Off - Market Forces

Buyers and sellers are getting together in a more private setting.

- Pam Walkley

Would you like to be able to secure the property of your dreams without having to compete with other buyers? Being able to acquire a property “off market” is seen as the holy grail by many real estate buyers but it doesn’t always work that way. “More often than not you’re going to pay over the odds to secure a property before it goes public,” says Patrick Bright, founder of buyers agent EPS Property Search and author of several books on real estate.

In Bright’s 18 years of experience, off-market or pre-market offerings – where the property is not publicly advertised on the open market – often occur when a vendor has an unrealistic price expectation for their property. The agent – realising this but not wanting to lose control of the listing – suggests trying a softly, softly approach, hoping to snare an ill-prepared or ill-informed buyer without wasting too much time. If the agent doesn’t get lucky, eventually the vendor may be willing to accept a lower price. But if the seller is unmotivated he or she may just withdraw their property from sale.

The number of properties selling off market is estimated at 10% to 20% and is on the rise, says Liane Fletcher, co-founder of Property Whispers, a matching site for buyers and off market property that real estate agents list on the site (propertywhispers.com.au). These listings can’t be browsed by prospective buyers but both the agent and buyer are contacted if a match occurs. The site has been likened to Tinder, the popular site for matching people looking to hook up. (See breakout.)

Bright agrees that the number of properties not going to open market has increased, and he says the more expensive the property the more likely the vendor is to opt for the strategy. He estimates that once the price gets to $5 million about 50% of those in Sydney’s inner ring are sold off market.