Sounds to me like it could be a hungry Realtor who is willing to go the extra mile for a client who has narrowed down their search area and it not seeing a lot of inventory. It comes under the heading of 'what has he got to lose'? He may find someone who has considered selling but not acted or hadn't yet considered but might for a good price. Or he could be trying to just drum up business. Probably wouldn't bother me a bit to be approached and depending on how it was done, might make me think this guy is worth talking to when the time comes to sell.

That could be. He wasn't creepy or anything. :)

This is a larger subdivision (1800+ homes) and they do seem to sell quickly except for the really pricey ones that take a few months so maybe it is good to get a heads up.

And maybe walking more was part of this guy's new year resolution. Two birds!

Probably about twice a year I have a buyer client that I have to resort to looking up Expired listings, up to two years back. I will call or knock on these homes. Most of these people are still thinking of moving.
His way does seem not quite as efficient, but as I know, in this business, it is all about meeting people and letting them know that you are an agent. I am sure he probably got at least a couple leads from it.

Yes, it could be. In my area, inventory is so low, that if someone wants to buy in a certain place, they either wait until something comes on the market or start asking. (I recently mailed a letter to some owners whose listing expired last summer, because there are exactly ZERO listings in 4 different condo complexes I'm considering with at least 100 condos total).

Totally a sellers' market right now if you're in a low-inventory area. Buyers are realizing that prices are going up so they need to buy now, and there's nothing to buy.

Walking is slightly unusual, but a RE book that was recommended to me when I got my license (about 4 years ago) gave several examples of walking around your desired farm area. And if I had a buyer for my particular neighborhood right now, that's what I'd be doing (or riding my bike) because the choices on the market are so slim.

What? RE agents don't just sit on their butts and collect fat commissions? :) Just kidding! But some sure work harder than others.

These houses are close enough here that walking makes more sense than not (although there are over 1800 of them in the subdivision). And this gentleman did appear more fit than Realtors with whom I've worked in the past. So good for him!

It occurs to me, most people hold off putting their homes on the market at this time of year. So he may have felt he had a better than average chance of finding someone prepared to sell but not on the market.

Why would someone not put their house on the market at this time of year, I'm seeing many popping up right now. This seems like the perfect after the holidays are over.

I thought people with kids preferred to move in the summer so that school wouldn't be interrupted. So that would make spring the time to sell maybe? These are definitely houses for kids.

But I don't know. The only time I moved with school age kids I didn't go far enough to change schools. (Hey, I like the neighborhood too!)

We just sold our house without putting it on the market. Our REA knew that we would be listing in the next month so called to see if we would be willing to show.

And now I am ready to go personally knocking on doors to see if anybody wants to sell their house because the inventory out there is scarce! I would love to have a REA hustling like that for me.

Cmarlin, I know around here, people tend to wait at least until early spring to put their houses on the market. Now some of this is we have a lot of snowbirds, but no doubt, houses do show better when things start blooming. Plus, people are more likely to look if they don't have to trudge through mud and snow.

Things are blooming here. I had irises at Christmas. :)

So I guess it's not abnormal Realtor behavior and it could actually pay off for him.

I knocked on doors at one point. I had a client that insisted they buy a house within 1/4 mile from her parents house. She literally wanted to be within walking distance. So, I knocked on doors and found them a house that the owners were considering selling. Worked out great for everyone involved.