Guy,

I agree that it can be a problem.  In my company I am certified as a Fine Home specialist, meaning I have sold properties in the upper 10% of the price margins for my area.  I now get e-mails from other Fine Homes certified agents from all over the country.  While it is nice to see homes in their area, it does not mean that I have buyers looking all over the country for those homes.  I also have their e-mail as a certified agent and can contact them if I need to.

To all those agents out there, if you need me e-mail me or call me and I will do the same for you, but please don't send me every listing you take.  I don't have the time or desire to view them all.

I hate the spam. If I had a buyer for their area, the house was priced right and in good condition, I would show it to any potential buyers through MLS. Sending spam that just gets deleted is a waste of their money and countless other people's time.

I think it is a waste of the listing agents money and time to send me listings that I have already seen for my clients on the mls, and receiving the eflyers is wasting my time...the time I take to delete them. 

If you are a listing agent, please save your marketing dollars for something more effective.

Yeah, its a problem - and its getting worse. Just in general - my spam filter missed some 60 emails yesterday - time to upgrade. I'm getting quite a few of these a day and they are never opened.  I agree with everyone above me.  I have the MLS...I KNOW how to do a search. If I have a buyer, guess what I'm going to do?  That's right - search the MLS! So why are sending me this via email?  If it fits my clients criteria - and you listed it CORRECTLY - I will find it without the email!

I delete those messages and don't open them.  It is wasting space in my inbox.

I've wondered about that too - how effective it is. It gets bumped into my 'suspected spam' file and deleted but I see tons of agents doing it. I guess it's so they can tell their sellers - wow, we're sending your info directly to 4 billion agents! A lot like newspaper advertising - the seller gets a warm fuzzy and nobody else cares.

Guy - I can understand why real estate agents spam us with their listings. Besides,we have the buyers. However,like you said since we have access to the MLS,you can look up something if you are looking for it. But one agent actually sent me a flyer today with his picture on it. Did he expect me to print it out and pass out flyers with his name and info on it. Some people need to leave crack alone-LOL. Great post.

Just out of curiosity, how do you feel about emails from home stagers?  Would you be more likely to look at a postcard, something that was dropped by your office, or an email?  Cindy

Cindy - I don't mind getting snail mail or even an email occasionally, but with 8,000 agents in our area and a whole bunch of them jumping on the band wagon with these email blast companies, it get's overwhelming and only ads to my mailbox clutter.  With agents, I can view their listings at any given time by checking the MLS.  With stagers, I'd have to look at the yellow pages on google for a company.  If I receive snail mail (post card) from a stager, appraiser, surveyor, etc. I'll usually put it in a file for future reference. No need to do so with listed properties that I can access at any time.

I agree with you, what is the point. Either they are close enough to our area that we can look them up in the MLS, or they are far enough away that for me anyway, I am not going to go that far out of my area to work. Yes it is a growing problem, and I too am diverting them to my junk file. The problem with that is now I may miss one I may want to see, maybe something I missed in the MLS. Can't win!

I think spam its out of control. I LOVE THE EMAILS THAT I GET THAT STATE I GAVE THEM MY EMAIL ADDRESS.  Oh no, I didnt get my email to a spammer... 

I got spam from an AR member this morning with this at the bottom "P.S. This is a one-time only email -- you are not in any database. However, if it makes you feel better, reply to this email with "Remove" in the subject line."