Some Realtors in Naples might hate me for publishing this, but all of you homeowners can save yourself from the onslaught of prospecting calls by agents trying to get you to list or re-list your home with them by following the simple tasks outlined in this article. The vendors used by thousands of agents across the country will tell you that their agents are the 'best in the business'. Maybe 'thickest skin in the business' would be a more appropriate descriptor as no person I have ever met prefers the warm, white glove service of a high pressure salesperson strong-arming them into an agreement. Either way, cold calling is about the last job I would ever want.

 

It is our duty as agents to get our seller clients the highest price possible for their property, unless directed otherwise by the seller to adjust the strategy to complete the sale as fast as possible, which sometimes means giving up some of the owners equity to the buyer. In an effort to maximize the NET proceeds that a homeowner deserves, there is a delicate balance of waiting for the right buyer and managing the Days on Market (DOM). At some point, a seller may consider taking their home off of the market for a period of time, or maybe permanently, while they wait for demand to increase.

 

Either way, homeowners should be prepared for dozens of calls a day starting on day 1 of being off the market from agents and investors giving them every pickup line in the book to either re-list with them or to sell to them. The homeowner might say, "Thank you for your interest in my home! Where were you the last 6 months when the property was for sale?". Most of the time the agent just wants a listing and doesn't really have buyers or the investor wants to take some portion of your equity in the form of a low ball offer only to realize the gain (homeowner loss) when they flip it. There is always a flip down the road. Unless the seller is desperate and/or willing to give up a portion of their hard earned equity for a quick sale, why should they give it up to someone else?

 

Years ago, a client of mine called me to tell me that his landlord was getting bombarded with calls regarding his expired listing we were strategically working on. Landlord? We had planned to take the client's unlivable property off of the market for a little while and put it back on as a new listing while he continued to rent a place nearby. I had prepared him for this process and told him that he could change his voicemail message to direct those inevitable agent and investor calls to me so I could deal with them, but to my surprise, he called me the morning after his listing expired to say that his landlord was getting calls. How could that be?

 

I told my client that I would call him back after I talked to my broker. I had never had this happen before. It's one thing for a homeowner to accept the reality of the spam calls as a result of their action of taking their property off the market, but this had now spilled over to my client's landlord! Why? I could sense a little bit of panic in my client's voice and I could not have this. I often feel like a papa bear or a lion when it comes to protecting my cubs...er, clients. I jumped on the Google and began to search the client's name, his address and the phone number of his landlord to see if there were any "blended" results showing his landlord's home and phone number where the client was living temporarily. Modern reverse searches, white pages and people finder websites are pretty detailed and kinda scary. Gone are the days of privacy, man. 

 

I called my broker, but it was just too early in the day. No answer. Office hadn't opened up yet. This is when I remembered the process and vendors from which a lot of agents all over the country get listings. They use cringey scripts and auto-dialers. Auto-dialers!! There are companies that use technology that scrape MLS's all over the country for expired, terminated and cancelled listings. Even more, FSBO's (For Sale By Owner's). Though FSBO's are usually found on ancillary sites like Zillow etc. Then there is an option with those companies to pull lists for "Circle Prospecting" as well. This is when agents circle a neighborhood on a map and "farm" the area over time with postcards and phone calls. Now, I haven't figured out how to block the mailers, but I will share with you all how you can cut waaay back on the calls that you get from agents and investors, and it doesn't end with the National Do Not Call Registry, as it should.

 

I am a person before I am a Realtor, and I hate spam calls too. If I wanted to sell my home (and I wasn't an agent), I would go out and do the research to find an agent who resonates with my values and who I believe will do a great job.

 

 

So this is what you do if you want to reduce the calls you are getting from agents and investors, as it worked for my client's landlord. Whether you have just pulled your listing from the market, are trying to sell your home yourself, or just live in a very desirable neighborhood where you bought a long while ago, suggesting you have lots of equity, go to the following websites for MojoDialer, RedX, Vulcan7, LandVoice & MyPlusLeads and any other "expired lead" service website and scroll to the bottom of the main page. If you see "Remove My Number", click on that link and proceed to remove your number from their database. If you do not see "Remove My Number", call the company and ask to remove your number, which they will happily do. Try to do this as politely as you can because you're just talking to an hourly worker doing what they are told to do. It's the higher ups who bear responsibility if your number is already on the National Do Not Call list. 

 

So there you have it. It's a process that will take about 15 minutes, but save you a headache now and in the future.  Spread the word. 

 

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