How to Get Real Estate Listings: 4 Prospecting Scripts

The median seller in NAR's 2025 Profile had owned their home for 11 years, the longest on record (NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, Exhibit 6-17). This guide shows you how to get real estate listings from four places: expired listings, FSBO sellers, the streets around your last sale and the people who already know you. Each channel gets a script you can use today and a schedule to run it on.

Our guide to getting real estate leads covers 11 ways to start a conversation. This post is narrower. It follows four prospecting channels from the first hello to a signed listing agreement.

Quick answer: Most listings come from four channels: expired listings, for-sale-by-owner sellers, door knocking around a recent listing or sale, and your sphere and past clients. Work each one on a fixed schedule. Check the Do Not Call registry before you dial. Then show up to the appointment with the seller's marketing already built.

How to get real estate listings legally: Do Not Call, TCPA and fair housing

Calling expireds and FSBOs carries the most legal risk of anything in this post. Read this part first.

• A listing call is a telemarketing call. If the owner's number is on the National Do Not Call Registry, you can't call to ask for the listing. Florida Realtors' summary of the federal rules says expireds and FSBOs are covered. You may call a FSBO on behalf of a buyer client, but not to pitch your services.
• Scrub against a fresh copy. The Telemarketing Sales Rule requires a registry version no more than 31 days old, and records that show you checked. The same rule limits calls to 8 a.m. through 9 p.m. in the seller's time zone.
• Texts count as calls. Under the FCC's TCPA rules, marketing calls or texts to a cell phone sent with an autodialer or a prerecorded voice need the person's prior express written consent. Keep prospect lists out of bulk texting tools.
• Door knocking isn't a Do Not Call issue. Your city's rules on door-to-door solicitation still apply, and so does a posted "No Trespassing" sign.
• Keep letters out of the mailbox. Putting unstamped mail in a mailbox is a federal offense under 18 U.S.C. § 1725. Hand it over, leave it at the door or mail it.
• Fair housing applies to prospecting too. Pick streets by turnover and your own listings, never by who lives there. Never tell an owner who's moving in, and never suggest values will drop because of it. That's blockbusting, and the Fair Housing Act bans it.

Your state may add its own calling rules. Get your broker's policy in writing before your first call.

Expired listing script: reach the seller the day it expires

An expired listing is a seller who wanted to move and probably still does. Every agent in your market can see the same expired list. What sets you apart is a plan the seller can actually look at.

Timing

• Pull the expired list from your MLS first thing every morning.
• Day 1: call if the number is clear of the registry. If it's on the registry, hand-deliver a letter instead.
• Then one touch each on days 3, 7, 14 and 30.

Steps

1. Check the national registry and your office's own do-not-call list.
2. Read the old listing's history: days on market and every price change.
3. Pull three to five recent sales nearby so you can talk about price with real numbers.
4. Make the call or the visit, and log what happened before lunch.

Phone script

"Hi, is this [name]? This is [your name] with [brokerage]. I saw your home on [street] came off the market yesterday. Are you still hoping to move?"

If they say yes: "What matters most to you this time around?"

Then: "I'd like to show you the marketing I'd run for your home, already built, before you decide anything. Do you have 20 minutes on [day]?"

If they want a break: "Totally fair. Can I drop off a one-page summary of what's sold near you? You don't need to call me."

Keep every sentence about the next plan. Don't mention the last agent, the photos or the old price. The seller chose all of it, and they'll hear any criticism as criticism of them.

FSBO scripts: help with the price, then ask for the appointment

For-sale-by-owner sales fell to 5% of all sales in 2025, an all-time low (Exhibit 7-1). NAR asked those sellers what was hardest. The top answer was getting the price right, at 17% (Exhibit 8-8). Another 40% didn't actively market the home at all (Exhibit 8-7).

So open with price. It's the problem they already admit to.

Timing

• Check for new FSBO signs and online ads once a week, then visit on their first open house weekend or a weekday evening.
• Follow up weekly for four weeks, then monthly.

Steps

1. Remember the registry rule. No listing calls to a FSBO number on it, so most of this channel happens in person or by mail.
2. Print a one-page list of recent nearby sales.
3. Ask about their plan and listen more than you talk.
4. Send a handwritten thank-you the same day.

At the door or their open house

"Hi, I'm [your name] with [brokerage]. I'm not here to talk you out of selling on your own. I pulled the recent sales on this street in case they help with your price. Can I leave them with you?"

Then: "What's been the hardest part so far?"

If they bring up price or timing: "If you ever want a second opinion, I can show you what a full marketing launch for this home would look like. No commitment. Want me to put one together for next week?"

Week 3 follow-up: "How have showings been? If it's slower than you'd like, I'm glad to walk you through a plan."

Door knocking and circle prospecting: work the streets around your last sale

Circle prospecting means contacting the homes around a listing or sale to tell them what just happened on their street. Door knocking is the in-person version. It's also the one channel where the Do Not Call registry doesn't come into play.

Timing

• Go out within 48 hours of a new listing, a pending sale or a closing.
• Knock when people are home: late weekday afternoons and Saturday late mornings.
• Plan 50 to 100 doors for each event, and come back to the same streets the next month.

Steps

1. Choose the streets from your MLS data, by turnover and distance from the home.
2. Print a one-page note with what listed or sold, the price if it's public in your state, and days on market.
3. Knock, hand over the note, ask one question and go.
4. Log every door, even the ones that didn't open.
5. Mail a handwritten note to anyone who talked with you.

Door knocking script

"Hi, I'm [your name] with [brokerage]. My listing at [address] just [went live / sold], and I'm letting neighbors know what it means for their street. Here's a one-page summary."

Then: "Have you thought about when you might move? This year, in a few years, or not at all?"

If they say a few years: "Mind if I check in every few months with what's selling nearby?"

Talk about homes, never people. "Four homes sold on this street this year" is fine. Anything about who's buying isn't.

If the sale wasn't yours, say so: "A home at [address] just sold." Never imply you were the agent.

Walk in with the seller's marketing already built. Type in an address and add photos. Contre builds the listing page, a reel, a flyer, social posts and the description, with your name on every piece. Nothing goes out until you approve it.

Your first home is free, listing or contract. Start to finish.

Get your first home free

Sphere of influence and past clients: the listings you've already earned

In NAR's 2025 data, 37% of sellers found their agent through a friend, neighbor or relative, and 29% went back to an agent they'd used before (Exhibit 7-2). With an 11-year median tenure, a client from this year may not sell until the 2030s. You have to stay in touch for that long.

Timing

• A-list (past clients and people who refer you): a call every quarter, plus the anniversary of their closing.
• B-list (everyone else who knows your name): one useful note a month.
• Ask for a referral twice a year. Not on every call.
• If you can't reach someone on their anniversary, mail a card that week.

Steps

1. Put everyone in one list and tag each person A or B.
2. Add every closing anniversary to your calendar.
3. Make your calls in one block each week, at the same time.
4. Write down anything they mention about moving, like a job change or a remodel they keep putting off.

The Do Not Call exception: you can call people you have an established business relationship with. Florida Realtors' summary puts that window at 18 months after a closing with you. After that, check the registry before you call, or get the client's written OK to keep calling.

Anniversary call script

"Hi [name], it's [your name]. Two years ago today you got the keys to [street]. How's the house treating you?"

Then: "Any big plans for it, or are you staying put for a while?"

Referral ask: "Who's one person you know who might sell in the next year? I'd love to help them the way I helped you."

Win the listing appointment: show the seller their marketing

All four channels lead to the same meeting. NAR asked sellers what they wanted most from their agent, and the top answer was help marketing the home to buyers, at 23%. Pricing it competitively came second at 19% (Exhibit 7-6).

That's why showing beats telling here. Bring the marketing.

1. Use photos you have the right to use. Take your own, or ask the seller for theirs. The old listing's MLS photos usually belong to the photographer or the previous brokerage, so don't reuse them.
2. Build the pieces for their home: the listing page, a reel, a flyer, social posts and the description.
3. Show them on your own screen. Walk the seller through everything on your laptop or tablet during the meeting. Don't text or email the link, post anything or print a flyer until the listing agreement is signed. A home you haven't been hired to sell isn't yours to market, and once you market a listing publicly, the Clear Cooperation Policy gives you one business day to put it in the MLS.
4. Close the loop. Go through the price with your comps, then ask: "If this is the plan, are you comfortable signing today?"

Contre builds those pieces from an address and photos. Your name and branding go on every one, and you approve each piece before anything goes out. When the home goes under contract, the same file carries through to closing: Contre reads the contract, sets the deadlines and runs the compliance checks. If all you need is a description, try the free listing description tool.

The pricing is simple. Your first home is free, a listing or a contract, with no card. After that, the Listing Package is $49 a home. It covers that home's marketing and its file through closing, and it's charged when you make the home's first paid piece. A buyer's file is $19.99. Agents pay no subscription, and the first 100 lock in $49 and $19.99 for life.

How to get real estate listings: common questions

How do realtors find listings?

Mostly through people who already know them. NAR's 2025 Profile found that 66% of sellers hired an agent who was referred to them or one they'd worked with before. Prospecting brings in the rest: expired listings, FSBO sellers, door knocking and open houses. Keep your sphere warm every week, then add one prospecting channel at a time.

Can I call expired listings or FSBOs on the Do Not Call list?

Not to ask for the listing. A call offering listing services is telemarketing, so a number on the National Do Not Call Registry is off limits unless an exemption applies, such as an established business relationship or the owner's written permission. You can call a FSBO on behalf of a buyer client. Visits and stamped mail aren't covered by Do Not Call.

Is door knocking legal for real estate agents?

The federal Do Not Call rules don't cover door-to-door visits. Many cities and HOAs do restrict door-to-door solicitation, though, and you have to respect "No Trespassing" and "No Soliciting" signs. Check your local rules and your broker's policy before you go, and keep every conversation about homes rather than the people in them.

How do new agents get real estate listings?

Start with your sphere. Tell 50 people you're licensed and ask each of them for one name. Then knock doors around your office's new listings, with the listing agent's OK. At your first appointment, show the seller their marketing already built, so the conversation is about their home and not your experience.

Pick one channel this week

Pick one channel and put it on your calendar for 30 days. Expireds fit an early riser. FSBOs fit weekends. Door knocking fits late afternoons, and your sphere needs one steady hour a week. Add a second channel once the first is a habit.

When the appointment is booked, build the seller's marketing before you walk in.

Your first home is free, listing or contract. Start to finish.

Get your first home free