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You think Internet marketers are shoddy?

by Alan Petersen
9 replies
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I just bought a house and good Lordy, do the cockroaches of the marketing world come out in full force!

During the closing, the escrow officer warned us that companies drill the public records for home buyers to inundate with spam--- err, junk mail.

He said he gets angry calls but he said they don't sell that info, marketers just get it from the public records when Real Estate deals are recorded by the state.

Same thing happened when I sold my house in the spring but the marketers on the buyer side are worse.

The harmless stuff I guess I don't mind, mailings from just about every moving company out there, storage places, phone services, cable, dish, local banks, handyman services, and on and on.

I don't mind those since hey, at least it's related but I'm getting these mailers pretending it's official business from the purchase of the home (escrow officer warned about these).

The mailers try to trick you into their home warranty plans, life insurance, and more crap by sending very official-looking mail, like it's part of the mortgage process.

But they're just soliciting, all with the info they get from the public records. My name, loan price, the whole nine-yards!

Reminds me of that shoddy company "Domain Name Registrars of America" that send mail to your WHOIS address to try and tick you into transferring your domain to them at very high prices vs. the cost to re-register it with GoDaddy. Their mailings look very official and like you're going to lose your domain name.

Same thing here. One mailer makes it sound like my loan is in danger so to contact them right away. I already closed! Anyway, I can see how people get duped.

OK, thanks for the vent, I'm flooded with junk mail.
  • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
    And for this thank goodness they created paper shredders. I've always wondered how much paper is wasted on ridiculous solicitation mailings--maybe its a figure we don't want to know!
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      IN the U.S. I think the only thing that keeps the postal service afloat is junk mail...oh wait, the P.S. is sinking anyway.

      I've had a couple people here mention the same type of heavy solicitation when they bought property in the past year. I think it's a sign of the time - but is bad and people are turning to anything they can to make a buck.

      I don't think it's "internet marketers" - but marketers in general. Many of the people working on commission & contacting people like you had real jobs a few years ago. Now it's anything for a buck and any target is a big target.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alan Petersen
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post


        I don't think it's "internet marketers" - but marketers in general. Many of the people working on commission & contacting people like you had real jobs a few years ago. Now it's anything for a buck and any target is a big target.
        I agree, that's what I was trying to say, that folks get so bent with Internet marketers but they haven't seen nothing until these offline marketers get a hold of your public property records!

        @Blogging Pro - yep, I have one of those grocery paper bags where I dump it all to shred (won't put in regular trash since it does have my data on there) and it's already full to the brim!
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  • Profile picture of the author Celeste Green
    ) Yeah, we just bought a new house too and it's the same ever time we've bought - all the useless junk mail. I get shred happy with those "official looking" home warranty/home insurance/etc offers too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Worner
    Originally Posted by Alan Petersen View Post


    Reminds me of that shoddy company "Domain Name Registrars of America" that send mail to your WHOIS address to try and tick you into transferring your domain to them at very high prices vs. the cost to re-register it with GoDaddy. Their mailings look very official and like you're going to lose your domain name.
    I thought I was the only one who received letters from those scam artists. (I live in Australia)

    -Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
      Originally Posted by Alan Petersen View Post

      Reminds me of that shoddy company "Domain Name Registrars of America" ...
      Funny, that's exactly who I thought of when I was reading your post. If they were smart they'd keep track of non-responsive prospects. They'd save a bundle. I throw away about 30 fake bills from them every year.

      Things must be a little different in California than here in Wisconsin. Or maybe it's big city vs. small town, I don't know, but I've bought and sold two houses in the last 4 years and haven't gotten any of that.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alan Petersen
        Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

        Funny, that's exactly who I thought of when I was reading your post. If they were smart they'd keep track of non-responsive prospects. They'd save a bundle. I throw away about 30 fake bills from them every year.

        Things must be a little different in California than here in Wisconsin. Or maybe it's big city vs. small town, I don't know, but I've bought and sold two houses in the last 4 years and haven't gotten any of that.
        I sold my house in Minneapolis, Minnesota in March and I got some junk mail there too but mostly from moving companies and Realtors. But it was a straight up solicitation vs. sending official looking mailers trying to trick people.

        I don't remember getting stuff like that when I bought the house in Minnesota in 2003 but those were different economic times. Like Kay said, it might just be the sign of the times or it could be another weird California thing.
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        • Profile picture of the author Kay King
          If you want to do something GOOD with junk mail, check with your local animal shelter and see if they need shredded paper for litter boxes.

          I have a large shredder next to my desk and it chomps a lot of paper - I fill up garbage bags and when I have a few of them I take them to the humane society for use there. Best thing that ever happened to junk mail!
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          • Profile picture of the author HeySal
            Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

            If you want to do something GOOD with junk mail, check with your local animal shelter and see if they need shredded paper for litter boxes.

            I have a large shredder next to my desk and it chomps a lot of paper - I fill up garbage bags and when I have a few of them I take them to the humane society for use there. Best thing that ever happened to junk mail!
            And so symbolically appropriate. Too bad you can't ship the used paper back to the perp. company.

            Junk mail costs tens of millions of trees every year. Anyone using paper to put out misleading advertisements should be tried in court and sentenced to planting trees for a few weeks, depending on how many trees had to be cut to support their scams - at least until they get the hang of the fact that they are a useless contributor to deforestation and are suicidally ruining their OWN life support systems - as well as being putrifying slime mold.

            Incidentally - the US is now one of the leading countries for dishonest marketing. Aren't we so proud?
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            Sal
            When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
            Beyond the Path

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