Due to the uneven supply and demand of the real estate market, some agents have been taking matters into their own hands: looking for unlisted homes and offering them to potential buyers.
This tactic, called pocket listings, is mostly common with celebrities who are trying to keep a low profile, but the prices of homes have been high in recent years, and still continue to climb.
According to data aggregator RealtyTrac, approximately more than 500,000 homes are unlisted and available to help the nation’s housing market shortage, and many agents, especially, California realtor Ryan Mathys, are jumping at the opportunity.
Mathys told The Bellingham Herald in an interview that he has been driving up and down Solana Beach, California knocking on doors, jotting down notes and making special offers for listings. According to the article, several other agents have been doing the same. One agent reportedly told a seller that he would let him drive his “exotic” car in return for a listing.
After Mathys went door-to-door, searched property records and contacted others through social media and email, he finally persuaded the owner of a three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch home with a panoramic view of the Pacific ocean to give him a listing. The owner offered $2.1 million for the home, which means a fat paycheck for Mathys, who will split a percentage with the owner and seller.
“You feel more proactive than sitting there waiting for the next one to come up – and then watching 10 other people swarm all over it,” Mathys said. “It gives you a little bit more of a feeling of control in this market, where buyers don’t have that much control.”
Nick Segal, a real estate agent who estimates that 30 percent of the deals at his Partners Trust firm are confirmed without a listing.
“They are spreading the word through whisper campaigns or pocket listings, through the broker network and the Web,” he said. “You say, ‘I have something on the market, it’s quiet.’”
“It’s kind of a sign of how crazy things have gotten,” Mathys said.
Source: http://www.inman.com/2013/06/20/agents-target-unlisted-foreclosures-with-more-success/