and candid video can still attract social attention! YouTube has really changed the landscape for search engine optimization, as well as how people find you online. That said, when you have videos, you’re sometimes able to rank even above paid ads. Furthermore, a video creates rapport because it shows your face and your personality. Videos don’t have to be long, either; three to five minutes is plenty. Keep them simple, keep them to the point, keep them intriguing, and they will be watched by many people. ❏ Guest post on other blogs and websites. Find out who needs content (and that’s everyone) and provide quality content for other websites and blogs. This is a great way to expand your views from beyond your own blog, website and social media accounts. Don’t forget to share, by the way, on your own platforms whenever you’re a guest blogger. ❏ Keep up with your own blog. Yes, it’s fun to post in new and exciting places, but if you neglect your own blog, you won’t earn any credibility. Interested leads are definitely going to trail back to your own website. Don’t let it be barren when they do.

Never fancied yourself a blogger? It’s simpler than you think. Whenever you learn something new about your surrounding community, write an article about it. Write an article about the new businesses coming in. Talk to the business owner and make the article even more interesting. Nothing needs to be long; it’s the internet. Keep blog posts simple and interesting. ❏ Share your story with local media. Showing up in your community media is a fantastic way to gain new fans and followers. Do the research, and write a piece on the market and how it relates to expired homes. Then, pitch the story to your local media outlets. Local real estate sections or websites that host blogs specializing in real estate or neighborhood content will likely be interested. ❏ Pump up your testimonials. If you’ve ever sold an expired home, make sure everyone knows about it. Ask your previous client for a testimonial and don’t be shy about asking, specifically, why they chose you to sell the home and why they put faith in you. It’s these comments that will convince a new prospect to put faith in you as well. Even if it's a character review from a friend or someone who knows you but hasn’t been a client, have them talk about why you're trustworthy, why you have the knowledge of the area, and why you can sell homes that others haven't. Whoever you ask to weigh in, just make your reviews tell a story of how you're the expert. ❏ Write a book. Authorify is a great way to get a book written without having to expend your own resources, and having a book is a way to show your leads that you know plenty about their situation. Visit Authorify.com and learn more about getting a book to grow your business. ❏ Teach a community class. Your community will certainly look to you as an expert if you teach a community class on the expired market at the library or other enrichment center. Keep in mind this class should be for expired leads — not other agents! That said, the material should focus on the reasons homes expire and what steps to take when a home expires. Anyone who attends the class and asks questions will make a great lead. How do you deliver value to expired leads?

Once you’ve established yourself as the expireds expert, how do you make sure you deliver value so that expired leads find you worthwhile as an agent? Value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. An expired does not necessarily care that you’ve sold other homes and earned other accolades if you have not addressed THEIR concerns or questions and offered THEM solutions and resources. Before actually speaking to a lead, the content you created will answer some of their questions and segue into others. Remember, even if you haven’t talked one-on-one with them yet, they might be Googling your name, so you’ll want to make sure that any content can offer general solutions to any expired lead that searches for you. If they do reach out to you (or you to them), a truthful conversation when the time comes will build your value in their eyes. It’s always best to keep everything in their own language. Don't use real estate jargon they don't understand. Ask them if they understand what you're offering as the solution. Many times, people are afraid to look silly by asking a question. So during any conversations, keep offering to answer questions about each solution you present. We will talk more about these topics later. Another way you can offer value is to present other resources to the lead. If you know painters, home stagers, roofers, landscapers and other home-related contractors who are sure to make a recently expired home shine on the market again, you’re even more attractive to expired leads. Here’s the thing: expireds don't care as much if you pull up in a Bentley or a BMW; these things might ordinarily prove success, but they don’t really want a flashy, successful person. They simply want someone who can help. But after you help them, they are likely to trust you and list with you — it’s the law of reciprocity. Another great thing about working with expired leads and selling their homes is that it creates a network of people who understand you to be an ideal agent to work with. After all, if you can sell a home no one else believed in, you can sell any home out there. For that reason, expireds will often become your most raving fans, and those raving fans are of course likely to turn into others. This can be a great way to grow your business. Of course, using these tricks aren’t the whole story. It’s still necessary to craft your own process and your own system. Identify your own prospects in the local area, and choose exactly how you want to position yourself as an expert to them. If something's not working, go back through the process until you figure out the part that went off the rails so you can fix it. These are just the nuts and bolts that you need to show expireds you can do the job.

Chapter 5: Cultivating an Expired Marketing Process Why do you need a process? 1. You need something you can scale. It's one thing to create a one-hit wonder and question whether the magic will ever happen again — it’s another to have something you can scale so it continues to grow your business. 2. You want something you can easily repeat. If we can’t easily repeat something, we aren’t likely to follow through with it. 3. You want something that can be improved upon and tweaked if it stops working the right way. And, of course, your process has to be profitable. Otherwise, what’s the point? So there’s no doubt that a steady process is important. If we don't have a process and something stops working, we are pretty much out of luck, since we had no idea what WAS working in the first place. Identify Your Leads In the first part of the process, you want to identify the leads, the area you want to serve and the prospects that are a good fit for you based on their pain points. These are three things you must be able to identify to successfully generate listings over and over. If you're just blindly trying to chase every rabbit, you're going to end up with no listings. So how do you identify and qualify your leads? Maybe you’ll mail them a letter; maybe you’ll make a phone call. Text is another way to reach out. Always keep in mind, no matter which method you’re using, it takes about 11 touches to generate a listing. But to do this on a regular basis and avoid contacting people aimlessly, it helps to build up a file and build out a follow-up process in your CRM specifically for expired leads. You need a process so you can seamlessly repeat it in the future. Depending on which CRM you’re using, you may be able to auto-send texts or emails at certain times for certain leads, which can simplify your process. Most times, you can find an application that will integrate with your CRM — for automated texting, as one example. Now, don't overthink shopping around for a CRM — just pick one that feels natural and user-friendly for you. And if that’s a piece of paper and a pen, go for it! An agent I talked to the other day literally had 50 leads written down on paper, and he would check them off as he called them. Maybe you think that sounds laborious and old-fashioned, but he ended up with three listings in 60 days, and he had another three deals in the pipeline, as well. It just took him following up

consistently. When he told me he didn’t use a real CRM, I thought to myself, Wow, that’s amazing. I asked him to send a photo, and he sent me a photograph of his paper with marks on it. The point is, once you start identifying these leads, you're going to want to build them into a CRM so you can record which step in the follow-up process pertains to each lead. You can't remember everything, so find a method that works for you. Especially with expireds, you have to consistently follow up. Otherwise, another agent will take them right out from under you. When you’re speaking with expired leads, ask what their biggest fear is. Find out their wants, desires and needs. Obviously, with any lead, you need to build some trust and rapport before they let their guard down; they're not going to tell you what they want right out of the gate. That’s why I suggest agents who are new to working with expireds put more energy into a smaller list of leads, rather than trying to go after absolutely everyone. That way, they can really craft a relationship with the few they do pursue. As these leads warm up to you, they’ll tell you things you can use in your marketing and put into your scripts, since many of these expireds are thinking the same things and feeling the same kind of disappointment. Qualify the Leads and Break the Ice You’ve identified good leads; you can qualify them over the course of talking and learning. This is what I call breaking the ice. Understand where they're coming from. Listen to what they say, and pay attention to their feelings because this is how you can understand the best way to help them and get them to list. Address an expired lead the same way you would communicate with a friend who is upset, frustrated, or disappointed. Let them know you hear them, and let everything you say in response speak to what they have said. Direct the conversation to how you can help them solve their problem. Do not sell yourself and use canned scripts or compare yourself to other agents. Expired leads are sensitive about real estate agents in general, and if you approach them the wrong way, they’ll never want to work with you. So instead, focus on how you can be their personal problem solver. After all, you can’t upset them like their last agent might have if you’re simply listening and offering to help. It’s going to take more than one discussion, but they’re going to list with you if you are earnest and consistent, giving them time to feel comfortable. What’s my best tip for these ice breaker discussions? Ask questions about 10% of the time, and listen to them talk for the other 90%. As long as your mouth is open, you aren’t learning about their problems and pain points. So, just shut up and listen. If you can do this and make it about them (not yourself), you’re far ahead of most agents.

Another important part of the conversation with an expired lead is knowing your local market, both recently sold homes and homes for sale. What businesses are moving into the area? How are the schools? And make sure you don’t have to give these leads vague, empty answers — put in a little bit of time every week to stay up to date on your area. What's happening? What's going on? As you're talking to these expireds, understand that their previous agent might not have informed them so thoroughly on schools, businesses and other important tidbits of the area. Right away, you’re going to look more capable of selling their home if you are knowledgeable about the local market. When you’re working with these leads, by the way, be consistent with your marketing and branding. Don’t switch off in the middle of a marketing campaign and confuse your leads — figure out what it is that you stand for and what your specialty is and stick to it. You have to know your topic and your business before you know your audience. If you know your topic but not your audience, you’re just creating noise, and homeowners are going to be frustrated with you for not listening to them. But if you know your audience but not your topic, you come across as a phony. Get reviews from people you’ve helped in the past, so you have two legs to stand on — your knowledge and your satisfied clients. Letters The next step in perfecting your process is perfecting your template, a crucial part of dealing with expireds. The first thing most agents do is contact someone whose home has recently expired with a deceptively heartfelt letter. Most letters say something like, “I'm sorry your home didn't sell, but please do not be discouraged. I've analyzed your home and the sellability. I'm happy to report that if it's marketed correctly, your home can still be quickly sold for a good price.” They might intersperse these letters with texts and a phone call or two. Still, with this type of funnel, which is 10 to 30 letters, the majority of it is mailed letters. But the important thing is that each letter does not say the same thing — each letter offers different information, another piece of the pie that will help the lead feel confident in listing the home. I’ve had agents tell me that when they finally meet these leads in person, the leads appreciate both the persistence and the information. I’ve had agents describe how some of the letters share stats or testimonials — together, the letters tell a story that gets attention. It’s similar to a long-form sales letter with a lot of bullet points — but it’s divided into smaller, digestible chunks. If you do decide to use a sales letter funnel like I’m describing, I do have a piece of advice: Anything you send in the mail should have a reason, or call-to-action, for the lead to get back in touch with you. How are you different? Make an impression and impact, whether it's with an engaging story, a

marketing tidbit they didn’t know, a testimonial about a house you just sold and a client who had lost hope until you came along and rescued them from the dank depths of despair. Again, even with the best letter campaign ever, you simply have to follow up. There is no magic letter out there that you can just mail out and have people call you. You might get lucky here and there, but let's be real. If I decided to depend on luck for my business strategy, I might as well go buy lottery tickets because it's not going to be consistent. It's not going to give me the return on investment that I want. It's not going to give me the security. I want to build a healthy retirement and pay whatever I need and want in life. Wow Packages Another idea is what I call a “wow package.” A wow package is similar to a letter because it comes in the mail — but there’s a little more to it than a simple letter. One agent I spoke to had a book ghostwritten, and he's mailing that out, showing that he is the agent who is ready to work with expireds because he specializes in expireds. If you're going to mail out your own wow package, put together a cover letter and something to bulk up the package, such as a book, magazine or branded marketing materials — anything to make the envelope a little bit thicker. There’s been studies done on this, but we know just from human experience that if we get something in the mail and it feels different or stands out, it's going to get more attention and it's going to get more engagement. And whatever you can do to make it more personal is great. Use your hands to write someone’s name on the envelope. Write the address out. Don't even bother to put your brokerage name; they don't care. If it looks like it's a personal piece of mail, people are going to open it because they're curious. Now, maybe you’re reading my ideas about letters and wow packages and the wheels are turning in your head about the way you, personally, would do this. And that’s good. This is not a one-size-fits-all process; you still have to figure out your budget, the time you have to spend on the process and how to make it your own. For example, maybe you have less time and more money, and you want to outsource some of these things. Whatever you choose, you still need a process because if it didn't work the first time, you need to look at it and see why it didn't work and then change whatever was holding it back. Phone Calls Next, let's talk about phone scripts. Now, phone scripts are just a piece of the puzzle. Cold calling is going away fast, and agents who had success with it before are having less and less success, especially with the way text messages have really taken over the last decade. Nevertheless, you still need a basic phone script in your process. Here is one I use:

Hi, this is Joe from You First Real Estate. I'm calling because I see your home is no longer on the market. Are you still interested in selling your home? Obviously, this is a very simple, two-sentence script. But it’s useful for notifying them that their home is no longer on the market and gauging their reaction to that. You'd be surprised how many agents don't tell sellers that their home expired, which is the perfect line to get the conversation going in the first place! This is also a good way to prequalify leads pretty quickly. If you call and you realize that they are not going to list, why waste any more time? If you’re calling them and you’ve already sent either a letter in the mail or some kind of wow package, you can use the call to ask whether they received your materials. Just say something like: The key here is to say as little as possible and let them talk. That way, you're keeping the focus on the letter. One great thing about this tactic of following up with a phone call after mailing something is that you’ll sound different from the other agents who are cold-calling and saying, “Are you ready to list?!” During the marketing process of sending letters, making calls and texting to keep in touch, always remember your goal is to finally get a face-to-face meeting. Phone conversations are great, but if you're giving them all the answers to all the questions they ask over the phone, you're missing out on an opportunity to build trust and rapport and get a listing. Don’t give everything away too early — just give them the right amount! When you finally have them on the phone, say something like: “Can we sit down for 15 minutes tomorrow, and I will go over all of that with you? I have some ideas I want to show you.” That's a good way to pivot from chatting on the phone call to scheduling a meeting. Text Messages Next, let's quickly talk about text scripts. If you mailed something already, say something like: Hi, this is Joe from You First Real Estate. I’m calling to see if you had a chance to read the letter I sent you.

“John, did you get a chance to read the letter I sent you? It’s Joe at You First Real Estate.”

Again, I mailed out a letter, and it has my brokerage information on it, so I don't really need to give that out again over a text. If you didn’t mail something first, just send a quick message and ask:

“Hi John. Are you still interested in selling your home?”

Text is a great method for asking yes or no questions and starting a longer conversation, but it’s not the best way to continue the conversation. A lot of times, people won't answer their phone, but you can send a simple text, get an answer and get the ball rolling. The goal is to get them to commit to talking with you. That means that when you call them, they know they already responded to your text. Therefore, they are more likely to pick up the phone. Emails Last but not least, let's talk about emails. Emails are still working today. Now, here are some basic templates asking someone if they're still interested in selling their home when you noticed it's no longer on the market. Hi, John. It’s Joe at You First Real Estate. We have new buyers coming into the area, and I want to make sure I show your home if you're still interested in selling. I like this one because it's not saying you have a buyer. It's just saying, there are new buyers coming in that may have not seen the home. You can create a longer email by saying something like: “Have you considered a new approach to get your home sold? Looking at the approach used by the last agent, I see a couple of critical areas that were neglected. If you're still interested in learning about how this new approach can get your home sold without lowering the price, please reach out to me.” Always track your email opens. Gmail does it. You can use yesware.com, as well — that way, when you see them open the email and read it, you can follow up with a phone call and continue the conversation. Whether your first point of contact is a letter, package, phone call, text or email, always offer more information that will help them. It's just another way you can stay in touch.

Chapter 6: Using Social Media for Marketing

Facebook offers custom audiences unlike those of other platforms. The ability to select your audience makes it one of the best places to target expireds. Facebook allows you to upload a list of email addresses, phone numbers, or even street addresses to create an audience for specific ad campaigns. For example, you could download a CSV file of all of your customers from your online payments platform, upload that list to Facebook Ads, and send them targeted ads inviting them to an onboarding webinar. Or you could upload a list of every person on your email list who isn’t yet a customer and run ads inviting them to a webinar where you make a pitch. Customization is powerful because it lets you target offers to people who are more likely to be interested. You can target them with a blog or other content your company wrote; home value ads often appeal to them, as well. Compile your leads from the MLS. Import them through your contacts if you have any expired listings there, as well. Go to your Facebook “ads manager” and create an audience. Then, select “customer file.” Then you simply upload the CSV document, and your audience will be created in an hour or so. Now you are ready to run ads for a long time at very low cost. 5 Components of a Good Facebook Ad #1: Ad text It needs to be at least one sentence long, explain what your offer is, and end with a call to action — something such as “just click the button below.” Because you’re sending this to expireds, say something like, “Did your house expire on the market? Here’s a free home value estimate that can help you address what went wrong.” #2: Image This must grab the viewer’s attention and stop them from scrolling past, but try to stay relevant to your offer. #3: Headline

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