Trolling the Obituaries? THINK Before You Do

Appalling.  Surely there is a kinder, more thoughtful way to offer to help.

Wow! What an ugly way to get business! These agents need to double up on their ethics classes

Worse than ambulance chasers! I have no problem with a generic ad ("Getting divorced? Facing foreclosure? Call me today to sell fast!") but I disagree with direct contact in these situations.

While I do not do this, I can understand that it might work for some Realtors. Otherwise they would not do it. 

Business models vary. 

When Mom died in 1997 I was so inundated with these types of agents that six months later I sold our family home as a FSBO and got fair market value. 

WOW! That's sleazy..  Thankfully I have never experienced this..  But WOW!

I can see this being a sticky situation when marketing to people who lost loved ones. Perhaps, a gereic card would of worked better. Leave it up to the seller to call.

This past summer I was put into the same category of these realtor's.  I sent out cards to one of my farms.  Received a call, and of course I was happy to know cards were working.  Unfortunately by the end of the message, even though originally confused, I realized this lady had all too recently lost her husband.  The timing could not have been worse.  I had no way of knowing and there is no way we can check every name and address against our mailings.  I never would practice what you write of, and were there any doubts the disgust, hurt, anger in her voice on the short message would be enough for anyone to never to do it again.  I sent a card apologizing for the accidental timing and expressing condolences for her loss.  Signed my first name only and no card.  I felt terrible.  Mark 

PS...I just read quite a few of the other comments.  I am surprised how many have not heard of this tactic.  I have been to quite a few different seminars, education etc and heard of not only this but the divorce tactic.  Not through my brokerage, but general training either based on CE or paid 'how to' classes.  Even as a newbie I thought this to be low life.  $$$ all to often seems to run ramshod over morals and ethics in our business.  M

They could have saved themselves by looking at the county history.  You have to research and if there is no mortgage and someone has lived there for awhile, then solicitations would not be received well.

If the person had just moved into the home and they did not have a support group in the area, these might have been received better.

My business has never been so low that I had to go through the funeral home to get it.

Dear Debe,

I wonder, who thought that one up? Clearly not anyone familiar with the stages of grief outlined by Kuebler-Ross. After a big loss, it is best to do nothing until you figure out the rest of your life. That can take a while. Maybe one of the stages should be "outrage at insensitive vendors." 

if your biz comes to this, then maybe you should look at other options

Debe,

We knew a realtor who would come in to my hair salon every Wednesday and read the obituary section.  She was well connected in the charitable circles of Beverly Hills.  She was not crass like the ones you described in your posts, she knew how to reach the bereaved in a classy way.  And yes, she did very well selling those homes.  A

This is not one that I do, thankfully.  Yet, I assume, like other things it will work for some people.  If not they wouldn't be doing it.  Though, it would make me think 2x before doing it, when seeing your post about the negative impact.  In the end, is it worth it.

It's nice to hear that women's perspective & how it is taken. I'm pretty shocked actually that someone would say you can't afford to live there any longer. 

Hi Debe - These are probably new agents who haven't had to deal with many upset home owners. They will learn if they stay in business long enough.

On the other hand, the person who is teaching this needs a phone call from someone who can set them straight.

Early in my career I would prospect through the law bulletin for the probate niche.  I would get such angry calls because Relatives either did not know, nor understood, or were very intimidated with the term probate.  The calls were taking me far too much time to calm them down and explain, plus my efforts were not producing any listings, nor referrals.  If you are going to market this sorrow niche it is far better to just send a simple greeting card with your business card which may generate a referral.  You never want to appear you are exploiting a loss to gain a listing.  We always want to think about how we can improve the perception our REALTOR IMAGE in our propsecting.

Debe, that is beyond rude. It is yet another form of begging. It's what the low information agents do ... because they don't have any other game. Desperate people do desperate things.  Despicable?  Beyond! 

I have been in this biz 13 years and literally never even THOUGHT to troll the obits for business. That is truly tacky.