What's an off market property sale and how to buy one

In the current market some of the best property purchases are not to be found on the popular online property portals or the among on your local agents’ listing window.

These particular properties sell before they are even going live on an agent’s portal for sale, unfortunately, it’s not a case of what you know, but who you know.

I’m talking about the about off-market property purchase opportunities and it’s what buyers’ agents claim to have access to when they promote the benefits of engaging their services.

So, what is an off-market sale?

Most are really “pre market” opportunities. You see, after a selling agent lists a new property there’s about two weeks before it hits real estate platforms online.

During this time photographs are taken, floor plans are drawn, the seller must approve the marketing and all this must be uploaded to the Internet.

During this period, buyers in the know, get the opportunity to inspect and make an offer on these properties before they hit the Internet and the general public find out about them.

And then there are the true “off market” opportunities where for various reasons the vendor wants to sell their property with advertising it publicly.

This means no official listing is created and the success of an off-market sale is pretty much dependant on the selling agent’s database.

But here’s something you must understand if you want to take advantage of these opportunities.

It’s really hard for individual property buyers, who only buy a property or two in their lifetime, to access these sales because they don’t tend to be ‘front of mind’ of the selling agent.

Sure, you can register your interest in off market properties with the local real estate agent, but who do you think they’ll call first?

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A sophisticated property buyer with whom they’ve conducted multiple transactions and whom they know to have access to approved finance; or you? 

Similarly, selling agents won’t be contacting you if you tell them, you’re want to score a bargain. To ensure that you’re one of the buyers an agent with off-market property calls, once you have registered your interest, you need to call them regularly and confirm that you’re still in the market to buy.

To be clear…not all off market properties make good investments - in fact most don’t.

As with any purchase, buyer beware, agents may tell you they’ve got a great off market property, for you only to find they’re trying to offload a property that failed to sell and languished on the market for months before the agent delisted it.

Some agents list the properties they have for sale by enticing the seller with an over inflated price only to then introducing them to the real market price by claiming lack of interest.

This means that many of the “opportunities” you’ll be offered will not make good investments.

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This article does not constitute advice; readers should seek independent and personalised counsel from a trusted adviser that specialises in property, a tax accountant and property design specialist.