Is Off-Market the Best Market?
Off-market listings can be considered exclusive or dare I say…sexy, but let me share a cautionary tale with you:
Recently, one of our sellers asked us to try to sell their home off-market. We took great pains to explain the downside of doing this. However, they assured us they understood the risks, and insisted we try to sell their home this way for at least one month. They agreed that if it didn’t sell in this time frame, we could begin to market it publicly.
So, we tried. We marketed their property on social media, sent it out to our network of agents, and posted it on a “top agent network” in our local marketplace. We did everything we could to promote the property without it going live on the public market and without posting it into the Multiple Listing Service.
In one month, we showed the property only three times. Each of the buyers seemed like a good fit for the home, but none of the three buyers presented an offer or even came back to see it a second time.
The one-month off-market trial finally came to an end and we posted the home with all the usual public listing services. Two days later, after multiple showings, the sellers accepted a full price cash offer with a closing date to suit their next move.
Off-market VS public listing:
- Marketing a property off-market in an environment where conditions are shifting, and buyers are taking the upper hand is always risky.
- Buyers need urgency to feel the pressure to make an offer. If buyers are worried someone else may make an offer before they do, then they will act swiftly and strongly.
- Marketing a home in public listing services reaches a far greater audience than any off-market avenues could reach. The public listing services not only reach the broker community, they reach buyers. Most listing services feed to all the online real estate platforms meaning the property becomes immediately available worldwide.
If selling your home for the best possible price is your goal, then doesn’t it make sense to expose your property to the largest buyer pool possible? Don’t be sidetracked by your agent’s talk of a fast and easy sale. The best sale happens when you have the best possible opportunities to find a buyer.
