How Ryan Carney took 10 expired listings in 6 months by texting sellers first

Ryan Carney00:00

I think the biggest thing is just doing the work. There’s a lot of sellers out there who are looking for help. I wanna be the one to help them. Call, text, email, whatever you need to do. I don’t think it really matters. I have success, like I said, texting and calling, but just making those calls, making those texts is the biggest thing.

00:14If you don’t do that, you’re never gonna win.

Aaron Wittenstein00:24

Hey, what’s going on everybody? It’s me, it’s Aaron Wittenstein, and I would like to welcome you all to Vulcan7 Roadmap. This is where we interview agents across the country that are doing tons of business and learn how to get an additional one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, 13 listings a week, all right?

00:41We have someone here all the way from Buffalo, New York. Buffalo, New York. And I’m gonna mention this once and I’m not gonna say it again. I am extremely jealous of the hair, okay? Let’s just get that out of the way right now. Beautiful hair. I just want 5% of it and we’re good. Ryan from Buffalo, New York.

01:00How are you, my friend?

Ryan Carney01:01

I’m good. My man hair is doing well, as you can see. So happy to be here.

Aaron Wittenstein01:06

Wonderful. Well, thank you very much for joining us here. So just so everybody knows here, he’s doing phenomenally well. He’s been licensed, you said, about a year and a half, give or take, something like that?

Ryan Carney01:19

Yeah. A little over a year, almost a year and a half at this point.

Aaron Wittenstein01:21

Okay. And within the second part of last year, he did 15 total expireds within like a nine-month period of time, but within a six-month period of time, he did 10 expired listings in Buffalo, New York. So being a brand new agent to the business.

01:38Well, you’re not brand new, you said you were an LO for a while as well, is that right? But what are you doing?

Ryan Carney01:43

I mean, make the calls, in its most simplest form. I actually spend a lot of time texting and have a lot of success with that. I feel like at this point, 2025, people are a little bit more receptive to text, even when they’re from people who they may or may not know.

02:00I know personally when I get calls, I automatically assume a lot of the times, if it’s not a number saved in my phone, that it’s a spam call. So I do a lot of texting, but I also make cold calls. But I think the biggest thing is just doing the work. There’s a lot of sellers out there who are looking for help and I wanna be the one to help them.

02:20So call, text, email, whatever you need to do. I don’t think it really matters. I have success, like I said, texting and calling. But just making those calls, making those texts is the biggest thing. If you don’t do that, you’re never gonna win, so.

Aaron Wittenstein02:34

So you’re doing phone calls, text.

02:37Did you say email or did you mean that sarcastically speaking?

Ryan Carney02:39

I don’t do emails. I will send out emails, but all the business that I’ve done is from either text or call, mainly texting.

Aaron Wittenstein02:46

Got it. So do you have a process in place-

Ryan Carney02:48

Uh, yeah.

Aaron Wittenstein02:50

With phone calls and text? What does that look like?

Ryan Carney02:51

Yep. So I actually got my…

02:54I downloaded one of Brandon’s scripts. I don’t know how to pronounce his last name. I think it’s Mulherin or something like that. But I downloaded one of his scripts, kind of tweaked it to make it my own. And it’s like a five or six step process to have the conversation, really just kind of get some information from the seller, try to identify the pain point and just get them to start opening up and talking.

03:19And a lot of the times, reality is, you’re not gonna close the deal right on that first initial contact. Sometimes you do, and I do have case studies where I have actually literally talked to a seller for a few minutes, done what I needed to do, gave him my pitch, sent over a contract and kept it moving.

03:36But you take them through that initial process, run some numbers for them, schedule a follow-up call, take them through what you can do for them and, if it makes sense for them, you can move forward at that point.

Aaron Wittenstein03:48

Got it. Okay. So I hear the word script and process.

03:51Yes. So automatically where my mind goes is let’s role play. All right, and let’s hear what you got, okay? Everybody that’s seen this enough knows that. So let’s role play it out. You’re an expired guy, right?

Ryan Carney04:03

Yeah. Yep.

Aaron Wittenstein04:03

Okay, cool. You wanna give me a ring ring?

Ryan Carney04:06

Yeah. Ring, ring, ring.

Aaron Wittenstein04:07

Hello.

Ryan Carney04:09

Aaron, what’s going on? This is Ryan Carney over at Metro Roberts. I was reaching out about your property on 123 Green Street. Did you end up accepting an offer?

Aaron Wittenstein04:20

No. We are off market right now. Do you have a buyer for me?

Ryan Carney04:24

Potentially, but I was actually just…

04:27I wanted to call and reach out. I saw it expired and I was just making sure that you were still interested in selling. Just out of curiosity, was there any particular reason why you think it didn’t sell?

Aaron Wittenstein04:38

I have absolutely no idea. It doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever.

Ryan Carney04:42

Hmm. Okay. Did you get any offers, or what was the feedback?

Aaron Wittenstein04:47

Well, I mean, our realtor really didn’t give us much feedback. We got one offer that was really bad, like, really bad. But like I said, if you have a buyer, feel free to bring him through. We’re gonna hold off for the next probably 45 days.

Ryan Carney05:01

Okay. Yeah, no worries at all. We’re heading into the spring market, so probably a great idea.

05:06But let me ask you this. I know you said you were getting ready to hold off for another 45 days. After that time period is up, are you gonna think about reselling or are you keeping the home?

Aaron Wittenstein05:17

Yeah, like I said, within 45 days, we’ve got a couple realtors that we’ve been in touch with that we’re gonna have a conversation with about the house.

05:26So, I mean, like you said, if you want, you can call me back in early April.

Ryan Carney05:31

Okay. Yeah. So what I’ll do is I’ll take a look and run some numbers, do my own due diligence, and then just put together a few notes for you, and then I’ll mark it here in my calendar to give you a call back.

05:45But in the meantime, would you mind if I sent you over a strategy, and you can take a look at it? If you wanna use it to help sell your home, you can. If not, you can throw it in the trash.

Aaron Wittenstein05:57

Yeah, oh, feel free to send any information over.

06:00Yeah, if you wanna just text me your information, we can go from there.

Ryan Carney06:04

Oh yeah, what’s your email here?

Aaron Wittenstein06:06

Aaron@aron.aron@aron.biz.

Ryan Carney06:13

Okay, perfect. I will put something together. I’ll text you over my contact info, and then I’ll send you something over. We’ll go from there.

Aaron Wittenstein06:20

Sounds like a plan.

06:21Thank you.

Ryan Carney06:22

All right. Thanks, Aaron.

Aaron Wittenstein06:24

You’re very smooth and even keel, which is what I love. There’s no ups, there’s no downs. Do you do that on purpose or is that just kind of the way that you are?

Ryan Carney06:37

I mean, it’s definitely partially intentional, but I think that’s also just kind of how I am.

Aaron Wittenstein06:41

Yeah. Yeah, it’s like me, you get the full on emotional roller coaster when you’re talking to me. You were just like, “All right, you gonna wait, cool. I’ll call you back and we’ll get you done.” Which is great. It’s different. It’s really, really different.

06:57So you were an LO for a while.

Ryan Carney07:00

Yep.

Aaron Wittenstein07:00

How did that impact what you’re doing in real estate now?

Ryan Carney07:08

Good. I started off in a call center. So I was very familiar with just being on the phone, making cold calls. It was very lead-based. So that obviously translates over to what I’m doing with Vulcan7.

07:26But it really just taught me about the real estate process, and then I’m able to also leverage it. There’s not a ton of agents out there who have lending experience, so I can use that as a tool in my toolbox, if you will, to use as a sales pitch. And then there are even cases where I’ve actually won a deal over it, because a guy had an expired listing that fell out three different times due to financing.

07:54So I was able to leverage that and be like, “Hey, I’m a seasoned loan officer. I would never let what happened happen because of X, Y, and Z.”

Aaron Wittenstein08:06

So are you doing both right now, or have you pretty much stepped aside from the LO side and you’re just doing real estate, or what does that look like?

Ryan Carney08:12

So I do still have my licenses. I’m licensed in both New York and Pennsylvania. I do do a little bit of business, really not much at this point. I’m fully laser focused on being an agent and what I’m doing on this side of the business. However, like I said, I use it as kind of a side hustle at this point.

08:28And then I just do deals as they come in, but nothing too crazy or anything that I’m focused on.

Aaron Wittenstein08:36

Sure. No, that makes perfect sense. I mean, if you got it, you may as well use it to the level you need to use it for, right?

Ryan Carney08:42

Absolutely.

Aaron Wittenstein08:42

So everybody here, sorry, I just wanted to pause it for a second here.

08:48You hear the word text, okay? And they’re like, “Ooh, I wanna text people. That’s a lot easier than talking to people on the phone.” Out of those 15 deals, how many of those would you say came from the initial conversation being a text message?

Ryan Carney09:06

Probably 13 or 14.

Aaron Wittenstein09:08

Wow.

09:10Okay, that’s pretty significant there. Can you tell me a little bit more, like, what are you saying? How are you engaging? What does that look like?

Ryan Carney09:17

Yeah, so I really just put my script in text form. I send out a text to the new expireds every single morning. It basically says, “Hey, hope all is well.

09:28I’m Ryan Carney. I’m a local real estate agent. I was reaching out about 123 Green Street. Did you end up accepting an offer?” And I’m able to, I don’t know, text 10, 20 times the people in the amount of time that I can really make one call. I have text replacements set up on my iPhone, so I type in a couple letters, that populates a text, and it sends it out.

09:51You can also hire a VA to do it. There’s texting software. I know there’s TCPA laws that you have to be aware of, but there’s softwares where you can send more blasts out. I mean, there’s a variety of ways that you can do it, but I have personally, like I said, had an enormous amount of success through the texting space, and I get, in my opinion, a lot more responses, and I’m also able to weed people out so that it’s a little bit more efficient, in my opinion.

Aaron Wittenstein10:24

So, all right. So you text somebody your script, all right? They respond back.

10:29Do you continue that conversation via text then, or do you take it off text to the phone? Like, how does that work?

Ryan Carney10:35

Yeah. So I usually take it immediately to a call. So if I get what I call a trigger term, like, “Hey, my real estate agent sucks,” then I’ll call them immediately, or if they say whatever I deem a trigger term, or if they allow me to run numbers, I’ll schedule a call.

10:51But a lot of times, whenever I get somebody who raises their hand and says, “Hey, I’m interested and I’m open to this,” I’ll call them immediately and just, “Hey, Aaron, what’s going on? I figured I’d just give you a call. It’d probably be a little bit easier to dive into some of these questions.”

11:05But the texting, like I said, allows me to hit all of those leads in a much shorter timeframe, and it works for me.

Aaron Wittenstein11:15

All right. So you send me the text, okay? So just give me… Let’s role play text, okay? Let’s pretend the cell phone’s out here, okay? Do, do, do, do, do, do.

11:24All right, so text me your initial. What exactly… ‘Cause people can take this and put it into their business, like, boom, immediately. So what does that exact text look like?

Ryan Carney11:34

Yep. Say, “Hey, Aaron, hope all is well. My name is Ryan. I’m a local real estate agent with Metro Roberts Realty.

11:40I’m reaching out about your property on 123 Green Street. Did you end up accepting an offer?”

Aaron Wittenstein11:47

We did not.

Ryan Carney11:49

Got it. Are you still interested in selling?

Aaron Wittenstein11:51

Maybe.

Ryan Carney11:53

Okay, cool. Just out of curiosity, is there any particular reason that you think it didn’t sell?

Aaron Wittenstein11:58

I have no idea. LOL.

Ryan Carney12:00

Okay.

12:01No worries. Did you get any offers or have a lot of showings?

Aaron Wittenstein12:05

One bad offer, sad emoji.

Ryan Carney12:08

No worries. What all was done to market the property?

Aaron Wittenstein12:13

No, no. Is that at the phone call part? Have you taken it over the phone, or is this?

Ryan Carney12:17

Yeah, usually I would call them at that point.

Aaron Wittenstein12:19

Oh, okay. All right, that was my question, okay? So you had that first conversation. At what point, like what line, do you take it from text to the phone?

Ryan Carney12:29

It’s kind of situational.

12:30To be honest with you, if it’s a lead that’s within my avatar client, it’s a two to $400,000 listing in Buffalo, in an area that I like, I’ll call them immediately.

12:47If it’s a $100,000 deal in a not great area, then sometimes I’ll just continue it via text, depending upon how busy I am at the moment. But if I do continue it via text, then a lot of times I’ll just ask them flat out, like, “Would you be open to me taking a look and running some numbers for you?”

13:07A lot of times I find agents just take some pictures and throw the property on the MLS and see what happens. And people love that text right there, because everyone, I think, thinks that their agent doesn’t do anything besides take pictures and put it on the MLS, so I think that really intrigues people.

13:29And I have a lot of success with that text if I’m not picking up the phone and calling.

Aaron Wittenstein13:34

Got it. Okay, no, that’s interesting. So how many hours a day right now would you say that you’re actively prospecting?

Ryan Carney13:40

I try and allocate two hours a day to, I call them my power hours, at bare minimum one from 9:30 to 10:30.

13:49Well, from 9:30 to 11:00 I have blocked off every single day. So I guess an hour and a half, and then I try and do an additional hour in the afternoon as well.

Aaron Wittenstein13:59

Got it. So you’re putting in two to three hours a day, you space it out a little bit. What does the rest of your day look like?

Ryan Carney14:07

A lot of appointments. Now that I’ve been doing this a while, I have a lot of follow-ups that I do. Like I said, a lot of times you don’t lock these people up on the initial conversations, so you may have to follow up two, three, four, five times. So those two to three hours are allocated more towards new prospecting, or people who I haven’t committed to, or who haven’t committed to me, I should say.

14:35And then I have time for appointments, time to go through my live pipeline, additional marketing on social media and whatnot. So, yeah. So.

Aaron Wittenstein14:46

So what do you consider, because you’re doing this five days a week, what do you consider a successful prospecting day?

Ryan Carney14:53

At least one opportunity to run numbers.

14:58One opportunity a day is my goal. If I can get one person to add to that pipeline of people, as a potential client, to allow me to run numbers and send them a strategy, I consider that a win.

Aaron Wittenstein15:12

So how many… You prospect five days a week. How many times do you get the opportunity to run numbers?

Ryan Carney15:17

Usually I’m doing at least one a day on average.

15:21So I would say I’m getting five to seven opportunities a week at the moment, doing what I’m currently doing.

Aaron Wittenstein15:30

Now, when you say running numbers, is this an email? Is this actually putting a package together? What does that look like?

Ryan Carney15:36

Yeah, so I’ll run numbers and put an email together, basically.

15:42I use ChatGPT to help me put together my listing strategies. I’m actually in two different markets, so I do Buffalo and Pittsburgh. So I have a runner down in Pittsburgh, because I don’t spend a ton of time down there, that will go see properties for me and whatnot. But a lot of times, everything that I’m doing is virtual.

16:01And then obviously, if I’m in Buffalo and I can go make a physical appointment, I’ll do that. The conversion rate’s definitely higher, but I’m not always able to do that. And for the sake of time, I’ll try and do a phone call, but I will send all my strategies via email.

Aaron Wittenstein16:19

Oh, so you’re running in two separate markets right now then, huh?

Ryan Carney16:22

Yeah. I used to live in Pittsburgh for four years, which is why it makes sense for me to do that, because I have all the resources down there.

16:29But yeah.

Aaron Wittenstein16:30

No, that makes sense. So which one’s easier? Pittsburgh or Buffalo?

Ryan Carney16:34

There’s more opportunities in Pittsburgh, but it’s easier in Buffalo because I can be my own boots on the ground.

Aaron Wittenstein16:41

Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly. All right, so let me ask you this, man. So you’ve got a brand new agent that comes knocking on your door. He’s like, “Ryan, I hear you’re an amazing agent. I hear absolutely amazing.” What is one piece of advice that you would give me as a brand new agent that’s only been an agent for two days?

Ryan Carney17:03

Find somebody in your office who is doing a lot of business, offer to buy them coffee, sit them down, pick their brain, ask them everything that they’re doing. I would say nine times out of 10, if not more than that, they’ll be willing to sit down with you. People love to help, whether you believe it or not, and then take immediate action.

17:22Take notes and take immediate action. Stop thinking, start doing.

Aaron Wittenstein17:28

I just wanna add one thing. I wanna ask one more question. When you say immediate action, what do you mean by immediate action?

Ryan Carney17:35

Leave that meeting, recap, do a brain dump with yourself and recap that meeting, and then whatever it is they told you, if they told you to make calls, go start making calls that day.

17:47If they told you to go door knocking, go to your neighborhood, go home, start door knocking. Just take immediate and massive action. Don’t wait till tomorrow. Don’t wait until next week. Just start now.

Aaron Wittenstein18:04

Makes perfect sense to me. That makes perfect sense, perfect sense.

18:07That’s what I thought you’d say anyway. So let’s wrap this up in a nice little bow here, okay? What is one piece of advice that you have for Vulcan7 Nation?

Ryan Carney18:21

Vulcan7 Nation, hmm, try texting. It works for me. It seems like from the Roadmap calls that I’ve watched, most people are calling.

18:30But again, same thing. Just take action. A lot of people that I talk to, it’s not Vulcan that’s not working. It’s them that’s not working.

Aaron Wittenstein18:40

Can you repeat that for a second?

Ryan Carney18:42

It’s not Vulcan that’s not working. It’s you that isn’t working. Yeah. So be relentless in your follow-up.

18:50First thing I got taught in sales is the fortune is in the follow-up. You don’t have to be a 10-year veteran to win people over. People want your help, and you just need to be willing to help people. If you’re not experienced, be honest about that, be transparent. There’s value you can add in other ways aside from your experience, so don’t be afraid.

19:10Don’t wait, just take action.

Aaron Wittenstein19:13

There we go. I like that line, by the way. That’s gonna get used. So all right. So let’s say someone is moving from Anaheim, California, all right, and they’re moving to either Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania or Buffalo, New York. How does one get in touch with you for those referrals?

Ryan Carney19:30

Call or text is easiest via cell phone, 716-307-4461. You can DM me on social media. I’m active on all platforms, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, the whole nine yards. Not hard to find. My number and email are all over the internet. You can’t miss this hair, as you can see. So just reach out, you’ll figure it out.

Aaron Wittenstein19:51

You’re on the president, my friend.

19:55All right, Ryan. Thank you so much for being here, man. I genuinely appreciate it. I may start looking into texting now, so thank you for being here.

Ryan Carney20:04

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me.

Aaron Wittenstein20:05

All right, Vulcan Nation. I just remind anybody, go make some money and don’t forget to, right there in that little thing right there, trust the process.

20:12Y’all take care. Be good now.