Expired Scripts That Get Sellers Talking Again
Good expired scripts start from one honest fact: the seller you are calling just watched their plan fail, and a dozen other agents are dialing them about it today. Below are four word-for-word expired listings scripts — the day-one call, the “what went wrong” conversation, the re-list appointment close, and the follow-up for sellers who are not ready yet. Use them word for word first; adapt once you know where sellers push back.
This page owns the words. Sourcing and the morning dial live on the expireds daily workflow; the longer listing-agent game is on expired listings for agents; if you are calling as a buyer, expired listings for investors covers that different conversation. Before dialing any expired list, check DNC status — the TCPA guide for cold callers explains what that involves.
Ground Rules Before You Run These Expired Scripts
These are real estate scripts for expired listings, written for agents working to earn the re-list. Four rules hold throughout:
- Never trash the previous agent. The seller hired them; an attack on the agent is an attack on the seller’s judgment.
- Never mention a buyer unless you actually have one — a specific, real buyer whose criteria match the home. Expired sellers have heard invented buyers before.
- Take the second no. One clarifying question is the limit; if it’s still no, thank them — and if they say stop calling, mark them do-not-call on the spot.
- Treat scripts as prompts, not recitations. The branches below cover the common turns; your job is to listen, not perform. For pushback beyond them, use the objection handling scripts; the cold calling scripts hub collects the rest of the library.
Script 1: The Day-One Expired Call
Day one is loud, and every agent call sounds the same. This one earns attention by admitting what it is and asking the only question that matters.
Agent: “Hi, is this [seller’s first name]? … [Name], this is [your name] with [brokerage] here in [area]. I’ll tell you why I’m calling before you decide whether to hang up: I saw your home on [street] came off the market yesterday, and I know I’m probably the tenth agent to call this morning. I’m not calling to tell you your last agent did a bad job — I don’t know if that’s true. I have one question, and then I’ll get out of your way: do you still want the house sold?”
If yes:
Agent: “Then this is worth two minutes. What do you think stopped it from selling — not what your agent told you, what you think?”
Then be quiet. Whatever they name — the price, the photos, the silence between showings — is the raw material for the rest of the call.
If “we’re taking a break from it”:
Agent: “Completely fair — having a home on the market is draining, and you just did it for months. One question before I go: when you do come back to it, are you leaning toward the same agent, a different one, or trying it on your own?”
Thank them and log the answer. It decides how you run Script 4.
If they’re angry:
Agent: “I hear you, and I’ll be quick. If you ever want a straight answer on why it didn’t sell — no listing pitch attached — I’ll walk the house and give you my honest read. Either way, good luck with whatever you decide.”
If they tell you to stop calling, mark them do-not-call and mean it.
Script 2: The “What Went Wrong” Conversation
Once a seller admits they still want to sell, the call becomes a diagnosis: offer a frame, ask questions, resist fake certainty.
Agent: “Almost every listing that doesn’t sell comes down to one of four things: the price, how the home showed, how easy it was to get into, or how it was marketed. From the inside — which one do you suspect?”
Seller: “We priced it where our agent told us to.”
Agent: “That’s common — and the market can move after that number gets set. Useful test: how many showings in the first two weeks?”
Seller: “Maybe three or four.”
Agent: “That’s your answer, honestly. Buyers vote with showings — when a home is priced where buyers see value, the first two weeks are usually the busiest a listing ever gets. Quiet that early means the market is saying the price and the presentation don’t match. That’s fixable. I haven’t seen the inside of your house, so I won’t pretend to know what I’d change — that’s what a walk-through is for.”
The point is not to prove the seller wrong — it is to show them what a real diagnosis sounds like. The agent who diagnoses credibly gets the appointment.
Script 3: The Re-List Appointment Close
The close asks for twenty minutes, not a signature — and it promises a straight answer instead of a result.
Agent: “Here’s what I’d suggest, and it costs you twenty minutes, not a commitment. Let me walk the house. I’ll bring what actually sold near you in the last six months, and I’ll tell you three things: what I’d change, what I’d list at, and what I’d do differently in the marketing than last time. I won’t promise you a buyer — anyone who promises that on a phone call is guessing. What I will promise is a straight answer. Would Thursday at five or Saturday morning work better?”
If they hesitate:
Agent: “What’s giving you pause — agents in general right now, or going back on the market at all?”
If it’s agent fatigue:
Agent: “That makes sense after the months you just had. Look at it this way: you get an honest second opinion on the house either way. If you don’t like what you hear, you’ve spent twenty minutes and gained a data point.”
Script 4: The Follow-Up Call for Not-Yet Sellers
Most expired sellers do not re-list in week one — most of an expired list’s value sits in the callbacks. The engine here is memory: open with something true from the last conversation, so this sounds like a promise kept, not a list redialed.
Agent: “Hi [name], it’s [your name] — the agent who called when [street] came off the market last month. You said you wanted to take a break and revisit it after [the thing they told you], so I’m not calling to pitch you — I’m calling because I said I would. Where’s your head at with the house now?”
Seller: “We’re still not sure. Maybe in the spring.”
Agent: “That might be the right call — let me make that decision easier. Closer to spring I’ll send you what sold near you over the winter, so you’re deciding with fresh numbers instead of last year’s. And if anything changes before then, you already know one agent who kept his word about not pestering you. Sound fair?”
Log every detail. The “maybe in the spring” seller is the March appointment — but only for the agent whose notes are good enough to open with them.
The Dialer Behind the Scripts
Expired sellers’ phones get hammered the week a listing dies, so caller ID health matters more on this list than almost any other. Enzo provisions and monitors 35 caller IDs per seat on Starter — 100 on Standard — and rotates or swaps them when reputation dips, so the day-one call has a fighting chance of being answered. Preview mode lets you read your notes before each fresh expired connects, call notes sync two-way with Follow Up Boss so Script 4 opens with what the seller actually said, and there is no voicemail drop — when a machine picks up, you leave the message live, in your own voice. Plans start at $99 per seat per month billed annually — see pricing.
Expired scripts earn their keep one honest conversation at a time: name the situation, diagnose without blame, close for twenty minutes, and keep every promise you make. Pair the words on this page with the sourcing routine in the expireds daily workflow, and practice them out loud. See how Enzo keeps your expired calls answered and your follow-ups on time — book a free discovery call.