- Off-market properties are not yet advertised, and for various reasons want to test the market or remain private.
- There are now ways to find them, including Listing Loop and now reiwa.com
Many years ago, I was talking with a highly successful Perth western suburbs real estate agent – who shall remain nameless – and he beckoned me towards a drawer in his office desk.
“Hey Charlie,” he said, “These are where my real listings are.”
Pulling out the drawer, he pointed me to several pieces of paper, on which were listed various properties with some bare information (address, bedrooms and bathrooms, guide price).
He smiled.
“You see, the real market is much larger than advertised,” he told me, “Often my clients don’t want it known that they are selling their property, or they want a quick silent sale, as they may work for an ASX-listed company, and people might think something was afoot.”
The Off-Market
Welcome to the ‘off-market‘, where the real estate agent may have buyers waiting, or people they could tap, in case such a choice listing becomes available.
Wind on more than a decade, and the off-market has gone on market. For many, it’s the only place to be.
Especially useful in a strong, booming market – as now – properties could (theoretically) fly off the shelf, attract a good price, without all the hassle and expense of advertising.
Australian property site ListingLoop, the “property market you’ve never had access to” as it is known, recently raised $3 million to fund its growth.
Founded in 2019 by Rhett Dallwitz and Andrew Meeha, the idea was to give buyers access to pre-market and off-market properties. Buyers are notified in real-time the moment a new property hits the market, allowing them to get in first before everyone else.
WA-based real estate site reiwa.com – which I ran from 2010-2013 – has now added off-market properties to its site, for registered users.
“The WA market is firmly in a recovery phase and competition amongst buyers is extremely high,” said REIWA CEO Neville Pozzi.
“In fact, in some suburbs, properties are being sold before the agent has even had a chance to advertise them online. Buyers are looking for an edge … and reiwa.com off-market properties gives them just that.”
Once registered for reiwa.com property alerts, home seekers not only receive the latest listings via email alerts and in-app notifications, they also get access to those off-market properties that are ready to be sold but haven’t yet been advertised.
National property site Domain offers a similar service through its own property alerts. Launched in 2017, Property Whispers advertises itself as the world’s first ‘off-market’ property sales platform, instantly matching buyers and their property requirements with all suitable off-market properties in their chosen area.
The world has come a long way from pieces of paper in real estate agent’s drawers.
