How to Call Back an Expired Seller Who Just Hung Up on You
A seller who hangs up on you is easy to cross off. One coach calls back the same day with a short opening line, and a seller who was furious on the first call ended up booking a meeting.
A real estate coach posted a long video of her own live calls to homeowners. Several are to expired listings. An expired is a home whose listing contract ran out before it sold. She says new expireds get a lot of calls from agents.
One seller she reached was furious. He blamed his last agent. He said he would rather stay in the house and not sell. He told her to mail him something, and the call ended with no meeting.
She called him back. "Wasn't even an hour later," she says. Her reason: "The fact that he was so angry to me says he wants to sell. Cuz if he didn't want to sell, he didn't care."
Here is how the second call opens.
"This is Jackie. I spoke with you half an hour ago about your house for sale. I know you're super upset and rightfully so. You asked me to mail you my information. I want to just ask you cuz I couldn't stop thinking about our conversation."
Then she answers the mail request head on. "you're not going to choose somebody just based on what they send you in the mail. All it will take on my end is 20 minutes."
This time he was calm. He still did not book. He said he would call her the next morning. She did not wait for that call. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for him to call me." She called him at 8:30 the next morning, and he set a meeting for Monday.
She does the same thing on other calls in the video. One seller hung up while having his coffee. She called back later that day and opened with what he had told her: "you told me you do want to sell the property and you were going to remodel your kitchen because your agent said that was necessary in order to sell." He set a time to meet.
Another seller said he would relist with the same agent, then hung up. She called right back and got no answer. She waited about 30 minutes and called again, and he agreed to meet.
Her rule for expireds: "You cannot wait for the next day or two days later."
A hang-up feels like the end of the call. On these calls it was the middle. Her read is that anger is a sign the sale matters to the seller. Someone who does not care whether the house sells has nothing to be angry about.
The opening line does three jobs. It names the first call, so you are not a stranger. It says you kept thinking about it, which explains why you are calling again so soon. And it repeats what the seller told you, so they hear that you listened. Only then does it ask for 20 minutes.
The speed is the rest of it. A seller who says they will call you tomorrow has made you no promise. She takes the next step herself, the same day or first thing the next morning.
One caution is ours. Before you call anyone back the same day, ask your broker which do-not-call rules and calling hours apply. Ask too what to do when someone tells you to stop calling.
- Before you call back anyone who hung up, ask your broker which do-not-call rules and calling hours apply. Ask what to do if someone tells you to stop calling.
- When an expired seller hangs up or says call me later, plan a callback for the same day.
- Open by naming the first call. If you did keep thinking about it, say so. Then repeat what they told you.
- If they asked you to mail something, say they will not pick an agent from what arrives in the mail. Ask for 20 minutes instead.
- If they say they will call you tomorrow, call them first thing the next morning instead of waiting.