Nowadays, more and more property transactions are going off the market. What was once the stuff of high net worth individuals and professional property investors, the off-market approach is becoming a popular way for estate agents to discreetly market properties, enabling them to gauge market interest and gather valuable buyer insight from pre-marketing to make informed decisions.
In this blog, we will look at what off-market means, the benefits of off-market for estate agents, and how Mutual’s platform can help you gather more insight about your pre-market appraised properties.
What does off-market mean?
What does off-market mean, exactly? Well, instead of listing a property on traditional search portals like Rightmove or Zoopla, estate agents and vendors may choose to list discreetly on an off-market platform like Mutual, or market the property only to a select list of potential buyers.
Traditionally, off-market properties, which are sometimes referred to as pocket listings or under the counter listings, are where a vendor has requested a discreet sale. More widely, it can include properties that don’t make it to the traditional search portals because the agent has agreed on a sale through their own buyer database or connections first.
What are the benefits of off-market?
In today’s tech-driven world, we’re able to reach many people with relative ease, so marketing a property discreetly might seem counterintuitive. You might think that limiting your potential reach will hamper your ability to sell, but that doesn’t need to be the case.
In fact, in the first three months of this year, more UK homes were sold off-market than in any quarter since 2007. Stock shortage and a healthy market have given sellers the confidence they need to sell discreetly, choosing from a select pool of interested buyers. There are many benefits to using an off-market approach, but chiefly among them are the following:
The ability to show prospective client vendors the buyer interest in their property ahead of obtaining instruction – a soft close technique as on average an agent is only last through the door a third of the time.
The ability to offer the average client the opportunity of discreet marketing and possible sale, something previously reserved for celebrities and high-end properties.
Whilst a property remains in an off-market status it is less prone to poaching activity from competitor agents.
Pre-marketing a property in this way has the benefit of test marketing a vendor client’s price without damaging subsequent marketing. If they are insistent that the property is marketed at their own valuation, an agent can suggest they see buyer interest ahead of fully marketing the property and prove interest before the agent has spent marketing costs, only to find the client withdraws the property the moment they suggest dropping the asking price.
How does Mutual help estate agents?
Listing a pre-market property for just one month on Mutual will extend the window of opportunity without the potential for poaching, giving an agent the time they need to gauge buyer interest, understand market conditions, and appropriately estimate the price so that when (or if) it is taken to market, it performs exceptionally well.
Every property is saleable at the right price, and Mutual helps guide agents towards the right price range.
When a vendor is offered a market appraisal from an agency, typically half of those agencies will not get business on the day of the appraisal. Instead, what happens can be a protracted affair, requiring the agent to contact the potential vendor to take it a step further or prompt instruction.
With Mutual, buyer interest is logged for the property in the form of likes and superlikes. The estate agent has at their disposal, a wealth of information from a trusted source that enables them to make an informed decision.
For undecided or wavering vendors, it’s just the kind of evidence and trust they need to help the estate agents close.
To learn more about how Mutual can benefit you, book a demo and we’ll show you the power of Mutual for estate agents.