This one comes from week two of our month long aged expired listings live series. The day before, we talked about what to do when someone says yes. This session picks up right there: once a seller is open to talking, how do you put a proposal in front of them that gets them to sign with you?
I share real proposals I've made, including an aged expired listing I took and a one page plan I sent to a two unit owner who reached out over the weekend. Then we get to work and prospect aged expireds live. I've left out every homeowner name, address and number here.
The aged expired that reached out to me
This seller listed in the spring of 2025 with an agent a lot of people think is a big deal in my market. They had very few showings and weren't happy. This one didn't come from outreach. They reached out to me.
I met with them once just to learn what happened and what they wanted. Then I said, now that I have more context, let me put together a proposal for how we can get this sold. It was newer construction in a community where the carriage homes are effectively the same box. They had put a lot into upgrades, but a buyer still sees the same box. That was something I was working against.
For round two I brought the proposal. It covered strategic pricing, a launch timeline, how we'd market the home, who the ideal buyer is, and the pieces we use to get the most people to see it. More people seeing it means more showings, and more showings means more offers.
They met with me and one other brokerage. They told me they chose me because I had a real plan for their property, and the other brokerage pretty much said they were a big deal. In the spirit of telling the truth, it didn't go perfectly. We got an early offer with red flags, so we passed, and it took months to sell and a small reduction. But it's under contract now, and the plan is how I got the listing.
State the facts and tell the truth
This is the point I keep coming back to. When we're making proposals, "we should focus solely on stating the facts and telling the truth."
Leave your opinions out as much as you can. If you share an opinion and it doesn't become reality, you look like the bad guy. I had an investor client tell me how much he appreciated that I just gave him facts, because a past agent shared opinions to win his business and then couldn't perform. He'll never work with that agent again.
I would rather tell the truth and have someone choose another agent than say whatever gets them to sign today and then have to backtrack later.
A one page proposal for a two unit owner
Over the weekend a two unit owner emailed a few local agents and asked four questions: your experience, list price range, your commission and terms, and how you'd market it to investor buyers.
I sent comparable sales, a Loom video, and a one page investor marketing plan with four parts:
- Reach out to my existing pocket buyers who want multifamily.
- Show how many active investor buyers there are in that zip code and that city, pulled from LeadDeck.
- Personally reach out to other agents who have buyers looking for multifamily in that area.
- Pay for premium placement on homes.com and Zillow so more people see it.
I recorded a longer video and used some AI tools to condense it into that one page plan.
Then, live on the stream, I realized I'd missed something. I should also market it to people who might live in one unit and rent out the other. That gave me a good reason to follow up. Like I said, "we don't have to be perfect. We just have to get going."
Never more than three options
When I put options in front of someone, it's two or three at most. "When we present too many options that can confuse the consumer." In other words, "a confused mind says no."
The goal is to give them just enough to get curious, lean in, and want a deeper conversation. That ties back to the continuum: we choose who to reach, collect the data, contact them, get them into conversation, and connect to find out if there's a contract opportunity. It's a process, not one single event.
More yeses means more nos
If you want more signed contracts, you need more conversations with people who are more likely to transact. That also means "to get to more yeses, we're also naturally going to have or encounter more nos as well. And that's a good thing." Take more shots.
Make sure they actually see it
When I followed up with the two unit owner, I also asked if he got the video and PDFs. When you go to the trouble of building a custom proposal, "you should leave no stone unturned in getting them to actually consume the thing you've created for them."
Don't assume an email got opened. We email, we text, and we nudge the next day if they haven't looked. I like Loom for this because it tells me when someone watches. If I don't get that notice, I have a good reason to check in.
Live prospecting: going for three nos
In the second half I worked my aged expired deck in LeadDeck. When an investor told me he'd rented the property, I didn't stop there. I texted to ask if he'd sell with the tenant in place, and whether he had other properties he'd consider an offer on.
That's going for three nos. For an investor: are you still accepting offers on this one, do you have other properties you'd consider an offer on, and are you looking for any deals right now? For an owner occupant, the follow ups are about their plans, and whether they know anyone in the neighborhood thinking about selling. As I put it, "no is rarely the end of the story or the end of the conversation."
A few other habits from the calls:
- I hide numbers that are disconnected so I don't waste time on them later.
- On a mobile number I say I'll text. On a landline I say I'll email. Tying them together gets more replies.
- When a working number is low on the list, I change my voicemail and ask them to pass my info along, since it's often a relative or friend.
- When I can't reach someone, I add them to direct mail. Every voicemail, text, email and postcard is another line in the water.
When a seller isn't ready
The last call was a seller who threw out a number and then said she wasn't going to sell right now, even at that number. I asked if I could keep in touch, and she said yes.
So she goes into my CRM with a market report for her zip code, my monthly home value update, and my market update postcard. "Those three things become insurance against her not at least considering me for the job when the time is right for her to consider selling again." I'm also sending her a personal video email.
Key takeaways
- Meet first to learn what happened, then come back with a proposal built for that property and its ideal buyer.
- State the facts and tell the truth. Leave opinions out of your proposals.
- Never give more than two or three options. A confused mind says no.
- Make sure they actually see what you sent. Nudge if they haven't.
- More yeses come with more nos. Go for three nos before you move on.
- For sellers who aren't ready, set up follow up that keeps you in the running.
Chapters
- 00:00 Proposals that get sellers to say yes
- 03:00 An aged expired that reached out to me
- 06:30 State the facts and tell the truth
- 10:00 The proposal that won the listing
- 13:30 A one page plan for a two unit owner
- 17:30 Never more than three options
- 19:30 More yeses means more nos
- 21:00 Make sure they see what you sent
- 23:30 Live prospecting aged expireds
- 27:00 Going for three nos
- 55:30 When a seller isn't ready yet
- 59:00 What's next