When you are assigned a target agent and after receiving permission from your scheduler to ask for the target directly and to also leave a message from them to contact you how do you justify constantly leaving messages for an agent. How do I explain why after leaving several messages my insistance on speaking with a particular agent As an apartment hunter usually time is of the essence. Why would a person looking for an apartment wait delay touring an apartment because the person you requested and left message for has not returned your calls. Is that not an immediate ready flag to savvy agents? Just curious?

In that case I email the scheduler to say that the target has not returned two voice mails (That's my limit.) I ask the scheduler to contact the client or the project manager for instructions, since leaving more messages will alert the LA.

Often this results in either getting permission to do a drop-in visit OR in finding out that the LA is on vacation or medical leave.

If the MSC/client does not provide a path forward that is acceptable to me, I ask that the shop be reassigned. The most likely reason for no acceptable path forward is that the client/MSC says, "Keep trying. We know that this target is ducking shoppers." Well, if they freaking KNOW that, why send a shopper.? I am not continuing a fool's errand, folks.

You have been so helpful. How long have you been apartment shopping?

Just curious why would an agent dodge potential income?

I don't do targeted apartment shops.

I think from this past Cat & Mouse experience I will limit my targeted assignments to major bonuses. If not I will only accept those designated as anyine. Lesson learned .

I started doing apartment shops in 2005, shortly after I began doing MS.
Some LAs dodge rental tour appointments because they want to frustrate the client's MS program. It is a game that some SAs at new homes also play. The consider MSers their sworn enemies. They take great pride in frustrating the shoppers and, when at all possible, tripping up the shopper or catching a shopper error that tells them that they are being shopped. They will also call their colleagues, including agents in competitor's locations nearby, to alert them that a shopper is in the area. They will describe the shopper AND the vehicle, right down to the tag number, in hopes of thwarting a whole route of shops. Learning this was a painful experience and cost me three big new home video fees PLUS the travel bonus that paid for hotel and fuel, when I was "suspected" on one of my earliest new home routes. The original selling agent actually made up a reason for "knowing" that I was a shopper when the client asked how she knew. And, the other 2 agents "knew" because they were tipped off. So they all told the story of the same mistake. That was good enough for the client. Fees and travel funds denied.

btw, Ironically, I seem to have "gotten away with" a few serious boners that might well have caused, at the very least, suspicion that I was a shopper, over the years. But those targets never appeared to have caught them. Go fugue !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2019 08:59PM by walesmaven.

When will you be teaching again and where?

No where this year. If IMSC has a spring conference in the east, I may do a workshop in 2020. But, it is not always the same workshop, lol. I do not do MSPA conferences.

Have you ever considered doing your own clinic or workshop? I think that your knowledge is PRICELESS and plenty of shoppers would benefit from your expertise.

These have been the most frustrating types of shops that I have been assigned to complete. I've had to do so many quick hang-ups when the target doesn't answer the phone that it frustrates me. I do follow the shop instructions and call the amount of times that they ask, but some MSC's ask that you keep calling until the target is reached. This is frustrating and I don't like hanging up on people.

ALL,
I am just paying forward all of the free advice that got me started. So far, this forum and volunteering at IMSC have been my favorite ways of doing that. I already run 2 businesses; not looking to set up a third one, thanks.

@gabbyg wrote:

These have been the most frustrating types of shops that I have been assigned to complete. I've had to do so many quick hang-ups when the target doesn't answer the phone that it frustrates me. I do follow the shop instructions and call the amount of times that they ask, but some MSC's ask that you keep calling until the target is reached. This is frustrating and I don't like hanging up on people.

You generally want to avoid just hanging up. When somebody other than the target answers the phone, ask some sort of relevant question that will quickly disqualify you from consideration. For instance, ask for an apartment with more/less bedrooms than what the community has. Ask for an apartment well cheaper than what the community offers. Ask if the community is near a landmark that you know to be quite far, etc.

Targets can be slippery. I just don't let it bother me. I document my calls and go about my business until I try again later. As for targets who seem to dodge shoppers, I've found that the primary reasons they are hard to reach are: 1. The target is no longer working at the community. 2. The target is on vacation. 3. The target has recently been promoted and no longer believes it is his/her job to give tours.

Ask what school district they're in. Ask if they're open on Sundays.
I do lots of targeted apartment shops. My main problem at this point is making up new phone numbers for my aliases. I just made up one using Google voice but you have to have a phone number to link it to it appears.
And I have to remember to use my fake name. I have used a version of my first name but now I've run out of those.

My beef is why do we have to change our name and phone numbers? Seems to me the client can remove our data from their "system" so we can shop their various locations.
Not everyone has several driver's licenses with different names and addresses on them plus a slew of prepaid phones with different numbers (and if caught, the PD would question why). Every agent asks for ID and contact number or you do not get a tour. They also type in the information on your driver's license into a computer (name, address, and ask you your phone number). I could change my name (divorced); however, the phone number and address will still be the same.
I am retired, own one phone and one driver's license. Additionally I do not have "friends" who would be willing to receive calls or emails regarding my mystery shops.
Suggestions anyone?

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2019 05:31PM by lbtweety47.

I do not have any fake IDs. Women can show their current DL and say, "I just went through a terrible divorce, so nothing will be in [that surname]. I took back my family name which is....." At new homes and assisted/ independent living places they do not ask for ID. I have emails to match any alias that I am using. I say, "I prefer email because I get so many robocalls that I will not answer unless I recognize the number. So just use email."

A fearless male friend, btw, uses the same "different surname than is on my DL" story, saying that he took his husband's surname but after a terrible experience/divorce, is going back to his family name. Why fearless? Because he shops SC.

MOST clients ignore the MSC's begging them to purge shopper's info from their systems. Believe me, the MSCs REALLY want them to do that!!!

Several shops I have done, the agent just put my id on their desk and did not copy it into the system. My problem is with Google voice. I get spam on my phone (from sex bots) when I use it. Group texts and weird stuff. How do I bypass that? It creeps me out.

I'm a guy and I use my same ID for every shop. However, I use different nicknames so as to change up how I am entered into the system.... I create new email address frequently (Gmail) as well as phone numbers (Google Voice). I've never had an issue with either.

I give a new version of my name and a different phone number and email address on the phone. They use that to create a new contact. When I go in they don't even look the info on my ID - they just set it down. Don't offer up information about your name. It has never been an issue. I used to get all worked up with what ifs. But I have had to learn to lie quickly.

@ALLFORtheSMONEY wrote:

Just curious why would an agent dodge potential income?

My guess is that it is because they get paid by the hour and are lazy.

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

Several shops I have done, the agent just put my id on their desk and did not copy it into the system. My problem is with Google voice. I get spam on my phone (from sex bots) when I use it. Group texts and weird stuff. How do I bypass that? It creeps me out.

I would say that about 70% of the agents I've shopped look at my ID, and the rest just put it in the drawer without looking at it.

I managed to get 4 Google Voice numbers, and I have been using them for several years. I let them go to voice mail and do not ever answer them. Google voice saves both an audio and text transcript of the caller's message. I do not receive spam from sex bots as a result of giving the numbers to apartment agents. Maybe the reason has something to do with me never answering the phone or replying back to the calls. I also would never tie my Google Voice numbers to my cell phone. They are tied to a Magic Jack number that I never use for anything but voice mail.

You shoppers with common names, Asian, and female shoppers are so lucky when shopping apartments. You can readily think of many nicknames, make up any American name if you are Asian, and make up any last name if you are a woman.