5 Reasons Agents Fail To List Expireds

If you don’t list Expireds, then you are missing out on a huge opportunity.

Here is why:

• In the last 12 months, there were 9,148 Expireds our area of Jacksonville, Florida.
• 4,889 relisted their home with an agent.
• That's 4,889 listings that most agents miss out on.
• How many opportunities are you missing out on?  

Why don’t more agents work the Expireds? Because there are some painful obstacles holding them back.

Here is how you can overcome these obstacles and dominate the Expireds:

Obstacle #1: Most Agents Can’t Find The Time To Work The Expireds.

Here is how you can find the time to chase the expireds.

Are you skeptical of traditional “Time Management” Techniques? But there is an effective time management strategy that actually works. It’s called “Blocking Time.” Here’s how it works.

So many agents make the excuse that they can’t chase expireds or do more business because they are so “busy.”

But what are they doing with their time every day? Where did that time go?

If we want to have a productive, consistent, steady business and income, then we have to do certain things every day.

And the most important of those things is bringing in business.

In order to get the necessary stuff done to bring in new business, you need to block a certain amount of time aside every day to generate new business.

Grab your calendar and schedule it. Make it a hard appointment and keep it. The only thing more important than that appointment is a listing appointment or a hot buyer that must buy a home right away.

Other than that, dedicate that time to lead generation and watch your business take off.

Obstacle #2: They go on listing presentations with expireds, but fail to get the listing.

Have you met with a seller and they wanted to “think about it”? It happens quite a bit. Here is a simple way to overcome this problem.

Use the “assumptive close.” It is the strongest close that any agent can use to get a listing.

It’s just what it sounds like: assumptive.

Here is an example of why it works. I was listening to the radio the other day, and there was this ad for a guy named John Cumutta. The ad was about “how to get out of debt fast.”

I’ve heard the ad countless times, but this time I decided to call it. Mostly, I wanted to see how their sales methods worked, and what they would supposedly be sending me for free.

The guy who answered the phone kept asking lots of questions about how much debt I had, when would I like to be debt free, and so forth. After asking all these questions, the guy tells me I get their CD for free.

All I have to do is pay shipping and handling. He asked me if I wanted to pay with a check or debit card.

That is an example of an assumptive close.

The guy on the phone just assumed I was going to buy. When I first started taking listings, the assumptive close was the key to success for me.

I’d always try to be last, show the sellers a good presentation, and then just assume they were going to list with me. It worked more often than not.

The assumptive close works because it is natural, and the prospect tells themselves, “Why not, we’re going to be listing with someone anyways? This guy seems to know what he’s doing, let’s go with him.”

The next time you are on a listing appointment try the assumptive close and see how it works. Now you just need to get yourself some more appointments.

Obstacle #3: Agents think that “Prospecting” is the only way to convert Expireds.

Prospecting is probably the worst way to list expireds. Here is why:

• Lots of other agents are also cold calling them. After a few calls the home seller stops answering the phone.
• It is difficult to find good phone numbers that work.
• It takes a lot of time to research the phone numbers.
• The constant rejection is painful. Most cold callers give up after the tenth seller tells them they aren’t interested.
• The Do Not Call List makes cold calling risky. You never know when you could get hit with a $16,000 fine.

What’s a better way to list expireds? Direct Mail.

Obstacle #4: They don’t focus on the best Expired Leads.

Some expireds are much easier to list than others. It’s possible to get more listings with less work if you focused your time on the best leads. But not everyone knows that.

Most competitors put the same amount of effort into all their leads. It allows me to focus more time on the best Expired Leads and get more listings.

There are 3 types of Expired Leads that are easier to list.

• The first type are overlooked by 95% of realtors. When you work these leads you will get more listings for your effort.
• The second type are easier to list than the average expired. But they pay off better because they are almost guaranteed to do whatever it takes to sell their home. Price reductions come naturally with these sellers
• The third type of Expired is way easier to list than the other Expireds. In fact, they are 3-4 timers more likely to list with you than the average expired.

Want to know what these leads are? It's called the Expired “Hack.”

Obstacle #5: They think that all expireds are junk and are overpriced.

Homes expire because it's overprice. This isn't true in every case, but it's the main cause for homes not selling.

Overpriced listings can be a good thing

If you know how to get price reductions (it’s actually very easy), then you can make a lot of money off of them. That's right. Other agents fail... while you could make money.

Selling Expireds is a simple formula.

There are 3 basic things you can do on every expired that enables
you to succeed where the other agent failed.

1. Improve the showing condition of the home. A "staged" home will sell for 10-15% more than a home that isn't staged.A home in good showing condition (but not staged) will sell for 10-15% more than a dump. (If you've ever wondered why REOs sell for less, then there is your answer.)
2. Improve the marketing. Take better pictures and write better descriptions. A lot of times this is all that is required to sell the house.I also do a real "marketing analysis" and figure out any marketing opportunities that are available that the prior agent missed.
3. Reduce the price. This doesn't always happen right away. Many sellers still think their home is worth the Expired Price.

• You can fight over price… and lose the listing.Or,

• You can get the listing, show them I am doing a good job marketing the home, and then fight over price.

The latter to be much more profitable.

4.  Sometimes a problem is holding the sale back. Here are a few examples:

• A listing that only allows showings by appointment only, scheduled 24 hours ahead of time.
• A home with title problems.