I am searching through the MLS and see expired listings. Is it ok to mail these people to see if they would like to re-list their home?
I feel there is some dangerous area here regarding the first listing agent.
Any tips on what to look out for?

Recheck the MLS to make sure they haven't renewed the listing or already gone to another agency. If that is clear place a disclaimer in your letter to the effect of "please disregard this letter if you are currently listed exclusively with another agent".

I send out letters as soon as they expire, assuming it is not in the New listing part of the MLS. I have a standard letter that my broker had to look over when I started to do them last week (I'm a new agent) and I put in 2 business cards. I didn't get any responces yet, but it is the holidays so I won't expect them to list their home now. I'm expecting big returns from them after new years.

I would do it. Again, make sure the property is not already listed again on the MLS.

I am curious of what your letter will say. Can you send me a copy by email so I can check it out? Thanks.

Agent 007,
Check your email.

May I get a copy also?

If you are going to work this angle there are a few things to expect.

1.By the time your mailers get to them most will be relisted,or will not want to renew.

2.You will get mre response by going out to the property.

3.There was a reason it expired,either the sellers were not motivated or the agents didn't market the property properly,you need to find out which one it was.

4.The seller is going to be ****ed off,don't expect them to greet you with open arms,you will have to play the therapist and listen to there concerns and what went wrong with the first agent,if you can get through this you might win the listing.Listen to what they hated about the first agent and then offer solutions on how you are better or different on those specific points.

5.Be prepared some agents intentionally have there number as the homeowners so when it expires you can't call the homeowner and steal the listing from them.

Joey -

Expired listings are an excellent way to prospect for business. You have a prospective client who has already cleared the first hurdle. They WANT to sell their home. If you mass mail or farm an area, a lot of your effort gets to people who don't want to sell. Realistically 90-95% of these people will in fact relist their home - and most will do so with another agent. Most of these expired listings didn't sell because the agent had it priced too high to begin with, so be sure to get a price reduction!

Here is something interesting. You can call a listing agent and ask when the listing expires. If they refuse to give you this information you can call the homeowner and ask them directly. No breach of ethics - but you have to wait out the listing period. Another twist is to check old expired listings.

After the first of the year look back through your MLS and get a list of expireds from Sept, Oct,& Nov. These people have had a breather and may be ready to try it again (be sure to check if they have already relisted). Plus there are not as many Realtors hawking these prospects.

Another excellent way to prospect is FSBOs. But that is another thread. Good luck.

lol. Are they allow to put there number in place of the home owners?

I am actually thinking of dropping off an envelope to expireds when I am on the road. I can just carry a stack in the car.

Thanks for the heads up. some good ideas are brewing.

Just be careful about dropping envelopes - it either needs to go to a person's hands or hang on the door or soemwhere like that - it's illegal to put anything in someone's mailbox...

You may already know this but I figured I'd point it out just in case as its serious trouble.....

Thanks for lookin out.
Yes, I already knew that. I have done lots of advertising in the past, and I usually slide it behind the mailbox or in between box and the post.

A few tips on mailing to expireds that worked for me:
In my area (Los Angeles suburbs) about 40% of expireds don't re-list right away.

1. Set up a sequence of mailings, not just one letter.
2. Mix post cards,letters and updates.
3. Mix long letter copy and short letters.
4. First week mail every 2 days. Second week every 3 days, then every 4 days.
4. Most agents will give up in week 2. Most sellers will call in week 3 and 4.
5. Check your list against MLS so you're not mailing to those that do re-list.
6. Always have a disclaimer "Please disregard if your property is listed. This is not intended as solicitation of other broker's listing."
7. Merge your expired list with every mass mailing (Just listed / Sold) and include them on those as well.

Hope this helps.

I've been sending out hand-written notes, but just one mailing. There are a lot of good ideas here, thank you all!

That's what I use. Both of the brokers I've worked under say that this is enough. But is this enough in other States? I see that you are from NYS too. I also check to see if there is a new listing. But that doesn't mean a new listing won't appear after I sent the letter.

I have honed my expireds program to this:

* I look 2 weeks ahead to see what is about to expire in my target area. Then I print out envelopes for an expired letter and stuff it, ready to go. I mark in pencil the date of the expiration on the envelope and mail it the day BEFORE it expires, so that it arrives the morning it is no longer listed. I ALWAYS have a disclaimer at the bottom - "please disregard if..." I include a short letter, 2 cards, and a brochure, and advise them that I will follow up by phone to answer any questions in the next 2 days. (Check your Do not Call list!!!) I have done very well with this.

Sounds good, but how do you look ahead to see what is gonna expire?

On our MLS no one EVER puts the owner's number. The only time we see the owner's phone number is on the flat fee listings where they just put the house on MLS and the selling agent does all the work.

Do you know how to track when listings expire?
On our MLS, you can see the Listed Date price, etc...but Expiration is blank. Do listing agents leave this out on purpose? The Exipred date only shows up on listings after they have expired.

Joey -

The MLS system probably only shows the expiration date of your own listings under your log in but not of other agent's expiration dates. You can call the listing agent and ask when their listing aggreement expires. If they do not give this info up you can call the owner directly and ask them. Another trick of the trade is to pull a brochure out of the brochure box if there is one.

Often times Realtors will put a print out of the MLS in with the flyer. When they print a copy of the listing under their login they sometimes forget to white out the expiration information. Maybe this helps.

good info

I note comments about listing agents using their phone number in place of the homeowners number in the MLS. I consider this an act of dishonesty, at least one of the MLSs I belong to prohibit doing that without the signed permission of the owner!

I have heard of listing agents being required to tell another agent when their listing will expire. Is this true?

Also, why is it a big deal to take out the owner's number in the MLS when it expires? I can't seem to understand this.

Rereading the posts I note you are sending your letter the day before it expires to arrive the first day it has expired. I don't think that qualifys as contacting an expired but may be viewed as contacting an active listing and therefore interferring with the relationship between the listing agent and his client (a Code of Ethics violation). If the client provided the listing agent with your envelope, clearly showing a postmark prior to expiration, you might have some serious explaining to do!

I agree....it could be very messy.

I agree, especially when you never know if the seller might actually relist with the original agent before the expiration date.

I hope you do get big returns, but I don't think you will! Keep in mind every new agent and half the old ones in your area also sent them a letter. Those letters go straight to the cicular file, usually.

-jeff

Mr foreclosure - I checked on that, and as they did not receive the solicitation until the listing had expired, it is fine. I also have a disclaimer to the effect of 'if you are still listed or have renewed your contract, please disreguard for reasons of ethics, yadda yadda"

Joey - My MLS service has an expired listings report under the miscell reports section. I can choose the dates to search and it will give me all the listings to expire in those dates. I am sure to double check all the addresses for renewal or extention the day I plan to drop my letter in the mail.

Besides, if you are using property maps to send out mailings about you and your service to a specific neighborhood (out here you need a map or grand list since #s are not consecutive) you have no way of know which may be listed without driving it, and then what if they had no sign? That is the purpose of a disclaimer - in bold, italisiced and starred - to indicate no interest or intent to solicit if the listing is under contract.

I am contacting my local board on this to be sure, and bumping my mailing up one date, just to be safe. It seems to be a gray area, and I want to be completely in the clear, ethically.