One quick way to get extra business right now is to target Expired Listings.

Keep in mind, these are people who want help from an agent but for some reason haven’t been able to sell their home. You’ll have to speak to their frustrations and position yourself as an agent who can help them in their situation.

You can find expired listings on your MLS and mail them a simple letter like this example:

Tips For Using This Expired Letter To Bring You Business:

• Important note about modifying this letter: This letter has one and only one purpose which is to get prospects to CALL YOU! Notice how everything is “Packaged” specifically for the expired prospect? It uses excellent elements to handle objections, gives lots of Unique Selling Propositions (what you’ll DO for them), and teases for response.  You can modify this letter to fit your practice, but be careful about changing too much as it may reduce the effectiveness.  And don’t forget to PERSONALIZE the letter with the homeowners first name if you can get that data from your MLS.
• This letter offers a service called the “Maximum Home Value Audit.” You can do an in-person review of the major areas of their home in addition to a CMA to differentiate yourself from what most agents would offer Expireds.  Because you’re one of our valued Agent Inner Circle® members… here’s a ready-to-use template you can use for this!
• You can enclose a packet of aspirin or antacid or string (to remind them to call you) with this type of letter. It helps to make a greater impact on the reader because it advances your message. Plus, you know they’ll remember you!
• Using a multi-step approach with this letter will maximize your response. Mail a SECOND NOTICE (sent 3 to 7 days after the first letter) and a FINAL NOTICE (sent 7 days after the second letter).  See this real estate marketing article to learn about about multi-sequence mailings.  Some agents even send letters like this via FEDEX because it looks official and will get opened.  You’ll have to test and see if the numbers make sense based on how many expired listings leads you turn into clients and your average commission.
• Follow-up with a phone call. Most agents will do one or the other (only send a piece in the mail or only try to cold call).  If you call 3 days after you mail the letter, it is a warm call because you can ask if they got the package you sent to start the conversation.

[Ed note: This article is a small excerpt from the "Fast-Track to Success" Turn-Key Real Estate Business Building System. To learn more click here.]

What do YOU do to get Expired Listings?

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“Recently I’ve been trying to find ways to enhance the ‘stickiness’ of my real estate business. By this, I mean that I am consistently finding ways to stay top-of-mind with prospects and clients.

One idea I’ve been using is that of giving a free gift with any INITIAL appointment I have with a client. For example: I posted an online ad for a lower priced bungalow. I received a few leads, but one in particular was quite anxious to view this property that evening. After calling and setting up the appointment to view this home and a few others, I began to draft a personalized sales-letter to give to them when we met. In the letter I discussed the recent market changes, the jump in inventory, and more importantly the weather (it was raining for about two days straight).

The overt theme of the letter was ‘IT’S RAINING LISTINGS!’. One of the lines I used was ‘With this much choice for the buyer or investor, it’s easy to drown in the overload of listings!’ Another line was “Don’t get drenched with all the choices out there!” All of this was specifically aimed at tying into and reinforcing that *I* was the Realtor they should use to find their next property.

Along with this letter, I included a small gift card to a coffee shop. But it doesn’t end there… Here’s where the stickiness factor kicks in. Since I aim to make every interaction with my clients a memorable one, I ran out to the corner store and picked up a cheap umbrella for about $10. The kind that fold up and you can fit it in your glove box. I purposely picked the most obscenely bright color (yellow with black polka dots to be exact) and upon meeting the clients at the first location, presented the umbrella and the envelope with my sales letter, along with the highlight sheets for our viewings.

Needless to say they were enthralled and have been telling everyone they know that ‘Their real estate guy is Justin and you NEED to use him, he’s the BEST!’ This was only last week and already they’re looking to purchase two investment properties in the next month. Not bad for $15 of gifts and a few minutes of my time.”

“Every time I become aware of a FSBO, I in turn spend about 5 minutes preparing a short letter that is hand-written wishing them the best of luck with the sale of their home and then proceeding to let them know that if they decide a different route, that I am more than happy to help them.

I am up-front, yet subtle in my approach. I offer to come to their home and do a brief evaluation of the property and give them tips “on the spot” of different options they have that may very likely increase the salability of their home. I include real testimonies of past clients that I have helped in this way.

Of the first 9 letters I sent, I received 2 listings. Sellers told me that out of the stack of solicitations they received, mine stood out because it was handwritten and seemed genuine.”

Do you think you could mail 100 letters to a neighborhood, generate 10 calls and take 2 listings? Helaine Forte just did…and she’s going to show how you can do it too.

Every now and then we discover a marketing strategy so powerful, it could end up making some agents downright rich. I think we have found one of those ideas.

The value here is not just in seeing this idea first-hand, but in understanding the brilliant marketing behind it and applying it throughout your business…

One of the marketing subjects I teach agents is the profitable use of direct-response marketing. I’ve been doing it for over 30 years in various industries and it’s never failed to make millions.

Once you understand the elements that motivate consumers to open, read, believe and act on your behalf, the real estate world becomes your treasure.

Today I want to share with you a brilliant strategy used by agent Helaine Forte (no relation at all).

Helaine sends out a simple targeted letter that is loaded with powerful strategy and psychology, and you’d hardly know it just by reading the letter. But before showing you this deceptively simple letter, I want you to understand the elements at play so you can use them correctly yourself.

First and foremost, Helaine learned that consumers sort their mail while standing over the trash. If your letter doesn’t make the “A” pile (bills, birthday cards, personal letters, etc.), it’s going into the “deep six.” You could be offering Free Gold Coins, but your message would never be seen.

So here’s what Helaine does (in her own words)…

“I never use labels. Going along with what everyone else was doing, I used to get free labels from the title companies when I farmed for business. I never received a response, until one day I was out of labels and addressed the envelopes by hand.

I received 10 calls out of 100 letters and got 2 listings! Since then I experimented with using larger envelopes of higher quality and got even better response. Instead of tossing my correspondence in the trash, homeowners felt I was really interested in them and that they were hand-picked by me.”

OK, so Helaine’s been paying attention with her marketing, and discovered the magic of “A-Pile” mail. But she didn’t stop there. Take a look at her letter and then read the important elements she uses below it.

I’ll bet you’ve seen lots of letters similar to this one, but this one is different in subtle but important ways. Here’s what Helaine says…

“As you can see, I tell the sellers a little about their new potential owners. I also give them a chance to contact their own REALTOR^®, which gives me credibility. It makes it more believable since lots of agents tell owners they have buyers. Oh, and the people I describe are REAL BUYERS that I am working with.”

Do you think you could use a simple letter like this to generate lots of listings? The secret is…

1. Get your mail delivered by making it “A-Pile.” I would add to this using a monarch size envelope, hand addressed with a 1st class commemorative stamp and hand signed. Hand address your return address, or use those personal labels you use with holiday cards (do not place your broker on the envelope unless required by law).
2. Make your mail very personal – meant specific to the person receiving it (so they think they’ve been “hand-picked”, as Helaine puts it).
3. Create credibility by mentioning something specific about your buyers (who they are), and ask your reader to call their agent.