Consistent Listings writes ad scripts for expired listings that open with why the home did not sell, before the agent is introduced, because that is the question an owner searches first. You record the script once, off our filming guide, in about an hour, and our US-based ISA team calls every lead it produces within minutes, average speed to lead 48 seconds.
- A generic seller script skips the question an expired owner actually has: what went wrong last time.
- Every expired script names one of three failure points first: price, presentation or exposure.
- Scripts never call the owner desperate, motivated or a failed listing; they describe the listing situation, not the person.
- The script feeds the ISA call: what the video promises is what the first phone call has to deliver on.
Why generic scripts fail with an expired owner
An owner whose listing just expired has already sat through one agent's script that did not sell the house. A second script that opens with "thinking of selling?" gets skipped in the same three seconds the first one did, because it does not acknowledge that anything already happened.
The owner's actual first question is why didn't my house sell, not who should I hire. A script that starts with the agent's credentials, or a generic value proposition, answers a question nobody asked. The owner is defended by the time they see the ad, because the phone started ringing with other agents the morning the listing dropped off the MLS, so the opening line has to earn a few more seconds by naming the situation correctly before it says anything about the agent at all. This is the same problem expired listing leads solves on the targeting side: reach the owner before the pitch, not after it.
Three script skeletons for expired listings
Each skeleton below follows the same structure: hook, proof, offer, call to action. The hook names the trigger, the proof shows you understand the mechanics of why homes expire, the offer is the corrected plan, and the call to action points to the landing page the ISA follows up on.
Skeleton 1: the diagnosis hook Hook (8 seconds): "If your home just came off the market without selling, here is what I would change before it goes back on." Proof: a home that does not sell usually fails on price, presentation or exposure, not on the market. Name the three and let the owner place their own listing. Offer: a relaunch, not a relist, with a corrected number, new photos and a fresh push. Call to action: get the free relisting plan for your home at the link below.
Skeleton 2: the crowded-inbox hook Hook (7 seconds): "Twenty agents will call you this week. Watch this first, then decide who to call back." Proof: acknowledge the flood of calls directly and explain why watching first, rather than answering the first call, produces a better decision. Offer: three questions to ask any agent about why the last listing failed, before signing again. Call to action: get the three questions and a relisting plan for your zip code.
Skeleton 3: the days-on-market hook Hook (7 seconds): "Days on market is the first number buyers see. Here is how a relaunch resets it." Proof: explain in plain terms that a fresh launch, done correctly, resets what buyers see in most MLS systems, while a quiet relist does not. Offer: a relaunch plan that treats the corrected number as the headline, not a concession. Call to action: see what a relaunch would look like for your home.
The hooks table for expired ad scripts
The table below is the full set of hooks we script against for this niche, matched to the search moment that triggers each one.
| Hook | Trigger it speaks to | Seconds |
|---|---|---|
| If your home just came off the market without selling, here is what I would change before it goes back on. | listing expired | 8 |
| Your house did not sell. It was not the market. It was one of three things. | why didn't my house sell search | 6 |
| Twenty agents will call you this week. Watch this first, then decide who to call back. | post-expiry agent calls | 7 |
| Relisting the same home at the same price with new photos is not a plan. Here is one. | relist search | 7 |
| Days on market is the first number buyers see. Here is how a relaunch resets it. | house on market too long | 7 |
| Before you fire your agent or hire the next one, ask these three questions. | switching agents search | 7 |
Each hook has to land inside the first 8 seconds, before a viewer can skip, which is why every one names the owner's exact search rather than a general pitch.
What to avoid in expired listing ads
Fair Housing rules apply to every script: it describes the property situation and the transaction, never the person, and never implies a preference based on any protected class. For expired listings, that means never calling the owner a failed seller, desperate or motivated; the script names what happened to the listing, not a judgment on the owner.
Calling expired owners is regulated telemarketing in the US: numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry cannot be cold called without an exception, and the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule bars calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time. Scripts never claim the ISA cold calls the expired list; the call to action always routes to a landing page form, which makes the ISA's call inbound follow-up on a request the owner made. Most MLSs also prohibit soliciting a property still under a listing agreement, so no script implies the ad targets an active listing. In Canada, the same structure applies under CRTC rules and provincial real estate board restrictions on soliciting active listings.
How the script connects to the ISA call
Whatever the video promises, the first phone call has to deliver on. If the script says "here is the order I would fix things in," the ISA opens by referencing that video and moving straight into the same three questions: price, presentation, exposure. That continuity is why the owner treats the call as a follow-up to something they chose to watch, not a cold pitch from a stranger.
Our US-based ISA team calls every lead the script produces within minutes and runs an 10-point qualification before booking anything, covering whether the previous agreement has ended and whether the owner will consider a corrected price. What the team hears on those calls feeds back into the next round of hooks, so the script for YouTube ads for expired listings keeps getting sharper against real conversations rather than guesses. The Scripting service for real estate agents runs the same feedback loop across every niche, and you can see what other agents got in their first 100 days.
Questions, answered
What should a real estate agent say in a video ad for expired listings?
The opening line should name why the home did not sell, before introducing the agent, because that is the question an expired owner is already asking. A script built on price, presentation and exposure gives the owner a way to place their own listing in the first few seconds, which is what earns the rest of the video and the follow-up call.
How long should an expired listing ad script be?
The hook needs to land inside about 8 seconds, before a viewer can skip, and the full script typically runs long enough to cover the hook, one proof point and a single offer, recorded in about an hour on camera. Longer scripts that try to cover every objection at once tend to lose the owner before the call to action.
Do I have to write my own script for expired listings?
Consistent Listings writes the script from the framework already producing listings across every market we run in, fitted to expired homes in your zip codes, and delivers it with a filming guide before your recording session. You record it once, in about an hour, and can use an AI Clone instead of appearing on camera yourself.
Can an expired listing script mention the previous agent?
Scripts do not name or blame the previous agent, individually or as a class, because the goal is to answer the owner's question about their own listing, not to disparage anyone. The script focuses on what typically stops a home from selling and what a relaunch changes, which holds up regardless of who the last agent was.
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Get 2 signed listings in your first 100 days. YouTube ads to homeowners in your zip codes, a US-based ISA team that books the qualified ones, and a full refund if you do not sign a listing in 100 days.