With more people attempting to sell their homes over the summer months we will see an increase in the number of homes on the market.  When more homes are on the market for sale, more homeowners may become dissatisfied with their current listing agent opening up opportunity for another agent to contract with the seller to list and sell the home once the original contract to sell the home expires.  These homes that have "expired" off the market are fertile ground for real estate agents attempting to build their listing inventory.   Contacting the homeowner of an expired listing is a perfectly legal and acceptable practice but real estate professionals should be cognisant of a few issues before initiating conversations with homeowners who are about to be expired off the market.

Contrary to popular belief, a real estate agent may speak with a homeowner who is currently under a listing agreement with another broker for the sale of their property.  This call has come in to our broker support line often enough that we felt it important to stress that although the agent is allowed to talk to the seller that communication must be initiated by the homeowner and not the agent.  Once the communication is initiated by the homeowner, the real estate practitioner should be careful to only do the following:

a.    Talk about what they can do to sell the home.

b.    Talk about the price they think the home will sell for.

c.    Look at comparable sales.

Real estate agents in speaking with a "not so expired" listing homeowner should always be careful to leave out any reference to the current real estate practitioner or brokerage that has a listing agreement in place with the homeowner.  To follow what is allowed to say it is wise to make sure that you stay away from addressing any of the below when talking to the homeowner of a "not so expired" listing:

a.    Talk about the job the current real estate practitioner is doing for the homeowner.

b.    Comment on what you would do different than the existing real estate agent.

c.    Mention anything with regard to the current real estate agent or brokerage.

d.    Give the homeowner any information on how to get out of their current listing agreement.

As long as you stick with the above guidelines all should be well with your pursuit of the expired or not so expired listing.  Good luck and please do not hesitate to inquire with the Broker Management Team should you have any questions related to this type of marketing.