This was week four, day two of our month long series on aged expired listings. Yesterday I had an AI agent pull aged expireds from my MLS and scrub them. Today was the next step: having my AI bots do the outreach by text and email so owners raise their hand first.
It doesn't replace picking up the phone. "I'm not recommending that we forego the phone call." What it does is give you more leverage, more opportunities and more warm hand raisers coming your way, so you can spend your time on the conversations that actually get you paid.
You're the boss, the bots are your employees
When you embrace AI in your business, think of yourself as the boss and your AI agents as employees waiting for you to tell them what to do. That's how you get back time for higher dollar producing activities, and for the stuff you enjoy.
So I talked to my email bot by voice. I asked it to send our aged expired script, the "are you still accepting offers" email, to the leads we found yesterday and to a second deck I pulled last week. I told it to drip them out like we always do, and if there's no reply 3 days after an email is delivered, to send our three question mark reply.
Every new card in your hand is a reason to reach out
That second deck came from a new pocket buyer I picked up last week. "Every time I pick up a new card, I think about how can I proactively try to find more matches for this card in my hand."
She's most likely going to buy new construction, and only one property will be her match. But her buy box still gives me a great reason to have more conversations with more people who are more likely to transact. That's how you compound your transaction opportunities.
The text bot, with any CRM
Next I opened a second bot hooked up to a CRM account with a dedicated texting number. I use mine for testing and reaching out to agents. If you have a smart number in BoldTrail, Follow Up Boss, Lofty or something else, you can do the same thing. Don't get caught up in the specifics of my setup. "How can I be resourceful with the resources I already have?"
I told it to run the same process we used last week on both decks: text only mobile numbers that aren't on the DNC, confirm it can access what it needs, and send me a draft and a summary before anything goes out.
When the draft came back, I cut it down to our script: are you still accepting offers for that street address, and if you could please let me know either way. It confirmed it would skip DNC and opted out numbers, and that nothing goes out until I approve the final summary.
Be specific or you'll get random results
"AI is only as good as the input you give it." The same goes for AI agents and for employees. If you've ever managed someone, you know the more clearly you outline the task, the more likely you get the result you want. "If we're vague in our instructions, we will get vague or random results."
I proved that one live. I dictated a text for one owner and the bot thought my dictation was the message to send. So I stopped and asked for the draft first. Some of this isn't super efficient yet, but I wanted you to see what's possible, roadblocks and all.
Picking the ball back up on a hand raiser
When I tested this last week, a couple of owners raised their hand. Transparently, I dropped the ball on one of them. So I had the text bot send him an apology and let him know I'm pulling preliminary offer options for him.
Then I went to pull those offers, and his home had relisted that very morning. Even more reason not to drop the ball, and to make sure my bots don't let me drop it either. We still ran the exercise, because one of the platforms we use lets us make offers on listed properties.
That's the whole point of the reverse offer strategy. "We lead with the thing that they want, which gives us an opportunity to then present them with what more often than not is the solution or the thing that they need." Usually the offer doesn't match their expectations. "And that's not an obstacle. It's an opportunity," because when they object, they're seriously thinking about it.
Following up so nothing gets lost
I also called an owner I'd spoken with last Thursday. I'd emailed him preliminary offer options and hadn't heard back, so I left a voicemail and sent a text: "Not trying to be a pest, just making sure you got the info I sent." PDFs end up in spam all the time. When you send something important, make sure they got it.
The seven C's and real estate go fish
Sometimes a deal comes together in a few weeks, like when a for sale by owner raises their hand and I already have a pocket buyer. More often it's a courting process. That's what the seven C's to compensation are for: choose, collect, contact, converse, connect, contract and close, with compensation as the eighth C. This week I've shown how AI can handle the first four steps.
It's never a straight line. It's like a plane flight, course correcting the whole time. I describe this business as an infinite game of real estate go fish. "The longer we play, the more cards we add to our hands." Buyer cards, seller cards, pocket buyers, pocket sellers. More cards mean more matches, and the more you play, the better you get at facilitating the deal.
What a hand raise is really worth
Text and email are a slower path to hand raisers than the phone. All we're looking for is that first sign that someone is friendly, cooperative and still open to offers or a solution. That's the reverse expired method.
"But that hand raise alone doesn't get us paid." We have to move them to a contract and to the closing table. When the offer you brought doesn't fit, that's a good thing, because it gives you a problem to solve. In real estate especially, "problem solvers get paid."
Keep going with us
Tomorrow I'll cover what to do when someone says yes: how to find cash buyers, more on institutional offer options, and how I use AI to put together a personalized proposal, with a real example from an expired owner who found me. Then starting next Monday, our November series is all about tired landlords, Monday through Thursday at 10 AM Eastern.
If you want help putting this into practice, join our free Skool community, 1 Deal A Week In Real Estate.
Key takeaways
- Use AI bots to send the "are you still accepting offers" text and email to aged expireds so owners raise their hand first. Keep making the calls too.
- Every new client is a reason to reach out. Use their buy box to start more conversations.
- Text only mobile numbers that aren't on the DNC, and approve the wording before anything goes out.
- Be specific with your bots. Vague instructions get vague results.
- No reply 3 days after an email is delivered? Send three question marks.
- A hand raise doesn't pay you. Moving them to a contract and closing does.
Chapters
- 00:00 Getting aged expireds to raise their hand with AI
- 02:30 More swings mean more yeses
- 04:00 Telling my email bot what to send
- 06:00 Every new card in your hand is a reason to reach out
- 07:00 A text bot on any CRM with a dedicated number
- 08:30 Texting mobile numbers that aren't on the DNC
- 10:00 AI is only as good as the input you give it
- 12:00 Picking the ball back up on a hand raiser
- 14:00 The reverse offer strategy
- 21:30 Following up on preliminary offer options
- 24:00 The seven C's to compensation
- 25:30 The infinite game of real estate go fish
- 27:30 Text and email are slower, so keep calling
- 29:30 What's coming tomorrow: when they say yes
- 32:30 Next series: tired landlords