A sudden surge of cold calls and texts

[Sam Leon]

I am probably going against the grain by posting in this forum but I am losing my patience in getting cold calls and texts "are you interested in selling your property at this address?"

I have always gotten post cards and yellow letters, no big deal, I removed them from the mail box and put them into the recycle cart directly.  Sometimes I'll get half a dozen cards a day, from the same person, but one for each address.  Then it comes around in two weeks.

But recently I started to get cold calls and texts.  Today alone, I received five calls and three texts asking if I am interested in selling or "free evaluation".  I can't just ignore unknown callers because sometimes I work with rental applicants and contractors that are not in my address book.

I also have no idea how they got my phone number because it's not listed.  I do not even list phone numbers on my rental ads all I provide is email and messaging services and my number is hidden on rental listings, so I am still trying to figure out how my number was harvested.  I asked one of the callers how she got my number, she said it is in the public records...I asked another, he told me he is calling everyone who owns more than one property.

I don't mind the yellow letters and post cards much, but 8 cold calls and texts a day is really over the top, in my opinion.  I understand this is how some find deals, but there has to be a happy medium.  I remember back in the days when people still fax I used to get fax ads, and before you know it the paper or ink is out because it's been busy printing ads.