Skip to content

Expired and FSBO Scripts

When to use this

You spotted an expired listing or a FSBO sign this morning. You want to reach out — but the wrong tone burns the contact before you even have a conversation. Use this to get a respectful, situation-specific first draft fast. Then shape it to your voice before you pick up the phone or hit send.

The prompt

Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Fill in the brackets.

You're helping me draft a short outreach script for a real estate prospect.
Write a professional, respectful script I can use for the situation below.

Situation:
- Type: [Expired listing OR FSBO]
- Property: [address or brief description — e.g. "3-bed ranch on Maple St"]
- My angle: [what I bring — e.g. "sold 4 homes in this zip in the past 90 days"]
- Channel: [phone call OR text OR email]
- Tone: [warm / direct / low-pressure]
- Length: [short — under 90 words for a call opener, or one short paragraph for text/email]

Rules:
- Open by acknowledging the seller's situation with empathy, not pity.
- State one specific, credible reason I'm reaching out — no generic "I help
  sellers like you" language.
- Make a single, low-commitment ask (a quick call, a walkthrough, a reply).
- Do NOT pressure, guilt, or imply the seller made a mistake.
- Do NOT promise a specific price or outcome.
- Use only the facts I gave you. Don't invent sold comps or statistics.

Before and after

What you start with — your notes before drafting:

expired last week, 123 oak, 4bd, was listed at 450k, sat 67 days, prob overpriced or bad photos, I sold 3 homes nearby in q1, want to do a call

What you get back:

Hi, this is [Your Name] — I noticed your home on Oak Street came off the market last week. I know that's frustrating, especially after 67 days. I've sold three homes in your area this quarter and I'd love to share what I'm seeing buyers respond to right now. Would you have ten minutes this week for a quick call? No pressure, just a conversation.

The notes had the right raw material. The prompt shapes them into an opener that leads with empathy, cites one specific data point, and makes a single low-commitment ask.

Make it yours

  • Run both versions. Ask for an expired script and a FSBO script in the same session — they need different angles. FSBO sellers chose to go it alone, so acknowledge that respect up front.
  • Vary the channel. A phone opener should be shorter and looser. A text or email can be one tighter paragraph. Set the channel field and let the AI match the format.
  • Test two tones. Run the prompt twice — once "warm," once "direct" — and keep the opener that fits how you actually talk.
  • Add a follow-up. Once you have the opener, ask the AI: "Write a short follow-up if they don't respond in three days." That gives you a three-touch sequence from a single session.

Watch out for

Check the Do Not Call Registry before you call. When you call to offer your listing services — which expired and FSBO outreach is — federal rules apply. Under the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, you must scrub your contact list against the National Do Not Call Registry before calling numbers on it. Calling a registered number without consent can expose you to significant fines. Pull your contact list, scrub it at donotcall.gov, and know the exemptions (an existing business relationship, for example, can apply). If you're unsure, ask your broker or a real estate attorney — the rules have nuance, and the risk is real.

Texting has its own rulebook. The prompt offers a text channel, but a cold marketing text is not a call. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) governs marketing texts, not the Do Not Call rules. It generally requires prior express written consent before you text through an automated or bulk system, and the penalties are real. Texting one contact by hand has more latitude, but a bulk-texting or CRM tool needs consent first. When in doubt, check with your broker.

Frustrated sellers read tone fast. An expired seller spent weeks showing their home and it didn't work. A FSBO seller made a deliberate choice to go without an agent. Scripts that come across as "I told you so" or "you need me" close doors. The prompt above is built to stay respectful — but read the draft before you use it. If it sounds smug or pushy, prompt again with "make it warmer and less sales-y."

Never promise what you can't deliver. The prompt blocks the AI from inventing statistics, but double-check any figure you add yourself. A price estimate, a days-on-market claim, or a "I can get you X" line that you can't back up damages trust before the relationship starts.