I have been receiving cold calls from real estate brokers/agents who are leaving voice mail messages to call them back as soon as possible. I have never corresponded with these people and I have not been apartment shopping since 2017 when I bought into a Manhattan co-op building. I have no idea where these people got my phone number. Even more puzzling, one of these brokers was calling about my... [more]
I have been receiving cold calls from real estate brokers/agents who are leaving voice mail messages to call them back as soon as possible. I have never corresponded with these people and I have not been apartment shopping since 2017 when I bought into a Manhattan co-op building. I have no idea where these people got my phone number. Even more puzzling, one of these brokers was calling about my Hamptons house. Another of these brokers identified himself as an Elliman broker (I had a Corcoran broker for my co-op purchase).
Can someone tell me what the hell is going on? Is this a symptom of desperation due to the slowing Manhattan/Hamptons real estate market? Are bottom-feeding brokers systematically combing through closing records to dig up telephone numbers? Does this cold calling thing actually work?
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Response by JR1
almost 7 years ago
Posts: 184
Member since: Jun 2015
You should ask them. Have always been curious what systems / methods these guys use to dig up actual phone numbers of owners.
Probably yes they're getting desperate. Or did you recently try to list FSBO by yourself? If so, there are lots of services brokers pay for to essentially scrape phone numbers of FSBO sellers.
Pretty annoying stuff, this is a good article on how to deal with / avoid this type of harassment:
I used to get those calls but not lately. Been in this place five years.
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Response by Aaron2
almost 7 years ago
Posts: 1693
Member since: Mar 2012
Are you on the 'do not call' list? If so, and you have no previous business relationship with their firm, call them back, ask for the head of the company, and tell them that their staff are violating the law.
If you're not on the list, why not?
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Response by SWanger
almost 7 years ago
Posts: 2
Member since: Aug 2016
How do you add yourself to this do not call list? Would love to
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Response by Aaron2
almost 7 years ago
Posts: 1693
Member since: Mar 2012
Info here, courtesy the FTC (currently shut down, but I bet the registry is automated):
"The Do Not Call Registry accepts registrations from both cell phones and land lines. To register by telephone, call 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236). You must call from the phone number that you want to register. To register online (donotcall.gov), you will have to respond to a confirmation email."
I cannot think of a single reason why everybody wouldn't register. (Though it's not perfect, and some companies just don't follow the law.)
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Response by stache
almost 7 years ago
Posts: 1292
Member since: Jun 2017
I'm on this list. Callers are routinely ignoring that list these days. I have found hanging up the instant I suspect it's a solicitor has helped reduced the frequency of these calls.
Interesting aside to this. We recently temporarily delisted a property The owners are unable to allow us to show this month for personal reasons.
Within hours brokers were cold calling our clients trying to get the listing! Lol.
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Response by streetsmart
over 6 years ago
Posts: 883
Member since: Apr 2009
Anyone need a rate lock? Do it now. Treasury yields are going down due to China trade issue. But China is now threatening it will sell treasuries which is unlikely but a veteran market pro says while they won't sell treasuries, it's conceivable that they may stop buying them. This could have a big impact on rates sending them much higher.
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Response by 30yrs_RE_20_in_REO
over 6 years ago
Posts: 9876
Member since: Mar 2009
Keith,
In general there are way too many brokers chasing to few deals. Last time I checked there were something like 28,000 agents/brokers chasing 14,000 deals a year. I'm sure it's worse with lower deal volume. When there are too many rabbits/ducks/dear for the amount of food available, wildlife management issues hunting licenses to thin those populations. Maybe we need a "broker season"?
https://youtu.be/17ocaZb-bGg
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You should ask them. Have always been curious what systems / methods these guys use to dig up actual phone numbers of owners.
Probably yes they're getting desperate. Or did you recently try to list FSBO by yourself? If so, there are lots of services brokers pay for to essentially scrape phone numbers of FSBO sellers.
Pretty annoying stuff, this is a good article on how to deal with / avoid this type of harassment:
https://www.hauseit.com/how-to-deal-with-broker-solicitation-when-selling-fsbo/
Best of luck to you friend!
I used to get those calls but not lately. Been in this place five years.
Are you on the 'do not call' list? If so, and you have no previous business relationship with their firm, call them back, ask for the head of the company, and tell them that their staff are violating the law.
If you're not on the list, why not?
How do you add yourself to this do not call list? Would love to
Info here, courtesy the FTC (currently shut down, but I bet the registry is automated):
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/limiting-unwanted-calls-emails
tl;dr version:
"The Do Not Call Registry accepts registrations from both cell phones and land lines. To register by telephone, call 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236). You must call from the phone number that you want to register. To register online (donotcall.gov), you will have to respond to a confirmation email."
I cannot think of a single reason why everybody wouldn't register. (Though it's not perfect, and some companies just don't follow the law.)
I'm on this list. Callers are routinely ignoring that list these days. I have found hanging up the instant I suspect it's a solicitor has helped reduced the frequency of these calls.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/06/your-money/robocalls-rise-illegal.html
Interesting aside to this. We recently temporarily delisted a property The owners are unable to allow us to show this month for personal reasons.
Within hours brokers were cold calling our clients trying to get the listing! Lol.
Anyone need a rate lock? Do it now. Treasury yields are going down due to China trade issue. But China is now threatening it will sell treasuries which is unlikely but a veteran market pro says while they won't sell treasuries, it's conceivable that they may stop buying them. This could have a big impact on rates sending them much higher.
Keith,
In general there are way too many brokers chasing to few deals. Last time I checked there were something like 28,000 agents/brokers chasing 14,000 deals a year. I'm sure it's worse with lower deal volume. When there are too many rabbits/ducks/dear for the amount of food available, wildlife management issues hunting licenses to thin those populations. Maybe we need a "broker season"?
https://youtu.be/17ocaZb-bGg
30 you're always a ray of sunshine..lol