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Benefits Of Buying A House With An Expired Listing

Posted Wednesday, August 7, 2019

When people selling their homes work with a traditional real estate agent, they enter into an agreement that the property will be listed by the agent for a specific period of time, such as six months. However, as many unsuspecting people ultimately realize, their agent may not be working hard to sell their property. As a result, they end up with an expired listing and a house they are still eager to sell. Since the average city has over 1,000 expired listings per year, these are great opportunities for investors or agents who are motivated to sell properties as quickly as possible. 

Sellers Want to Sell
If a homeowner is facing an expired listing, chances are they are more eager than ever to sell their property. Because of this, you can often turn these referral leads into quick profits for yourself. In many cases, these sellers will be more than willing to listen to an immediate cash offer, which will allow them to get a fair price for their home and move on with their lives.

Building Your Business
If you are a real estate agent who may be struggling to gain new listings on your own, taking advantage of expired listings can be of benefit to you in many ways. For example, it will quickly give you access to homeowners who are desperate to work with an agent who is motivated and eager to help sell their property as fast as possible. Along with this, once you have some success with a few homeowners, word will quickly spread that you are the go-to agent for people wanting to sell their homes in a short period of time. Before you know it, referral leads will be coming your way on a nonstop basis.

Look for a History of Price Reductions
If you are an investor looking to purchase properties for resell, look for properties in expired listings that have a history of price reductions. Once you find these, you know the seller is not only motivated to sell, but is also willing to listen to various offers. In most cases, these are excellent candidates for all-cash offers, since it is likely they are selling their home due to such factors as divorce, job relocation, death in the family, or other event. If all goes as planned, you will be able to purchase a property at a price that lets you make a sizable profit down the road.

Though it can take some work to find expired listings, it often pays off in profits. By searching MLS for listings about to expire, you can compile a list of sellers who need to sell quickly. By doing so, you'll reap the benefits.