What do I say when I knock on a door as a real estate agent?
Knock, step back, and in the first sentence say your name, your brokerage and that you are a licensed agent. Say why you are at this door, usually a nearby listing, sale or open house. Hand over one useful fact, ask one honest question about their plans, and take whatever answer you get. Most visits last one to two minutes.
Read the transcript
- Oh. Hi. Look, we're not selling.
- We're happy here, and I'm right in the middle of dinner.
- Is this about the sign down the street?
- We saw it go up.
- Oh, totally, no pressure!
- But homes like yours are worth a lot right now, probably more than you think.
- Mind if I step in for a quick look?
- It only takes a minute.
- After every practice call, your card arrives: what worked, and the one thing to fix.
- The practice trains four moves.
- Say who you are, and why you're at this door.
- Hand over one useful fact. Ask one honest question about their plans.
- When the answer is no, thank them,
- offer to send the sales on their street once a quarter, and walk on.
- The owner opens the door deciding one thing: is this person safe,
- and worth a minute? They decide in about five seconds.
- So say who you are, say why you're here, and make it easy to say no.
- 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. También en español.
What is really happening at the door
The owner opens the door already deciding one thing: is this person safe, and worth a minute? They can see you, and they decide in about five seconds.
So the doorstep rewards the same things a good phone call does, only faster: say who you are, say why you are here, and make it easy to say no.
Many agents start on doors because the phone feels harder. That is normal. The fear behind it has a name, call reluctance, and the cure is the same at the door and on the phone: knowing your words before you need them.
Be honest with yourself about the trade. The door is slow. In the time it takes to walk one street, the phone reaches many more owners, and it reaches the ones who already want to sell: expired listings and owners selling on their own.
The doorstep is a good place to find your words. The phone is where those words pay off.
Before you knock
- Knock only around a reason: your new listing, a recent sale or an open house. Go within days of the sign going up, while the neighbors are still talking about it. Pick the 20 to 30 doors closest to it, and call the wider ring of homes.
- Bring one short sheet with the fact, and a card.
- Skip any home with a No Soliciting sign, and never put anything in a mailbox.
- Knock, then take two steps back. It tells the owner you are not coming in.
- Tell your office which streets you are walking.
What to say
These are examples in plain words, not lines to memorize. Say them the way you talk, and let your voice go down at the end of a question.
"Hi, I'm your name, a licensed agent with your brokerage. You may have seen the sign go up a few doors down. It just came on the market, and I wanted the neighbors to hear the price from me first. Have you got thirty seconds, or is now a bad time?"
This works for a new listing because the sign has already made the owner curious. You are answering a question they already have, before the rumors do.
"Hi, I'm your name, a licensed agent with your brokerage. You may have seen the sold sign on street. That home just sold, and I'm letting the neighbors know what it means for the street. Thirty seconds, or is now a bad time?"
This works after a sale because the owner gets a real number for their street, which most owners never see.
"Hi, I'm your name, a licensed agent with your brokerage. Before the house on street opens to the public on Saturday, I'm holding a VIP preview just for the neighbors on Friday evening. You're invited. Have you got thirty seconds?"
This works because it is an invitation, not a pitch, and neighbors like being asked first. Curious neighbors come, and they often know who else on the street is thinking about a move.
Then hand over the fact, and ask one honest question: "Over the next year or two, is moving on your radar, or are you happy here? Either answer is a good one."
If a move is on their radar, ask what is prompting it, and then ask again, gently. The first answer is rarely the whole reason. Then offer to sit down at a time that suits them, with everyone who would decide there.
When the answer is no
"We're not selling" is the most common answer at the door, and a good one. Thank them, offer to send the sales on their street once a quarter, and walk on. Ask, and after a no, ask what is behind it and ask again a different way.
Never step inside to "take a quick look", never guess what their home is worth from the sidewalk, and never share why the neighbors sold.
Practice the doorstep, then take the words to the phone
In 10before10, the door-knock practice opens with a knock. An owner on a street in your own market answers, and you have about a minute to earn the next one. Your card shows what you did well and the one thing to tighten next time.
The same words carry straight into an expired listing call or a call to an owner selling on their own. Practice both, and the phone stops being the hard part.
Honest answers
Related answers
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.