Failed Listings vs Expired Listings: Are They the Same?

Disclaimer: PropStream doesn't offer financial and/or investing advice. Before pursuing expired or failed listing leads, we recommend doing your due diligence to ensure you understand the risks.

Whether you're new to the real estate industry or a seasoned vet, you’ve likely heard the terms “expired listings” and “failed listings” used interchangeably.

However, these terms aren’t quite the same, and several key differences offer valuable intel into the homeowners’ selling motivation.

Let’s explore what each of these statuses means, as well as their most notable differences and similarities.

What Are Failed Listings?

Failed listings in real estate refer to properties that were put on the market but did not sell successfully for various reasons.

Reasons a listing may fail include:

• Overpricing: If a property is more expensive than comparable properties, it makes it less attractive to buyers. Additionally, if buyers lean on financing, their lender is unlikely to offer a loan exceeding the property’s value.
• Poor Marketing Efforts: With the vast amount of technology available to assist in real estate listing and marketing (e.g., 3D tours, professional photography, social media, floor plans, drone imagery, real estate data, etc.), agents who take shortcuts and fail to utilize their resources may underperform compared to the competition. 
• A Buyers’ Market: Unfavorable selling conditions are often referred to as a “buyers’ market,” meaning there is enough inventory to support buyers being a little pickier with their choices, causing sellers to compete with each other versus buyers getting in bidding wars like you’d see in a sellers’ market.
• Unfavorable Location: Location is a huge selling point for buyers. Whether due to noise, environmental hazards, a lower-ranked school district, or a concerning crime rate, buyers will typically refrain from buying in a location that doesn’t suit their needs if other options are available.
• Distressed Property Condition: The average home buyer wants to be able to move into their property right away. If the property requires significant work before it’s safe to live in, this may deter most buyers, leaving the most interested buyers to be investors who plan to fix up a property and sell it or rent it out.

What Are Expired Listings?

Expired listings in real estate refer to properties that were put up for sale but did not sell within the timeframe specified in the listing agreement between the seller and the listing agent.

Once the contract expires, the agent no longer actively markets the property. Expired listings often occur for the same reasons we mentioned above for listing failure.

For real estate professionals, expired listings can present opportunities to approach the seller with a new strategy to re-list the property and close the sale.

How Are Failed Listings and Expired Listings the Same?

In short, an expired listing is a type of failed listing—meaning all expired listings are failed listings, but not all failed listings are expired.

There are several distinct similarities between these two statuses.

1. No Sale Occurred: In both cases, the property did not sell when it was listed, meaning the seller did not achieve their goal of completing a transaction.
2. Overpricing Issues: One of the most common reasons for both failed and expired listings is that the property was overpriced, deterring potential buyers.
3. Marketing and Exposure Problems: Poor or inadequate marketing strategies can contribute to expired and failed listings, as the property may not attract enough interest.
4. Lack of Buyer Interest: Both types of listings may suffer from a lack of buyer engagement, either due to market conditions, the property’s condition, or other factors that make it less appealing.
5. Seller Re-evaluation: In both scenarios, the seller will often re-evaluate their approach, either adjusting the price, addressing property issues, or considering a new agent before re-listing the property.
6. Opportunity for Real Estate Agents and Investors: Both failed and expired listings present opportunities for real estate professionals to step in with a fresh perspective, new marketing strategies, or a revised pricing approach to help the seller succeed in selling the property.

Essentially, both represent unsuccessful attempts to sell a property, though they differ slightly in how they reach that point.

How Are They Different?

Unlike expired listings, which simply reach the end of the listing contract, sellers may take failed listings off the market before the contract expires or after several unsuccessful attempts to sell.

Failed and expired listings differ primarily in how and why they are removed from the market. Here are some key distinctions:

End of Listing Agreement vs. Seller Withdrawal: With an expired listing, the listing contract between the seller and agent reaches its expiration date without a sale. While the previous agent is no longer actively marketing the property, the owner may choose to relist it with a different agent.

Related: 5 Reasons to Pursue Expired Listings as an Agent

However, when a listing fails, it’s because the seller chooses to remove the property from the market for various reasons, such as agent dissatisfaction, lack of engagement, or the owner deciding not to sell after all.

Contractual Status: Expired listings end naturally when the listing agreement expires. There’s no immediate decision from the seller to stop marketing the property; it simply reaches the end of its agreed-upon timeframe. On the other hand, when a listing fails, the seller actively decides to cease marketing efforts for a specific reason (potentially one of the reasons mentioned above).

Seller Intent: The owner of an expired listing may still be motivated to sell. However, as a result of the listing expiring, they may need to go back to the drawing board regarding pricing, their marketing approach, or their choice of agent representation. The owner of a failed listing may have just changed their mind about selling, potentially making them less motivated than an owner with an expired listing.

Try PropStream for 7 Days Free to Find Expired and Failed Listing Leads

While both expired listings and failed listings suggest that an owner listed their property and was unable to sell, expired listings may suggest slightly more selling motivation, as the sole reason their listing was removed from the market was due to expiration.

However, both expired and failed listings can suggest selling motivation, making them ideal lead categories for agents and investors. With PropStream, you can use convenient filtering options to find expired and failed listing leads near you in just seconds!