When selling your home, there are various approaches to consider that can help you maximize both the speed of sale and the sale price. One method is selling off-market, where interested buyers and investors are invited to view the property and make an offer before it's publicly listed for sale. While this approach can be advantageous in some cases, it's important to also consider the potential downsides before deciding if it's right for you.

The pros of selling off-market

Selling your home off-market has many advantages for sellers interested in speed and convenience. A lot of people choose to try off-market sales to 'test the water' in the market. If you haven't even decided whether or not you want to sell your property yet, inviting buyers and investors to view and make an offer could help you to determine how much money you could make by selling and whether or not it's the right time to sell.

Cost savings

Selling your property off-market can save you money on the costs of selling because if you're successful in securing a buyer off-market you don't usually have additional advertising fees. This saves the cost of marketing or auction fees. It's a small saving, but one that can help sellers to maximise their profits in a sale.

Convenience

Selling off-market can be much more convenient than listing your property, depending on what you're trying to avoid about the sales process. Off-market sales mean that you don't have to prepare for 'open house' days, which saves the time of staging, cleaning, and preparing the property on a weekly basis for, potentially, months. However, you will still have to prepare your house for private viewings, but at least you'll know that most private buyers only view houses they could see themselves making an offer on.

Privacy

Selling your property off-market also offers additional privacy compared to listing your home online. You won't necessarily have photographs of your home on the internet, and if you're trying to keep your sale private there won't be a large online trail that your property has been up for sale.

Speed

Sometimes, selling your property off-market can lead to a faster sale. This isn't always the case, but the process of listing your home, staging viewings, and welcoming offers on your property from the general public can take months. If you think you can find a suitable buyer who's looking for a property just like yours without going through this process, the chances are you could complete your sale more quickly by selling off-market.

The cons of selling off-market

If selling your home off-market was the optimal choice in every case, everyone would do it. There are, of course, some disadvantages to selling your property off-market, which is why this method of sale is only suitable for particular buyers. If you want to secure the best price on your property and you're not sure whether your property is unique enough to attract private investors, you could benefit from listing your property for a regular advertising campaign.

Sale price

Selling your property off-market may not be the best way to secure the highest sale price. When private buyers make an offer, they know they may be not competing with as many other buyers, which could reduce the pressure to offer over the asking price. If you want the opportunity to trigger multiple bids, listing your property on the market could be better suited to you.

Speed of sale

Sometimes, selling your property off-market can be faster than going to a general sale. But if you don't find the right buyer, it can also take much longer. When you're selling off-market, there's no countdown that keeps track of how long your property has been on sale, and while this reduces the pressure on you to sell, it can also slow down the selling pace. Your property will likely also be seen by fewer potential buyers, which means that finding the right buyer could take longer.

The aim of the game with an off-market campaign, of course, is to land a sale – and vendors are far better off working with an agency that is not a franchise to achieve that desired transaction.  

Nelson Alexander’s 16 offices are wholly owned by the company, so they actively share information and buyer lists with each other.

Many prospective home buyers do actively move between suburbs. It’s quite common for a Northcote homeowner to trade up to a larger property in Essendon or for a Carlton-domiciled family to relocate to Kew for schooling reasons.

If you would like further information on marketing your property on-market or off-market, please contact any Nelson Alexander sales office.