14 Real Estate Scripts For Closing Deals (+Call Recording)

Do you need real estate scripts for your sales strategy?

Imagine this.

You’re at the bar, having a drink with friends when you spot her/him — a stunning, beautiful person just in the corner. He/she is looking at you, too.

You steel yourself. This is it — you found the person of your dreams. All you need to do now is approach that person, impress them, and pray that they’ll let you buy them a drink.

You walk over and they look at you — you panic. “Crazy weather, huh?” you hear yourself say.

No. Stupid. Stupid. Don’t talk about the weather. 

“Uh — yeah. I guess so.”

You laugh a little too hard — “Haha!” — and then say, “Yeah. Anyways… Um… can I buy you a drink?”

“I’m actually just about to leave. Sorry,” they say — an obvious dodge.

“Oh yeah. Okay. No worries.”

.   .   .

That went badly.

But what if you had gone in with a plan for what to say? What if you had prepared yourself to deal with every possible objection, what if you knew how to immediately impress him/her?

Well, you’d probably be on a date right now.

And it’s the same with real estate — you have a far higher chance of success if you know what you’re going to say and when you’re going to say it… if you have a plan.

That’s where real estate scripts come in.

To help you succeed, here are 14 real estate scripts you can use and adapt to your own specific needs — but first, a real recording of an awesome call.

Note: While scripts are great for making sure you say the right thing at the right time, also learn to go with the flow a bit. The last thing you want is for your sales scripts to get in the way of building authentic relationships with your prospects. Only use a real estate script when it benefits the relationship, not when it’s going to come off as cold and uncaring. 

Here’s What a Great Real Estate Sales Call Sounds Like [Recording Included]

What does a great real estate sales call sound like?

It’s easy to read about sales theory and best practices… but getting to actually listen to (and analyze) a successful salesperson is unusual.

And yet, the best way to learn how to be a great salesperson is to listen to great salespeople as they work their magic. It allows you to better understand pacing and tone, identify new sales tactics, and audit the effectiveness of your own sales calls.

At Call Porter, we take phone calls for real estate investors all day long… and our reps are expertly trained to speak with motivated sellers, driving every lead toward the most important next step.

And here’s just one example where our sales rep, Crissy, turns the prospect into a promising appointment.

Listen for yourself (confidential information has been edited out).

That call might not be as exciting or thrilling as you expected, but where it counts… it was effective. 

In fact, our client went on to turn that appointment into a $36,000 payday.

And here are three things that Crissy did exceptionally well on that sales call.

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1. She Lets The Prospect Talk Without Interrupting

Great sales means listening to people… even when what they’re saying feels unimportant.

There are many points within this sales call where you might have been tempted to interrupt and to try and move the call forward. But Crissy listens patiently and waits for her opportunity to speak.

And when she does, it’s in an effort to make the next little bit of progress.

She isn’t in a hurry, though, and that shows in her relaxed tone of voice and in the fact that she doesn’t interrupt the prospect.

Pushy salespeople interrupt their prospects… and they lose deals because of it.

The lesson, then, is simple: listen more, talk less.

 

2. She Treats Obstacles As Insignificant

What is the proper way to deal with obstacles during a sales call?

The answer to that depends on a lot of different factors.

In Crissy’s case — since she’s a sales rep that makes appointments with new leads — she’s not in a position to make promises or speak to people’s specific challenges. She can (and is!) empathetic with her responses, saying things like “I totally get it” or “I understand.”

In her situation, she responds perfectly to the challenges and concerns that the prospect mentions.

She listens and she empathizes, but then she gently guides the discussion forward.

If the prospect were to have demanded an answer to a specific objection, then Crissy would have simply said they’d have more answers at the appointment. but that she didn’t have the authority to make those sorts of decisions.

3. She’s Systematic

The marketing world currently seems hypnotized by salespeople like ‎Jordan Belfort, Grant Cardone, and Hollywood-crafted sales scenes from the Wolf Of Wallstreet.

But the truth is, sales isn’t nearly as flashy or glamorous as all of that.

Real sales that works to generate leads, close deals, and grow your business are actually pretty systematic.

You should be asking mostly the same questions, using the same phrases, and closing in the same way (with slight variations, of course).

That’s not to say that you should ignore the slight nuances of each conversation — you should embrace them — but as for how a sale is made? It’s pretty similar each and every time.

And as you can tell in Crissy’s call, her systematic style serves her and the prospect.

It creates momentum and pushes the call forward toward making an appointment.

And that’s exactly what your sales system should strive to accomplish.

Now — here are the real estate scripts!

1. Real Estate Script For Scoring Leads

Few things waste as much time in a real estate investing business as speaking with tire-kickers — people who’ve called you but actually have no real interest in working with you.

Problem is, it’s almost impossible to tell who the tire-kickers are because they almost always make it sound like they’re serious.

Still, here are some questions you can use to figure out how motivated the person is that you’re speaking with.

• How quickly do you need to sell? Do you have a specific date in mind?
• How much would our offer need to be for you to agree?
• Why do you want to sell?

Obviously, don’t be too pushy with people or you might scare away prospects that were intending to work with you. But asking these questions can certainly help you determine if people are motivated or not.

2. Real Estate Script For Cold Calling

Cold calling isn’t child’s play — it can be quite difficult.

You have to grab the attention of someone who’s never met you before and has no idea why you’re calling. You have to get them to trust you within a very short amount of time. Heck — you have to try and keep them on the phone!

Frighteningly, the average salesperson generates about one appointment or referral from every 209 cold calls.

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*cringe*

The good news is, there’s a ton of bad salespeople out there who are skewing that statistic. Plus, you won’t be dialing random numbers and hoping the owners of those numbers want to sell their house — you’ll be compiling a list of absentee owners or people who are going through foreclosure, bankruptcy, or divorce and likely want to sell their property quick for cash. Doing that will skew the above statistic in your favor.

To keep the person’s interest and to build immediate trust, consider using this real estate script for your wholesale cold calls — adapt it as needed to the prospect’s personality and your tone of voice.

Salesperson: Hey [name]. My name is Justin and I’m looking at buying a house in your neighborhood. Can I ask you a few questions about [address]?

Prospect: Sure.

Salesperson: Okay, I’ll be brief. I was wondering if you have any interest in selling that property? I’m a real estate investor in the area and I can pay cash for your property — usually, I can even close within just a couple weeks. Does that interest you at all?

Prospect: Okay — you’ve got my attention.

If the prospect tells you that they’re busy when you say, “Can I ask you a few questions about [address]?” just ask if there’s a better time when you can call them back.

The beauty of this real estate script is that you’ll quickly catch the prospect’s interest if they’re even a little bit interested in selling their property. You’ll also build immediate trust with them because of the reasonable and gentle vibe this script gives off. Try it and see how it goes!

3. Real Estate Script For FSBO

Most people who are FSBO sellers fit the following criteria…

1. They don’t want to work with an agent because of the fees.
2. They want to sell on their own time and in their own way.
3. They want to get a fair price for their home.

That’s why FSBO sellers are a great mailing list for real estate investors.

Also, selling FSBO is usually harder than those sellers expect it to be… and after their house sits on the market for 6 months, they probably are starting to reconsider their options.

That’s where you come in.

Here’s a script you can use!

Salesperson: Hello, my name is [name] and I just saw that you’re selling the house at [address]. Is that correct?

Prospect: Yes. That’s correct.

Salesperson: Okay. I’m calling because I’m a real estate investor in the area and I was interested in taking a look at the house and potentially making you a cash offer. I’ve worked with a lot of homeowners in [market_city] and I always try to be as fair as possible. Is that something you’d be interested in learning more about?

Prospect: Sure.

4. Real Estate Script For Door Knocking

Shockingly, door-to-door sales still generate about $30 billion per year in revenue.

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Door knocking is similar to cold calling, but with a few important differences.

First of all, it’s much more socially difficult to close the door on someone’s face than it is to hang up the phone. Which means that you’ll have a slightly easier time keeping someone’s attention. Second, face-to-face communication feels much more personal than a phone call, so you should also have an easier time building trust.

You can use door knocking to connect with motivated sellers directly, or you can use it to find motivated sellers (kind of like you would with driving for dollars).

For both goals, the real estate script is the same, because you don’t want the person knowing you did a ton of research on properties they own (that can come off a little weird). Consider a real estate script that starts like this…

Salesperson: Hi. Sorry to bother you. My name is [name] and I’m a real estate investor looking for properties to buy in the area. Do you know of anyone who has a property that they might be wanting to sell quickly for cash?

Prospect: Actually, I might have a property that fits the bill.

Salesperson: Oh. Great! What’s the address? Do you mind if I drive by it?

Prospect: Sure. It’s [address].

Salesperson: Great. Do you know how much you’re wanting to get for it?

Ideally, the prospect will mention the property they own, but if they don’t, then they might mention a property that someone else owns. Roll with the punches and take what you get. Most people will want to give you some sort of helpful answer — it’s human nature.

5. Real Estate Script For Motivated Sellers

For any real estate investing business, motivated sellers are the bread and butter of success.

Buyers are important (without them, who would you flip properties to?) but sellers — ahh, sellers — without them, you don’t have a business at all! You need to find people are willing to sell their house fast for cash.

And when a motivated seller contacts you — maybe because of direct mail, your website, or a bandit sign — you need to have a plan for what to say. The last thing you want is to lose that lead because you stumble over your words and don’t have a plan for how to take them from interested and aware to trusting and committed.

At Call Porter, talking to motivated sellers is our bread and butter. We pride ourselves on answering the phone for hundreds of top real estate investors around the nation in a way that builds immediate trust.

Our methodology is based on the genius behind How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie. And each of our reps is U.S.-based and expertly trained on specifically how to talk with motivated sellers. You can learn more about working with us over here.

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As for what you should say when a motivated seller comes ringing, consider something like this…

Salesperson: Hi, this is [name] with [company]. How can I help you?

Prospect: Yeah. Hi. I received one of your pieces of direct mail that says you’re interested in paying cash for my property.

Salesperson: Yep. That sounds right. Can I get your name and your address?

Prospect: Sure. My name is [name] and my address is [address].

Salesperson: Great. How much are you hoping to get for your property?

Then run through all the pre-qualifying questions you have. Remember, the lead came looking for you — so you don’t need to over-complicate this or over-sell yourself. To some degree, they already trust you. And the more confident you are on the phone, the more likely they’re going to work with you in the weeks to come.

6. Real Estate Script For Leaving a Message

What about when you call and the person doesn’t answer? It’s a good idea to leave a message explaining who you are and why you’re calling. Don’t be vague and try to create curiosity so that the person returns your call… you want them to call you back for the right reasons. If they’re genuinely not interested and they call you back, then that’s just a waste of time.

Here’s a script you can use when leaving a message…

“Hello, my name is [name] and I’m with [company]. I’m calling because I saw that you are the owner of [address] and I was wondering if you’re interested in selling that property? If you are, give me a call at [phone], please. Thanks.”

7. Real Estate Script For Expired Listings

When someone’s home listing has expired, it’s a good sign that they’re struggling to sell.

Maybe their price is too high or maybe they haven’t done much marketing or maybe their listing is outright unappealing to buyers.

Whatever the case, these people are sometimes motivated to sell to a cash buyer like yourself to streamline the process and offload their property.

Here’s a script you can use when speaking with owners of homes with expired listings.

Salesperson: Hello, I see that you’re the owner of [address]. Are you still trying to sell that property?

Prospect: Yes. Are you interested?

Salesperson: Yes, I am. I’m with [company] and we purchase investment properties. Would you have any interest in a cash offer or are you dead-set on going the traditional route?

Prospect: I’m willing to hear more.

Salesperson: Okay. Let me walk you through our process.

8. Real Estate Script For Absentee Homeowners

Absentee homeowners are people who own a property but don’t live in it. They might still be interested in renting it out. Or it’s possible that they want to sell it but haven’t got around to doing so. Here’s a script you can use to speak with absentee homeowners…

Salesperson: Hello, my name is [name] and I’m with [company]. I see that you’re the owner of [address].

Prospect: That’s right.

Salesperson: Can I ask what your plans are with that property? We’re looking to purchase investment properties and I was wondering if you had any interest in selling or if you planned to rent out the property yourself?

9. Real Estate Script For Eviction Records

It’s possible to get a list of property owners who have recently sent eviction notices to their tenants. This is a good list to have because the owners are likely frustrated and overwhelmed with the management of their property and they might be willing to sell to a cash buyer like yourself.

Here’s a script you can use when speaking with these owners…

Salesperson: Hello, my name is [name] and I’m with [company]. I see that you’re the owner of [address]. We’re looking for investment properties to purchase and I was wondering if you had any interest in selling that house to a cash buyer like ourselves?

Prospect: Ya. I might be interested. But I’m dealing with an eviction right now.

Salesperson: I totally understand. If you decide that you want to sell to us, we can actually evict the tenants so you don’t have to worry about it — we’ll even buy the property in as-is condition. Do you want us to do some comps and make you an offer?

10. Real Estate Script For Probate

A home goes through the probate process when its owners die and the property gets passed on to whoever is designated in the deceased’s will (or their closest living relative).

This list is valuable because the person probably wasn’t expecting, or prepared for, owning another property. They very well might be interested in selling the house to make things easier. However, due to the nature of these types of prospects — they’re dealing with a family member’s death — the salesperson will need to be gentle and sensitive in their approach.

Salesperson: Hello, my name is [name] and I’m with [company]. I was wondering if you’re the owner of [address]?

Prospect: Yes. I am.

Salesperson: Okay. Do you have any plans for that property? We’re actually looking for investment properties to purchase.

Prospect: Well, I inherited the house from a family member that just passed away. I guess I’m still trying to decide what I want to do with it.

Salesperson: I totally understand and I’m sorry for your loss. I definitely don’t want to put you in a difficult position. Well, I just want to let you know that, if there’s any interest at all, we can make you a cash offer on your home in its as-is condition, we can close in as little as two weeks, and we’ll even pay all closing costs. Why don’t you take some time to think about it and you can get back to me when it’s a good time. How does that sound?

Prospect: Okay. That sounds good.

11. Real Estate Script For Pre-foreclosures

Pre-foreclosure indicates a homeowner who has defaulted on their payments. But they’re still in the part of the process where they can turn things around if they work with the lender.

They might live in the house or they might be absentee owners — either way, if they don’t start making payments soon, the home is going to be sold to the highest bidder. So it’s obviously in their interest to sell quickly if they can’t afford to keep making payments.

Here’s a script you can use…

Salesperson: Hello, my name is [name] and I’m with [company]. We’re looking for investment properties to purchase and I was wondering if you had any interest in selling [address].

Prospect: Yes. I might be interested.

Salesperson: Okay. If you are, we can make you a fair cash offer and close in as little as two weeks. We’ll even pay all closing costs. How does that sound?

Prospect: Okay ya. Let’s hear the offer.

12. Real Estate Script For Old Leads

Ryan Dossey, the founder of Call Porter and real estate investor with a portfolio of over $9 million, is a firm believer that most investors aren’t working their leads enough — that is, they give up too soon on pursuing old leads.

He’s closed multiple deals in his own business that required somewhere between 10 and even 50 follow-ups. He’s also lost deals because his team didn’t follow-up fast enough or often enough.

In fact, he ran an audit on his team’s follow-up performance recently and found that they’d lost several deals to other investors in the area simply because they hadn’t stayed in contact long enough.

Here’s a video where he explains this.

Follow-up for real estate investors is so important that we’ve dedicated this article entirely to that topic.

And pursuing old leads who’ve been on your prospect list for a long time is just as important as following up with brand new leads. You never know when a person is going to be ready to sell — but you definitely want to be top-of-mind when they are.

You might consider running an audit on your own leads for the last 3 or 6 months. Then, use this email script (or alter it for a phone call) to follow up with leads that have fallen through the cracks.

You might just pull a $10k deal out of it.

Hey!

It’s [name] with [company].

It’s been a while since we talked — how are you? Are you still interested in selling the property at [address]?

If you are, I’m still very interested in purchasing it for cash and closing in as little as just a couple weeks.

I’m happy to hop on a phone call and talk about this more with you — my number is [phone number].

Reach out any time. 🙂

Wishing you the best,

Justin

13. Real Estate Script For Skeptical Seller

Not every lead is going to be an easy close.

Heck — most leads aren’t going to be. Ryan once told me that 90% of his cash offers get outright rejected on the first go-around: “The follow-up is where the real deal-closing magic happens,” he told me.

And that’s because sellers, no matter how motivated, are skeptical. They’ve never met you before, they don’t know if they can trust you, and they are scared of getting scammed.

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You know as well as I do that those fears are misplaced and invalid. But to the seller, those fears are very real.

Which is why you need to have a little empathy when dealing with skeptical sellers. Be gentle and understanding, exhibit confidence (not arrogance), and explain to them why they can trust your business.

To do that, you can…

• Tell a story about someone else you helped.
• Tell the seller how long you’ve been in business or how many people you helped.
• Find a commonality between the seller and yourself.

Consider handling skepticism something like this…

Prospect: I don’t know. Who’s to say that I can trust you, though?

Salesperson: Yeah. I totally understand that concern. I would be nervous about taking a cash offer on my house from someone who I’d only just met, too. But the good news is that I’ve been in business for X years, and during that time I’ve helped X people. One person I just helped was actually in a very similar situation to you. Heck — I’ve lived in this city for X years and I love it here. I have no interest in soiling my reputation by making a quick buck. Naw — I’m in this for the longterm and I’m just looking to find win-win opportunities with homeowners who want cash for their house and want to sell quickly. If that’s you, great! If not, great! I want both of us to benefit from the transaction.

Notice how that response starts with empathy? Only once you’ve shown the seller that you understand where they’re coming from should you explain why they can trust you and your business. Don’t get defensive — that will only serve to hurt trust between you and the prospect.

14. Real Estate Script For Getting Referrals

When you think of referrals as a marketing tactic, you probably think primarily of B2B companies. But that’s not the only place that referrals can make a difference.

Regardless of industry or niche, word-of-mouth is still the most powerful marketing medium. Plus, all of your leads and clients know quite a few people… they might even know someone who could benefit from your services.

Not to mention that 92% of people trust referrals from people that they know.

This is a question that we recommend asking all of your past clients. Here’s an idea for how to phrase it…

We’re so glad that we were able to help you with the sale of your home. Do you know anyone else who might benefit from our services? We’re looking to help as many people in the community as possible and we always make it priority to serve the friends of our clients. 

BONUS: 5 Real Estate Scripts for Obliterating Objections and Closing Consistently

It’s not unusual.

In fact, it’s common.

You make a fair offer to a motivated seller who’s looking for a way out of their situation. To their inexperienced ears, though, the offer sounds too low and they consider other options.

“I could just rent the house.”

“I could try listing with an agent again.”

“I could just file bankruptcy.”

“I could just let the house foreclose.”

“I have options.”

Answering close to 10,000 calls per month for top investors around the nation, we’ve heard it all (you can schedule a demo with Call Porter here).

But you know as well as I do that those ideas will either not work how the prospect plans or they would leave the prospect with credit that’ll struggle to get a loan for a toaster.

Still, tactfully communicating why those “options” aren’t as good as they seem is easier said than done. So here are 5 objection-destroying phrases you can steal for your next sales call.

Objection Destroyer #1: “You could certainly rent out your home. In that case, you’d want to fix the house up yourself and find trustworthy tenants. Many people find that renting takes more time and money than they had hoped.”

When a prospect claims that they could simply rent out their house rather than working with you, they often forget how expensive and time-consuming doing so would be.

First, though, remind them that you’re both on the same team (i.e. “You could certainly rent out your home. In that case, you’d want to fix the house up yourself and find trustworthy tenants.”)

An objection often means that the prospect is struggling to trust you, so always start with an understanding statement in response (as you’ll notice with each “Objection Destroyer” within this article).

Then, explain to them the reality of what it’d look like to rent out their house. They’d have to fix up the house, find a trustworthy tenant, upkeep anything that breaks, and pay taxes on the home. It’s probably a bigger undertaking than they’re ready to tackle, which makes your offer a bit more appealing.

Objection Destroyer #2: “There are certainly many real estate agents to choose from. Unfortunately, you owe [$XX,XXX] and according to my comps, you could only sell the house for about [$XX,XXX] in its current condition.

Depending on if the prospect has already tried to use a real estate agent or not (many have), they might claim “I could just work with a real estate agent and get way more money for my house.”

After a quick word of understanding and empathy, it’s time to explain why that probably isn’t the case.

The easiest way is to provide the prospect with detailed information about their home’s market value from the comps you ran on the house. So long as the deficit between what they could realistically sell the house for and how much they owe on the house is either nothing or negative, this is an easy objection to bypass.

Plus, most real estate agents won’t even try to sell a house if it’s in terrible condition, which means some un-favorable prospect-funded repairs might be in order, depending on the state of the home.

Objection Destroyer #3: “It makes sense that you want to get as much money for your house as possible. But let me give you a rundown of why our offer is what it is.”

When you make an offer, high-hoping motivated sellers will often say “I was really wanting to get $XX,XXX for the home…”

You know that isn’t what the home is worth. But with emotions attached, the prospect is thinking differently.

The easiest and most empathetic way to dispel that false belief is by providing the prospect with the details of why your offer is what it is. You can even show them the comps you ran on the house and explain that theirs is in worse condition (if needed).

This will keep you and the prospect on the same team and give the prospect a much-needed explanation for why your offer isn’t what they had hoped but is what they should expect.

Objection Destroyer #4: “I’ve known a few people who filed bankruptcy instead of working with an investor. Unfortunately, it really hurt their credit and some government jobs won’t even consider hiring them now.”

Prospects who are overwhelmed and frustrated will often consider bad ideas (bankruptcy as #4 and foreclosure as #5) as a way to retain control of what’s happening.

The best thing you can do in this situation is (again) remind them that you’re on the same team and gently explain to them why bankruptcy is probably unwise for their future and why, if they can avoid it, they should.

To do this without being too direct and offending an already-frustrated prospect, tell a story of someone who chose bankruptcy and how that affected them. This will ensure you stay on the same team as the prospect while also pulling them back into reality.

Objection Destroyer #5: “I know that letting the house foreclose seems easy, but I knew someone who tried that…”

Similar to the fourth objection in this article, foreclosure is a last resort option that (usually) only frustrated and worn-out prospects consider.

To explain why a foreclosure isn’t a good idea, tell them a story about someone who did foreclose on their house and how it turned out for them. Then contrast that situation with a person who worked with you and how that turned out.

With a bit of contrast, your offer will certainly be the more appealing option.

Final Thoughts

My mom used to say, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

Perhaps for our purposes, we could change that to, “If you don’t have a plan for what to say, don’t get on the phone until you do.”

The fact is, you’re going to be a more effective salesperson and close more deals when you have a plan for what you’re going to say. You can use the above real estate scripts to get yourself moving in the right direction.

Good luck!

Would you like a proven script that’ll qualify and book appointments incredibly fast?

 

Check out the “Lead Intake” script that our answering service uses every day to answer calls for hundreds of investors: