People who don’t want the drama of staging their homes and having strangers troop through at open homes should consider selling off market, says a Remuera agent who has seen an uptick in the numbers of people opting for the low-fuss sales strategy.
Steve Koerber, from Ray White Remuera, says the current downturn makes the option more desirable than in a rising market.
The strategy means not having any advertising and instead relying on an agent’s database and networks to produce a buyer and Koerber says he and other agents in his office have sold a number of homes this way so far this summer.
His gut feeling is a lot of people are thinking if they put their house up for sale in today’s low market, they might not get the price they want and they don’t want to have to go through the stress of preparing their home for sale and the marketing process.
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A good way to dip their toe in the water is to contract an experienced agent who knows the area who can find a buyer without advertising, and in Remuera there are often buyers waiting to get into the sought-after suburb.
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Koerber recently sold a bungalow with a swimming pool on a full section in tree-lined Lochiel Road, in the double grammar zone, this way.
The owner contacted him to say they were getting ready to come to the market and he was able to say he might have the perfect buyer ready and waiting.
“The buyer was there on our books. They had made offers on two other Remuera homes in that broad price range and missed out, so they were very educated buyers.
“It was a nice family home in the mid $3ms, it was coming to market but now it isn't because it's gone.”
High-end homes in the $10m to $20m price range often favour off market selling for the privacy the method brings but Koerber says he’s seeing more owners in lower-price brackets try it and he expects more who own in the $3m to $5m range will investigate the option until the market improves.
He doesn’t recommend the strategy in a market that’s moving upwards because money could be left on the table due to not as much competition being achieved, as competition drives prices up.
“You could easily leave $100,000 on the table that way so you’ve got to be incredibly careful and considered when making a decision to do it.”
The important thing is for an owner to find an experienced agent with a network of buyers, he says, saying people waiting for a property to buy are often cashed up and ready to go. They are ideal because they may have missed out on other properties and have already looked at everything else available.
For owners, off market sales are a private and discreet sales method which can get the job done, Koerber says.
“Basically, when people say to me they want to do this it's ‘I don't want the hassle of running open homes, I just want it over and done with.’”
- Find more properties for sale in Remuera here
