Honestly, I know house flippers (who like to be called property investors, even though they’re not) serve a useful purpose in society – somewhere – and I may end up using one of them one day. However, a house flipper is looking for a quick turnaround, preferably without having to make any expensive repairs. An investor buys and holds for the long term, knowing he/she often has to remodel, and maybe rents out the home for a year or three.
Like all annoying salespeople, flippers are constantly in your face or in your ear or in your Inbox and your mail box. And yes, I’m well aware that without sales, nothing happens in business or any other area of persuasion!
Courtesy is long gone
But whatever happened to courtesy? Whatever happened to accepting No, thanks! when you hear it? I suspect that in the United States, such courtesy must have gone out of existence decades ago. The overarching attitude in these times is, “Gotta get mine first before he gets his.” The current pandemic, political missteps, and resulting loss of work have made this rudeness worse.
Thankfully, the legitimate Realtors® pretty much gave up on me a couple of years ago after my neighbors had told them five years prior that I would likely be moving soon. I shoulda, woulda, and coulda but for some personal constraints, none of which I was willing to share. Like every other salesperson, Realtors get much of their business by asking the neighbors what they “know.”
No one likes to be rejected but if you’re going into sales, you have to know upfront that it really does come with the territory. And no one has to “let you in.” Gimme a break!
It’s My Business
I don’t want the busybody next door to know that the inside of my house is probably a mess by their standards, or that it’s obvious I’m still downsizing. I would say that close to a quarter of my neighborhood is putting stuff out for “oversize” pickup by the city on Monday mornings. People are terrified of trying to survive in California now.
After the disastrous hits the country and especially, California, have taken in recent months, a high percentage of people will be moving away, if they can find a place to go to. Our homeless numbers are already among the highest in the nation (second only to Hawaii or San Francisco, whatever the latest numbers are), so not having a place to go to would add to that heartbreak and despair.
It’s obvious from the outside that my house needs work. House flippers are drooling over how much dough they’re going to make from doing a quick makeover, after paying me the lowest price possible, of course. That’s allowing for the fact this is a great location.
Not one of the pushy people has a viable smaller alternative that would provide a rent or leasing option at a lower overall cost than the current mortgage/taxes/insurance bundle. So, looking out-of-state is part of the strategy.
Even telling them I have a friend who is a Realtor and she’s likely to get first dibs, doesn’t deter them. Obviously, I keep alternatives in mind but that’s for me to know and you to wonder about.
Drowning in Scam Artists
Like most of you out there, I stopped answering unknown phone calls years ago. We are drowning in scam artists, after all, and they all prey on the most vulnerable. Our senior citizens are highly susceptible to being taken advantage of, and I’ve thought for a long time that Hell is going to be a very crowded place because of the thousands, if not millions, of criminals in our midst here on earth.
Because I don’t answer the phone, many scam calls and house flipper calls go to Robocall via Spectrum. (Outside of that service, I can’t recommend Spectrum. They’re expensive and their service has a great deal of downtime.) Those automated or ham-fisted calls that make it through, create a toxic mess of my voice mail. Many are downright ugly with their threats.
One house flipper somehow found an email address and started bugging me that way. Fortunately, none of the others have been able to do that, though someone keeps trying to actually log in to one of my email accounts. I get more snail mail from flippers now than I ever did, all trying to tell me how they’re different from “the others”.
My shredder is working overtime, even during COVID-19 days, months and probably years. Please don’t let these bullies intimidate you or scam you. When it comes to your real estate, stick with someone who’s licensed by the state you live in or where the property is located. And ask around about their reputation before you sign even a 90-day contract to show and try to sell your property.
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