Compliant cold calling scripts for realtors: expireds, FSBOs, and farms

Every agent I know has a cold calling script folder. Most of those scripts were written for a different era, when you could buy a list, load a dialer, and read the same pitch to five hundred people without thinking about who was on the other end or whether you were allowed to call them.

That era is over. Do-not-call violations come with a private right of action, and there are people who answer the phone hoping you'll slip. So here's the honest version: no script makes a call legal. The process around the script does. Who you call, when you call, what you say in the first ten seconds, and what you do when someone says "don't call me again."

Below are the scripts I'd actually use for the three calls agents make most: expired listings, FSBOs, and a geographic farm. Each one sits inside the same compliance-first routine. Steal all of it.

Before you dial: the four-minute checklist

I do this before every dialing block, not once a quarter. It's the part that keeps the scripts from turning into a demand letter.

1. Know who owns the number. An address isn't a person, and the phone in the MLS or on the sign isn't always the owner's. Enrich the address to the owner of record first. More on why in the phone you have isn't the phone to call.
2. Scrub against every list that applies. The National Do Not Call Registry, your state's list if it has one, and your own internal do-not-call list. Our DNC scrubbing guide walks through what "scrubbed" really means.
3. Check the clock in their time zone. Federal rules bar telephone solicitations to residential numbers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location. Some states are stricter.
4. Dial by hand. No autodialer, no prerecorded voice, no AI voice. Federal rules restrict calls to cell phones made with an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice unless you have prior express consent, and most of the numbers you'll reach are cell phones.

If you prospect in Florida or another state with its own telemarketing law, read our TCPA and state mini-TCPA breakdown before you build a calling routine. The state rules are where a lot of agents get caught.

The first ten seconds: say who you are

Every script below opens the same way, on purpose. FCC rules require anyone making a telemarketing call to give the called party the name of the individual caller, the name of the person or entity the call is made for, and a phone number or address where that entity can be reached. That isn't a burden. It's the most trust-building thing you can say.

"Hi, is this [owner name]? This is [your full name] with [brokerage]. I'm a local agent, and you can reach our office at [number]."

Then give your reason for calling in one sentence and stop talking. The reason is the whole script. If you don't have a real one, don't make the call.

Expired listing scripts

An expired listing owner has just been through a hard few months. They've had strangers in their home, they've been told it would sell, and it didn't. Then the morning it expires, their phone lights up. Your job is to be the one call that sounds like a human being. For the full workflow from MLS pull to appointment, see the expired listings playbook.

The opener

"Hi [owner name], this is [your full name] with [brokerage]. I saw your home at [address] came off the market, and I'm sorry it didn't sell. I'm not calling to pitch you. I'm curious: are you still hoping to move, or have your plans changed?"

That question splits the call cleanly. "We still want to sell" opens a conversation. "We're done" means you thank them and log it.

When they're still motivated

"What do you think got in the way? Was it price, showings, the marketing, or something else?"

Let them vent. Don't trash the last agent, ever. Then ask for fifteen minutes in person to walk through what you'd change. You're selling a plan, not a promise.

When they're angry about the calls

"I hear you, and I'm sorry. You've probably had a dozen of these today. Would you like me to put you on my do-not-call list? I'll do it right now."

If they say yes, do it on the spot and say so. Federal rules require you to record a do-not-call request at the time it's made, and the fastest way to lose trust is to call that number again next month.

FSBO call scripts

FSBO owners chose to sell without an agent, so open with respect for that choice. And be careful about the number. A phone on a yard sign or a listing site was posted so buyers could call. Posting it doesn't take the number off a do-not-call list, so scrub it like any other. The FSBO prospecting playbook covers the details.

The opener

"Hi, is this the owner of [address]? This is [your full name] with [brokerage]. I'm not calling to talk you out of selling it yourself. I work with buyers in [neighborhood], and I wanted to ask two quick questions about the home. Is now a bad time?"

The two questions

"Are you open to working with a buyer's agent if they bring you a qualified buyer? And how have the showings been so far?"

Only say you have buyers if you actually do. The second question is where the relationship starts. If showings are slow, offer something useful with no strings: a pricing snapshot of recent sales nearby, or a short checklist for disclosures and contracts. Then ask if you can check back in two weeks.

"I don't want to pay a commission."

"Totally fair. That's why you're doing this. If it ever makes sense to talk about it, I'll show you exactly what I'd do and what it would cost, and you can decide. Mind if I check in after your next open house?"

Farm call scripts

Farm calls are the long game. You're not looking for a listing this week; you're becoming the agent the street already knows. Lead with information people actually want: what the house down the block sold for, how long it took, what it means for their value.

The market-update opener

"Hi [owner name], it's [your full name] with [brokerage]. I focus on [neighborhood], and I call homeowners a few times a year with what's selling nearby. [Address] just closed. Would you like the details?"

The permission close

"Would it be helpful if I sent you a short update when something sells on your street? Email or a call, whichever you'd prefer."

Whatever they choose, write it on their record. That preference is worth more than the call.

The voicemail, and the question you'll always get

"Hi [owner name], it's [your full name] with [brokerage], about your home at [address]. Give me a call back at [number] when you have a minute. Again, [name], [number]."

Leave it live, in your own voice. Keep it under twenty seconds and say the number twice.

"How did you get my number?"

"Fair question. I look up property owners from public records for the homes I'm working on. If you'd rather I not call, I'll take you off my list right now."

Honest, short, and it hands them the exit. People hang up on vague answers. They rarely hang up on that one.

What never goes in a script

• Fake urgency. "I have a buyer right now" when you don't.
• Pretending you know them. "Hey, it's me, returning your call."
• Hiding who you are. No first-name-only openers, no blocked caller ID. The federal Telemarketing Sales Rule requires telemarketers to transmit a caller ID number.
• Arguing past a "no." One respectful question, then let it go.
• Mass texts to strangers. Texting raises its own consent questions. If someone says "text me instead," note it and follow their lead.

Where LeadCove fits

I built LeadCove because the prep was eating my week. You upload a list of addresses, expireds, FSBOs, or a farm, and each one comes back enriched with the owner of record, their phones, and their emails, with every phone flagged against the National Do Not Call Registry and checked for known TCPA litigators before you dial. Misses don't use credits.

Then you work the list in the built-in CRM: notes, call outcomes, do-not-call requests, and callback dates all live on the same row, so your follow-up doesn't depend on memory. Starter is $29 a month for 15 credits after the 7-day trial; see how the 7-day trial works and the pricing section for Pro and Power.

Your first compliant dialing block

1. Pick one list. Today's expireds, the FSBOs in your area, or 50 homes in your farm. 10 minutes
2. Enrich and scrub. Owner, phones, DNC flags, your internal list. minutes
3. Choose the script. One opener, one reason, one question. 5 minutes
4. Dial by hand in the legal window. Log every outcome and every do-not-call request on the spot. one hour
5. Set the callbacks. The listing comes from the second and third conversation, not the first. 10 minutes

Sources

• 47 CFR 64.1200 (FCC TCPA rules): autodialer and artificial or prerecorded voice calls to cell phones in (a)(1)(iii); calling hours in (c)(1); national registry in (c)(2); internal do-not-call list, recording requests at the time they're made in (d)(3), and caller identification in (d)(4) (checked October 23, 2026).
• 16 CFR 310.4 (FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule): caller ID transmission in (a)(8) (checked October 23, 2026).
• 47 U.S.C. 227(c)(5): private right of action for do-not-call violations.
• FCC: Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts: National Do Not Call Registry overview and state do-not-call lists.
• FTC: Q&A for Telemarketers & Sellers About DNC Provisions in TSR: registry access and scrubbing requirements for sellers.