Expired Listings Information Packet

Expired listings represent both a tremendous opportunity and significant challenge for real estate agents. The opportunity, of course, is to be the white knight who swoops in to turn failure into profit for frustrated homeowners. On the flip side, those same homeowners may now be leery of any real estate agent who claims to have the golden key to sales success.Fortunately, as an Espresso Agent client, you have access to the best expired listing data in the business. Having this data gives you a leg up on your competition. But while great data gives you a head start, in time, other agents will be working the phones or knocking on the same doors. Expired listings are hot commodities and it won't be long before those homeowners feel overwhelmed fending off well-intentioned agents.For the purpose of this post, we're going to assume that the Espresso data, along with your own outbound marketing efforts, worked and the homeowner asked if you could provide an information packet.How do you make a powerful first impression with someone who is likely overly-cautious? As you put your information packet together, consider some of the elements that would be of interest to your prospective client:

• Assessment: Acknowledge the seller's frustration, but be careful not to be negative about the previous agent's performance. Provide an overview of your observations about the property and the things you believe would be most attractive to buyers.
• Your story: Briefly list the notable transactions you've closed in the recent past. Perhaps you've sold a home that has similar characteristics to those of your prospect's home. It might help to have a photo of that other transaction to support your narrative.
• Pricing:Discuss your philosophy with regard to pricing. Have a point-of-view on the previous pricing strategy and how you would handle pricing moving forward.
• Marketing:In today's complex marketing environment, a yard sign alone won't cut it. Walk the homeowner through your approach to marketing and provide examples of what you've done to sell other homes.
• Customer Engagement:One of the biggest complaints about real estate agents is poor communication. Be clear with the homeowner as to how you will stay in touch during the entire sales process. Then, be sure to stick to what you've promised.
• Extras:What will you do to go the extra mile for the homeowner? Would you hire a professional stager? Would you provide professional photography to bring the home to life? Would you pay for a pre-inspection to give the homeowner comfort in knowing what might come up during the sales process?
• Testimonials:share what other clients have to say about your performance.

One critical point we'd like to add here: whether you use some or all of the points listed above, make sure that your information packet (and subsequent presentation) is visually engaging. Don't present page after page of words. People remember images far more than they remember words. Use engaging images and color to bring your presentation to life. Perhaps you should spend a few extra dollars to hire a graphic designer to create a template that you can use for all of your packets moving forward. Or, if you want to save money, an online "gig" site such as FIVERR is an efficient way to create interesting visuals for your presentation.Expired listings represent an excellent opportunity to build your transactions. But it's important to remember that those homeowners have already been "sold" by another agent. Nobody likes to admit failure. Use your information packet to establish yourself as a partner who can be trusted the next time around.