by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
You’re at dinner and the phone rings. Your kid, who’s off to college? Your mother, wondering when you’re coming to visit? Your boss, setting up a meeting?
No ... it’s a real estate agent: “Would you be interested in selling your home?”
What do you do?
Typically, either of two things:
1. Hang up.
2. Hang up after saying a nasty word or two.
But, do many of us cold call? Not many, as it turns out.
Recent restrictions on cold calling and consumer’s growing discontent of unwanted phone calls have not affected Realtors and loan officers legally, but most say they still do not cold call anymore.
“We do not cold call because we feel that there are a growing number of consumers that do not like telemarketers and being contacted in the evenings,” said Bobby Ferreira of John T. Ferreira and Son. “We will call a For Sale By Owner because we feel like if we can earn their respect and trust, there is a chance they will eventually list with us. If we have a buyer that is looking in a particular neighborhood, we may mass mail into the neighborhood to determine if anyone is interested in selling.”
Even though brokers and agents do not think of themselves as telemarketers in the traditional sense, they still need to pay attention to the laws that protect consumers who choose to block the barrage of unwanted sales calls.
According to Florida Statute 501.059, section 3a, telephone subscribers who want to be placed on a “no sales solicitation calls” list can do so by calling the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and paying $10 to be added to the no call list. They can renew annually for $5.
But, there is an exception to the no call list.
“This subsection does not apply to any person licensed pursuant to chapter 475 [Realtors] who calls an actual or prospective seller or lessor of real property when such call is made in response to a yard sign or other form of advertisement placed by the seller or lessor.”
This means it is perfectly legal for real estate agents to call For Sale by Owners who may be on the list, but not expired for-sale listings. So, make sure to check the list before calling expired for-sale listings.
“My interpretation of the statute would be that once the listing has expired they would not be allowed to call,” said Tim Rogers of Timothy Rogers P.A. “The reasoning would be that it would be too difficult to enforce how much time would be permitted once a listing expired, thereby defeating the purpose of the statute.”
Toy Scott of Norville Realty said she used to cold call, but not anymore.
“Ten years ago, or about that, I cold called, but now I don’t,” said Scott. “The list of people who are on the no call list are legion, and I personally hate being called by telemarketers or anyone who wants anything, even information! I do think we are all inundated with calls from telemarketers of all sorts, plus the FOP, folks wanting us to buy vinyl siding, offering free vacations, etc. Calling a For Sale By Owner is not cold calling by my definition, nor is calling expired listings.”
It seems the barrage of unwanted telemarketing calls received by everyone has made some Realtors more sensitive to the cold call recipients.
“I absolutely never cold call,” said Elke McMenemy of Florida Home Realty.
“And, no, telemarketing changes haven’t affected my business at all. I have never believed in cold-calling because I personally do not wish to be ‘telemarketed’.”
Fay Patsourakis of Prudential agreed.
“I do not cold call,” said Patsourakis. “Although I have never received a negative response in the past when I have, I personally hate it when I get called at home. I dislike it even more if they call and hang up instead of leaving a message or if the number they are calling from is ‘blocked’ on the caller ID. I will only call someone I do not know if I have a valid reason.”
Others, like Clare Berry of Berry & Co. Real Estate, only cold call on a very targeted basis and has found other ways to get customers.
“I only cold call on a very targeted basis, with an apology in advance for perhaps interrupting them,” said Berry. “Basically, it’s a no. Target mailings don’t have the same restrictions as calling.”
Loan officers are also protected under Florida Statute 501.059 section 6c:
“The provisions of this subsection do not apply to contractual sales regulated under other sections of the Florida Statutes, or to the sale of financial services, security sales, or sales transacted by companies or their wholly owned subsidiaries or agents, which companies are regulated by chapter 364, or to the sale of cable television services to the duly franchised cable television operator’s existing subscribers within that cable television operator’s franchise area, or to any sales where no prior payment is made to the merchant and an invoice accompanies the goods or services allowing the consumer 7 days to cancel or return without obligation for any payment.”
Tom Adair of Washington Mutual said he does cold call and has received mixed responses.
“Reactions are mixed from polite interest to voice mail call screening,” said Adair. “Once in a while you will get a very astute person that knows who you are and all about your company because they make it there business to know ‘the players’ in the marketplace. It is still a mystery to me that more people don’t keep their options open by finding out what else might be out there.”
Brad King of BB&T doesn’t cold call borrowers directly, but does occasionally call a builder or a Realtor.
“Cold calls can be an effective tool to jump start someone’s business where you at least have an opportunity to speak to a potential client, but it is much less effective than a referral,” said King. “Sales is a numbers game and cold calls can generate numbers but the effort and rejection rate can be demoralizing.”