We frequently get asked by buyers if we can show them anything “off market”. Conversely we are also asked frequently by sellers if we have anyone we can show their property to “off market”. In a heated market we have seen some good prices off market but how can this be measured if you only have the feedback of a small portion of the market place?
If you are selling and want to know if an off market sale is good for you, the answer lies in looking at the motivation of the parties involved. The buyer prefers buying off the market so they don’t have to compete with others. The seller likes it off market so they don’t have the stress, time and cost of going to market and the agent loves it because they paid sooner.
My advice is that if you have invested much time, effort and money into what is probably your largest asset then the amount of potential buyers it is exposed to is also worth investing in as it is crucial to the outcome. Exposing the property to all possible buyers is an integral part of the process in achieving the best possible price. A real estate agent’s database should identify buyers that are capable of spending the approximate value and often we have buyers we are confident will pay a premium or suit a particular property. The big question at this point though is if you are only exposed to your agent’s database, who else and how many other potential buyers are you missing?
I sold a property recently to a buyer that saw the property on one of our Facebook ads (cost $100) and was not even thinking of a real estate purchase, they were not in ours or any real estate agent’s database. The property sold for $40K over what the owner and us agreed would be a fair buy so who is the real judge of value? The market is the real judge but not just the portion of the market that make it an “easy sale” for everyone, you really need the whole market to get the picture. There are lots of other ingredients in achieving a great price but it is essential to maximize the volume of potential buyers your property sees. If you want further info on this please feel free to call me anytime.