Ask a room of agents who called expireds this week and watch how few hands go up. The excuses are always the same. There aren’t enough of them. They’re all overpriced. They’ve been called a hundred times already.
Those aren’t facts. They’re beliefs, and they’re expensive ones. Expired listing calls are still one of the cleanest listing opportunities in this business, because the seller has already told you two things every other lead source makes you guess at.
Why are expired listings still the best listing opportunity?
Because they check both boxes that matter. You know they want to sell, and you know they’re willing to pay a commission. They already signed one listing agreement.
Compare that to a portal lead who may or may not be six months from doing anything. With an expired, the only question is why it didn’t sell — and that’s a question you’re qualified to answer. Something went wrong. Price, marketing, communication, condition, or an agent who disappeared. They need a professional who can diagnose it. That’s the job.
Why do agents avoid calling expireds?
Because the first thirty seconds are uncomfortable, and most agents would rather protect their feelings than take a listing.
Here’s what nobody tells you: the discomfort isn’t rejection. It’s someone venting about a bad experience they had with a different agent. If you take that personally, you’ll hang up and go check your email. If you understand it, you’ll be the calmest voice they’ve talked to all week — and you’ll separate yourself from most of the agents in your market before you ever get to a script.
What’s actually going on with an expired seller?
They’re frustrated, and it’s rarely about price. It’s about being ignored.
Their agent didn’t call. Nobody explained what the feedback meant. Showings dried up and no one adjusted anything. Then the listing quietly ran out. They’re not angry at you. You’re just the first person to call since it happened. Understand that and the whole conversation gets easier, because you know what they need before they ask for it.
How do you turn that frustration into an appointment?
Let them talk, then get curious. Your one job on the first call is to be different from the last agent.
- Don’t take it personally. Their tone isn’t about you. Stay relaxed and let them get it out.
- Validate what happened. “It sounds like you didn’t get the communication you expected.” That single sentence does more than any closing line.
- Ask a better question. “What do you think caused the home not to sell?” opens a real conversation. Most agents lead with a pitch and get hung up on.
- Be specific about what you’d do differently. How often you’ll call, what feedback you’ll bring back, what you’ll do about price when the market tells you something. Vague promises sound exactly like the last guy.
- Follow up like a professional. One call isn’t prospecting. The agent who’s still politely checking in three weeks later is usually the one who gets the listing — the same follow-up discipline behind converting expired listings into signed contracts.
What do the numbers look like over 90 days?
Run the math before you decide there aren’t enough expireds in your market.
One expired a day is 90 in 90 days. Even in a small market, that’s 90 sellers who have already proven they want to move and already agreed to pay a commission. How many of those did you actually call last quarter? For most agents the honest answer is a handful, which is exactly why the opportunity is still sitting there.
Your challenge this week: pull every expired from the last 90 days in your MLS. Call them. Track your contacts, conversations, and appointments so you know whether you have an activity problem or a skill problem. Do that for one quarter and you’ll stop wondering where your listings are coming from.
Ready to make expireds a reliable source of listings?
That’s exactly what we coach inside the Agent Success Academy — the expired dialogue, the follow-up cadence, the role play, and the weekly accountability that keeps you on the phone when it’s easier to find something else to do. Come work on it with agents who are making these calls every morning.
Not sure where to start? Explore Greg’s coaching programs for personal and group support, or dive into the self-paced courses and start sharpening your expired calls today.
Frequently asked questions
Are expired listings worth calling?
Yes. An expired seller has already proven they want to sell and already agreed to pay a commission. The only open question is why the home didn’t sell, and that’s exactly the problem you’re trained to solve.
What do you say on an expired listing call?
Let them vent, validate the experience, then ask what they think kept the home from selling. That question starts a conversation instead of a pitch, and it tells you everything you need for the appointment.
How do you handle an angry expired seller?
Don’t take it personally and don’t get defensive. Their frustration is about the last agent who stopped communicating. Staying calm and interested puts you ahead of most agents who call that day.
How many expireds should I call?
All of them, every day. One expired a day is 90 sellers in 90 days. Track contacts, conversations, and appointments so you can see whether you need more calls or better dialogue.
About Greg Harrelson
Greg Harrelson has spent more than 30 years in real estate and still picks up the phone for about three hours every day alongside his agents. He’s the Broker/Owner of Century 21 The Harrelson Group, running offices across the Carolinas with a team that closed close to 4,000 transactions last year, and he once closed 484 transactions in a single year working with his father. Through the Agent Success Academy he coaches agents on the prospecting most people avoid — expireds, FSBOs, and consistent follow-up — because that’s where the listings are. His philosophy: take more listings, convert the leads you already have, and get your time back.
