title has it. I was always curious about that.
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My neighbor in RWC sold his 10 lot parcel off market for $10m. Instead of listing with my wife, he just called every builder and had them bid against each other… Saved $600 k in commissions
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That seems rather exceptional situation. How about a person selling his own sfr?
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I have done it a couple of times. Plenty of buyers . Put your house on Zillow and see what happens. Probably get even a better response on Craigslist.
Then the question is, why don’t everyone do it?
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It is not easy. There is a lot of paperwork. Staging preparations and showings … Can be a full time job.
Plus the more exposure from the MLS the better. That part is getting easier. Plus there are plenty of discounters that will list for 1%
Hard to find sophisticated buyers that show up without a realtor wanting their 2.5% cut
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To me, the mls exposure on redfin (at least in the bay area) will bring a lot of overbidders. to me it sounds like worth well more than 2.5%.
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All of my RE purchases were technically off market (no open house ever). I am trying to swing another one for my next home but yes it has been tougher in this market but not impossible. Wish me luck, tomorrow, I finally get to see another private sale home in San Bruno and I hope it is decent.
With respect to your question, the reason why someone might want to sell off market is because he/she has a target price in mind and as long as someone meets it they are fine with it. Keep in mind they also save the broker commission which as you know could be up to 5-6%. Now, there is always the point about protecting yourself too by having representation but again some people are willing to take the chance. Some people also don’t like strangers trampling into their homes or disturbing the tenants.
I am peddling my 8 unit building off market. Mainly because I don’t want to disturb my tenants. Plus it is a good way to test market to determine the best list price…
One case I encountered years ago falls into this category. The children were selling the house for a parent who moved to group houses. They had some number in mind and were looking for a buyer to sell the property to with the least amount of hassles.
Now in a case like that, I can see the kids wanting max dollars (since no one is living there anyway) but sure, less perceived hassle the better. That is why I told my siblings that don’t count on your offspring saving the family building after we are all gone. The reality is that they have their own lives at that point and could care less about the family history. Sad, but green talks…
In the case I mentioned, the children didn’t even try to remove all the belongings. No cosmetic touchups either. They just told the potential buyers to throw away all the junks.
I’ve seen houses like that though, on the MLS. One was a hoarder–I walked in the day before the actual open house by mistake and people were madly stuffing things into trash bags. They cleared a walkway but the house was filled with junk.
Went way over asking. Extra $300-$400K if IIRC.
I passed up that opportunity(, which I regretted later on). It was sold at exactly what’s asked for. I guess it was sold to the first willing buyer.
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See, that is the beauty of a private sale potentially. All you needed to do was assess if you are a go or not. No competition, just you and your wallet.
Sure–for the buyer… But finding them isn’t easy.
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I believe this is the one:
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Redwood-City/145-Hudson-St-94062/home/1958721
I’m not joking when I say a hoarder lived there–every room except the kitchen was completely covered with stuff except the path that was cleared. And under the back porch there were bags and bags of stuff–probably from that path.
Ask $1.249M sold $1.7M. Buyer to deal with cleaning out the house.
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So much has changed during the last a few years. Last time I saw a home owned by a hoarder in Saratoga, the house sat on the market for months. It was listed below market price. It was sold even lower eventually. Nowadays, people have to bid up even for this kind of properties.
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There is a hoarder house in Woodside next to Emerald Hills that has been empty for 15 years…Why the city didn’t force demolishtion amazes me…Owned by a working veterinarian. City forced her to move but not to clean it up…
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The only thing I can say to that is, the early bird catches the worm…
I found my Sunset home in 2003 in a HOT market. Believe me, my realtor’s coworkers at CB were livid that he and his partner in crime officemate decided to go offline. They didn’t care, clean deal and more deals to come. Saved me $100K minimum in 2003 pricing levels immediately without the competition.
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