For real estate agents, approaching sellers of expired listings can be a golden opportunity, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. Sellers are often frustrated, skeptical, and cautious, having already endured the disappointment of an unsuccessful sale. In this article, we will delve into the three most common objections that agents hear from expired listing sellers and provide actionable strategies to overcome these hurdles. By understanding and addressing these objections effectively, agents can build trust, demonstrate their expertise, and ultimately win more expired listings. We've included some of the best expired listing scripts to help you do just that.
The Top 3 Expired Listing Objections:
These are the top 3 objections that come up most often when dealing with expired listing sellers.
1. "The Home Is No Longer For Sale"
This is typically the go-to line that you'll hear from expired listing sellers who've just come off the market. They're usually quite frustrated- and rightfully so. They did not get the result they were after when they listed their home for sale on the market and to make matters worse, there are now dozens of real estate agents calling them every day to try to re-list their home. So, how can we break-through the noise and overcome what they are telling us in order to best-serve them?
How to overcome this objection
Overcoming the objection of "the home is no longer for sale" starts with understanding what the original motivation for selling was in the first place. Try asking a series of questions that go something like this:
Seller: "The home is no longer for sale"
Agent: "If I'm hearing you correctly, it sounds like your home is off the market indefinitely. Is that right?"
Seller: "That is correct. We are no longer selling the home."
Agent: "Understood. Now, {name}, if you don't mind me asking- where were you planning to move when your home was listed on the market?"
Seller: "We were going to Utah to be closer to our children."
Agent: "That is awesome, Utah is such a beautiful place. What was it that made you change your mind about going to be with the kids?"
Seller: "We weren't getting the offers that we expected so we decided to stay put for now."
Agent: "That can be such a frustrating experience- I totally understand that you're probably just fed up with the whole process, is that fair to say?"
Seller: "Yes that is correct."
Agent: "Well, {name}, if you were able to get your asking price in today's market it sounds like you'd still like to get up to Utah to be with your kids, is that right?"
Seller: "Yes if we could get the price that we wanted, of course."
Agent: "I am going to be in the area this evening helping a neighbor. What I can do is swing by your home and bring over some information to leave you with. While I'm there I'll be able to tell you if I honestly believe that I could sell your home for your desired price- it shouldn't take me more than 10 or 15 minutes. How does 6:00 sound?"
Seller: "Sure, that should be fine."
Agent: "Wonderful, I'll see you this evening!"
By understanding the seller's motivation for making a move in the first place, you can better approach the situation from a place of empathy. This will help you stand out from the rest of the agents who call and don't offer any real value.
2. "I am going to re-list with my previous agent"
Another common response you'll hear from expired listing sellers is that they are going to bring the home back on the market with the same agent. This is usually the path of least resistance for most sellers because it does not involve the process of interviewing new agents again and starting all over from scratch. However, this option is almost never in their best interest.
How to overcome this objection
Overcoming the objection of "I'm going to re-list with my previous agent" starts with understanding how their experience has been with this agent up to this point. Try asking a series of questions that go something like this:
Seller: "I'm going to re-list the home with my previous agent."
Agent: "I hear you, and as a matter of fact that's what a lot of folks in your same position do simply because its the easiest option. But let me ask you a question - do you feel that your previous agent did everything that they could to try and get your home sold?"
Seller: "Yes they worked very hard."
Agent: "I'm sure they did. Would you agree that they worked so hard that they've probably exhausted all of their resources and knowledge to try to sell the home?"
Seller: "Yes"
Agent: "So let me ask you - what are they going to do differently this time to achieve a different result?"
Seller: "I am not quite sure."
Agent: "While I understand you've elected to work with the same agent again, you owe it to yourself to at least get a second opinion. Wouldn't you agree?"
Seller: "Sure"
Agent: "I will be in the area this evening and I'll be more than happy to stop by and see if there's anything that I believe could be done differently to achieve the sale that you were looking for. That way, at least you'll know that you're making the right decision whichever way you decide to move forward. Would say, 6:00 work?"
Seller: "Sure"
Agent: "Great. I will see you this evening."
By simply offering them a second opinion you can get your foot in the door to start building rapport. When you get face to face, be sure to clearly showcase your value and what you can bring to the table that their previous agent couldn't.
3. "I'm Just going to sell it on my own"
It's not uncommon for frustrated sellers to take matters into their own hands when their home doesn't sell. Unfortunately - doing so often results in a significantly lower sales price compared to if it were sold using proper marketing techniques and exposure. This is the message that needs to be conveyed in order to effectively serve expired listing sellers who are thinking of selling the home on their own. (FSBO)
Seller: "I'm not going to re-list with another agent, I am just going to try to sell it on my own."
Agent: "I totally get it. I'm sure you're just so frustrated with dealing with real estate agents after your recent experience."
Seller: "That's exactly right."
Agent: "Well, {name}, I take it your number one priority is to net as much as possible through the sale of your home, is that correct?"
Seller: "Absolutely."
Agent: "And I'm sure you've already seen all of the stats about how much lower homes tend to sell without an agent versus when they are listed with one, haven't you?
Seller: "No I have not."
Agent: "Well I think we can both agree that at least having all of the facts and data before making a decision would be in your best interest, does that sound right to you?"
Seller: "Sure."
Agent: "I'm completely with you. I will drop by with that data this evening on my way home. How does 6 PM work?"
Seller: "Ok I'll be home."
Agent: "Great, I look forward to meeting you."
By sharing facts with sellers who are about to make a potentially costly mistakes like selling their home without an agent you can save them lots of money and headache, which will be much appreciated down the line.
Tools Geared Towards Expired Listings
In order to effectively serve your local expired listing market, you'll need a way to contact these sellers directly. There are lots of services that offer lists for sale etc, however it's best to be cautious when taking this route as you can end up with bad data.
The industry standard in Expired Listing Data is Vulcan 7. Vulcan 7 provides real-time up-to-date expired listing addresses, phone numbers, and even email addresses so that you can reach out and get ahold of expired listing leads directly. Their software also organizes the leads in such a way that it reminds you automatically when it's time to reach back out when you've made a successful connection. You can check out Vulcan 7 here.
Recommended EXpired listing Resources
Check out The Ultimate Expired Listing Campaign on Amazon.
In case you missed our last article: 5 AI-Powered Real Estate Lead-Generation Tools
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