Imagine selling your home or investment property without ever advertising it.
Actually, when you sell “off market”, that’s exactly what you do.
Selling off market means selling your home or investment without a listing on realestate.com.au or domain.com.au, without a “for sale” sign out the front, and without a single newspaper ad.
You may be surprised to learn that a number of properties are sold in this way. For example, at the time of writing, more than one in three properties sold by The Henry Wong Team is sold off market with zero advertising.
There are many reasons you may choose to sell your property off market, including privacy, price, timing and ease. (You can read about these benefits in more detail here.) But as selling off market is one of the real estate industry’s best kept secrets, in this article we outline the steps you should follow to successfully sell your property off market.
Work with a local
If you want to sell your home or investment property off market, you need to work with a local real estate agent – someone who focuses on selling in your area. Only a locally-focused agent will have the database of prospective buyers necessary to sell your home off market, because they deal with buyers looking for properties like yours all the time.
Ideally, you also want a local agent with out-of-area contacts. That’s someone who sells to buyers located interstate and internationally. After all, the bigger your agent’s potential buyer database, the easier it will be for them to sell your property.
Ask the right questions
Once you find your local real estate agent, it’s important to make sure they’re actually able to sell your property off market.
First, ask your agent if they’ve sold properties off market before. Next, ask if they have a large database of buyers that they can reach without advertising your property. Finally, ask to see their last 12 months of sales. Specify that you only want to see their sales, not the office’s sales. When appointing an agent, you have every right to ask for their “report card”, so only appoint an agent who ticks all these boxes. If they don’t, go back to the first step.
Be upfront
As with almost anything in life, good communication is key to getting the best possible outcome for selling your property off market. So be sure to clearly communicate your goals and expectations to your agent from the very beginning.
For example, if privacy is a concern, let your agent know so they don’t turn up to your house in a car covered with real estate branding. Or if you’re not ready to move for six months, let your agent know so they only speak to buyers who can accommodate your preferred timeline.
What to expect
If you’re selling off market, you should expect to never see your property advertised online or in print. Your agent may still get photos, floor plans or videos done to send to prospective buyers, but these should only appear in correspondence with these buyers, not on any advertising medium.
Unless you’ve specified that you don’t want to sell until a certain time period has elapsed, you should also expect to be introduced to buyers who are ready to buy now. If they like your property, they’ll sign a contract immediately. You may not meet these buyers right away, but when you’re selling off market, things can move quickly. So be prepared!
Start today
If you’re interested in selling your property off market, or you simply want a valuation to understand how much your home is worth, The Henry Wong Team can help.
We specialise in selling off market properties in the suburbs of Wishart, Mansfield, Rochedale, Carindale and Mackenzie and are more than happy to provide you with our track record of sales and to answer any questions you may have.
If that’s the sort of service you want, get in touch with us today. Call Henry on 0412 471 588 or send us a message via the contact form.
Your questions
This article was written to address a common question our clients ask us. If you have a question you’d like to see covered in an upcoming blog, let us know! Simply email askhenry@hw.protomojo4.com.au today.
