The good news about working ‘expireds’ (listing brokerage no longer has a representation agreement with the seller) is the seller is motivated to sell. The bad news is the seller may have had a bad experience with a salesperson and is exasperated with the whole selling process.
Do Your Homework
Before you contact any expired listing, to ensure you are not violating privacy legislation, please ascertain the seller has consented to being contacted upon the expiry of the listing. This information is shown on the listing itself. In addition, you must verify that the seller is not on the National Do Not Call List (DNCL). Please check with your brokerage. Do not contact a seller who has not consented to being contacted, and do not contact a seller (or anyone else!) listed on the National DNCL.
Start with properties that have the strongest selling features, such as affordable price, proximity to schools or other amenities, or design features that make them more attractive to buyers.
Find out why the property did not sell. It may not have sold because…
• The property was overpriced. If the seller is still motivated to sell, you may have to convince him/her that the asking price is unrealistic and provide the true value of the home.
• There was a problem with the property. For example, it is located next to a railway line.
• There was a problem with the salesperson. For example, he/she did not market the property properly. However, this information may be more difficult to obtain as you may need to talk to the seller directly and the seller may unfairly blame the former listing salesperson.
Determining why a property did not sell will come from your general knowledge of the neighbourhood, your inspection of the property if you showed the property to one of your buyer clients, and the property’s open house for registrants.
Make Contact
Contact the seller and ask for his/her business. Convince the seller to meet with you and demonstrate how you will sell the property. You will not be the only salesperson contacting the seller so it is important to distinguish yourself.
Distinguishing yourself will be easier if you have done your homework regarding why the property did not sell.
For More Information
For more information on sales techniques, please consult our A Mentoring Kit for New Salespeople: Training For Success at
http://www.oreacollegestore.com/ShowItem.aspx?ItemID=LT-PB-MentoringKit&Design=false&CurrentTab=divCatLearningTools. This is a valuable resource for both brokers and salespeople.
For more information on the National DNCL, go to https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/index-eng.
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Tell us about your experiences about working with expireds. What worked? What didn’t? We’d like to know.
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