I’m sure this sounds familiar to my fellow homeowners. You’re minding your own business when you get a familiar phone call or text. Maybe it’s a postcard, or even a knock on your door. But it’s not the Prize Patrol. It’s never the Prize Patrol.

It’s someone wanting to buy your house. Really badly.

Joy Green sold her house in the Hunting Ridge neighborhood in Baltimore in December, but still gets at least two a month.

“I used to get one or two a week this time last year, but I blocked most of the senders the moment they popped up, so it dropped down to the rate it’s at now. I still get two or three a month,” Green, who now lives in Baltimore County, told me in a Twitter chat.

Michael Matwichuk gets five or six a week, both about the Parkville home where he currently resides, and for places in the Washington, D.C. area where he’s never even lived. He gets so many messages that he received one as we were chatting, a friendly but urgent-sounding note asking if he “had a second to talk” about selling his house.

“I delete most of these texts but have been getting about four or five per month across different numbers. This particular number has texted about once a month or so,” he said.

If you’re looking to sell, or even if you’re not but are in a good position to do so, getting these calls might seem like a magical lifeline. But if you’re not, like me or Matwichuk, “it’s more annoying,” as he says.

I get at least two texts a week about my house in Baltimore, which I bought in the summer of 2020 and, just in case you’re wondering, DO NOT WANT TO SELL. No matter how many times I reply “Stop” or “End” or “And I am telling you, I’m not going,” they keep coming from other numbers. Grrr.

So, what’s up? We all know that the housing market is popping nationwide and in the Baltimore area, even with some recent slowdown. Real estate site Redfin reported in June that prices in Baltimore City were up more than 10% over this time in June 2021, with homes selling in 20 days after listing compared to 18 days in 2021. But still, there are more people wanting to buy than there are available listings, and that’s why agents make cold calls, says Rachel Reinke of W Home Group with Next Step Realty in Timonium in Baltimore County.

“Every realtor is different in tactics, but I’ve been [making calls] since inventory has been low. It’s a way to find houses for buyers. When they hit the market, there’s been a feeding frenzy,” says Reinke, who says she only “makes real phone calls, never texts, so there’s a human on the other end.”

Reinke contacts owners in certain target neighborhoods or places where prospective buyers are interested, making sure the numbers aren’t on the “Do Not Call” list. And she only does so for about a week at a time, a few times a year. “I’ll call, introduce myself and say, ‘I have buyers with the goal of being in your neighborhood, and I wonder if you’re looking to upsize, downsize or relocate. It’s a seller’s market, with many more buyers than homes, so I’m calling around, so if there’s any way I can help, let me know.’”

This sounds pretty reasonable, and Reinke says that she doesn’t contact people again unless they call her back. It’s not like the constant robocalls that are likely from investors, or the craziness that my friends in my former West Palm Beach neighborhood get. There, realtors leave actual offers on their doorsteps or drive by slowly on highly desired blocks, writing down house numbers and later calling the owners to see if they want to sell.

“It’s creepy,” a friend told me.

I haven’t heard of anything that direct and scary happening around here, but the calls and texts seem to be pretty consistent. And homeowners like Matwichuk say they seem to be more frequent in the last couple of years, after COVID created a shortage of available homes and a rise in prices, according to the Federal Reserve.

“The reality is that you have to get the houses before they’re on the market,” says Reinke, who has worked with a lot of clients who are relocating to the area from elsewhere, sometimes because of military placement, and are on a schedule.

“I never had someone call and say ‘Don’t call me,’” says Reinke, who has seen these interactions result in sales either from the subject of the call or friends and relatives they’ve referred. “I’ve had no hang-ups. Everyone who calls back has been a positive experience.”

And as long as there are people willing to buy, I guess these calls will keep coming. I just hope you get someone more like Reinke and less like the people who won’t stop texting Matwichuk, Green and me. Because we aren’t selling our houses.

Really.

leslie.streeter@thebaltimorebanner.com

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