The Do Not Call Law Reports

*This was originally posted on June 26, 2023*

Welcome and good morning and welcome to Mike Ferry TV the week of June 26th, 2023.

Well, this is the last week of the first half of the year, and what I’m talking to our clients about now is what are you going to do in the second half. How much improvement are you looking for? We know that January, February, and March were off to a pretty shaky start in the real estate industry, both in the US and Canada. And primarily that took place because last October, November, and December we were just coming out of the shock of the interest rates changing from 2.5 And 3 up to 6, 6.5, 7. So the market has stabilized. You and I need to get back into the groove of listing and selling property. And one of the methods for doing that, of course, is spending some time prospecting. And of course, when you hear the word prospecting, people connected to the name Mike Ferry because we feel it is part of the foundation of building a great career.

The Do Not Call Law has changed how we can/can’t prospect

And of course, we had a little interruption to that whole prospecting process take place now in the year 2006. And in 2006, the federal government passed some laws and those laws probably were very, very well-intentioned, although I’m not always really sure why the law was passed and it was called the Do Not Call Law. And of course, with that Do Not Call Law. The public could register their phone number, which means that we technically by law cannot call those people if they are not somebody we’ve had a previous relationship with. Well, because of that law and because Mike Ferry is always proposed prospecting, and I’ve always proposed that calling your database, calling your center of influence, calling by owners, calling expired, calling around your listings and sales, knocking on doors on all the above can make a big difference in terms of productivity, along with 10 or 15 other methods of prospecting.

I want to state to all of you is, in quotes, “Obey the law.”

Well, because of the Do Not Call Law, in 2006, I produced a report called the Do Not Call Law Report, where I very specifically say my interpretation through our attorneys as to what you can and cannot do. And of course, on this report, one of the things that I state right in the beginning on the second page, and it’s really very simple. The second thing I want to state to all of you is, in quotes, “Obey the law.” That’s a good rule to follow, probably for our life and how we operate our life and our business. Obey the law. And I’ve been saying that now since 2006. And yet at the same time, there are people that pick up the phones and dial cold calls all day long, and now they’re seeing lawsuits taking place, class action lawsuits taking place. Big companies are being hit with fines by the government. The original fines were very tiny. That would apply to an agent. Well, they went for the deeper pockets. All these wonderful, big supportive companies propagate building a business.

Well, later in July 2006, I wrote the Do Not Call Law Report Part II. And that was much bigger and much more extensive because we started doing more research. And I would say to all of you, if you would like to see a copy of the report, go to MikeFerry.com. Press the report button. Download the Do Not Call Law Reports Part I and II. Read them. Understand them. More importantly, follow the rules.

What does the second half of 2023 look like?

So here’s what we have to look at. During the second half of 2023, most of us have to do a little bit of recovery in terms of production because as I stated, to start this January, February and March were pretty tough months even for some of the best agents, because, again, the shock of the interest rates. Well, the interest rates have been stabilized. NAR is stating still that we are going to have a very productive year. But the challenge is, of course, the lack of inventory. And I want to say something to you that I want you to think about.

We’ve always had excessive numbers of homes for sale 60, 90, and 120 days of existing inventory waiting to be sold. And then we had that period from 2008 to 2012 where virtually there were homes on the market for one, two, and three years and never were able to be sold because of the economy we were suffering from at that time. Hopefully, most of you started after that period of time and didn’t have to go through that, where the number of sales dropped down to the 3.5, 3.6 million mark. The average equity in a home disappeared because of the economy. Average sales price dropped 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%.

We are returning to a stable market

Well, today we are in a much more stable market. And I want you to lock into those words. We are involved in a much more stable market today than we have been in the past. That post-Covid period where we hit 6, 6.2 million sales was not normal. There was a tremendous surge of people wanting to buy Real Estate for privacy, health protection or whatever reason they stated. And that did eat up most of the inventory. So as a result, our inventory decreased. But if we have and I want you to listen carefully, if we have 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 million Real Estate transactions this year, doesn’t that also mean we have to have 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 million listings taken? Because we can’t sell things we don’t have. For any business to sell their product or their service. They have to have inventory. So there is sufficient inventory for us to do a lot of business. We just generally like to have excessive amounts of homes to show to make the buying choice better for our buyers. But what we’re faced with today is instead of having this many agents out working to take listings today, we have this many agents out working to take listings. And instead of having this many agents working with buyers, the majority of all agents who work with buyers today. So that even makes the inventory problem a little more difficult.

The solution to the inventory problem is prospecting.

The solution to the inventory problem is prospecting. The choices of prospecting are many. If you’re going to use the phone, follow the law. Understand that law is in place and understand there are penalties when you break the law. It’s like driving 75 miles an hour in a school zone. Hopefully, you’re going to be caught, you’re going to be penalized and then you’re going to move on with your life. Follow the law. Understand the law. List and sell more property. We are the solution to the problem.

Talk to you again next week. Thank you.