The order minimum is 200 cards. How does that work with 30 expireds a month?

It does not, on its own. Most agents working expireds mail a rolling pull instead: 60 to 90 days of expired, withdrawn, and cancelled listings, which clears 200 in most mid-size markets. That changes the copy. A card reaching someone whose listing died 70 days ago cannot open the same way as one that lands 2 days out, so the batch you mail sets the message you write.

Where does the expired list come from, and which address do I mail?

Your MLS, filtered to expired, withdrawn, and cancelled in your target area. Mail the tax record mailing address, not the listing address. A meaningful share of expired sellers have already moved for the job or the school year that prompted the sale, and the card that goes to the empty house they could not sell is the one that never gets read.

Is mailing an expired seller a Do Not Call problem?

No. The Do Not Call Registry governs phone calls, not mail, which is a large part of why the card gets through when 40 calls did not. Your MLS and your broker may still have their own solicitation rules, and those are the ones to check before your first drop. Ask your broker once and you never have to think about it again.

Does a QR code help on an expired card?

More than on almost anything else you mail. Every card carries its own QR code tied to that recipient, so a scan tells you a specific seller looked even though they did not call. On expireds that signal is the whole game, because the ones who are not ready to talk yet are exactly the ones worth a second card in ten days.

Expired Listing Direct Mail: Stand Out From the 50 Other Agents

The day a listing expires, the homeowner's phone rings 30-50 times. Agent after agent, all saying the same thing: "I can sell your home. The last agent didn't market it right. Let me show you my plan."

By call number 10, the homeowner stops answering. By call number 25, they're screening every unknown number. By call number 40, they're genuinely angry.

Then, 2 days later, a handwritten card arrives in their mailbox. It doesn't say "I can sell your home." It says something different. And they actually read it.

Why don't phone calls work on expireds?

Let's be clear: calling expired listings works for the agents who do it at scale with professional scripts and relentless follow-up systems. If you're making 100 calls a day to expireds, you'll close some.

But for most agents, expired calling is a miserable experience with terrible conversion rates. Here's why:

The homeowner is frustrated. Their home didn't sell. They're dealing with disappointment, potential financial stress, and a negative association with real estate agents.
You're calling alongside 30-50 other agents. There is zero differentiation on the phone. Every agent says the same thing.
The timing is wrong. You're calling in the first 24 hours when emotions are highest and receptivity is lowest.
Cold calls feel adversarial. You're interrupting their day to pitch them at their lowest moment.

The homeowner who just endured 40 agent phone calls is not in a receptive state. They need time. They need space. And they need someone who approaches them differently.

Why does a handwritten card work where the calls failed?

Here's why a handwritten card works where calls fail:

Timing: Your card arrives 2-3 days after expiration. The phone assault has stopped. The homeowner has had time to process. They're now thinking rationally about next steps.

Channel: Nobody else is sending mail. Every agent called. Maybe 2-3 sent a printed letter or email. A handwritten card is the only piece of mail they receive that doesn't look like it was generated by a marketing machine.

Tone: A handwritten card can't feel aggressive. The format itself communicates patience and personal attention. You're not pitching on a 30-second phone call. You're writing a thoughtful message.

Content: You have space to say something meaningful, not just "I can sell your home."

Here's a card that works:

"Hi [Name], I know your listing on [Street] just expired, and I'm sure the past few days haven't been fun. I'm not going to pretend I have a magic solution or bash your previous agent. What I can tell you is this: [X] homes in your neighborhood have sold in the past 90 days at an average of [Y] days on market. There are specific reasons some homes sell and others don't, and it usually comes down to pricing strategy, not marketing effort. If you'd like a candid conversation about what happened and what a fresh approach might look like, I'd welcome the chance. No pressure, no pitch, just an honest assessment. Give me a call at (555) 000-0000."

Notice what this card does NOT do:

It doesn't bash the previous agent
It doesn't claim to be better than everyone else
It doesn't lead with "I can sell your home"
It doesn't use aggressive urgency ("The market won't wait!")

It leads with empathy, provides market data, and offers a no-pressure conversation. That's the approach that earns the appointment when 50 other agents were pitching.

What does an expired listing campaign cost?

There are approximately 40-60 expired listings per month in a typical mid-size market, though this varies significantly by area and market conditions.

The first thing to sort out is order size. The minimum order is 200 cards, so 30 expireds a month is not an order you can place on its own. Two ways around it:

Batch them. Hold your expireds and mail once a quarter. At 30 a month that is roughly 90 per drop, so you widen the radius or add a second list to reach 200.
Combine lists. Mail expireds alongside your farm or your sphere in the same drop. Same order, different message per merge field.

Either way the arithmetic starts at 200 cards:

Cards per order: 200
Cost per order: 200 x $1.35 = $270
Response rate: across all tracked campaigns we average 1.89%, with a range of 0.98% to 4.39%. Expired listings sit at the higher end because these homeowners have already decided to sell.
Responses per order: 4 to 9
Listing appointments: 2 to 5
Listings taken (at 50% conversion from appointment): 1 to 2

One listing at a $10,500 average commission covers the $270 order roughly 39 times over. That is the honest version of the math, and it is still a good number. Be sceptical of anyone quoting you high single digits on cold mail. Our best tracked campaign topped out at 4.39%.

How many cards should you send?

One card is good. A sequence is better.

Day 2-3 (Card 1): The empathy card above. Acknowledge the situation, provide market data, offer a no-pressure conversation.

Day 10-12 (Card 2): The value card. "Hi [Name], I sent you a note last week about your home on [Street]. Since then, [a home on a nearby street sold for $X / inventory in your area dropped to Y months / a new comparable just listed at $Z]. The market is still active for homes like yours. If the timing feels right for a fresh look, I'm here."

Day 21-25 (Card 3): The direct card. "Hi [Name], this is my third note, and I don't want to be one more agent pestering you. But I believe your home can sell, and I have a specific strategy based on what I'm seeing in [Neighborhood] right now. If you'd like 15 minutes to hear my approach, I think it'll be worth your time. If not, I completely understand. Either way, I wish you the best."

Three handwritten cards over 3-4 weeks: $4.05 per expired listing. Compare that to the agent who's paying a virtual assistant $2,000/month to cold-call expireds all day.

Combining Expireds With Your Farm

Here's the play: when an expired listing falls inside your geographic farm, you have a massive advantage.

The homeowner has been receiving your farming cards for months. They recognize your name. When your handwritten card arrives after expiration, it's not from a stranger. It's from "that agent who keeps sending the nice cards about the neighborhood."

You've already built trust. The expired listing just created urgency. That combination is almost impossible for a cold-calling agent to compete with.

Target every expired listing within a 1-mile radius of your farm, even if it's outside your farm boundaries. Your local knowledge is still credible, and the expired homeowner is actively looking for a solution.

The Agents Who Win Expireds

They're not the agents with the best phone scripts. They're the agents who show up differently.

Forty-nine agents called. One sent a handwritten card. The homeowner remembers the card.

At $1.35 per card and a $270 minimum order, expired listing mail is one of the highest-ROI prospecting channels in real estate. It requires no cold calling, no confrontation, no phone anxiety. Just a good message, delivered in a format that gets read, at a time when the homeowner is ready to listen.

Write the card. Send it. Let the 49 callers fight over who said "I can sell your home" the loudest.