What do I say to an owner whose listing just expired?

Say your name, your brokerage and that you are a licensed agent in your first sentence. Ask permission, then one question about what happened with the listing. Listen past the first answer with a gentle "and what's prompting that?" Get where, when and why, then ask for a meeting with every decision maker present, and ask again after every no.

Drafted with AI by the 10before10 team, reviewed and approved by Grant Freer and Gia Freer, licensed Florida real estate brokers. Updated October 26, 2026. También en español.

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What is really being said

The home did not sell. That is the plain fact sitting under everything the owner says next. For weeks there were showings or there were none, there was a sign in the yard, and then there was an end date and nothing on the other side of it.

By the time you call, the phone has likely rung all morning. Other agents saw the same expiration you did. Some owners are worn down by the volume of calls before you even say a word.

Some are relieved the showings have stopped and the house is quiet again. Some blame the market, rates, or the inventory on their street. Some quietly wonder if the price was wrong, or if the agent stopped trying after the sign went up.

None of that is your business to correct in the first thirty seconds. Your job is to be the one caller who sounds like they are listening instead of pitching. An owner who hears an honest opening and one real question, instead of a reason to list again, will often give you more than they planned to.

Before you dial

Check the national do-not-call registry and your state's list before you call. An expired listing may be called because its listing agreement has ended. A withdrawn listing usually stays under its agreement and is not solicited.

If you are not sure which one you are looking at, see expired, cancelled or withdrawn before you pick up the phone.

Federal rules allow calls only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the owner's location, and some states set narrower hours. Your state's rules apply on top of the federal ones, including any rule on naming your brokerage at first contact.

What to say on the first call

An expired listing script is a shape to follow, not a speech to recite. The owner has likely heard several agents already today. What sets your call apart is the order and the listening.

1. Say who you are first. Your name, your brokerage and your license, before anything else.
2. Ask permission. A short, plain check on whether now is a fair time.
3. Ask what they think happened. One honest question, then quiet.
4. Listen past the first answer. The first reason is often the easy one. A gentle follow-up gets closer to the real one.
5. Learn where, when and why. Where they want to go, when they need to be there, and what is driving the move.
6. Include everyone who decides. Ask early, before any talk of a meeting.
7. Ask for a short meeting, then go quiet. In person or on video, at a time that suits the owner.

Keep every step about the owner. An expired owner has heard plenty about other agents' marketing. Ask about their plans instead, and make yes easy by keeping the next step small.

The examples below show one way it can sound. Say it the way you talk.

What it can sound like

These are examples in plain words, not lines to memorize. Say them the way you actually talk.

"Hi, this is your name, a licensed agent with your brokerage. I saw your listing came off the market and I wanted to check in.

I'm not calling to tell you what went wrong. Do you have a couple of minutes?"

This works because it names the one fact everyone already knows, without judgment attached to it. Permission asked plainly, with the voice going down at the end, is easy to say yes to.

"Can I ask what you think happened? I'm not looking for the short answer, I'd like to actually understand it."

An open question lets the owner choose their own starting point, rate, price, the agent, or something else. Whatever they say first is rarely the whole story.

"And what's prompting that, do you think?"

The gentle follow-up moves past the first answer, which is often the easy one, toward the real reason. An owner who says "the market" once often says something closer to the truth the second time, if the question stays gentle.

"Where are you headed once this sells, and what's the timing you're hoping for?"

Where and when sit underneath every seller's decision, and an owner who just went through a failed listing has usually not been asked either one lately.

"Is everyone who needs to agree on next steps going to be part of this conversation?"

Asking this early, before you ask for a meeting, saves a wasted trip. If someone travels for work or lives elsewhere, a video call keeps the whole decision in one conversation instead of two.

"Based on everything you've told me, would it make sense to sit down, even for twenty minutes, and look at this together? I can bring both of you in if that works better over video."

A highly motivated owner may offer a meeting before you have asked all three questions. Take it, then finish the rest once you are on the calendar.

"We're going to relist with the same agent"

"That makes sense, loyalty counts for something. Can I ask what you're hoping will be different this time around?"

This respects the relationship instead of arguing against it, and the follow-up question opens a door without pushing on it.

A second route: "Before you sign anything, would it be worth twenty minutes for a second set of eyes, just so you're deciding with the full picture? If it confirms you're in the right place, you've lost nothing."

Offering a no-cost second opinion gives the owner a reason to talk with you even while they lean toward staying put.

"We're taking it off the market for now"

"That's fair, some sellers need a break before trying again. What would need to change for selling to make sense later?"

This does not argue the decision: the question keeps the conversation alive and leads to the next question.

A second route, when renting comes up: "Renting can work well for some owners. Would it help to look at the numbers side by side, what renting brings in against what selling nets, before you decide which way to go?"

Offering to lay out both paths respects that the owner may know something about their own finances that you do not, and it gives them a reason to include you in the decision either way.

If the owner says the last agent did nothing, that answer has its own page: what to say when a seller says the last agent did nothing.

What not to do

Do not mention your own price opinion before asking what the owner saw in the homes that sold near them and the ones still sitting unsold. The seller discovering price on their own carries more weight than anything you say first.

Do not quote a fee or a number on the phone. You have not seen the home yet, and an early number invites a negotiation before there is anything to negotiate.

Do not argue with blame placed on the market or rates. Ask a question instead: "What do you think made the homes that did sell different from yours?" That question does more work than any correction.

How to practice it

Have a colleague play an owner who answers flat and tired, opens with "my phone hasn't stopped buzzing, I'm done answering," and warms up only if you stay patient. Run the call five times: once where the owner blames the market, once where a spouse is the real decision maker and is not home, once where the owner has already decided to relist with the old agent, once where renting has come up as an alternative, and once where the owner offers a meeting early, before you have asked where or when. Listen back for whether you finished the where, when and why questions even after the appointment was offered.

That is the habit 10before10™'s scorecard listens for on this drill.

Honest answers

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