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Scripts & Objections·PRO TIP GOLD

The Ten-Item Punch List That Gets You Back Inside an Expired Listing

You have been told the way back into an expired is a sharper second call than the last agent gave. The CEO who built this system sends a free inspector through the house first, then calls back with ten specific repairs and says out loud that fixing them will work whether the seller lists with him or not.

From Preston Vawdrey, "How to Get More Real Estate Listings Witho· August 17, 2026Open the source ↗
The Quick Take

Steve Guertin, CEO of Agent Legend, sat down with REDX’s Curtis Fenn on a webinar about where listings actually come from right now. National home turnover was 2.77% as of May 2026, the lowest in more than 40 years, so his argument is that there is no bigger pile of sellers to go find. There are only the sellers already trying to sell, and expireds sit at the top of that list.

His first move is not a script. He built what he calls an A-team around himself: an inspector, a stager, a photographer, and a financing partner who can front repair costs. None of them are paid up front. They get paid when the referral turns into business.

The ask to the expired seller is deliberately small. “Let them just walk around the house. You already know that I know where you live, so I could drive by anytime. Let them walk around the house. We’ll send them out,” Guertin said.

The inspection is what buys the second call. He comes back with a list: “Here are the 10 things that we found that I think, I believe that if we fix these things, you’re going to have success, whether it’s with us or not.” The last clause is the whole mechanism. He hands over the findings with nothing attached, so there is no pitch for the seller to defend against.

Then the photographer or the stager is the one who points out what is hurting the listing, which keeps the agent out of the job of criticizing the seller’s own photos. Guertin’s diagnosis of why any listing fails has three legs — price, condition, or motivation: “You can’t successfully transact if one of those legs is gone, you have no chance.”

The Useful Part

““Here are the 10 things that we found that I think, I believe that if we fix these things, you’re going to have success, whether it’s with us or not.””

Our Take

Most agents work an expired by trying to out-talk the agent who just failed. The seller has already sat through one listing presentation that did not work, so a second one lands as noise. What costs you the appointment is that you arrive with nothing but an opinion about price.

An inspection changes what you are carrying. You show up with findings the seller did not have, and no invoice attached to them. The partners who produce those findings cost you nothing until something closes. Newer agents get a second use out of it: when a seller asks why they should hire someone with four deals, the decades of experience sitting on your A-team is an honest answer.

Do This
  1. Line up four partners this week — an inspector, a stager, a photographer, and a lender who can finance repairs — on a paid-when-it-closes basis.
  2. Ask the expired seller for the walk-through, not the listing appointment. The only thing you are requesting is that the inspector be allowed in.
  3. Call back with the numbered list and end on the no-strings clause above, then let the stager or photographer deliver the news about the photos.
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