realtors tell me that they would only give me ALMOST expired listings if i agree to sign a …(i forgot the exact name) contract with him. basically means that i would use him as my buying agent.
so i was wondering how to get expired MLS listings in USA.
any ideas?
Realtors basically will not do anything for you unless they are moderately guaranteed that their time is not being wasted. So it is expected that they will give you expired listings only if you sign a buyer agreement with them.
However, there really is no other way of getting those expired MLS addresses without someone who has access to the MLS. These would be Realtors, some appraisers, and others.
As you have learned, you will have to give something to get something. There’s no free lunch.
Options, as I see them:
Agree to the contract. No cash expense on your part.
Sign up with a service that emails you the expireds. I use a service that emails me all of yesterday’s expireds that meet my criteria (geography and the words “fixer upper”). I pay a dollar for each listing that I receive, and I get the complete Realtor’s FMLS page with all of the comments (including OLP and DOM).
Become an agent.
I’m interested to hear from others on this, because so far this has not been a very good way to generate leads for me.
If an agent wants you to jump through hoops just to get expired listings, you aren’t talking to the right agent. Here’s a tip I got from an investor that I didn’t believe would work, but it absolutely does:
Don’t call the big brokerages in the area looking for expireds. They have their pockets full of investors and are less willing to deal with you.
Grab the phone book, look in the real estate section, and start with brokerages that begin with “A”. Work your way through the alphabet until you find someone that is interested. It took me three calls to find someone.
Be prepared to explain what’s in it for the realtor (e.g. $500 after closing).
They will ask how you will ensure they get paid. I signed a “no-agency” agreement with the realtor, with a clause stating that the agent’s services are limited to supplying me with expireds, and that I will pay the realtor $500 after closing. The realtor should have a form you can use.
To retain their services long-term, keep in contact with them and send them cards or small gifts every once in awhile.
now can i do that with multiple agents from different brokerage?
Why? They all see the same expired list.
some people may be more careful than others, since in Canada you cant actually search MLS by Days on Market
anyways, i took bcinvest advice right away and started calling from yellow page.
1st one call back, 2nd one call back, 3rd one “hey can we meet up at 3;00 pm?” i thought it might not be prudent to speak such deal on the phone. so i agreed.
we met up, and he asked"so…why should i give it to you for 500$ when i can try to relist it at 2.5%?"
i was not prepared for that. (even though it should be an obvious question, damn) so i agreed to give him minimum 500$, or 10% of the profit of deals. i think i over did it.
well it occurred to me later that, why would seller want to be listed again when they couldn’t sell it for a long long time.
“because you are young, i want to help you out. i want to see you become successful” says that agent.
cool.
“so…why should i give it to you for 500$ when i can try to relist it at 2.5%?”
Because the owner had it listed and it didn’t sell, so I may be able to buy it quickly, therefore, you get your $500 quickly. Or, you’re right, you could try to relist it and hope you make 2.5%. Also, do you realistically relist every expired listing you see and get 2.5%?
“because you are young, i want to help you out. i want to see you become successful” says the agent.
Based on his first response, I somehow doubt it. NEXT.
big-fat-cow,
Ah, you gave in too easily! You could have kept going until you found someone willing to work on your terms. The effort is admirable, though. If you haven’t signed anything, I would move on the next one on the list. This agent sounds like he’s looking for a prostitute.
bcinvest
Just where are you in the USA?
Anyway, in general I’m not sure trying to work expired listings is the best place to go to try and get a deal. My basic question is: where’s your data that shows that this method works?
I believe NAR has several articles that say that homes listed with Realtors sell for money than homes that are FSBO’s. Those expired listings are all back to being FSBO’s and all the problems associated with them. A good percentage of the time those expired listings will just end up relisting with the same agent or another agent.
Let me ask you this. Do you have any relationships built with realtors? If you build relationships first then asking for help second then you can catch more interests with that instead of cold calling realtors and asking for a lists.
Here is one way to run something.
Go to craigs lists and back pages in your area and place the following ad:
REALTOR WANTED
Local investor seeks Joint Venture relationships with local real estate agent. If interested please call our 24hour Pre recorded information.
Now with that said you have to record a script.
Introduce yourself. Say what you have to offer. IE sellers that WANT to sell. Tell them what you need.
The thing is be true to your offer. Realtors are being slammed these days. Inventory is not being sold. I have one realtor in another market that all they do for me is when a preforeclosure comes up I give them a call and they get started on a short sale package for me.
Its a perfect deal for me and them. If I don’t get my magic number they still get the listing.
These are just a few ideas.
The realtor most likely wants you to sign a blend between a non-circumvent and representation agreements.
Regards,
Scott Miller