The Ultimate Guide to Dominating

the Expired Listings in Your Market

____________________________24 Proven Strategies You Can Use to Dominate

the Expired Listings in Your Market … and List 6-10 Homes a Month

• • •

Ben Curry of Smart Agents

Published by Legacy Media Networks

Copyright ©2017 Legacy Media Networks

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, dis-tributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photo-copying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommer-cial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Table of ContentsOne | 1

EXPIREDS: THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE MONEY IN ANY MARKET

Two | 4

HOW TO LIST EXPIREDS IN A RED-HOT MARKET

Three | 6

HOW TO THRIVE DURING THE NEXT MARKET SLOWDOWN

Four | 8

HOW SOME AGENTS THRIVED DURING THE HOUSING BUST

Five | 10

THE BIG LIE THAT KEEPS AGENTS FROM SUCCEEDING WITH EXPIREDS

Six | 12

HOW EXPIREDS HELPED TAKE ME FROM FAILURE TO SUCCESS

Seven | 14

THE ONE THING YOU MUST HAVE TO BUILD SUCCESS WITH EXPIREDS

Eight | 17

HOW TO BE A GODSEND TO THE EXPIREDS YOU MEET

Nine | 22

HOW EXPIREDS CAN RAISE YOU FROM FAILURE TO SUCCESS

Ten | 24

THE ONE EXPIRED TOOL YOU MUST HAVE

Eleven | 26

THE STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS TO GET PRICE REDUCTIONS

Twelve | 33

HOW TO FIND EXPIRED LEADS

Thirteen | 34

SELLER LEADS YOU SHOULD AVOID

Fourteen | 37

OVERLOOKED EXPIRED LEADS YOU CAN LIST WITH NO COMPETITION

Fifteen | 39

THE PROS AND CONS OF EACH APPROACH

Sixteen | 45

COLD-CALLING: THE OLD-FASHIONED APPROACH MOST AGENTS HATE

Seventeen | 50

HOW TO GET EXPIREDS TO DROP EVERYTHING AND TALK TO YOU

Eighteen | 52

AN OVERLOOKED STRATEGY THAT GOT ME A LISTING

Nineteen | 54

THE FASTEST WAY TO GET MORE LISTINGS

Twenty | 56

HOW TO GET LISTINGS FROM DIRECT MAIL

Twenty-One | 62

A LOWER-COST BUT EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE TO DIRECT MAIL

Twenty-Two | 64

THE BEST WAY TO STAND OUT FROM YOUR COMPETITION

Twenty-Three | 68

HOW TO WRITE A BOOK THAT GETS YOU LISTINGS

Twenty-Four | 72

THE EASIEST WAY TO LIST EXPIREDS

Twenty-Five | 74

HOW TO STAND OUT IN THE MAILBOX

Twenty-Six | 77

THE INNOVATIVE MARKETING APPROACH MOST AGENTS IGNORE

Twenty-Seven | 81

POWERFUL EXPIRED APPROACHES THAT MOST AGENTS OVERLOOK

Twenty-Eight | 83

18 EMAILS YOU CAN SEND EXPIREDS TO SNAG THE LISTING

Twenty-Nine | 99

HOW TO GET EVERY SELLER TO LIKE YOU AND LIST WITH YOU

Thirty | 104

DRAMATICALLY BOOST YOUR LISTING PRESENTATION CONVERSION

Thirty-One | 107

HOW TO DO A KILLER LISTING PRESENTATION

111

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

EXPIREDS: THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE MONEY IN ANY MARKETI know from personal experience that expired listings are a great way to make money in any real estate market. I’ve listed a lot of expireds myself. For example, I listed the house below.

And this house.

CHAPTER 1

COMMISSION: $4,650

COMMISSION: $5,595

1

And this mobile home park.

This house in Bryceville, Florida.

Over 90 days, I listed 23 expireds using the exact same principles that I explain in this book. Here are a couple of other examples of expireds that I was able to successfully list for a sizable profit.

The sellers had it for sale with two other agents for almost two years, and it didn’t sell. In my opinion, those agents did a poor job marketing the house. I saw the house and realized it was an absolutely gorgeous piece of property. I did a better job at mar-keting the house and sold it within a week of putting it on the market, using the techniques I will be explaining in this book.

COMMISSION: $4,650

COMMISSION: $12,900

2

Incidentally, I sold it at the same price listed by the previous Real-tor®. I made a $12,900 commission on a house someone else already tried to sell, just by having a better grasp on how to market houses.

Here’s another house that I sold a while ago.

I put this $500,000 house on the market and simply reduced the price $50,000. It sold in a few months. I hope this demonstrates that you can make a lot of money in any real estate market by listing expireds.

• • •

COMMISSION: $13,500

3

HOW TO LIST EXPIREDS IN A RED-HOT MARKET

Would you like to get a lot of expired listings, even when you are in a red-hot real estate market? I’m going to show you how to do that today.

Let’s imagine you’re in a market that’s so hot that 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”.

Here’s an example of how you can list old expireds and make a lot of money as a result. 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 wasn’t tremendously confident.

• I didn’t have superstar sales skills.

I got the listing and everything went smoothly because I was the

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only Realtor knocking on the sellers’ door. I had no competition because all the other Realtors focused on the new expireds. The lesson: 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.

Here is an example of an older expired that I recently listed. The home expired in December 2014 and I listed it in May 2016, when it was approximately 18 months expired.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• In a red-hot real estate market, look for old expireds.

• You’ll encounter little to no competition for listings that expired six months or a year ago.

• • •

5

COMMISSION: $5,100

HOW TO THRIVE IN THE NEXT MARKET SLOWDOWN 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 the expired listings. Expireds can even become your “bread and butter” in hot markets. You can even make a lot of money during market slowdowns by focusing on expireds. Here are a couple of reasons.

#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 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 Realtors drops as well. Many agents become demoralized and quit to pursue other jobs. If you’re a good, hardworking, aggressive Realtor, you can easily grow your market share during a market slowdown.

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Expireds are the key, so if you’re concerned about a market slowdown in the future, that’s where your focus should be.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Expired listings are an important hedge against a real estate market slowdown or crash.• Many Realtors leave the business during slowdowns, giving you an opportunity to increase market share.

• • •

7

HOW SOME AGENTS THRIVED DURING THE HOUSING BUST Some agents thrived and prospered during the recent housing bust — and they did it without selling REOs or short sales.

Here in Florida, the market slowdown of 2009–2011 was pretty rough. In the markets with which I’m familiar, prices dropped dramatically — 50% drops were common. The number of regular sales — not a short sale, foreclosure, or bank-owned property — 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.

First, even though the number of sales was down to barely a third of its regular level, the number of Realtors also probably dropped by 50% to 60% as well. As competition dropped by the wayside, Realtors who stayed in the game were able to pick up a lot of market share.

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 Realtors left standing.

Here’s what else is interesting: expireds were also the best way to list more short sales. Remember when the short sales were

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happening in 2010 and 2011, when every Realtor 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 and 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.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Even when regular real estate sales plunged by up to 67%, expired listings helped some Realtors prosper.

• Many agents deserted the slow real estate market, so those who remained increased their market share.

• During a devastated market, expireds also proved to be the most effective way to list short sales.

• • •

THE BIG LIE THAT KEEPS AGENTS FROM SUCCEEDING WITH 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 often as not, even an average Jane or Joe agent can get the listing — as long as there isn’t much competition.

I recently listed a house where the seller was an immigrant. He had lived in America 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 Ben, 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.

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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 the listing. I didn’t have to be awesome or slick. All I had to do to get the listing was to show up and to demonstrate that I would do a halfway decent job.

Now, if you’re competing with three Realtors, 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!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Don’t be fooled into thinking you need special skills to get expired listings. Lack of competition can make up for any shortcomings there.

• Sellers of old expireds will often welcome an agent who revives their hopes for a sale.

• • •

11

HOW EXPIREDS HELPED TAKE ME FROM FAILURE TO SUCCESS 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.

Being young, 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 can find similar opportunities in your area. It might be on

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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.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• You don’t have to be a sales superstar to get expired listings.

• To minimize competition, try focusing on older expireds and expireds in overlooked areas.

• • •

THE ONE THING YOU MUST HAVE TO BUILD SUCCESS WITH EXPIREDS There is one thing you must have if you want success with expireds: a difference. You must have something to make you stand out.

Unless you know of a market with zero competition, you’ll need to find a way to stand out from other agents. You’ll need a tangible, credible reason for someone to hire you instead of another agent — or to even remember you.

For example, I know of a Realtor who works for a huge company that dominates real estate sales in a large metro area. Although he does some work in the city, he finds his greatest success combing the outskirts for overlooked expireds.

His competition is minimal because the other big-city agents don’t work the outlying areas. However, his company’s brand and reputation help differentiate him from the few agents based in those areas; while he does little work in the city, the idea of a “big city Realtor” helps his image in his chosen target market. As a result, he gets a lot of listings.

If you’re a newer agent, I recommend working for a big company with a great, established brand. Leveraging the company’s reputation will make it much easier for you to get listings, and your very focus on expireds can set you apart from the other agents.

Here’s another excellent way to stand out from competitors: case studies. I use them in all my marketing — especially in my expired listing marketing — and in my listing presentation.

The perfect case study demonstrates an expired listing that I took over and sold successfully, after another agent had failed.

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This case study shows the seller that I’m different. Even new agents can use case studies: just use your brokerage’s existing case studies. On the next two pages, I’ve provided an example of how I use case studies to get listings.

I don’t mail letters to prospects anymore. Instead, I give away books such as the one pictured here. I include a Case Studies Sheet in each copy of my book.

HOMES OTHERS COULDN’T SELLEach of the case studies below is a house that another attempted to sell. None of them were successful at selling the home. The seller then hired us and we sold the home for them.

Note: This is a small sample of the homes that other Realtors were not able to sell. I could spend hours showing you additional case studies, but I just grabbed the first 20 I could think of and have attached them below.

Case Study #1: Home was for sale for 18 months with two different Realtors. The seller hired me, and I sold it in 65 days for 98% of the asking price.

SEE MORE >>>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• To be successful with expireds, you must have a way of standing out that gives you an edge.

• Use case studies to show sellers with expired listings that you sell homes others can’t.

• Give each prospect a copy of a book, such as The Secret of Wealthy Home Sellers.

• Include a copy of your own Case Study Sheet in each book.

• • •

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HOMES OTHERS COULDN’T SELL

Case Study #2: Home was for sale for 6 months with another Realtor. The seller hired me, and I sold it in 94 days for 100% of the asking price.

Case Study #3: Neil Rosin’s home was for sale for 6 months with another Realtor. He hired me, and I sold it in 16 days for 97% of the asking price.

CONTINUED >>>

HOW TO BE A GODSEND TO THE EXPIREDS YOU MEET

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.

A house recently expired. 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. Her husband is a doctor and they live four hours away. He met me the next time he was in town, and I listed their house.

I only did one thing different from the other agents who had contacted him. But that one thing got me the listing ... and a $7,200 Commission!

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COMMISSION: $7,200

Here’s what I did: When I contacted the sellers, I suggested staging the house. I brought them a solution to their problem.

Look at the following page to see before and after pictures of the staged home.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

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Here is how to bring expireds a ready to go solution:

You say, “Here is why your home isn’t selling. It’s because of X problem. Here is my suggested solution. If you do Y, then your home will sell. And here’s some proof that Y works and will sell your home.”

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!

Always back up your claims with statistics. When I talk about staging and how it causes homes to sell for more money, I provide real life examples of different homes that sell for different prices.

Here’s a sample of the email I sent to the above seller:

“Staging will cause your home to sell for more money… and sell it faster. Here’s a real life example.

Two sellers recently sold almost identical townhomes.

But… one sold for $244,500… and the other sold for $222,500.

I’m not a math genius. But according to my calculations one townhome sold for about 10% more than the other one.

If you want to see the sale info on the public record, then go to Zillow and search for the property addresses.

The one that sold for $244,500 was located at 4512 Congressional Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32246.

The one that sold for $222,500 was located at 4510 Capitol Dome Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32246.

19

I know quite a bit about these two townhomes… because I live in that same neighborhood.

It’s near the Saint John’s Town Center. It’s a development of about 200 similar townhomes.

Every single townhome in my neighborhood is 3 stories with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Every single one has the exact same layout.

The only difference I can see between the two townhomes was that one was in better condition — and the agent did a better job marketing it.

I am familiar with both properties.

I hope these examples demonstrate the benefits of staging.

But, that’s not all.

Here’s what else I will do to sell your house:...”

If you pull up those two properties on Zillow, you’ll scratch your head. There isn’t a readily available, conveniently listed reason why one sold for more money — but it was staging.

Staging is only one example, though. There are many other ready-to-go solutions you can bring to sellers. Look at the pictures of the expired listing in the area MLS. If the pictures are poor, then tell the sellers you will take better pictures.

Often, MLS pictures don’t demonstrate the home’s best features — a lovely creek running through the property, a gorgeous view,

20

an inviting pool. Tell the sellers how your pictures will showcase those features.

This strategy works. I know because I’ve gotten a lot of listings from it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Offer sellers a ready-to-go solution to a major problem.

• Back up your claims with clear examples and statistics.

• • •

21

STAGING PRIORITIES• Living Room

• Kitchen

• Master Bedroom

• Bathroom

• Dining Room

• Children’s Bedroom

• Guest Bedroom

Source: National Association of REALTORS® 2015 Profile of Home Staging

HOW EXPIREDS CAN RAISE YOU FROM FAILURE TO SUCCESSWhen you first start working with expireds, it’s going to be difficult. Why? Let me give you a fitness analogy.

Imagine that someone grabbed me and told me I had to run 26 miles for the New York City Marathon. I’d probably fall over dead before I was halfway through.

It’s the same with everything in life. When you start out, it will be more challenging compared to when you have experience. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give yourself an edge at the start with some preparation.

Here’s what you can do to get yourself in really good shape to get a lot of listings from expireds. I recommend doing the “100 Leads to Greatness Plan.” Start today by working with 100 expired leads — not necessarily strong ones, not necessarily valuable ones. You’re looking for quantity more than quality, because what you need at this point is practice. Work all of those leads to the best of your ability, of course, but don’t worry too much. If you get listings, great. If not, it’s great practice, which is the point here.

Don’t worry about finding that many listings, either — you’ll get listings. There are always far more expired listings to be found than you’d think, and if you put your mind to it it’s not usually hard to pull together a solid pile to follow up on. In the short term, this might seem like a waste of time, since many of those 100 leads won’t pan out, but what’s more important will be the success you have over the long term. Why? Because 100 leads worth of experiences, good and bad, is plenty for a solid foundation with expireds. It’s enough to get a good sense for how pursuing

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these leads will generally go, enough to build a little reputation for pursuing and listing expireds, and enough to get the hang of the necessary skills. Now you have the undeniable ability to list lots of expireds.

Here’s how to find 100 expired leads that you can work. If there are enough new expireds in your market, then you can work with them. I’d recommend a minimum of five new expireds per day.

If you cannot find enough new expireds, then work old expireds. It’s easy to find 100 of them. I would work the leads that expired in the last three to six months.

You can research them using the REDX lead prospecting platform. With REDX, you download the data from your MLS, upload it into REDX, and their software will do all the research for you.

REDX will check to see whether expireds have been relisted or sold, and will research mailing addresses and phone numbers.

Later in this book, I will reveal more specific strategies you can use to work those leads.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Practice will overcome initial difficulties in working with expired leads.

• If you can’t identify your first 100 new expireds, focus on old expireds instead.

• A platform such as REDX can help with research.

• • •

24

LEARN FROM OTHERS’ MISTAKESOne tool for expireds enabled me to poach a $6,000 commission from my competitor. This crucial tool is the ability to get price reductions.

Getting price reductions is not difficult. Have you ever heard the saying, “You have not because you ask not?” Well, if you aren’t getting price reductions, you’re not asking for them — or at least, not asking the right way.

Here’s a quick story of how I poached a $6,000 commission from my competitor. There was a couple here in my area who wanted to sell their house and move to Tennessee to be closer to their two granddaughters.

Another Realtor put the house on the market for six months. She never asked for price reductions, even though she easily could have gotten them. Unsurprisingly, the house expired and I took over the expired listing.

I listed it at $225,000, which was a bit high. Realistically, the house was probably worth $205,000 to $210,000. After two or three months, we weren’t getting much activity, so I asked for a price reduction.

The sellers agreed to a price of $215,000. After another month or two, I asked them to reduce the price again. They reduced it to $205,000. It was one of the easiest price reductions I ever got.

Then we ended up getting an offer for $200,000, which the owners accepted. They moved to Tennessee, just down the road from their grandchildren.

I have another house for sale with a similar story. Another agent had it listed for six months at $425,000 and never asked for a reduction.

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I have asked for price reductions. I have done a great job marketing the house, but it still hasn’t sold. Now, we are priced at $389,000. We are getting a lot of activity, and I’m confident the house will sell. Price reductions don’t require any super powers. You just have to ask. By asking for price reductions, I am able to profit from other agents’ overpriced listings and stubbornness.

I remember another listing that I got when I first started really getting into listings. It was 2007, and the market was starting to slow down.

The seller was pretty stubborn about the price. He was wealthy and not particularly motivated to sell.

Nonetheless, I called him every week with updates and gently suggested that we reduce the price. We initially put it on market for $200,000. When that failed to sell, I got it reduced to $189,000 and then to $179,000.

It usually took two to three calls before he’d agree to a reduction. Eventually, it sold for $174,000. Just by asking for price reductions in a friendly way and being persistent, I sold the house, despite a seller who was way more stubborn than the vast majority of the sellers out there.

If I make this sound very simple, that’s because it is. But, in the next chapter, I’ll explain everything I know about price reductions from A to Z.

I’ll talk about your mindset — how to get your mind right so that you can ask for price reductions with confidence.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Many agents list homes for too much because they’re too timid to ask sellers for price reductions.

• Be willing to ask and persistent when necessary.

• • •

26

THE STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS TO GET PRICE REDUCTIONSI’m going to show you how to get price reductions from all but the most stubborn, unmotivated sellers and get their home sold.

I’ve worked in real estate more than 13 years. When I started, I made a good living chasing FSBOs. I would call them, find out what price they were asking, and determine whether I could sell the home for more on the MLS.

Because the market was hot, I was able to sell a lot of homes and net the former FSBOs more money in their pocket.

To be honest, though, I was terrible at getting price reductions. I got FSBOs to list with me because I promised them a higher price, and then I was forced to admit that I couldn’t sell their property for that price anymore.

I was scared to tell them the truth. I thought that if I did tell them that their house wasn’t worth what I had originally promised, they would fire me and try to sell FSBO again.

Today, I get sellers who aren’t very motivated to reduce their price to where the home sells. I recently had a poorly motivated seller in a college town. He had bought the home for his son while the son went to school.

The father was the decision maker, and I dealt with him almost exclusively. He lived in Miami and we did everything by phone. He responded to my expired letter and we listed the home. The former agent had listed it for $189,900 from fall 2006 to spring 2007. I initially listed the home high at $184,900.

It’s harder to convince a seller to price property realistically by phone than it is in person. His son wasn’t scheduled to graduate

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college until the spring of 2008, and the father didn’t want the son to have to stay in town to look after the home past graduation.

Instead, the dad planned for his son to rent an apartment during the last year of school and move out of town immediately after graduating. That meant that if the home failed to sell until my listing expired the end of August 2007, there would still be plenty of time to sell.

Here is what I did to sell his home before my own listing expired. First, I called the owner every week with an update on activity. This was to build rapport and keep him happy as a seller. Within a month, he began to realize that the price needed to be reduced.

But he still waited three more weeks to reduce it. Then, we sat on the market for another month, and I started talking to him every week about reducing the price. This guy was a hard sell. First, he had low motivation and second, he was stubborn about the price.

We had to reduce the price three times. Finally, we got one offer that he rejected, and then another offer two weeks later. This seller had started at $184,900, and he was finally willing to accept $168,000.

His home was technically worth $175,000 to $180,000, based on comparable homes listed for sale. Luckily, I managed to negotiate a price with the second buyer for $172,000.

If I had not proactively worked to reduce this listing’s price, then the listing would have expired on me just as it had for the prior agent. That is why I work hard to reduce prices and communicate with sellers.

The time invested is minimal. I simply sit down one afternoon a week for an hour. I can go through 10–15 sellers in that time, spending no more than five minutes on any seller.

That effort is nothing compared to the work of getting a new listing to replace one I lost because they got mad at me. And all of these sellers still like me and think I did a good job when I am done.

The five-minute conversations each week build rapport and increase owners’ comfort and trust.

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Here is what I am going to show you today:

1. I’ll show you a few simple questions to determine whether a seller will be willing to reduce the price to sell the home. Why waste time on sellers who will never be motivated to sell for a fair price?

2. I’ll explain how to show the seller it’s not your fault the home isn’t selling for their original high price.

3. You’ll learn how I put everything into a solid system that will keep the pressure on the seller to reduce the price.

4. I’ll explain how often you should ask for a price reduction.

5. I’ll reveal how to stop sellers from calling you to complain that their home hasn’t sold.

HOW TO GET SELLERS TO REDUCE THEIR PRICE

In order for a seller to reduce their price, you have to tell them numerous times. Business-to-business salespeople often say that it takes seven sales calls to get a customer, and 29 calls to win the customer’s trust. I don’t know whether those numbers are accurate, but even smart, rational people get emotional and can’t understand why their home isn’t worth what they think it should be.

And if you can’t sell their home for what they think it is worth, it’s your fault. That is why we have to use every possible method to bring them to reality so they will price their home competitively. Otherwise, the home will expire and another agent will sell it — once they manage to convince the seller to lower the price.

Here are the methods I use:

#1: Call every week. Calling every week builds rapport with the sellers and lets them know that we are working hard to sell the home. This is the key to keeping sellers happy with you as their agent.

I call them every week even if there’s no activity. I simply tell them that we didn’t have any showings, that other homes are still selling, and that we might need to reduce the price.

Don’t be afraid to call them. Just don’t skip doing it for a while and then start up again.

#2: Follow up on showings fast. Call the seller as soon as possible when you hear the feedback from a showing. This is the perfect time to ask for a price reduction if they haven’t had any interest in a few weeks.

#3: Ask for a price reduction every 21 days. If you’ve reduced the price and activity hasn’t picked up, start asking for another reduction 21 days later.

It usually takes sellers two or three weeks to agree to a price reduction. If you give them a reason why the home isn’t selling (price and condition, of course) they won’t call you and complain as much.

#4: Don’t bother with tiny price reductions. If you reduce a home from $659,000 to $654,900, it won’t make any difference.

Turn down small price reductions until you get the 5% to 10% that will actually help the home to sell. A reduction from $659,000 to

$599,000 is more likely to make a difference.

I always aim for a reduction to the next price range buyers will target. For example, I wouldn’t reduce from $267,900 to $252,000.

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HOME SELLER STATISTICS• 89% of sellers were assisted by a real estate agent.

• Recent sellers typically sold their homes for 98% of the listing price.

• 37% reported reducing the asking price at least once.

• The typical home sold was on the market four weeks.

• 64% of sellers who used a real estate agent found their agent through a referral by friends or family.

• 25% used the agent they previously worked with to buy or sell a home.

Source: 2016 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

Instead, I’d push for $249,900 and tell the sellers that at $252,000 you are still competing with the homes priced at $275,000, which are probably nicer that this home. Buyers tend to see $250,000 as the next logical breaking point.

#5: Send the sellers an updated CMA whenever you think it is necessary. I have found that not being too pushy with reductions gets the job done better. Still, there are times when pushy is what you need!

If sellers are being very resistant and you know you have to be pushy, push but also send them an updated comparative market analysis (CMA) and other competitive actives in the mail so they have an objective-looking source to corroborate your claims. Stick to snail mail; email doesn’t work because they can just delete it.

#6: Talk to both parties every week. If you don’t, you can run into trouble, at least in my experience. In one particular instance, a “macho” seller unsuccessfully tried to sell his home FSBO. When he couldn’t sell it, he was forced to list through an agent, who recommended a price reduction.

The seller’s ego was bruised. He’d thought he was smart enough to sell the home by himself. Lowering the price seemed like a second failure, so he was reluctant to listen and dragged out the whole selling process unnecessarily.

If you just call this type of seller with weekly updates, he won’t have to admit defeat to his spouse or partner.

#7: Don’t feel bad about asking sellers to reduce their price. The biggest objection that all Realtors face is not the objection from the seller or buyer. It’s the objection in our own heads.

It is not our fault when a home declines in price. All the FSBOs that seemed to sell themselves in the red-hot 2005 market taught us that we couldn’t take credit for price increases. How can we hold ourselves responsible when prices drop?

If a seller is motivated to sell by a certain date and we don’t actively tell them to reduce their price every week to sell by that date, we are doing them a disservice.

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If sellers are desperate to sell by a certain time, they will reduce the price below market just to get the home sold — as long as you’re willing to tell them that they need to.

If sellers are unmotivated, but determined to get a certain price, they will keep the home on the market and eventually try to sell FSBO. Then, of course, some cheap buyer will make them a lowball offer, they’ll accept it, and they’ll net what they would have made if they had been listed with you. Trust your judgment. If it’s time for the price to drop, it’s in their best interests as much as yours to drop it.

#8: Tell them what you are doing to market and promote their home. This will constantly reaffirm that you are trying to sell their home.

Send them copies of the ad whenever their home is advertised. This protects your reputation whenever their co-worker or relative tells them to fire you and hire their hotshot Realtor friend.

#9: Quote the Statistics. Here is what I tell sellers:

“We have 1,650 homes on the market in this county. Last month, 125 homes sold. If no other homes were offered for sale, we would still have 13 months’ worth of homes on the market, right?

“But last month, 345 homes were added to the market in the county. What do you think so much competition does to the value of your home when so few buyers are looking?”

Numbers, percentages, and statistics are all things we’re trained to believe in as objective, meaningful, and trustworthy. If you can back up your argument with the right figures, it transforms your advice from and educated opinion to a fact in the minds of your clients.

#10: Be on their side. All of us have our seller’s best interest at heart. Explain that you don’t want to reduce the price, but the market is telling us that is what must be done.

Here is what you say when the seller accuses you of trying to reduce their price just to get a quick commission:

“A home is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay. All of the buyers are being shown your home because it is being advertised and all the

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other Realtors know about it. But so far, no buyer has been willing to pay $479,000. So it must be a problem with the price. Doesn’t that make sense?”

Using the above methods can get unmotivated sellers to reduce their price. I told one unmotivated seller that he could sell today for $372,000 or in six months for $365,000. The logic was simple, and he accepted an offer lower than his original price.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Don’t let fear — or undeserved guilt — prevent you from asking sellers for price reductions.

• Determine how motivated and flexible the seller is and tailor your urgings accordingly.

• Update sellers weekly. If there are two sellers, include both. Tell them how you’re promoting their home. Make it clear you’re on their side.

• Follow up on showings quickly.

• Ask for a price reduction every 21 days.

• Discourage token reductions.

• Send sellers an updated CMA when necessary.

• Back up your requests with statistics.

• • •

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HOW TO FIND EXPIRED LEADSThere are many options for getting expired leads, and I’ve researched several sources. I use REDX, at www.theredx.com, which I’ve found offers the best compromise between price and quality. It costs about $60 a month when you sign up for expireds using the quarterly option.

REDX lets you import 1,000 leads from the MLS. Their software checks to make sure the leads have not been relisted and researches phone numbers, including some cell phone numbers. Alternatively, you can log into MLS yourself, pull the new expireds, and research them manually, finding the phone numbers on WhitePages.com. Or for $20 a month, you can sign up for Intelius and get a lot of contact information you can’t get elsewhere.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Numerous sources can aid you in finding expired-listing leads, including REDX, Intelius, MLS, and WhitePages.com.

• • •

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CHAPTER 12

SELLER LEADS YOU SHOULD AVOIDThere is nothing crazier than seeing another real estate agent list a $250,000 house for $450,000. Some agents get so desperate for business that they’ll take anything they can get.

In real estate, as in many other businesses, the key to success is to go for the good customers and get rid of the rest. Banks do this when they reject risky borrowers and only lend to the ones most likely to pay, and Realtors need to know how to filter out the customers who aren’t worth the trouble just as much as bankers.

Agents get so busy chasing down unmotivated prospects and working with unmotivated-seller listings and unmotivated buyers that they have no time to cultivate profitable customers. Then they wonder why they are going broke.

Below are simple questions you can use to eliminate unmotivated sellers before you waste time listing their home. Several of the most successful agents I have known use this method.

There are two main things to look for in a seller:

#1. Are they realistic about what their home is worth? This is the most obvious way to determine whether you should list their house, but that isn’t the only thing you should consider. I have taken overpriced listings and sold them, but you should consider an unrealistic price a red flag and be on high alert for any further warning signs.

Motivated sellers who are broke will want to overprice their home in the beginning but will become more realistic when they have to move out of town for a job transfer.

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CHAPTER 13

Don’t take a listing based solely on the price they want for the home, high or low. Sellers facing foreclosure will overprice in the beginning. But as foreclosure gets closer, they will need every penny they can get and become more flexible.

#2. How motivated are the sellers? Ask sellers why they are moving. You will be amazed at what people will tell you if you just ask them. Ask, “What’s important about the move?”

Often, they’ll give you a lot of detail: “I can give my family a better life. I’ll make more money, we can buy a bigger house in Omaha with lower crime and safer schools.

“And Robin’s parents will be only two hours away in Suskebush. I’m really looking forward to the move and I’m starting my job in two months.”

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COMMUNICATING WITH SELLERSHere is the system I recommend to keep your sellers happy and get prices reduced.

• First, call sellers every week on either a Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon. By this time, you should have feedback from the weekend showings.

• Tell them what happened with their home during the week and, if necessary, ask for a price reduction.

• Follow up on showings Monday afternoon. If you can’t reach the Realtor, call them again Tuesday.

• Schedule a time every week to call all of your sellers. This time is more important than a listing or buyer appointment. Treat it that way.

• Never skip a week. People love consistency.

• When you call, ask whether they know anyone buying or selling. If you are doing a good job, they will refer people to you. This will make your time calling them more productive and worthwhile.

Now you know that they are a motivated seller that is worth listing. Even if they want to list high in the beginning, if you call them every week and gradually get the price down to reality, you will sell the home and collect a commission — they’re clearly more invested in the move itself than in the financial possibilities of selling the house, so if they need to come down to get those better schools and lower crime rates, they’ll do it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Focus your efforts on getting motivated clients.

• Ask sellers questions to determine why they want to move and what they hope a sale will achieve.

• Systemize your client contacts, using regularly scheduled weekly calls and updates.

• Ask clients whether they know of other individuals who are buying or selling. Invite referrals.

• • •

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OVERLOOKED EXPIRED LEADS YOU CAN LIST WITH NO COMPETITIONYes, there are expired leads that you can list with no competition at all. If you aren’t a slick salesperson, superstar closer, or an awesome bonder, you can still be successful. I’m talking about the old expireds.

Here’s an example of how they work. I listed John and Diana’s house. It wasn’t hard. They were an old expired. They’d had their house on the market with one of the top Realtors in their area, but it had failed to sell. My assistant contacted them, found out they wanted to sell, and mailed them my book, Expired!? A Guide for Selling Homes Others Couldn’t Sell, and they called me.

They were presold on hiring me to list their house. Why was it so easy? I had no competition. Because so many Realtors in my area work expireds, sometimes those sellers will get 50 to 100 phone calls and 30 to 50 letters.

But all my competition was focusing on the new expireds, which left me with no competition for the old expireds. If you’re in a red-hot market and there aren’t very many new expireds, then old expireds are prospects you should consider.

I recommend leads anywhere from three months old to six months old for the best results. If you come along three months after listings lapse, you can get a lot of listings that did not relist right away.

But don’t overlook the ones that are two, three, even four and five years old. I’ve listed some expireds that were two years old or more. The only reason I didn’t list more was because I had so many newer leads and hadn’t gotten to the oldest leads yet.

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CHAPTER 14

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• If you encounter unexpected competition for newly expired listings, focus on old expireds.

• Target expired listings that are three to six months old for the best return on your efforts, but remember that there’s also value in much older expireds.

• • •

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THE PROS AND CONS OF EACH APPROACHThere are a variety of different approaches to consider when listing expireds. Figuring out which ones work best for you is an important step on the way to mastering the listing of expireds, so be sure to consider your options carefully. Among the many possible approaches, the following are the ones you are most likely to want to consider:

• One of the simplest options, cold-calling, can work, though I don’t recommend it.• You can leave voicemails. • You can send sellers a text message. • You can mail them a letter. I’ve done a lot of this. • You can mail them my book or drop it off on their front door (or your own, if you’ve got one!). • “Warm-calling” — I’ll explain what that is in just a minute. • You can door knock. You can knock on their front door and offer them your book. • You can have your assistant call them. I’ll give you more specifics later.• You can mail a FedEx package. • You could ship them a balloon. Just an idea. (I haven’t tried it. Yet.)• You could ship them a big box.• You can advertise to them on Facebook. • You can send them an email.

Let’s examine the pros and cons of each approach.

CHAPTER 15

COLD-CALLING

Pros: It’s very low-cost.

Cons: You get a lot of rejection. Unless you are a tremendous salesperson, you won’t get many results, especially considering how competitive it is to get listings today.

Who should do it: If you are good at person-to-person sales, then you might want to try cold-calling. If you’re very good at what I call “being pushy,” then you will probably be good at cold-calling. I’m not saying I am for or against being pushy, but if it’s how you work, then cold-calling will likely work well for you.

Also, cold-calling is a good way to get your feet wet, figure out various openings, and identify opportunities to get listings.

I’m not against cold-calling, but remember that it is very competitive, and you need seriously good phone skills to be successful.

If this is something you are considering, make sure to pay attention to the cold-calling-specific advice later in this book!

LEAVE VOICEMAILS

Pros: You can call individual sellers and leave voicemails one at a time, or you can scale it up and leave voicemail drops on hundreds of phones at once. I have more info on this in a further chapter. You also can use Slydial or something similar on a much smaller scale.

Cons: The Do Not Call Registry. When you use voicemail drops, you risk getting a complaint. I’ve never personally tried voicemail drops.

If I were to go back into real estate, it’s definitely something I would test on a small scale. I’d recommend you try it with maybe 50 phone numbers to see if anyone gets angry. Then, I’d scale it up to 100 numbers or more.

Who should do it: People who like to try new things and are willing to take risks.

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SEND A TEXT MESSAGE

Pros: I recently listed a house by texting the seller, so I know it works. You get less rejection with a text message than a cold call, and you can very easily save a draft of the message to use as a kind of form letter.

Cons: The Do Not Call Registry returns. When you do this, you risk getting a complaint, but the odds of this are small compared to cold-calling or voice messages, particularly when you aren’t texting a lot of people.

Who should do it: This is best used when you combine it with cold-calling.

MAIL A LETTER

Pros: I’ve picked up a lot of listings by using direct mail. Direct mail works because you can do your best sales presentation in an effective manner, without getting a lot of rejection.

You can draw attention to houses you were able to sell that expired when listed with other agents.

Cons: It’s expensive. Today I get better results from mailing out books.

Who should do it: Agents who are getting good results from their other marketing and want to supplement those efforts. I know from experience that combining direct mail with cold-calling triples the results you get from cold-calling alone.

When you cold-call, many sellers will recognize you from your direct mail advertising, and that makes them more receptive than if you come in as a complete unknown. An even better alternative to direct mail is mailing sellers a book.

MAIL A BOOK

Pros: This is what I do today, and it works the best. I mail sellers a book or, if their house is near my office, I’ll drop one off.

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I give a lot of sellers my book. It’s the best way to elevate your status and make you stand out from your competition. It has been a huge boost for my business.

Cons: It can cost you $3 to $5 per book, depending on how many you order. However, the return on investment is great. An agent I know invested $2,000 in books and postage and made $40,000 in commissions.

Who should do it: Anyone who wants more listings and can afford the investment.

WARM-CALLING

Pros: I’ve tried all the different strategies. Today, I use a hybrid of cold-calling combined with my books. I mail a copy of my book to the expired. Then, I follow up four or five days later. This is the best way to get listings.

I get two to three times as many listings as I would by just cold-calling or just mailing a book. Why? Because a lot of people read my book and procrastinate on calling me. So when I call after they get the book, I get a lot of listings — it takes the pressure of calling off the seller, but also gives them a reason beforehand to be willing to talk.

Cons: There is an initial expense for printing and mailing. As I mentioned above, this usually is $3 to $5 per book, depending on how many you order, but the return on investment is fantastic.

Who should do it: Anyone who wants more listings and has some extra money to spend.

DOOR KNOCKING

Pros: Knocking on the door is very powerful. Making a face-to-face impression has helped me get more than a few expired listings. If you and the homeowner hit it off, you can experience great results. Once, I knocked on a seller’s door and walked out with the listing that very same meeting — though it only happened once.

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Cons: It takes a lot of time, usually a good 10 minutes each to drive from one house to the next, which can add up pretty fast.

Who should do it: Most people who get listings from door knocking are good at cold-calling. It’s a more efficient investment of their time than starting with a phone call.

HAVE YOUR ASSISTANT CALL

Pros: Obviously, you must make sure you’re following all the licensing laws. But sometimes you can have your assistant call and just say, “Hey, do you still want to sell your house? Would you be interested in talking to the Realtor that I work for?”

Cons: It costs money. Plus, it takes a lot of time to find and hire a good assistant, and then you have to find the time to manage them.

Who should do it: Someone who has lots of extra money to spend and is good at managing people.

MAIL A FEDEX PACKAGE

Pros: You’ll stand out from everyone else, and there’s an implied level of value or talent from someone with the chops to send a full package of materials.

Cons: It’s expensive, and you need to spend time and money on putting together a lot of materials at once.

Who should do it: Nobody! I just don’t recommend it. For the same cost as an expensive FedEx package, you could mail a book, and that will work much better.

Mailing a balloon or a big box falls in the same category. I only mentioned them to get us both to stretch our minds. If we’re creative, we can usually come up with a solution to any problem!

ADVERTISE TO THEM ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Pros: You can contact people using a medium that most other agents don’t know how to use. Plus, you’ll look technologically

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savvy, and once you get the hang of it, advertising on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media can allow you to easily reach larger audiences with less effort.

Cons: It takes a lot of time to figure out the technical side of how to run Facebook ads, and the whole social media jungle in general. There’s a reason some people make a job of handling social media advertising for other companies.

Who should do it: Techies. If you’re not naturally good at technology and up-to-date on social media trends, I wouldn’t recommend doing Facebook ads or the like.

If you’re not a techie, try this instead. Message the sellers on Facebook. I don’t see any downside in this. It just takes time to use Facebook.

SEND THEM AN EMAIL

Pros: It’s practically free except for your time.

Cons: It takes a lot of time. I’ve tried it, and I think you’ll get better results from other strategies.

The biggest problem was that most of the emails didn’t work. I did get one listing that I really wanted when I couldn’t find any other way to contact the seller, but most of my messages went unanswered, probably filtered in spam folders or simply ignored.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Find an approach that’s effective and fits your personality and skills.

• In my experience, the most effective method is mailing a book, and then following up in a few days.

• • •

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COLD-CALLING: THE OLD-FASHIONED APPROACH MOST AGENTS HATECold-calling has pros and cons. The downside is that it is time-consuming and there’s a lot of rejection. Frequently, you’ll feel as though you’re wasting your time.

But if you are good at talking to people and you’re a natural salesperson and closer, cold-calling is an

excellent way to get listings.

There’s even a standard script that nearly everyone uses. It’s called the Mike Ferry script: “When do you plan on interviewing the right agent

for the job of selling your home?”

If you choose to use that script, though, then should also use a technique called a downswing. Unfortunately, the technique involved is a bit more involved than anything you can really teach with a book. There are some good tutorials online, though, and a quick Google search can set you up with the basics on how to use the Mike Ferry script and downswing technique.

Today, I use a different script which works better for me than the Mike Ferry script did. I mail sellers my book first, and then I follow up using this script. The combined approach gets the best results by far, but I have tested the method without mailing the books, and it’s still effective.

EXPIRED FOLLOW-UP SCRIPT

Step 1: Make sure you are talking to the owner!

If Steve Johnson is the owner and the person answering the phone sounds like a man, then say, “Hi, is this Steve?”

CHAPTER 1645

If the person answering the phone sounds like a woman, then ask for the woman’s name and compare to the names on the title. If there is no woman on the title, then ask, “Hey, is Steve available?”

Step 2: Go through the script.

“Hi _____, my name is ______. I’m a Realtor here in ___________. The reason I’m calling is because you had your home for sale with another Realtor... and it didn’t sell.

“I have a couple of ideas on some things that can be done differently with the marketing of your home to get more buyers interested in it… and get it sold. Are you still interested in selling your home?”

Wait for them to answer.

Step 3: “Here’s the deal. I’ve got five different ideas on ways to sell homes that other agents weren’t able to sell.

“And, usually only two or three of these ideas apply to a specific home.

“Let me ask you a question to see if this will even make sense for you.

“If there was a better way to sell your house... would you want to know about it?”

If they say “Yes,” then continue.

“Here’s the next step. If you have some time over the next few days, then I’ll stop by for 20 minutes and take a quick look at your home. And then I’ll tell you which of these five ideas could be used to sell your home.”

“Would you make time for me over the next few days... to stop by... and take a quick look at your house?”

Step 4: Set up an appointment.

“What is a good time for you?”

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Step 5: Be assertive!

“I’m going to be in your area in the afternoon on X date. Would you mind if I stopped by real fast around 5:30?

“I can do it this afternoon or tomorrow. Which would work better for you?”

Step 5: Pre-qualify.

“What’s the reason you are looking to sell this home?”

“Are you planning to interview more than one agent for the job of selling your home?

VOICEMAIL SCRIPT

“Hi, I’m calling about your home for sale. I saw it was listed with a Realtor and didn’t sell. I’ve got a couple of ideas on some things that can be done differently with the marketing to get more buyers interested in the home and get it sold. I’d like to talk to you about them when you have a chance. Please give me a call at 904-555-1212. By the way, my name is _____. I’m a Realtor with ______ Realty.”

HANDLING OBJECTIONS

Objection: Just tell me your two ideas and quit wasting my time.

“I understand. You want answers NOW on how you can get your house sold.

“I’m not here to sell you anything. I just want to see how I can help you. If you’ve got time, then I’ll look at your house. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at someone’s home and discovered what needed to be done to get it sold.

“If you don’t want to meet, then that’s OK. I’m not here to push you.

“So would you make time for me over the next few days to stop by and take a quick look at your house?”

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Objection: Just tell me your two ideas and quit wasting my time.

“I understand. You want answers NOW on how you can get your house sold. Let me ask you this. Did any of the other agents who call give you any ideas? Or, did they just want to list your house?”

Objection: Just tell me your two ideas and quit wasting my time.

“Let me ask you a few questions as to which of my ideas would apply to your home.

Did any buyers make you an offer when you had your home on the market?

What stopped buyers from (making an offer) or (from going through with the sale) or what stopped other buyers from buying it?

So what you’re telling me is that no buyers wanted your home bad enough to buy it. Is that correct?

But that doesn’t mean it can’t be sold. Why do you think a buyer would want to buy your home?

Do you think that those things were marketed properly?

Did you ever look at the pictures that were used to market your home?

What did you think of the pictures? Did you think they were good?”

End of Script.

I don’t use this script word for word. I use parts of it, but the general approach works. The key is to get the seller to start talking.

If you do that, then it’s easy to get the listing. Usually, when I use this approach, I send the seller a copy of my book beforehand.

Once they’ve received a copy of my book, they know my name, and it’s much easier to get my foot in the door.

This method works because you’re offering sellers something different. Everybody wants a special new strategy, especially

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expired-listing sellers who have experienced failure. They all want to get more buyers interested in their house.

As you read the script, you’ll notice that I don’t close with a super conclusive phrase like “When can I meet with you and show you the best way to use these two ideas?” Instead, I just find out whether owners are still interesting in selling. They usually respond with something such as, “You know what? You’ve got some ideas. Cool. When can we meet?”

I’ve had plenty of sellers who were hostile and resistant, but as soon as I mention having new ideas, they want more information. It’s a script that has worked very well for me.

Ultimately, though, you have to figure out what works for you. There is a lot of training available on cold-calling, some of which I would recommend. I’m going to talk to you about some of what I’ve learned in the next chapter.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Effective scripts are available for cold-calling, voicemails, and follow-ups.

• It’s more effective to send sellers a book first.

• A powerful script is not about a flamboyant closing. It’s about getting the sellers to talk and meet you.

• • •

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HOW TO GET EXPIREDS TO DROP EVERYTHING AND TALK TO YOUIt’s been years since I have done traditional cold-calling. When I first started to go after listings, though, I did a lot of it. I got a coach and practiced all the scripts.

Most people don’t cold-call well enough to get many listings. To be effective, you need to be in the top 5% or 10% of

Realtors who cold-call.

You have to learn voice inflection, changing your pitch and volume to alter the meaning and emphasis of what you say. There is actually training available for this, to help you master the subtleties of vocal inflection and be as persuasive as possible.

As an alternative or a supplement, though, here’s something else to do: call the expireds at 8:00 a.m. sharp, the day after their listing expires. I got a lot of listings this way.

And try calling on Saturdays. I used to call between 10:00 a.m. and noon on Saturdays. All the other agents were either taking the day off or busy working with buyers.

USE THE ASSUMPTIVE CLOSE

Assume that sellers want to meet with you; treat your meeting as a done deal, and it’s easy to get sellers to go along with it without even really thinking. Call up and say, “Hey John. This is Ben with ABC Realty. I saw your house didn’t sell. Can I come over and take a look at your house and see why it didn’t sell and see if I can give you some marketing ideas?”

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Stay relaxed and give off a positive vibe in your voice. If you believe they should meet with you, if you truly believe it’s in their best interest, and you don’t make a big deal about it, then you will get a lot of appointments because they’ll find themselves swept up in the mood.

You should mirror and match the way sellers talk. If they talk fast, then you talk fast. If they talk slowly, then talk slowly.

I’m in the South, where some people are really slow talkers! Fortunately, I can turn on my southern accent and fit right in. Realize that people who live in your area could be from anywhere, and try to be as adaptable as possible to match their speaking style and put them at ease.

WHY THIS MATTERS

If you’re a New Yorker and you talk super fast, and you meet a southerner who talks slowly, then you’re immediately going to think they have low intelligence; if you’re a slow-talking southerner, you might think a fast-talking New Yorker is a slick salesperson trying to rip you off. Either way, you’ll be resistant to anything that individual says.

Adjust your tempo to that of the person you’re addressing. Listen for key words and phrases sellers use, and try to incorporate them — carefully! — into your presentation.

Don’t fake accents unless you’re really good at it. Clients might think you’re mocking them, and it’s hard to keep track of which accents to use for which clients. Better to stick to the aspects of their speech that they aren’t necessarily aware of themselves, so they don’t feel insulted or lied to.

But mirroring and matching the tone, tempo and other key characteristics of a seller’s speech can develop a better rapport with sellers and get more listings.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Mirroring and matching is a valuable communication technique.

• Enhance your communication but remain genuine.

• • •

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AN OVERLOOKED STRATEGY THAT GOT ME A LISTINGWhat is this overlooked strategy? If you’ve got an expired lead, and maybe you’ve cold-called them, consider sending the sellers a text message.

What exactly you say is, of course, up to you. But as an example, I would recommend your text read something like this:

“Hey, I saw you had your house for sale and it didn’t sell. I’ve got a couple ideas on some things that could be done differently with the marketing to get more buyers interested and get it sold. Are you still interested in selling?”

You don’t need to check whether it’s a landline or cell phone first. Just text the number. Their phone provider will reply and let you know.

That’s how I got this listing:

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COMMISSION: $4,650

I got that listing because I sent a text rather than just calling. That’s the key.

Try it. It doesn’t cost much. You can send texts from your cell phone while you’re at Starbucks, waiting to pick up your kids from school, or doing anything that’s boring. Save the text message as a draft if it works well, and you can just slap a new recipient on it next time you want to send it!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Text messaging is a convenient and inexpensive — but often overlooked — method of contacting sellers.

• • •

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THE FASTEST WAY TO GET MORE LISTINGSYou can use this strategy and get a listing within 24 hours. What’s the strategy? Go out and knock on the seller’s door.

When I was first getting into listings, I knocked on the door of a woman who was interested in selling.

I did my listing presentation on my laptop, pulled up the legal description from the printout of the

property appraiser’s page, signed all the paperwork, and walked out the door with the listing. I’ll admit it

doesn’t happen every day, and certainly not every time you knock, but it’s a lot more feasible than you might think.

In another real-life example, I remember knocking on the seller’s door and ending up listing his house for $275,000 and double-siding it for a $15,600 commission. Sure, it can be a little uncomfortable and there’s a lot of driving and walking around involved, but it’s worth the potential payouts.

TIPS FOR DOOR KNOCKING

#1: After you knock, walk a few steps away from the door and turn sideways. Make it look as though you’re really relaxed, calm, and comfortable.

Someone will come to the door and stare out. If you’re 10 feet away, they’re more likely to open the door because you’re not threatening or imposing — you want your position and body language to be friendly and open, but not in-your-face or intimidating.

If you’re right there at their door, they’re less likely to talk to you. They might open the door with a chain in the way or they might say something through the door.

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If sellers feel comfortable, though, they will talk to you for a longer time.

#2: When the sellers open the door to talk to you, you must open with some sort of benefit. The first thing I do is offer them my book.

I turn and say, “Hi. My name is Ben Curry. I’m a Realtor. I saw you had your house on the market and it didn’t sell. I just wanted to give you a copy of my book that explains how to sell a house that didn’t sell.”

Remember, I use books to get listings. So far, nobody has turned down a free book from me.

If you don’t use books, then offer sellers information. Or you could say, “Hi, I’m ___ with ABC Realty. I saw your house is for sale and it didn’t sell. I have a couple of ideas that might be able to get more buyers interested in it. Do you have a couple minutes to talk?”

#3: Just get them to talk. If they’ll talk, you can find out how you can get them to list with you. Maybe their last Realtor didn’t put enough effort into selling their house. Perhaps she didn’t market it aggressively. Who knows? But if they talk, then you can sell them on your services.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Door knocking can get you an expired listing in the next 24 hours.

• After knocking, step away from the door and turn sideways to appear less threatening.

• When sellers come to the door, open with a benefit, such as a free book or other useful information.

• Get sellers to talk, and they’ll provide information that helps you get their listing.

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HOW TO GET LISTINGS FROM DIRECT MAILI hate prospecting. Yep, that’s right. I’ve done my share of it; in

fact, I’ve been pretty good at it. I’ve even made a lot of money from it — at one point, most of my income

came from prospecting. But I still hated it.

One of the biggest mistakes is thinking that prospecting is the only way to succeed in real estate, and giving up on the whole thing rather than spend a lifetime prospecting for listings. Anyone who has

ever told you that prospecting was your only option either lied or

has a very strange business history. If prospecting were the only way to succeed, then how is it that so many successful agents don’t prospect all?

I used to prospect two to three hours a day, five days a week. I hated my job, hated going to work, and hated the real estate business. Why? Because I hated prospecting.

Then a colleague told me that other businesses were using direct mail to sell their products. Why not real estate? I’d never thought of that, but once the idea was out there it took hold. It couldn’t make work worse than the prospecting, so it had to be worth a try.

Then I read a bunch of success stories. I decided to commit and try it out for real estate. I built a direct mail marketing campaign for expireds. It took a lot of trial and error, admittedly, but eventually I got it to work. Since then, I’ve used direct mail to get many listings.

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Here are a couple of the very first listings I got from direct mail:

Direct mail (and mailing books) is simply the best way to get “Come List Me” listing appointments. When you use direct mail correctly, sellers often call you up and say, “Hey, Ben, I got your stuff. I realize you’re a great Realtor. Come out and list my house.”

If I’m a great Realtor, it’s because I’ve put the time and effort into perfecting great methods of obtaining listings. My direct mail system enables me to list expireds without prospecting because I send out books.

Most of my early efforts failed. I would spend days writing a letter and mailing it out. I would wait eagerly for calls to come in. They rarely did.

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COMMISSION: $11,250

COMMISSION: $10,680

I began to doubt the whole direct mail idea.

It seemed as though sellers usually hired a Realtor they knew or liked, not the one who would do the best job.

But I really wanted to get direct mail to work, so I kept writing letters to expireds. Results were unreliable and unpredictable.

One day, I got fired up. I had just met with a home seller about listing their house. I was having to fight to sell them on why they should hire me. They wanted to “think about it.” I was tired of dealing with people like that. With my track record and marketing program, I thought, people should want to work with me.

I decided to try something different and hired a full-time copywriter. He spent two years working on my marketing. The results got better and better. The best letter I use is 21 pages long. And it works.

We mailed 100 of them. Two sellers contacted me right away and wanted to hire me before they had even met me. We continued writing letters and refining the ones that worked. Most importantly, results were consistent. I would mail a bunch of letters and list a house every time.

People who called were willing to drive to our office to meet with us. It’s much more fun to work with people who call you versus you calling them — it saves you the drudgery of prospecting and they are always easier to list.

Now I list dozens of houses using direct mail. Running your business this way is so much better than prospecting! The customers with whom I work respect me more. The listing appointments are easy. I get more listings, and I spend less time on miserable drone work.

I beat other agents who use guarantees like, “I guarantee to sell your home in X days or our company will buy it.” I get listings without using gimmicks.

Recently, I was on a listing appointment and the seller asked

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me whether another agent who used the “I’ll buy your house” guarantee was legitimate. Before I could answer the seller said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s probably a scam.” Then he hired me.

5 THINGS YOU MUST DO TO GET LISTINGS FROM YOUR DIRECT MAIL

#1: Get your letter opened. Most people don’t realize it, but many recipients throw out their letters without opening them.

Why? Because recipients already know it’s a solicitation before they open the envelope.

You can see who is mailing you the letter before you even open it.

I see many agents make that mistake when they put their logo on their envelope. See the example below.

If you’re sending a letter, do not put the following things in the return address:

• A company name

• A suite number, such as Suite #300

• A logo

#2: Use a real stamp. That will separate your mail from all the other junk mail.

#3: Handwrite the recipient’s address on the envelope. Or print it using a handwritten font.

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#4: Start the letter by telling the reader about how you can benefit them. Here is the opener for the best converting expired letter I’ve used so far.

It immediately starts talking about the expired’s biggest frustration. I don’t use it anymore because my books work much better, but the letter got many listings.

#5: Making a connection is more important than being “professional.” I’ve seen people write very professional letters that didn’t convert as well as a letter that was more personal. I

even include little handwritten doodles and other “unprofessional” touches in

my letter, like this little smiley face.

I think it works better because people realize that you’re real. I’ve gotten high-end listings from letters I mailed with the

doodles. One owner was selling a $1.2 million home. Another was

selling a $700,000 home.

The novelty of these little doodles increases readership. If more people read my letter, then more people reply. These doodles increase the response to our letters by 50% to 100%.

We showed them to the owner of a business with $20 million a year in sales. He thought they were cool and innovative. We asked him, “What is the impression you get of an agent that uses these doodles?”

“I would think that they were an agent that was very innovative and an outside-of-the-box thinker. They would be a good problem solver and probably someone I would like to hire,” he told me.

We also showed them to a multimillionaire who owns several

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thriving businesses. He thought they were a great marketing idea, and then asked if he could get them to use in his business. It’s not about looking professional; it’s about making a connection to the seller, no matter how tenuous.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A professional copywriter can help refine your direct mail marketing.

• Sending sellers a free book improves direct marketing results.

• To get your letter opened, avoid placing company names, addresses, and logos on the envelope.

• Start your letter with a clear benefit to the reader.

• Add personal touches, such as doodles, real postage stamps, and handwriting.

• • •

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A LOW-COST BUT EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE TO DIRECT MAILAnother solid way to go about contacting expireds is to leave them a voicemail. This might seem less efficient than directly calling

them, but it has a few advantages, which is why various websites offer “ringless voicemail” services that can dial you straight through to sellers’ voicemails.

In effect, leaving sellers a voicemail is similar to sending a letter to the owner. As with a letter, a voicemail campaign is a great way to plant yourself in the

owner’s mind. More importantly, users can drop voicemails in multiple people’s voicemail boxes.

If you acquire a list of expireds’ phone numbers, you can hit them all at once.

This will also create a point of difference that separates you from other agents. It’s nonintrusive and can reach hundreds of thousands of mailboxes in a matter of minutes.

VOICEMAIL SCRIPT

“Hi, I’m calling about your home for sale. I saw it was listed with a Realtor and didn’t sell. I’ve got a couple of ideas on some things that can be done differently with the marketing to get more buyers interested in the home and get it sold. I’d like to talk to you about them when you have a chance. Please give me a call at xxx-xxx-xxxx. By the way, my name is _____. I’m a Realtor with ______ Realty.”

StraticsNetworks.com is the website we use. No phone call is ever made directly to the targeted number. Voicemails are opened much more frequently than contact attempts on any other platform.

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Email open rates are anywhere from 12% to 20%. Live calling can work around 50%. Voicemails are opened 96% percent of the time.

Stratics Networks also lets you build a comprehensive campaign. After you create an account, it will log you into their “power dialer.”

Then go to “campaigns” and “new campaign.” You will name the campaign and select your date range and the message to be delivered.

Go to “audio” and record your message. The process of finalizing your campaign will take you into more detail. Setting this to call every 10–15 days is a good strategy.

This is a great way to start a conversation with expireds, and takes very little actual time or effort on your part in return for solid returns in both direct terms — sellers calling to list with you — and indirect terms — every person who listens through your message will have heard your name and have you in mind next time they think about changing agents.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Voicemail can have an impact similar to a letter.

• Voicemail campaigns have open rates up to 96%.

• Various vendors can help you design effective voicemail campaigns.

• • •

THE BEST WAY TO STAND OUT FROM YOUR COMPETITIONHow can you establish yourself as an expert in your field and earn automatic respect from clients and expireds? Become an authority. Stand out with your knowledge and experience.

Think about when you hand out a business card or mail out letters. Most business mail goes directly

into the trash, and people get business cards all the time. They’re nice to give out, but

they don’t help you stand out that much.

The same goes for your personal website or email. They’re something you must

have, but they rarely create a point of difference that will stick in someone’s mind.

What can do that then? Books. Books have giant perceived value. They might get tucked away somewhere,

but few people throw them out. They have value to readers, and they’re worth something to the author’s name.

Have you ever heard of Maya Angelou? You probably didn’t know she was the fifth-most trusted celebrity according to a study done by Forbes in 2013. She was a professor, but is most famous for writing seven autobiographical books.

Gary Keller wrote his first book in 2004. The Keller Williams brand was already huge by then, but since he started to publish books, company growth has skyrocketed. He’s been number one on The New York Times Bestseller List, and he’s a national figure. On a smaller scale, that’s what becoming an expert can do for you.

A statistic we reference all the time at Smart Agents is that 38% of

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sellers choose a Realtor based on reputation. Only 14% of sellers perceive agents as honest. According to semi-annual Gallup polls, only 20% of Americans rate real estate agents “high/very high” in terms of honesty and ethical standards, and that number has hovered around the same level for the last 40 years!

Smart owners — especially owners of luxury homes — look right past marketing gimmicks. Offering to buy their home if it doesn’t sell in a certain amount of time won’t convince them. Being an author, though, has the power to distance you from gimmicky marketing.

When you give a book to a seller or prospective buyer — a book with your name and professional headshot on the cover — you’re branding yourself as an expert in a way that gets right past most defenses.

Here’s another example: Toyota vs. Lexus. In fact, Toyota owns Lexus. The Toyota Avalon looks a lot like the Lexus GS. It’s hard to tell the difference.

But the price of the Lexus is 42% higher than the Toyota. No dealer is going to get $48,600 for the car with the Toyota brand on it, but Lexus brands themselves and the GS as a luxury concept.

You can do the same thing with your headshot on a book and you as the author. You won’t be condemned by the 86% of sellers who don’t trust Realtors. Your book builds the trust you need just by existing.

It’s no harder to get a “yes” from a million-dollar seller than a $100,000 seller, if you have authority. It’s worked for one of our Realtors. Joe Nicholson was a landscaper. He had no experience, and needed to get out of the ditch-digging business. We built him the first three customized books we offer and he started to hand them out.

Open houses don’t sell many listings. In 2014 only 9% of buyers found their house from open houses. Almost everyone uses the internet now. But open houses are a great place to hand out books. This is what Joe found: people keep the books, then they say, “Hey, I know a Realtor, and I have his book” to people they know are looking to sell.

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Joe had never sold a home before, but the books alone created an image of an experienced, storied expert. He followed through on the implementation and listed a high-end home for $1 million. The doctor who sold it was impressed and recommended him to another doctor, with whom Joe listed a $3 million beachfront home.

Joe did a great job on the sale and handled the contract perfectly, but the books were the defining point of difference that drove the opportunity; his talent might have made the sale, but that talent would have been worthless if nobody wanted to let him use it.

Being the author of a book conveys legitimacy and instantly transforms your communication with a seller.

BOOKS ARE KNOWLEDGE

Walk into almost any home and you’ll notice bookshelves, where the owners showcase the books they value. People hold book signings. It’s a whole different concept than just chasing leads.

Books are the best way to increase your referrals. Did you know that 68% of clients say they would never refer an agent, and 38% never do it? So when you meet with your listings, give them three or four books and ask them to hand them out to anyone they choose.

Pay attention to who writes these books. People pay ghostwriters big money to create a book for them. Then they put their picture on the front and market themselves as the expert. JFK did. George W. Bush did. Each used books to reinforce his brand.

We offer 14 different books with cover variations for our members. It’s much cheaper than paying $20,000 or so for a ghostwriter. Our members also get drop-off packages for each book.

You can position yourself as an author and expert on your business website or create a special author site. Offer a free copy from your site. Don’t overlook giving books to neighbors and friends.

If you’re a great, hardworking agent like Joe, share that with everyone you can. Sharing real expertise with people is the opposite of a gimmick. Top lawyers write books; top doctors write books.

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It’s what the authorities in any industry do to set themselves apart.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Books provide effective marketing because the public perceives books as having lasting value.

• Being recognized as an author is the surest way to distinguish yourself as a trusted authority.

• Offering a book with your name and picture on it breaks down barriers to trust and communication.

• Experts in all industries work with ghostwriters or other professionals to create their books.

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HOW TO WRITE A BOOK THAT GETS YOU LISTINGSHere is the most basic thing that people don’t seem to understand about writing a book: books get you listings. It’s just a matter of doing it right.

You can’t be pretentious and expect to get listings. Instead, you should write your book using what I call “Sales English.” It’s almost like slang; it’s normal English that people use every day. That might not make English teachers happy, but it works best to

get your point across. Keep things conversational and easy-to-understand, and people

are more receptive, more at-ease.

When I first started doing marketing, I mailed out a letter to a seller with an expired in a very highly educated area where a major university is located. When they first called, they complained about the grammar and spelling — it wasn’t professional enough, not formal enough. But in spite of the grammar and spelling problems, they still wanted me to list their house! I guess they liked what I had to say, regardless of how I said it. Schoolbook grammar doesn’t get listings, but being approachable does.

Sometimes you’ll use choppy English, such as, “It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Superman!”

The bestselling movies don’t always win the most awards. When The Shawshank Redemption was released in 1994, it was an immediate favorite of critics. It was nominated for seven Oscars and won more than a dozen awards. Twenty years later, The Shawshank Redemption is considered one of the greatest movies of all time.

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But here’s the thing: The Flintstones, a live-action remake of the 1960s cartoon series, was released the same year. Needless to say, it was not nominated for Best Film at the Oscars. This film won a Razzie Award for Worst Female Performance and Worst Screenplay, and it was a nominee for Worst Movie of 1994.

Critics hated The Flintstones, but it made more than four times as much as The Shawshank Redemption at the box office. Personally, I’d rather get a whole bunch of listings than win awards for my writing.

I don’t use super big, fancy words. You just need people to understand what you’re talking about. Focus on your book’s readability.

What is readability? Well, let’s use an analogy for computers. All of the computer industries want to make their products “user-friendly.” A computer should be easy for an average person — not just a rocket scientist — to operate.

Your book should be user-friendly as well. It should use everyday language and not require the reader to be a Harvard graduate or English major to read it.

I’ll bet you didn’t know this, but in America, more than 27 million adults cannot read. An additional 46 million are either functionally illiterate or marginally illiterate.

Make sure that you don’t use technical words that people don’t understand. For example, I recently received an email that said, “How to Find a Great CRO.”

Even though I have been in marketing for a long time and I’m very knowledgeable about it, I did not know what a CRO was. I barely understand today, even after opening the email and trying to figure it out.

The point is, lots of people don’t understand acronyms and technical jargon such as CMA, BPO, FMV, etc. Use words that readers understand.

You also want to make sure that you sound like a real human

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being. Don’t use vague or pompous-sounding language to try to impress people. Nobody’s going to be impressed unless you actually help them solve their problem.

Personal is good, professional is good, but corporate is bad. You don’t want to sound corporate.

Another way to cut through all the clutter and get people to read and understand is to use lots and lots of stories. Out of all the things I’ve done, telling stories is the most effective.

I remember reading about a study where researchers compared the brain waves of two people who were communicating with each other. Whenever someone was telling somebody else a story, their brain waves synced up almost 95%.

A story is the most powerful way that you can get your message understood by another party — there’s a reason people are still familiar with some stories thousands of years after they were first told.

HERE ARE THE STEPS THAT I GO THROUGH TO WRITE A BOOK:

#1: Plan out your chapters. First, determine what you want to write about. If we’re mailing to expireds, the first thing I want to talk about is their feeling of hopelessness. They often feel there isn’t much they can do to influence whether or not their house sells.

Start with your overall theme. Then, think about each of the sub-topics you want to talk about. Each of those can be a chapter.

#2: Get all of your notes on paper. Write everything down. It doesn’t have to be perfectly organized. It just needs to be on paper.

#3: Write out the guts of your book. I recommend keeping your notes in front of you while you do this. It will make it much easier.

#4: Edit the book to make it easier to read and easier to understand. Any sentences that are too long need to be reduced or chopped into two sentences.

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Here is something that makes editing much easier: simply read your writing out loud. Misspellings, incorrect grammar, and hard to understand sentences will stand out like a sore thumb.

• • •

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THE EASIEST WAY TO LIST EXPIREDSI’ve tried every strategy out there, and this is what I do today that gets the most listings. When I first started out, I did a lot of cold-calling and became sufficiently good at it to get listings.

I developed my own scripts, worked on voice inflection, and honed methods for handling objections. However, I knew there was a better way. So I put a lot of time into direct mail. I’ve obtained a lot of listings from direct mail.

Then I started mailing out books. That worked even better than direct mail. And eventually, I found that this worked best:

Mail the sellers a book and then follow up by phone four or five days later. I call this “warm-calling.” You get the results that a good cold-caller gets, without the rejection. Often, when you follow up, people recognize your name.

“Oh yeah. You’re the guy who mailed that book to me,” they say.

We recently did a marketing test in our area to see how this worked. We picked 10 homes that were for sale by owner, and we sent each of them a copy of my For Sale by Owner Guide.

Out of those 10 homes, one owner called back with no further prompting, and we met with him to talk about listing his house. However, we went back and called the other nine and set up appointments with two more of them.

By following up, we tripled the results we would have gotten by just mailing out the book and waiting for them to call. Why? Because we discovered that some owners were already interested in working with our team but had procrastinated in calling us.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• An excellent way to get listings is to mail sellers your book and follow up by phone a few days later.

• Often, homeowners impressed by your book simply procrastinate, so call them back instead.

• • •

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HOW TO STAND OUT IN THE EXPIRED’S MAILBOXThe key to standing out in the expired’s mailbox is to look different from everyone else. Think back to my example of an insurance

company’s envelope — the one that was an obvious solicitation.

The one thing you must not do is tell homeowners who you are until you’ve already had a chance to sell them on why they should switch to your company.

Mailing a letter in an envelope works fine, but what if you could mail a package instead?

Like a FedEx Package! That’s way more likely to get opened than a letter, isn’t it? Unfortunately, FedEx is expensive compared to normal mailings.

I recommend mailing your letter in a 9×12 manila envelope. I have found that the bigger the envelope, the more people open it. Why? Well, most people don’t get many 9 × 12 manila envelopes. Anything in one automatically stands out and seems important, worth the recipient’s time — or at least makes them curious enough to pop the envelope open.

Today, when we mail our books, we mail them in a clear envelope with a cover letter. It stands out from all their other mail.

Our package is usually the biggest thing that sellers have received that day, so they take it a lot more seriously. They open the package, read my book, and call me to list their house.

I’ve had a lot of success mailing big letters to expireds. Before I developed my books, I mailed out what I called a “rocket.” It’s a

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big mailing packet filled with as much material as I can fit in there.

I put 24 pages inside my rocket. Why so big? Because you get noticed. You stand out from all the calls and letters they get from other people. Everyone else mails a basic form letter. Not me!

You want to mail your rocket in a big 9 × 12 manila envelope. Inside, you want to include a letter that talks about the sellers’ biggest frustration, or their biggest goal. Here’s a quick example:

“Here’s how to sell your house for top dollar with the least amount of work.”

That’s not what I use today. My headlines are much more advanced than that. But focus your letter on the seller’s biggest pain point or potential benefit related to the sale of their home.

Then write about why they should hire you. The letter should be seven to 10 pages long, with all the different reasons why you’re the best choice to make their sale.

At the end of that letter, add a Case Studies Sheet. On the Case Studies Sheet, list five to 10 houses that you sold after other Realtors failed (refer back to Chapter 7 for an example of my Case Studies Sheet).

If you don’t have those case studies yourself, then use case studies from your brokerage. For example, if you work at ABC Realty, and they have a great track record of selling homes that other Realtors were unable to sell, then use some of their case studies.

If you’re using your brokerage’s case studies, then just change the wording. Write about how ABC Realty sold them rather than yourself.

The case studies are the most important thing you can add to your letter. Last of all, put in your marketing plan.

These days, I mail out my book instead of a rocket, but the method I described above is what I did for a long time, and it worked pretty well.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Don’t mail a letter to sellers that gives away the name of your company on the envelope.

• A clear envelope with a cover letter lets recipients see your most important message first.

• Mail sellers letters of up to 10 pages. Use 9 × 12 manila envelopes that stand out from other mail.

• Focus on sellers’ biggest frustration or biggest goal.

• Include a Case Studies Sheet of houses you or your brokerage firm sold that other agents couldn’t sell.

• Include your marketing plan with the letter.

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THE INNOVATIVE MARKETING APPROACH MOST AGENTS IGNOREFacebook 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.

Compile your leads from the MLS or by using the instructions from back in Chapter 12. 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.

CHAPTER 2677

Smart Agents offers detailed training with videos for our members. The first type of targeted ad to run is a house value ad, which you’ll want to slant toward expireds.

5 COMPONENTS TO A GOOD FACEBOOK AD

1. Ad text: It needs to be at least one sentence long, explaining what your offer is and ending 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: Grab attention quickly in just one or two lines of text. Try “Trouble selling your home?” or something similar.

4. Link description: Put this directly underneath the headline to provide more information and reinforce your offer.

5. Call-to-action button: Facebook has nine options. Choose the most relevant for your offer. There’s also a detailed, step-by-step walk-through on how to set up these pages and your ads.

Running a house value blog article with a banner ad to your home value page is also a great way to go. Expireds are interested in articles that address their situation. They’ll click on the article and be directed to your site, then see that you are the expert in this niche.

All of these things give you a point of difference and can make you an online authority.

The other great thing to market on Facebook is your books. If you are a member and have written these with us, then promote them, saying something like, “Have a home that didn’t sell? This book reveals why homes don’t sell, common mistakes that people make, and how to correct them and sell your home fast for top dollar.”

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TROUBLESHOOTING FACEBOOK ADS

Every Realtor or agent will have a few Facebook ads that don’t bring in leads. Here are some tips on troubleshooting ads that fail to generate leads.

Bad Ad Copy

People usually don’t use Facebook to buy things related to their housing search or sale, so they’ll ignore anything stale or unengaging. What gets clicks — and eventually leads — is providing information. Pique readers’ interest by offering a free home valuation or some sort of evaluation.

Create an ad that answers the important questions people in your niche are asking. Show them you want to help solve their problem.

Including a question in your ad copy is a good way to engage readers and get them to click your call-to-action button.

Targeting the Wrong Audience

It’s important to create the right custom audience. Upload your contacts to the audience list in Facebook Ad Builder. When you first post something on Facebook, you will have the option to “Boost” the post. Do not do this until you have your audience groups set up.

Target audiences in your area and within a realistic age range. The other way to populate your audience is to pull audiences from similar pages — or other real estate-related pages — into Ad Builder.

Having a Poor Landing Page

Not having a landing page is just as bad. You have to take the viewers to a landing or “squeeze” page where you can ask for and record their personal information. Make sure you have a custom landing page that’s very specific for each niche in your marketing effort.

People will look for any slight reason not to provide their personal information. They must be assured they are giving their

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information in the exact place that will benefit them. At the first indication that you’re not giving them what they want or what they were promised, they will leave.

Keep it straightforward and make sure the branding, wording, and everything else is consistent with the ad.

Facebook changes all the time, which is the reason we don’t want to go into too much detail on how to use it, but if you can manage to get it set up correctly, Facebook can provide targeted leads.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Facebook can deliver ads to targeted audiences.

• When using Facebook Ads, be careful to use effective headlines, images, text, and calls to action.

• • •

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POWERFUL EXPIRED APPROACHES THAT MOST AGENTS OVERLOOKHere are some powerful approaches to getting expired listings that most agents overlook.

Yes, you can cold-call. Yes, you can mail a letter. But all of your competitors have already thought of those strategies. Here are some “outside the box” ideas.

Send a message on Facebook. Let’s imagine you’ve identified an owner in your area whose house has expired. Just log into Facebook and find that individual.

Your message could be something like this:

“Hey, ______. My name is _____. I’m a Realtor. I saw your house was for sale with another Realtor and it didn’t sell.

I’ve got a couple of ideas on some different strategies that could be used to sell your house for top dollar without dropping the price. Let me know if you’re interested. Thank you.”

Send a message very similar to what you would say in your voice

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CHAPTER 27

mail, what you would say in person, and what you would say in your letter.

You can also send them an email. I’ve gotten listings from sending people an email — not a lot, but more than I would have gotten if I hadn’t done it. I think there is a lot of opportunity here for the agent who invests the time and perfects the system.

It’s pretty easy to get email addresses to work with; just Google the seller’s name. You’ll be able to find the email addresses for perhaps 30% of the people you look up. Another way to find their email is to use a service such as Intelius (www.Intelius.com).When you find the email address, you can verify it by matching the individual’s street address.

You can find emails for 50% to 60% of the people you look up. If you really want to leverage this, hire a virtual assistant to look up the emails of all the expireds and email them on your behalf.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Sending sellers a message on Facebook can give you an advantage over agents who overlook this tactic.• To find sellers’ email addresses, Google them or use a service such as Intelius.

• • •

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18 EMAILS YOU CAN SEND EXPIREDS TO SNAG THE LISTINGThese emails are available to members for download. Feel free to copy their style and use the content for your own expired listing prospecting.

SAMPLE EMAIL 1:

Subject: Change in Housing Market

Dear Homeowner:

Several months ago, you dropped your active attempts at selling your property.

Those attempts were not successful for one reason or another, and that may be the reason for your withdrawal from the market.

However, the market has changed, and your requirements have probably changed too.

Consequently, I believe that there is a real possibility that the sale of your property could be realized NOW in a way that was not possible just a few short months ago.

But here are a couple of things that never change when it comes to getting real estate sold:

BE CAREFUL NOT TO PRICE IT TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW. If you go too high, even if a buyer doesn’t know any

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CHAPTER 28

better, the appraiser blows the whistle to the lender and the deal is off.

If you go too low, everyone thinks there’s a problem with the property. If you price it too low you may be selling far below market value, and you will not realize the profit you should.

IF YOU WANT TO SELL, MAKE IT EASY TO BUY! Don’t forget that you have competition out there! Don’t make it difficult for a buyer to see it, appreciate it, afford it, or close it.

The bottom line here is that if you need results, then we should be talking with each other. I’ll be in touch with you shortly.

Sincerely yours,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

SAMPLE EMAIL 2:

Subject: The Secret Method I Use to Sell Homes

Dear Homeowner:

It is my understanding that a property you own was listed for sale, but that the listing agreement expired before it could sell.

If that is true, and you still have an interest in selling, and you have not re-listed with a real estate broker, then I’d like the chance to SHOW you exactly why the place did not sell and what you could do about it from this point on.

I am aware that this property is not your residence, and that may have influenced your strategy over the past couple of months while offering it for sale.

Certainly selling rentals or second homes is different than selling one’s own residence. Those differences must be

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capitalized upon or the built-in advantages will be lost, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by problems.

In short, what I would like is simply the opportunity to meet with you and ask you a couple of direct questions about your intentions and goals. If I can help, I’ll show you precisely how. I will call you in the near future to set up an appointment.

Sincerely yours,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

SAMPLE EMAIL 3:

Subject: What’s Your Excuse?

Dear Homeowner:

Your property has been listed, but not sold in the best market we have had in over 30 YEARS! There are...

NO EXCUSES!!

WE SPECIALIZE IN PROPERTY THAT SHOULD HAVE SOLD, BUT DIDN’T!

We would like to interview for the job of selling your property. We have a unique plan for marketing your specific property and would welcome the opportunity to discuss it with you.

Please call me at 555-1212 ANYTIME!

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

P.S. In this market, the agent DOES make the difference!

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SAMPLE EMAIL 4:

Subject: My Marketing Can Sell Your Home

Dear Homeowner:

Just a note to say I’m sorry your house didn’t sell. Please don’t be too discouraged.

I have analyzed your home’s salability and I am happy to report that if marketed correctly, your home can still be quickly sold for a good price.

However, if the sale is not handled expertly at this point, your property may become “stale,” and the price may have to be reduced to “below market” to affect a timely sale.

Obviously, this is a situation to be avoided.

Give me a call and I’ll explain the proven strategy I use to get “expired” listings quickly sold for top market value.

Please think about this seriously. If you list again, doesn’t it make sense to select an agent who knows how to refresh the marketing so that your home has all the appeal of a brand new listing?

Please call me at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

SAMPLE EMAIL 5:

Subject: My Checklist Will Guarantee Your Home Sells

Dear Homeowner:

So your house didn’t sell. Seems like you need something different. That’s me.

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Now that the listing has expired, you should call me now for two reasons. The first reason is that I limit the number of people I represent. The second is that I only take listings I can sell.

If your previous agent worked the way I do, you wouldn’t be in this dilemma. Let’s see what we can do to get the job finished quickly.

Call me anytime day or night. In fact, I’d be happy to chat with you this evening!

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

P.S. I’ll also give you a copy of our “salability checklist” which is the only tool you can use that will guarantee your property will sell.

Give me a call .I’ll drop by for a few minutes and just share some info. The worst that can happen is you’ll find out for sure why your property didn’t sell.

SAMPLE EMAIL 6:

Subject: You Don’t Need to Lower Your Listings Price with Me

Dear Homeowner:

Just a quick note to follow up on the letter I sent you last week. Have you had the time to consider it?

When listing your house for a second time, selecting the right agent is crucial!

Remember, I have analyzed your home’s salability and I am confident that if marketed correctly, your home can still be sold quickly for a good price.

On the other hand, if the sale is not handled expertly at this

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point, you run the risk of a much longer marketing period and losing thousands of dollars.

This is because the property may become “stale,” and the price may have to be reduced to “below market” value to effect a timely sale.

I can ensure this situation is avoided. Give me a call and I’ll explain our proven marketing strategy, which gets “expired” listings quickly sold for top market value.

Although you are re-listing, we can ensure that your home receives as much attention as the brand new listings.

I’m sure you can understand how important this is, and I suggest that you meet with me as soon as possible if you are serious about successfully completing the sale of your home.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

P.S. If you have any specific questions on the market or marketing process, I’d be happy to get them answered for you A.S.A.P.

SAMPLE EMAIL 7:

Subject: Price Isn’t the Reason Your Listing Expired

Dear Homeowner:

I analyze expired listings almost every night. It helps me keep up to date. I finished a little early last night because not as many homes are expiring lately, so I decided to look over some of the older expired listings.

Usually I can tell right away why a property didn’t sell, but the reason yours didn’t isn’t so obvious.

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In many cases like yours, I have found that a simple oversight may have prevented your sale — and contrary to popular belief it isn’t always the price.

Did your last agent use a salability checklist? A salability checklist is the result of years of research and is the only tool that guarantees your property will sell.

It also reveals any weak points in your previous marketing strategy.

I’d be happy to drop over for a few minutes and give you a copy. I’ll explain how it works and see if you have any questions.

Unlike many agents today, I don’t use pressure selling techniques. In fact, I promise I won’t even ask for the listing unless you first give me permission. How does that sound?

Please call me to discuss.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

SAMPLE EMAIL 8:

Subject: All Agents Aren’t the Same

Dear Homeowner:

Hi. [YOUR NAME HERE] here again.

I guess you’re finding out by now that the owners of expired listings get a lot of visits and calls from real estate agents.

I’m hoping that you would prefer to deal with an established professional who respects your privacy.

I know that it must have been hard trying to sell your house without success. The last thing I’m going to do is add to that bad

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experience by dropping in at all hours and phoning you endlessly.

However, I do want to impress upon you that I should definitely be consulted before you commit to another listing with anyone.

Why? Because all real estate agents are not created equal.

My marketing techniques are the most advanced in the industry, and my extremely low expired listing ratio proves that they work.

I will custom tailor a marketing program to suit your home and situation. I even have a specialized strategy to recharge interest in a listing that has expired, like yours did.

Why do I go to all this extra effort? Because you deserve the best.

Let me do my best for you. Call me in for an interview today. I guarantee you’ll see a difference.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

P.S .I’ll also give you a copy of our salability checklist, which is the only tool you can use that will guarantee your property will sell. Give me a call.

I’ll drop over for just a few minutes and share some important facts. The worst that can happen is you’ll find out for sure why your property didn’t sell.

SAMPLE EMAIL 9:

Subject: Buyer May Be Interested

Dear Homeowner:

Hi. Just a quick note to see how you’re doing. Do you still want to sell your house?

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I need to know because our office is currently working with a number of extremely motivated buyers, and we’re seriously looking for good homes to sell!

Sales activity in our office this month seems to indicate that the market is heating up. If you’d like a quick no-hassle sale at a fair price, give me a call. I’ll drop over and tell you for sure if we can get your house sold. If I don’t think we can sell it, I’ll tell you that, too. Sounds reasonable doesn’t it?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

P.S. I’ve prepared some information entitled “Timing Is Everything,” which will help you decide when to re-enter the market. Love to share it with you. Please give me a call soon.

SAMPLE EMAIL 10:

Subject: See What I Can Do Differently to Sell Your Home

Dear Homeowner:

Just a note to follow up and tell you how I see the situation, then you can tell me if I understand it correctly.

You had your home on the market and the agent you had was unable to sell it. Now you’re thinking it’s probably a good idea to hold off for a while before continuing with trying to sell the home.

Since then, many agents have approached you asking you to re-list. How am I doing so far?

Well, that’s not how I work. I use a simple process to make things easy for both of us.

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First, I’ll ask you a few important questions so that I can be sure of what it is that you’re trying to accomplish.

Then I’ll look around the home, and more specifically, I’d like you to show me the things you wish the agent had paid more attention to, and tell me in detail why you bought the home.

We’ll sit down for a few minutes and carefully analyze why the home didn’t sell.

I’ll give you my honest opinion of its value, and what I feel you can expect to net. I’ll explain why we’re so different from our competitors and why you’ll get more through us.

Then, we’ll be in a much better position to know whether we want to pursue this and carry on any further.

And if you decide you don’t want list with me, don’t worry. I won’t mind a bit, because I’m only interested in taking on new clients who feel GOOD about going ahead.

Why not check out what we have to offer?

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

SAMPLE EMAIL 11:

Subject: I Noticed Your Listing

Dear Homeowner:

Is your house still available? If I had a buyer, would you still like to sell? The reason I ask is that I was reviewing some of the expired listings last night, and I was amazed yours didn’t sell. I’m curious why.

Let me ask you this: what one thing do you think your agent should have done? Call me and let me know. I’ll give you my professional opinion on whether that’s why it didn’t sell.

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In any case, you can be sure that if I handle the property I’ll ask this and many more questions BEFORE the listing expires.

Listening intensely to my clients is one of the techniques I use to get the job done at top speed and for top dollar.

Why not list with a top agent? Please call me if there is anything I can do.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

SAMPLE EMAIL 12:

Subject: I Can Sell Your Home

Dear Homeowner:

There is a reason we haven’t met. I thought it was important to let you know where I was when your house was on the market: I was busy selling our clients’ homes.

You see, we sort of specialize in selling our own listings first, and lately we’ve been very successful at it.

I’d like to help you get your house successfully sold too. Please give me a call if you still want your home sold, but this time with the right agent.

I’ll explain how we’ll make sure you get the results you want without delay.

Please call me as soon as you are ready to talk.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

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SAMPLE EMAIL 13:

Subject: Noticed Your Listing Expired, I Have Some Advice

Dear Homeowner:

Just a note to share some important advice. Sometimes when your home doesn’t sell you might, understandably, get discouraged.

Different people deal with the experience in different ways, but there is one way you shouldn’t deal with it, at least without seeking professional advice.

Renovations often seem to make logical sense when you can’t figure out why your house didn’t sell, and in some cases it is wise to do them.

However, in the years of home selling experience we at [INSERT COMPANY NAME] have had, we have seen numerous cases where a quality renovation made the house much nicer… AND COST THE OWNER A LOT OF MONEY.

With many renovations, typically, you’ll only recover 50 cents on the dollar. There are a few improvements that will make you money, depending on the condition of your house, but most end up just costing you more money than they ever make back.

If you are thinking of spending any money on the home before re-marketing, call me — I don’t mind when — and let me know what you’re thinking of doing.

I’ll give you a little feedback just to make sure you don’t make a big mistake.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

P.S. Are you still thinking of a move? Home sales in our office seem to be picking up.

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SAMPLE EMAIL 14:

Subject: I Can Solve Your Expired Listing

Dear Homeowner:

It has come to my attention that the listing has just expired on your property at this address.

If that is true, and if you’re still interested in selling this property, and if you have not re-listed the property with another real estate broker, then YOU AND I SHOULD BE TALKING!

Why? Because this property is sellable and I’m the one who will get the job done!

How can I do that when others have tried and failed? It’s pretty simple, really. I understand my job a little differently.

My job is to remove any possible barrier to a sale and replace it with a bridge to your success, such as:

To create the widest possible demand for your home (with your permission), and possibly even get potential buyers to bid against each other for the right to buy.

I’ve got a couple of ideas about what went wrong for you before. I would like the opportunity to see the property while asking you a few direct questions about what you want to accomplish, and then I can get started for you.

This way, if you decide not to sell again, you’ll know what went wrong, and if you decide to try again — with a broker or without — at least you will know a little more about selling.

You’ll be hearing from me soon.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

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SAMPLE EMAIL 15:

Subject: Market Has Changed

Dear Homeowner:

Several months ago, you dropped your active attempts at selling your property. Those attempts were not successful for one reason or another, and that may be the reason for your withdrawal from the market.

However, the market has changed, and your requirements have probably changed. Consequently, I believe there is a real possibility that the sale of your property could be realized NOW in a way that was not possible just a few months ago.

But here are a couple of things that never change when it comes to getting real estate sold:

1. BE CAREFUL NOT TO PRICE IT TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW. If you go too high, even if a buyer doesn’t know any better, the appraiser blows the whistle to the lender and the deal is off.

If you go too low, everyone thinks there’s a problem with the property. If you price it too low you may be selling far below market value, and you will not realize the profit you should.

2. IF YOU WANT TO SELL, MAKE IT EASY, NOT HARD, TO BUY! Don’t forget that you have competition out there! Don’t make it difficult for a buyer to see it, appreciate it, afford it, or close it.

The bottom line is that if you need results, then we should be talking with each other. I’ll be in touch with you shortly.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

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SAMPLE EMAIL 16:

Subject: I Specialize in Expired Listings

Dear Homeowner:

Sorry for the barrage of calls and tons of mail you received when your listing expired. I understand. It’s awful. I am also sorry your home didn’t sell while it was listed.

I specialize in marketing expired listings with proven strategies, fresh ideas, and different options. All I need is a few minutes of your time.

Please call me at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

SAMPLE EMAIL 17:

Subject: My Marketing Plan Will Stand Out

Dear Homeowner:

Just a quick note to follow up on the letter I sent you a few days ago.

I have analyzed your home and I am confident that — if marketed correctly — your home can be sold quickly and for a good price.

Unlike other agents, I offer sellers marketing options and a way they can make extra income. Nobody else is doing it.

I’ll be happy to drop by for a few minutes and explain what I do and how it works. I don’t use any pressure to “sell” you, and you have no obligation. Fair enough?

Please call me! My number is: [INSERT YOUR NUMBER].

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Sincerely,

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

P.S. I promise I won’t even ask you to list your home, unless you insist on it.

SAMPLE EMAIL 18:

Subject: My Marketing Plan Will Stand Out

Dear Homeowner:

Is your home still available? I have not heard from you and thought that could be the reason.

If your home is still available, I’d like to help you get it successfully sold. Don’t delay, because precious time is passing.

If you’re not ready to put your home back on the market, that’s fine too. I am always ready to offer advice to all sellers, so don’t hesitate to ask. I do this for free, without any obligation.

Timing is everything. Why not discuss the possibilities I have to offer?

John Doe ABC Realty Phone: (904) 555-1212

P.S. I’d like to hear from you. You can reach me anytime at:[INSERT YOUR PHONE NUMBER.]

• • •

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HOW TO GET EVERY SELLER TO LIKE YOU AND LIST WITH YOUI’ve seen a lot of Realtors get listings even when they do a low-quality job. Often, they get those listings simply because the sellers like them.

Imagine what you could accomplish if you do a great job selling houses and still use this strategy to get more listings! That is, figuring out how to get every seller to like you — building rapport with people.

I recommend getting the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. This excellent book will show you all the ins and outs of how to build better rapport.

I have gotten a lot of listings by showing people how I do a better job at marketing their house. But I’ve also gotten a lot of listings just because I’m good at developing rapport with the seller.

Here is my biggest advantage in this area: I’m a good listener. Maybe I’m not the best, but I will sit and listen to people tell me their story for an hour, sometimes two hours (I try not to let it go that long, but if that’s what it takes...).

I remember a former architect telling me stories. I was genuinely interested because I love houses. I didn’t “back slap” him. I wasn’t fake. I asked him questions about how he had designed houses.

We talked for probably 90 minutes. Architecture has a big influence on what I do as a Realtor. I asked him how to draw the best floor plans and make a house look more attractive so it will be easier to sell.

I’m not sure that’s what got me the listing, but I think it was a big part of it.

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So listen to people. Let them talk! It makes a huge difference, because everybody wants to be heard and to feel important.

DON’T FAKE IT

You’ve got to be genuine. I’m naturally interested in architecture because it has so much to do with real estate, but let’s imagine you meet someone who works on something totally unrelated, something you’re not personally interested in — let’s use cars as an example.

Some people who work on cars make a lot of money and live in high-end homes. Talk to them about cars. “How do I figure out how to fix my car? How do I find the best mechanic?” Just talk about what their interests are and how those interests relate to you.

You don’t want them to take up too much time, but if you let them talk for a while, you’ll develop really good rapport.

Here’s something else that has helped me develop rapport. I used to be very argumentative. After reading Carnegie’s book and becoming better at listening, I stopped arguing so much. Sure, the seller might say something you completely disagree with, something you think is unremittingly stupid. So what? You’re not there to correct them, you’re there to talk them into listing their home with you.

As a result, I get along with everybody a lot better, and not just on listing presentations. I’m also better at interacting with other Realtors and people at the office.

Here’s how to get someone to like you instantly: find one thing on which you can genuinely compliment them. You can find something positive about everybody you meet.

Here’s an example: my hair is starting to thin. Let’s imagine that I met somebody who had a thick head of hair. I could positively compliment them and say, “Wow, you have a really nice head of hair. I wish I had hair like yours.” It has nothing to do with their house, but people can be awfully quick to spot a hollow compliment — better to offer a genuine one that’s off-topic than spoil your rapport with insincerity. There are lots of little things you can do to compliment people.

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Here are some other things you can do to get the seller to like you: have some empathy for their situation. Find out exactly why they are selling. Find out their goals and frustrations. Everyone wants someone to listen to them, and you will improve your odds of getting the listing.

Here’s why: you will know about their biggest concerns and problems when you give the listing presentation. That way, you are way less likely to say something stupid and lose their business. Maybe you never say something stupid — if so, then good for you! — but I know I do from time to time.

Start by asking them, “In your opinion, why didn’t the house

sell?” This is important so that you know what their expectations are and what they need to have addressed. Of course, they are not the expert and might be completely off base, but it gives you something to leverage in your presentation.

This question also will help you determine whether it’s even worth working with the seller. If they seem like someone who is going to have unreal expectations and can’t be talked down, it’s not worth working with them.

Their answer might give you insight into whether they have been willing to work on staging their home and showing it properly.

“How many showings have you had, and what was your agent’s reaction?” This question will give you an important reading into the situation. If there have been a bunch of showings, it means that people

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QUESTIONS FOR EXPIRED SELLERS• In your opinion, why didn’t the house sell?

• How many showings have you had, and what was your agent’s reaction?

• What type of marketing has your home received?

• Did you have any offers?

• Will you help market and show the home more effectively?

are interested in the property and the problem is something else.

Feedback from other agents and their customers can help redefine some seller objections so that you can address them better.

If the agent or customers showed concern over a certain area or an outdated part of the house, a price reduction might be needed. If staging was the problem, you just need to illustrate to the sellers how important it is to show a well-staged home.

“What type of marketing has your home received?” If the home seems to have been advertised properly, then it is another sign the price is too high, or maybe that the condition of the home is poor.

That’s a bad warning sign, because it may indicate that the sellers are unwilling to lower their price. Most likely, the other agent did the bare minimum by just listing the property and submitting the listing to the company to be included in their standard advertising schedule.

This will give you the opportunity to create a point of difference from the other agent. Show the owners your detailed marketing steps and everything you offer.

“Did you have any offers?” This may be the biggest factor. If the owners have been turning down reasonable offers, it shows they aren’t flexible, and if you decide it’s worth it, you’ll have to work hard to convince them to lower the price.

Find out what the offers were and how they were structured. With new information, you will be better equipped to present a pricing and marketing plan that positions the property to sell quickly.

“Will you help market and show the home more effectively?” They may need to repaint some things or make a couple of repairs. They might need to touch up the yard. This is where they have to work with you.

It’s not like the listing price, where you can invoke strategies to convince them to lower it. An owner who doesn’t put the work in is not worth your time and effort. Simple touch-ups can turn the

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sale around, but only if the seller can be bothered to make them!

There are other questions you can ask, but focus on these to get a quick read into this listing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Strive to get sellers to like you. Listen to them and demonstrate empathy for their situation.• Ask sellers questions about their past experiences trying to sell their house. The answers might reveal ways to improve on their last agent’s methods.

• • •

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DRAMATICALLY BOOST YOUR LISTING PRESENTATION CONVERSIONThere’s one thing you need to do more than anything else to boost your listing presentation conversion dramatically. It’s not complicated, but hardly anyone does this: prove that not all agents are the same. Here’s an example: I know of a guy who runs a multimillion-dollar business with 30 employees. He’s tremendously astute about sales, having spent 20 years selling all sorts of products. And yet, he couldn’t figure out which Realtor was the best in his local market.

All agents looked pretty much the same to him. Despite his sales skills, he didn’t realize that selling your house is the same as selling anything else. The Realtor’s job is this: sell the house.

This guy checked out all the Realtors in his area and interviewed several, but nobody blew him away. Nobody showed him why they were different. As a result, he disregarded special skills and just hired the agent who had sold the most.

SETTING YOURSELF APART

Here’s how I avoid appearing the same as all other agents: when I meet with sellers, I show them that real estate is not all luck and what a good Realtor can do to get better results.

The first thing I do in my presentation is to show that I was able to sell a house that another Realtor was not able to sell. I demonstrate that not all homes sell for what they are technically worth.

I’ve already laid out the basics of how I do this in Chapter 8. I found a neighborhood in which all the houses were almost identical.

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Apparently, the developer’s location was so good that he decided he could get by with one basic floor plan. And guess what? They did sell pretty well.

This neighborhood was the perfect statistical case study to prove that identical homes sell for different prices. Here are the two houses that I show in my listing presentation:

Zillow thought these townhomes were worth about the same amount of money. I might not agree with Zillow’s valuation method, but I do agree that the two houses were worth about the same amount of money.

I was personally familiar with both properties. I used to live right across the street from one of them. I researched why these homes had sold for different prices. The only difference I could uncover was that one was in better condition and the agent did a better job marketing and staging it.

Chances are you can find a neighborhood in your marketplace where all the homes are similar. Neighborhoods with condos and townhomes are excellent for this.

Then, you can meet with sellers and tell them, “Not all homes sell for what they are technically worth. Look, here’s a condo that sold on the sixth floor of this building for $450,000. A unit on the fourth floor sold for $498,000. They had similar upgrades and exactly the

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same floor plan. That’s a 10.7% difference in price to live in the same condo but two floors further down.”

Your sellers will realize that real estate isn’t all luck. The agent they hire matters. And if they hire the wrong agent, it can cost them 5%, 10%, and maybe even 15%.

Don’t “geek out” on data. You don’t need to show extreme examples. A 5% to 10% price difference is adequate.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• To differentiate yourself, explain to sellers how you sold a home that another agent could not sell.• Show them that not all homes sell for what they’re technically worth.• Identify two similar homes in a neighborhood that sold for different prices.• Show how the agent, not luck, made the difference.• You needn’t demonstrate an extreme price differential. A difference of 5% to 10% is sufficient.

• • •

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HOW TO DO A KILLER LISTING PRESENTATIONHere is the most important thing I do to get more listings: I show sellers how I can do a better job at marketing their house.

I show them how my marketing plan will increase the odds of their house selling… and selling for more money.

#1: I give the sellers a copy of my Expired book.

I gave away about 300 books in a six-month period. During that time, I listed almost 30 expireds. Each one of them received a book from me, either by mail or at their door. The front cover of my book appears on the next page (covers can be customized).

#2: I show sellers lots of case studies.

Let’s say I’m sitting down with an expired. I say, “Look at this house right here. The seller’s name was Sandy. She

had listed the property for five months with a standard Realtor, and the asking price had been $370,000. The house didn’t sell. Then she hired me. I put the house on the market at the same price, $370,000, and sold it 44 days later. She didn’t have to settle for a big price reduction. She got the price that she thought was reasonable.”

#3: I show sellers that real estate is not luck.

Not all agents are the same; I explored this at length in the previous chapter. Changing the Realtor you hire can get you a better result.

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CHAPTER 31

I show sellers that they might not get a fair price for their house if it isn’t marketed properly. And, because I have great marketing, I might be able to sell it for more than another Realtor might, or sell it faster.

#4: I show them how I will do a better job marketing their house.

I go through all the things that I do differently to get more buyers interested in the house and sell it for more. Here’s a quick list:

• I take excellent pictures.

• I understand online marketing and how to “hook” the perfect buyer.

• My marketing causes buyers to fall in love with the home and happily pay the asking price.

• I’m good at solving problems.

I don’t just rely on hype. I back up everything I say with proof. For example, when I talk about excellent pictures, I show them pictures of various houses.

While I’m sitting in the presentation I’ll say, “OK, look at this. Imagine you were looking for a house online and you’ve got these three houses right here. Which picture would you click on first?”

Here are the three houses:

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Most sellers say either the top or bottom house (the middle house is ugly). When they do that, they validate what I’ve said. There’s a difference in which house they’re going to click on first.

I show actual case studies of how I sold a house that another agent was not able to sell and sold it without dropping the price.

I show them two different pictures of the same house. Then, I ask which one they

think looks better. I show them how charm can sell a house and how I will find their home’s natural charm and showcase it.

Bottom line, I take everything that I do and show how it will get more buyers interested in their house. And it works.

Before I started using these four steps, I didn’t get a lot of listings. But once I started using them, I listed five to six expireds a month. The only reason I didn’t list more is because I didn’t have enough time!

Here are some of the powerful components built into my Instant Listing Presentation.

• I explain the seven things that I do differently than other Realtors that cause my listings to sell for more money.

• My presentation combines data with specific examples to prove that not all real estate is luck.

• I show how I use an overlooked service to post sellers’ homes to 100+ websites.

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ONLINE TOOLSYou can get a customizable copy of my listing presentation. You can customize it to how you do business and to your marketplace.

If you’d like to get your own copy of my listing presentation, just go to:

www.InstantListing Presentation.com

• You’ll learn how I use “Ad Agency Marketing” to sell houses other agents are not able to sell. The listing presentation comes with training on how to do this yourself quickly and easily.

• I provide examples of homes with good pictures (mine) and bad pictures (from another agent).

• I explain how the pictures caused the home to sell.

• I offer examples of exactly what a “charming” picture is. Then I show the contrast between a “good quality” picture and a “charming” picture.

• I present several case studies in a way that helps sellers understand how you are different.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The key to your listing presentation is to show how you can do a better job marketing the seller’s home.• Give each seller a copy of the book Expired!? A Guide for Selling Homes Others Couldn’t Sell, customized with your branding.• The Instant Listing Presentation, available at www.InstantListingPresentation.com, contains everything you need to customize a successful presentation for your marketplace.

• • •

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ABOUT THE AUTHORBen Curry is one of 10 children. Ben’s dad worked hard to provide a good life for his kids. Consequently, he didn’t have a problem getting his kids to help around the yard.

Ben’s parents had 16 acres and a plant nursery. He spent many afternoons in his childhood pulling weeds, mowing, and working on a never-ending list of projects.

Ben got his start in real estate when he was 19, beginning as a buyer’s agent with a large real estate team in Gainesville, Florida.

Eventually, Ben moved over to the listings side of the business. He paid the bills, but never excelled at listings.

After the real estate market crashed, Ben got into short sales. He became one of the best short-sale negotiators in the country and successfully negotiated more than 70 short sales during the downturn. Most of them were approved in 45–60 days.

Eventually, Ben found his calling with direct-response copywriting. Once the real estate market picked up, he decided to test his new skills in real estate.

At first, he failed miserably. None of his marketing expertise was bringing in listings! Even though he worked hard for his customers, he was just not a “sell ice to Eskimos” type.

Ben went back to his old job and worked on some new marketing strategies — specifically, real estate books. On the next page, you can see some of the books that Ben helped develop.

On the next page, see some of the “Listing Getting” books that Ben helped develop.

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Ben developed several listings tools that all work together. Any agent who uses these tools can get a lot of listings quickly and easily.

Once he perfected tools, Ben decided to give real estate another try, and he got back into the business. The results were much different this time around. He listed six homes in his second month in the business. Throughout the next six months, he listed 35 homes, most of which were expired listings. You can see some of them on the next page.

Here are some of the 35 homes that Ben listed in a six-month period, selling real estate in Jacksonville, Florida:

During that time, he perfected his entire book-based marketing system. Today, you can increase your success in real estate dramatically using the same system that Ben developed.

If you’d like to get the system, send an email to support@smartagents.com. Tell them you’d like more information on the Book Leads Program.

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