Writing an Effective Expired Listing Letter

INTRODUCTION

Understanding the mindset of an expired listing prospect

Experienced real estate agents understand the unique challenge posed when working with new expired listing prospects. These homeowners are (rightly so) often frustrated and discouraged. They’ve likely spent months dealing with last-minute, inconvenient showings, open houses, and probably a number of shifting pricing strategies. After all of this “activity,” they have nothing to show for their time and effort.

Luckily, if you’re an Espresso Agent client, you have access to some of the best Expired listings each morning. So, maybe you’ll start your day on the phone, trying to connect with a new expired prospect. Perhaps you can be the agent who can break through and make an excellent first impression with someone who may have an urgency to sell but is possibly not in the greatest frame of mind.

While phone prospecting represents your best opportunity to break through, you’ll likely consider other ways to engage your prospect. One of the most common of those other tactics is the expired listing letter.

In today’s post, we’ll discuss the importance of a real estate expired listing letter and provide tips to ensure your expired listing letter touches all the bases.

IMPORTANCE OF SENDING AN EXPIRED LISTING LETTER

Telling your story

Sending a letter to homeowners with an expired listing can be an effective strategy for several reasons:

• A physical letter can feel more personal to the homeowner compared to some digital outreach. To that end, you might want to hand-write the person’s address on the envelope, reinforcing your outreach’s personal nature.
• A letter is a nice way to follow a phone call, reinforcing your professionalism and commitment to working for the homeowner.
• A well-crafted letter can be an effective way to enhance your credibility and communicate your professionalism.
• Many agents prefer the simplicity of emailing so that a physical letter might give you a competitive advantage over another agent.

Now that we’ve established the value of sending an expired listing letter let’s examine strategies to maximize the effectiveness of your letter.

TIPS FOR WRITING A REAL ESTATE EXPIRED LISTING LETTER

Make it personal and empathetic

Following are a few tips to help you write an effective expired listing letter.

• Be empathetic: Let the homeowner know that you recognize how frustrating it must be to have their listing expire. By being understanding and compassionate, you go a long way toward building trust with your prospect.
• Make it personal: Use the homeowner’s name and address. But more importantly, mention details about their neighborhood and home (“I’m surprised that a beautiful home like yours didn’t sell.”)
• Establish your value proposition: What qualities separate you from other agents? How do you approach marketing a property? How well do you know their neighborhood? Share your experience with other expired listing homeowners. Provide details of your most recent transactions.
• Include testimonials: Share testimonials from previous clients, highlighting those that were expired listing homeowners who were pleased with your service.
• Be insightful. Share your perspective on why their home may not have sold. Use this as a jumping-off point to reinforce your knowledge of the market conditions. Make them confident that you have the experience necessary to sell their home. Notably, don’t criticize the previous agent.
• Share your strategic vision: Outline how you would market their home, using case studies from recent sales to show how you approach marketing.
• Cut to the chase: Don’t ramble on. Be succinct in telling your story. Use bullet points instead of lengthy paragraphs to make it easy for the prospect to follow along.
• Proof, and proof again: Make sure your letter is perfect and has no spelling or grammar errors. Yes, you will be judged by something as simple as a misspelled word.
• Include your contact information: Include multiple ways for them to reach you: phone, email, website, or even a QR code that links to your profile or a listing success page.

EXPIRED LISTING LETTER TEMPLATE

How to write an expired listing letter

You can find myriad examples of expired listing letters online. Below is a template designed to be professional, empathetic, and action-oriented.

Dear (HOMEOWNER’S NAME) 

I noticed that your home at (PROPERTY ADDRESS) was recently listed for sale but, unfortunately, didn’t sell before the listing expired. I understand how disappointing this can be, especially when you’ve put so much effort into preparing your home for the market. 

As a local real estate expert with (X YEARS) of experience, I specialize in helping homeowners like you achieve their goals, even in challenging market conditions. Often, homes don’t sell for reasons that can be addressed with the right strategy. 

Some factors I focus on when relisting a property include: 

• Pricing Strategy: Ensuring your home is competitively priced for today’s market.
• Marketing: Creating a customized plan that maximizes exposure through professional photos, targeted online ads, open houses, and more.
• Negotiation: Securing the best possible deal by leveraging my expertise and market knowledge.

I’d love to meet with you to discuss what went wrong with your previous listing and how I can help you achieve a successful sale. With a fresh approach, I’m confident your home can sell for the value it deserves. 

To get started, let’s schedule a quick, no-obligation consultation. Please call or text me at (AGENT’S PHONE NUMBER) or email me at (AGENT’S EMAIL ADDRESS). 

Thank you for considering me as a resource during this time. I look forward to helping you move forward. 

Sincerely, 

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Considering the Espresso Agent advantage

Hopefully, the tips above will come in handy when you sit down to write your expired listing letter.

However, as we said in the Introduction, the most effective way to engage homeowners with a newly expired listing is by phone prospecting, using Espresso Agent’s industry-leading Expired Listing Leads . Many of the top-producing agents in the business rely on Espresso Agent’s advanced lead generation software. Here are a few reasons why:

• Premium contact information, such as cell phone numbers and verified email addresses.
• Comprehensive CRM software to keep you organized and on-task with your follow-up.
• World-class dialer that allows you to make significantly more calls than by manually dialing.
• The best and most responsive customer service team in the industry.
• TODAY’S BREW brings you interviews with some of the top-producing agents in the industry who share their tips for listing success.

Working with Expired listings can transform your business. Let ESPRESSO AGENT show you how!

Doug Spak

Doug Spak joined Espresso Agent as a Content Marketing Specialist in 2016. Doug brings nearly four decades of experience as a copywriter, blogger, and screenwriter to his role with Espresso. Since joining our team, Doug has actively updated website content, published more than 300 blogs, and created countless social media posts.