How to Get Expired Listings: 14 Strategies & Conversion Tips

Let’s talk about expired listings—properties that were recently on the market but couldn’t find a buyer before their listing expired. While it might be challenging to get these listings, real estate agents armed with a strong marketing strategy, efficient customer relationship management (CRM) processes, and a thoughtful outreach approach can succeed. Read along as I review strategies for how to get expired listings and effectively nurture clients through lead generation and top-notch marketing.

1. Buy Expired Listing Leads

• Cost: $50 to $200
• Experience level: Beginning to intermediate; leads need to be converted to clients after purchasing, which takes some experience, but scripts can be used
• Ease: Easy

Buying expired listing leads can be a great option if you’re looking for how to get expired listings but don’t have time to search for them manually. While some agents may prefer to save money by finding leads themselves, purchasing real estate leads saves time by providing the same information from public records and the multiple listing service (MLS) in one place. A lead generation platform will give you a quality list of expired leads, increasing your chances of turning those leads into clients.

Looking for a game-changing lead generation platform? REDX has got you covered! With its Vortex CRM, lead contact info, tax details, and listing specifics for FSBO and expired leads are easily accessed. But that’s not all—their Brand Builder provides top-notch editing tools and topic suggestions to help you create engaging content that resonates with your audience. Don’t miss out—read our REDX review now and start attracting quality leads today!

2. Identify Expired Listings With the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

• Cost: $20 to $200
• Experience level: Intermediate; need working knowledge of MLS system and ability to convert leads
• Ease: Intermediate

The MLS is a great place to start if you’re looking for how to get expired listings. Many agents go through the MLS and grab expired listing leads to add to their contacts or CRM. Try searching for listings that expired within the last two to four weeks in the specific cities or towns you’re interested in targeting.

Once you have a contact list of MLS expired listings, follow up with leads using lead nurturing strategies periodically. The leads generated are free, except for your time and payment for MLS access. It’s crucial to have a thorough plan to prevent potential leads from falling through the cracks. If you don’t have a CRM or are looking for a real estate CRM with specific functionality, check out our guide on the best CRMs for real estate professionals.

3. Ask Other Real Estate Professionals

• Cost: Free
• Experience level: Intermediate; need some time in the industry to build connections with other agents
• Ease: Easy

Reach out to other agents who are up for swapping expired listings. You can connect through email and social media or by joining groups like Referral Exchange or Agent’s Referral Network, as well as local real estate groups on platforms like Meetup. It’s a terrific way to sell listings using your marketing style, and you might even hook a referral fee from some agents. Explore local chapters of real estate associations as well, like the following:

• National Association of Realtors (NAR)
• National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP)
• Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM)
• National Real Estate Investors Association (NREIA)
• National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB)
• Women’s Council of Realtors (WCR)

4. Search Public Records

• Cost: Free
• Experience level: Advanced; need advanced knowledge of documents and ability to research
• Ease: Challenging

Looking for how to get expired listings? Check out expired listings for free by searching public records, although this is time-consuming. Head over to your local public records archive, usually located at a city hall or county courthouse, to get access to listing records. These records give you handy info about a property and its owner, like purchase price history, divorce proceedings, estate references, and how long it’s been on the market. But think about whether spending time finding leads this way is worth it compared with focusing on active sales and nurturing leads.

5. Call Expired Listing Owners Directly

• Cost: Free
• Experience level: Advanced; need advanced skills to successfully convert leads to clients
• Ease: Challenging

One of the best ways to reach expired real estate listings is to contact the owners directly. However, it can be tricky because these owners are often frustrated and distrustful of real estate agents. To win them over, you’ll need a script for your calls that helps you build a good relationship, explains the next steps, and provides a solution for the homeowner. When using the script, be ready to ask and answer specific questions about the property. When creating your expired listing scripts, remember these essential tips:

• Briefly introduce yourself.
• Be concise—get straight to the point.
• Be clear about your intent and offer.
• Focus on the seller.
• Demonstrate why you’re the right person to sell their home.
• Address common objections and pain points.
• Ask to schedule a meeting.

6. Send an Expired Listing Letter

• Cost: Free
• Experience level: Intermediate; need some writing skills to successfully convert leads to clients
• Ease: Intermediate

Phone calls can be tough when contacting expired listing leads, so try sending a personalized letter as well. Use professional letterhead and sign each one. Make it about the seller, not you, and end with an invitation to discuss their options. If you’ve tried calling with no luck, outline a new sales approach in your expired listing letter to catch their attention.

7. Email Expired Listing Owners

• Cost: Free
• Experience level: Intermediate; need some writing skills to successfully convert leads to clients
• Ease: Intermediate

Like reaching out to people through snail mail, emailing expired listing owners is a great way to connect, build relationships, and turn expired listings into successful deals. Your email should be like a sales pitch—your first chance to make a strong impression on the client. However, sending the email is just the beginning. Following up is key. A well-crafted email will help you get your foot in the door. Use this example email to reach out to your expired listings leads:

8. Create & Automate Drip Marketing Campaigns

• Cost: Free
• Experience level: Intermediate; need some writing skills to successfully convert leads to clients
• Ease: Intermediate

Drip marketing is when you automatically set up a bunch of emails to be sent out to your contacts. It’s a perfect way to connect with people whose house listings expire on the MLS since it lets you stay in touch with potential leads without spending all your time making phone calls or writing individual emails. 

But here’s the catch—the emails in your drip campaign need to offer value, not just be all about pushing your services. Include neighborhood and market reports, seasonal greetings, helpful tips, and recent updates about recently sold properties. For your expired listings leads, share info about what makes listings expire and simple changes that can prevent it, or share stories about how you managed to sell expired listings.

If you want to step up your email game, try out Market Leader. It offers real estate-focused CRM and marketing solutions with customizable email templates, automatic responders, drip campaigns, and tracking tools. You also get reports to fine-tune your strategies and some branded content for sharing the latest real estate news.

9. Execute SMS Marketing Campaigns

• Cost: Free
• Experience level: Intermediate; need some time and effort to successfully execute SMS marketing campaigns
• Ease: Intermediate

SMS, or “short message service,” is an effective way to connect with leads through text messages. With a 98% open rate, text message marketing is the best way to reach potential leads—just remember to be mindful of spam laws. 

When running a real estate texting campaign for expired listings, it’s important to reach out initially and get permission before sending marketing messages via text. Contacting someone who hasn’t given the green light for texts could be seen as an invasion of privacy and a legal issue. Also, if people mark your messages as spam, your number might end up on blacklists and complaint websites.

10. Build Trust on Social Media

• Cost: Free
• Experience level: Intermediate; need some time and effort to successfully execute social media marketing campaigns
• Ease: Intermediate

Social media can feel like a lot to handle, but the stats show it’s a goldmine for finding leads. For example, a whopping 90% of agents use Facebook, 52% use Instagram, and 48% use LinkedIn to promote their listings and attract potential buyers. This is especially important if you’re trying to figure out how to work expired listings because it’s a free and trustworthy way to build credibility and connect with people. The key is to use the right tools to create a solid social media marketing plan for real estate.

So, imagine someone who recently had a bad experience with a real estate agent. They probably won’t be thrilled to hear from another one without any info about their past success. However, if they come across a Facebook or Instagram page full of successful sales, helpful homeselling tips, and positive testimonials,

11. Create & Share Videos That Speak to Expired Listing Leads

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♬ original sound – Dee | Real Estate and Life

• Cost: Free
• Experience level: Intermediate; need some time and effort to create videos
• Ease: Challenging

Keep this in mind: Owners of expired listings are usually skeptical of agents and fed up with the whole process. That’s why video is a great way to communicate with them and earn their trust. According to a report by Wyzowl, 87% of video marketers said it’s effective for generating leads.

Video marketing is a fantastic way to connect with new leads because it helps build trust more effectively than other methods of communication. Videos allow leads to see and hear you without feeling pressured to respond immediately, unlike on a phone call or in person. Simple, unedited videos where you talk directly to the camera can be even more powerful than fancy, professional ones. You can even send these videos via text or email to create a more personal connection.

12. Run Online Advertising Campaigns

• Cost: $1 to $50
• Experience level: Beginning to intermediate
• Ease: Easy

With online ads, you will reach the people you want and maximize your investment. It takes some time to get the hang of it, but putting real estate ads on Google or social media is a great way to show your listings to owners who have expired or are about to expire.

Make your real estate ads specific and address the issues your audience cares about (like owners of expired land listings). Tell them you’re a top-notch real estate agent who can sell their property, and show them that you genuinely care. It’s a good idea to create an ad that leads potential sellers to a tailored real estate landing page where you can offer something valuable, like a list of common reasons homes fail to sell, in exchange for their contact details.

13. Send Attention-getting Mailers to Expired Listing Leads

• Cost: 8 cents to $20
• Experience level: Beginning to intermediate
• Ease: Intermediate

Direct mail has been a go-to strategy for real estate agents for a long time and is still super effective today. Plus, it’s affordable, with postcards costing 8 to 73 cents each. You can try out many different designs and messages to determine what grabs expired listing owners’ attention the best. Need some ideas? Here are a few real estate direct mail marketing ideas that are sure to catch a homeowner’s eye:

• Brochures
• Postcards
• Flyers
• Newsletter

Check out ProspectsPLUS! if you want to quickly create a bunch of top-notch mailers that can help you seize those expired listings. They’ve got tons of templates ready to go; you can even have them handle the mailing for you. ProspectsPLUS! is your go-to for crafting and sending awesome mailers to expired listing leads.

14. Offer a Free Marketing Strategy Session

• Cost: Free
• Experience level: Intermediate to advanced
• Ease: Intermediate to challenging

When a homeowner’s listing expires, they feel frustrated and burned out. To win them over, show them a solid marketing strategy for their home. Explain what went wrong before and how you can do it right. 

During your pitch, lay out your plan clearly, focusing on practical sales approaches and home features that were overlooked before. Talk about the marketing tools and strategies that have worked for you, and throw in some numbers from your past successes. Prove that you’re committed to selling their expired listing, and you’ll likely convince them to give it another shot with you.

If you want to make your presentation look top-notch and impress those hard-to-convince clients, you should check out Fiverr. It’s an excellent place to find talented marketing whizzes and graphic designers who offer their services for as low as $5. There are different options, and you can also check out what other clients have said about them to find the perfect match for your needs and budget. Give Fiverr a search right now!

Benefits of Targeting Expired Listings

Some benefits of targeting expired listings include the following:

• Motivated sellers: Homeowners with expired listings are often more eager to sell, which could make them more open to negotiation and possibly willing to accept lower offers.
• Less competition: Expired listings may have fewer competing buyers, giving you a better shot at getting the property.
• Opportunity for renegotiation: Sellers of expired listings might be more open to renegotiating terms, especially if their property has been on the market for a while.
• Potential for better deals: Expired listings offer a chance to find good deals, as sellers may be more willing to entertain offers they previously wouldn’t have considered.
• Access to inventory: Targeting expired listings can give you access to new housing inventory that may not be readily available.

Real Estate Expired Listings Statistics

Finding and generating expired listing leads can be challenging. I’ve done some research and gathered a bunch of stats on expired listings to give you a better idea of the current real estate market. Knowing the most recent expired data will help you learn how to find expired listings and focus your real estate marketing in the right areas of your sales pipeline.

• Only 1% of all homesellers first tried to sell their homes themselves but then used an agent later on. And less than 1% first listed with an agent but then sold their homes themselves.
• Only 2% of homes sold stayed 25 or more weeks on the market.
• 2% of all homesellers reduced their asking price four or more times.
• Between 15% and 25% of expired listings have not sold for various factors, including marketing, price, condition, and location.
• Almost 40% of all expired listings or leads will be listed with a new agent within 30 days.
• Roughly 28% of homeowners with expired listings intend to re-sign with their current agent.
• 90% of leads from expiring listings are urgent, immediate business.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Bringing It All Together 

Expired listings are a goldmine! You can find success by relisting expired properties, allowing you to expand your listings, grow your business, and boost your income. To make the most of this opportunity, approach expired listing leads with patience, strategy, and marketing know-how. That way, you’ll create a solid plan and set achievable goals using these strategies.

Do you work with expired listing leads? If so, tell us about your experience and process!