Australian Housing Crisis #6: Foreign Cold Calling Now In Play To Keep Bubble Inflated
For almost a year now I've been trying to bring to the screen observations that I've made regarding the housing bubble that has ballooned in Australia. I've written a series on this topic here on Steemit, the most recent contribution being related to my trip to a Home Show exhibition about three weeks ago. Read about that here.
Yesterday provided one of those glimpses into the state of affairs again for me and I thought I'd share as it was a first for me. Many of these small observations of mine are just single data points in a complex system, but together they paint a picture I feel that only on-the-ground reporting can reveal.
Many of you would by now be well acquainted with foreign cold calling. You know the types of calls I'm referring to. Usually the caller ID indicates an interstate number and when answering the phone, the five second silence that greets you is one of the indications that the call is being routed from an international location some distance away.
Then there's the accent of the caller and the inability to pronounce local names, products, services and the like; all indicators of foreign call center involvement.
The cold call I received yesterday was slightly different for a few reasons. Firstly, it was not insurance or utility related. Secondly, the caller had a British accent rather than Indian. The call was sufficiently unique so as to hold my attention for a few moments.
The lady introduced herself as calling from a specific real estate agent based in a suburb that I'd once lived in. I've never owned property in that suburb however and had never dealt with that particular agent. The caller asked whether I'd be interested in a free appraisal of the value of my property in today's market.
My first response was "no, I wouldn't be interested at all". Obviously, this was an untargeted call given that I've been out of this frothy property market for some time now; perhaps a "throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks" type approach.
I then went on to question how this caller had obtained my phone number. This resulted in some hesitation on behalf of the caller who simply replied by saying that I'd "likely" had dealings with the agent, LJ Hooker, in the past. When further asking whether she was referring to LJ Hooker the chain or with the particular outlet that she'd originally identified herself as being associated with, her reply was simply "probably the particular one".
Little attempt was made to mask the fact that she was simply a call center employee working through a list of contacts obtained through questionable measures in order to solicit real estate transaction business for the recruiting agent.
Now, it seems to me that if property was as sought after and valued as we are being led to believe, then there would be natural supply side demand that was acting to justify the historically expensive property prices now in play in Australia. To have to resort to foreign call centres at an agent by agent level in order to enact what is essentially a door-knock campaign to me indicates a desperation to avoid falling demand and hence falling commissions in the real estate space.
It was a new experience for me and, after the insane phone call I experienced with a mortgage broker 10 months ago here, I'm surprised that it's taken this long to reach this stage.
Do you smell a significant housing correction in the wind?
Hello, I have a friend who left Australia, he has been Venezuelan for a long time but he has been able to get housing for him and his family ..
That's a big change to make @danllelys, was property one of the main considerations for the move? Thanks for reading!
Yes .. I even developed his professional career there, the only bad thing is that he has not been able to return to Venezuela ... but the corrupt government makes us leave our country and look for better horizons .. a hug
Australia is like a planet on its own, must be hard adapting to the environment, lol...
The place has fundamentally changed. An immigration rate of 200,000 per year against the 20th century average of 70,000 has largely contributed, along with the religious view that housing "always goes up". It can be a bit hard to adapt @apiprincz! Thanks for reading!
@nolnocluap
That is actually sad to read. never knew it has gotten this bad in Australia.
I feel a lot is wrong with the real estate market over there. No firsthand experience but i have actually read stuffs on the internet.
To blast calls through foreign agents is both dubious and unacceptable for me, but well, it is what they do to try and convince you otherwise of what you hold as the truth
Hi @apolllo, I agree. I feel that new approaches are being tried to squeeze the last few breaths out of this bubble. Pamphlets in the letter box offering home appraisals for sale are old news but foreign calls are new. Here's another metric. I gauge the time I've spent in my current job by the height of one of the many skyscraper unit complexes being built over the road. I could see over the top of it when I started in the job and now, the construction exceeds the height of my own office building. That's one of many many building going up just visible from the windows of my own office.
Sounds like a 3rd party lead generation and appointment setting company. I would advise to always ask when you can get outbound sales calls if they are working as a contractor on behalf of the company or whether they are in-house. Sometimes companies hire 3rd party call centre companies to do some of their outbound calling work.
They're called BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing) and their ability to follow their client's compliance can be a little sketchy at times.
To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.
Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvote this reply.