The rising trend of off-market homes can have many advantages - making it an ideal option for both buyers and sellers, if it’s done the right way. Off-market homes are listed. Off-market homes are not FSBO. They’ve identified that they want to sell their home. They’ve chosen an agent. They intend to sell - with the expertise of an informed and well-connected Realtor or broker, but they either don’t intend to ever put it on the MLS or they are hopeful that pre-marketing will find them the ideal buyer without having to put it on the MLS.

For sellers, the ins and outs of off-market selling in a particular market should definitely be examined before deciding which route to go. Unlike public listings on MLS, off-market price changes and days for sale are not published...opening up the possibility for you to test different asking prices and giving you more leverage as an informed seller.

This is especially favorable for sale of luxury homes where price testing could make a significant monetary difference and in shifting markets where pricing and marketing strategies become uncertain in the face of seasonal or economic acceleration or deceleration. It may also be an ideal marketing strategy for owners who desire to sell tenant occupied properties with as little tenant-disruption as possible.

Selling off-market helps you maintain privacy without the need for open-houses and wide public distribution of property images. When the housing market was brisker for sellers, listings would staged and sold in weeks, if not days. It was a reasonable proposition to go through the ‘dog and pony show’ of property prep - but, as time on market increases (aka seller’s market has cooled), who can afford (financially or emotionally) to stage a house for 5 or 6 (or more!) weeks? Living in a hotel for a few weekends is somewhat reasonable...living in a hotel for a few weeks...not so much. The problems compound if the home is occupied with children or pets. There is also an element of discretion when a home is not publicly listed - a sign doesn’t need to be up with a 24/7 beacon of your intent to sell. The neighbors don’t have the opportunity to come in and poke around at an open house. Broker tours are still available. Only the buyers (and agents) who truly need to see your home are able to see it. ​

And what about exposure? How can a seller be sure they are reaching views of an adequate number of eyeballs? The old 80/20 adage is also true in real estate: 20% of the agents do 80% of the business...so,  you often truly only need to get your home in front of the select few agents on the right side of this rule to get adequate buyer reach. Information is distributed to a smaller group of niche qualified buyers, increasing the chance of serious offers and a speedier close time, helping you avoid the risk of the listing sitting on MLS getting stale. Because the home is viewed as an ‘exclusive opportunity’, buyers may even bump up the offer to keep the home off of public marketing channels.

Buyers can definitely benefit from avoiding the ruthless competition for desirable properties.  Even when competition seems to have cooled - if the truly select homes are being listed privately and you (as a buyer) are diligently scrubbing the internet by the day/hour (or minute!) for your ‘dream’ home - in any price range, wouldn’t it be such a disappointment to know that you were not seeing a healthy percentage of available inventory?​

So, how do you rectify this situation? How do you get in the loop, as a buyer (or a seller for that matter)? Well, the first step is to make sure you are aligned with a ‘connected’ Realtor. In the Bay Area, that means the agent is on any private list serves that give them access to this private pool of listing data. 

Taking it a step further, Off Market Homes has access to predictive analytics to see what houses in any neighborhood have a high likelihood of selling. This is very powerful ammunition when you know where you are looking and you're just waiting to pounce on something that comes up. Why wait? Sellers often know they will sell months and months before the information becomes public. Couple that with a direct offer to a homeowner and you may truly find something off market.