Pros & Cons of Selling Off Market
Amit Bhuta
Making a sound real estate decision can move you in many ways...
Making a sound real estate decision can move you in many ways...
Pros
You can test the market price
Going off market allows you to start selling your home for the price you want and get an idea of how the market in general will view your property's saleability and how your price point compares against the market's pricing for your home. If your home is priced too high, you have a chance to cut down or reduce the price prior to putting it on MLS sites.
You can maintain privacy
For some reason or another, sellers may prefer privacy when selling their home. Often, this is due to properties being rentals and the homeowner wishing to protect their tenants' own privacy. Whatever your reason may be, choosing to go with an off market listing will allow you to keep your home away from an open real estate market.
No "Days on Market" pressure
Days on market, or the time from which you place your listing for sale in MLS, is often a source of pressure and fear from sellers. This is because ideally they need to be low, with longer days on market giving the impression that the property has potential issues, either due to pricing or other aspects of the property. Longer days on the market also tend to set you up for low ballers.
Since an off market listing doesn't have any official start dates, you can take your time in selling your home and testing the market out without fear of a negative impression from potential investors.
Potential savings
Another advantage of off market selling is you can save some money on your listing, cutting down fees from photographers, property stylists and even listing fees. Being off market, you would typically get less showings and thus less need to spruce up your home.
Aside from financial savings, you also save on time since you can list your property immediately.
Buyers are more serious
Because your home is not publicly listed, you will tend to get buyers who are more serious about buying the property. There are less chances of getting passers by or curious window shoppers who came across your listing on a website.
Cons
Less Competition
Because only a select few people are aware that you're selling your home, you have fewer potential buyers. This may mean that your home will take a little longer to sell. This can also mean no bidding wars, and your home would not sell as high as it should if you had more people interested.
Lower market price
If your home gets sold off market, you wold never know if it could have fetched a higher price in the open market. Due to fewer competition and minimal chance of a bidding war, there is also less chance to drive up the price of your home.
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