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What do I say to a for-sale-by-owner on the first call?

Say your name, your brokerage, that you are a licensed agent and that you are not a buyer, all in the first sentence. Then ask where they are moving and by when, respect the plan to sell alone, and offer something useful, like what nearby buyers actually paid, before you ask for a meeting, and ask again after every no.

Captions on. Narrated with an AI voice.

Read the transcript

Yeah, hello? If this is about the house, we're selling it ourselves.
We're not working with agents, so please take us off your list.
I hear you. Just so you know, selling alone is risky.
Inspections fall apart, the paperwork can sink you,
and a lot of owners end up losing money.
After every practice call, your card arrives: what worked, and the one thing to fix.
The call trains four moves. Say who you are, and that you are not a buyer.
Ask where they are moving, and by when.
Respect the plan, and offer something useful.
Then ask for a meeting, and ask again after every no.
The short tone is not rudeness.
It is a question: are you another one?
Fear lines cost trust and teach nothing.
Give something useful before you ask for anything.
Practice it until it sounds like you.
Each call runs as long as the conversation needs,
and you can make as many as you want.
Practice free at 10before10.com/try.

Drafted with AI by the 10before10 team, reviewed and approved by Grant Freer and Gia Freer, licensed Florida real estate brokers. Updated October 25, 2026.

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What is really being said

An owner selling alone has made a plan: skip the fee, do it themselves. The plan is legitimate, and it has a cost. By the time you call, they have taken a dozen calls from agents, several of whom opened by pretending to be buyers.

So when they pick up, they are braced. The short tone is not rudeness. It is a question: are you another one?

That is the whole first ten seconds. The owner is deciding whether you are honest before they decide anything else. An agent who says who they are, says what they are not, and tells the owner exactly what the call will cost them in time has already done something no other caller did that day.

The owner who sells alone and does well is a good result. So is the owner who, after seeing what buyers actually paid nearby and hearing where the process gets hard, decides they would rather have help. Your job is to contribute something they did not have, then ask, and ask again a different way after each no.

The call is not a rescue.

Hey Ten™What do I say to "we're going to relist with the same agent"?Practice it now

What to say

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'm calling about the home you're selling on Maple.

I'm not a buyer, and I'm not calling to talk you out of it. I have two questions and one thing that will be useful whether you use an agent or not. Do you have two minutes?"

This works because it answers the owner's unspoken question before they ask it. Who you are, what you are not, and what this will cost them. If the answer is no, ask what is behind it, then offer two times this week.

"Where are you headed once it sells, and when would you like to be there by? I ask because the timing on the other end changes what's worth sending you."

Where, why and when are the three things you need from any seller, and they matter more with an owner selling alone because nobody has asked. Saying why you are asking turns a personal question into a fair one.

"Can I ask what made you decide to do it yourself? For some people it's the fee, some had a rough experience last time, some have done it before. I ask because each of those needs a different answer from me."

The menu takes the judgment out of the question. The answer shapes the rest of the call: a fee answer leads to a conversation about the net, a bad experience leads to what would need to be different, and experience deserves respect and a question about what was harder than expected.

"Whatever you decide, I'll send you what buyers actually paid nearby in the last few months, with the dates. If it would help, I can also come by and put two numbers side by side: your likely net selling it yourself at your price, and your likely net with it listed, once every cost on each side is counted. If your way wins, I'll say so, and you keep the sheet."

Something is given before anything is asked. The request includes the outcome you do not want, out loud, which is why the owner can trust the rest of it. Then quiet.

What not to do

Do not pose as a buyer or ask whether it is still available without saying who you are. The owner has heard that trick all week, and once they work it out, nothing you say afterward counts.

Do not quote a fee, a value or a timeline on the phone. You have not seen the home. And never say what a buyer's agent usually gets.

Buyer-side compensation is negotiated deal by deal and written down; an owner who was told there is a standard number was misled, and you do not need to be the second person to do it.

Do not warn them about the dangers of selling alone. Fear lines cost trust and teach nothing. Instead, name the places where owner sales usually get hard, as information: the inspection negotiation, the lender's check on the price if the buyer is financing, and the paperwork between contract and closing.

Then ask for a short meeting, with two day-and-time choices.

How to practice it

Have a colleague play an owner who has taken four agent calls that day and opens with "Are you an agent? Most of you don't say." Your job in order: identify yourself in the first sentence, ask where and when, ask why alone without a flicker of judgment, and give one useful thing before any request.

Run it five times, changing the reason for going alone each time: the fee, a bad experience, experience of their own, a relative in the business. Record yourself and listen for the moment you start defending the fee. That is the habit to break, and it is the one 10before10™'s scorecard listens for on this drill.

Honest answers

Should I say I am an agent right away?Yes, in the first sentence: your name, your brokerage and that you are a licensed agent. The owner has had calls from agents posing as buyers, and the honest opening is the whole first impression. If they ask which firm, say so plainly. Your state's rules may also require a disclosure at first contact, so follow them.

What if the owner says they are not paying a commission?Agree that you are not asking them to. Then ask what they expect to walk away with, since that number matters whichever way they sell. The conversation becomes about the net rather than the fee, and you have not defended anything.

Should I offer to bring a buyer?Only if you have one, and only with a written agreement in place before anyone walks through. Promising a buyer you do not have costs trust the moment nobody appears. Do not offer a value or a fee on the phone either.

How do I find a seller's real motivation?Ask where they are going, why the move is happening, and when it has to be done by. Say wh…How do I handle the commission objection?The commission objection is usually a question about the net, not the fee. Say your fee pl…How do I ask for the appointment without sounding pushy?Ask for the appointment plainly, with two real options tied to what the seller told you. A…What do I say on the second and third call to a for-sale-by-owner?Bring something new each time, on the day you said you would call. What to say on follow-u…What do I say to the objections owners selling alone raise most?Six objections owners selling alone raise most, each with two routes: answer and ask the n…

Practice this moment

Make one practice call. See your card.

A prospect who sounds real raises this exact moment. Ten minutes, in the browser, no account. The scorecard tells you the one thing to fix.