Pros of Selling your house off market : 

Pros Reason #1 : Want a slower paced transaction

When you’re selling your house and you’ve been told you need to “get rid of things” prior to the photographs- not everyone can purge, organize and donate fast enough. If this is You- its a good fit. Buyers who are able to “look past” clutter are sincerely motivated. 

Pros Reason #2 : Have issues with condition : 

Some people have leaks in basement, leaks in roof or embarrassed by an outdated room. Buyers who are “Stalking” the market are willing to accept or have time to make sound decisions when it comes to updating a house- this might be a person to be in a transaction with…

Pros Reason #3 : More private than the average person

As a self proclaimed social introvert, I am not invitational for people to come to my house. Im private. If you’d like to micromanage who knows what about your house or your belongings, you might be a good candidate for a private sale off market listing.

Pros Reason #4 : Need to Sell before you Buy

Not everyone can create the 20% cash downpayment to buy a house in this competitive market. Not everyone can qualify for existing and desired house simultaneously. A private pocket listing sale can offer you ability to negotiate occupancy that is usually long to create your desired move.

Cons of Selling your house off market : 

Cons Reason #1 : Your neighbor had 17 offers

An auction effect for updated, desirable homes is pretty insane right now. If your neighbor had 17, youll get 17… Make sure youre comfortable with your agent organizing 17 offers and that youll maintain the professional demeanor of the transaction. Just because you’re in the drivers seat doesn’t give permission to play bumper cars!

Cons Reason #2 : Waiving contingencies sounds too good

Waiving financing contingencies (paying cash), waiving inspections or showing funds for appraisal gaps; its all very appealing. 

Cons Reason #3 : Cash buyers make sales easier

Wide perception is that Cash Buyers are the Best! The value that Cash Buyers bring is speed and appraisal waiver. On the Ohio Contract, a cash buyer can still have an appraisal contingency, so be careful understanding why!

Cons Reason #4 : Want to move out before showing and professionally stage

You can’t handle having people walk through your life as you work from home, you need to move out before showing. 

This is actually a stronger reason to sell off-market but you need to attract the RIGHT people FIRST! That is tough job and requires an agent of quality.

Two Lessons from One transaction:

 

A property in the Cincinnati neighborhood Mt Lookout closed recently and was worth reflecting on. I didnt show the property, but I encouraged my buyer to skip it because it is a ranch home that doesnt offer a single floor living as the garage is below the grade of the house. This isnt a major issue, but it is a narrowing of the market who is able to enjoy the house and this client is very concerned with post inflation sale/ equity (tough client).

The MLS read:

 

Brick ranch with professionally finished lower level yard with new patio and landscaping. New Media Room, Wet Bar with Quartz & bev fridge, 4th Bedroom/Study, Laundry Room, Half Bath. Walkable location between Mount Lookout & Hyde Park SquaresSeller to review interest/best by 2 PM onFeb 27th & offer acceptance by 6PM.Moving internationally;quick closing w/ possession till end of may or early June.Insp for BPO or repairs above a certain$amount.Seller reserves right to accept offer anytime

 

This Listing Agent prioritized 37 words to describe this home and its features, while they used 43 words to project the Sellers wishes. This is a neon sign illustrating the severity of inventory lack and the command that Sellers can have if they have a relevant home for the marketplace.

Not all is as it appears when it comes to pricing homes within the Sellers market that we are currently in. This same home was originally marketed for $534900 and upon being marked Pending had a price adjustment to $600k.

• 100.42%- what was posted and will be forever recorded
• 112.63%- is reality

The reason for doing this is to minimize the effects of a short appraisal. Having an appraisal contingency is a consumer/ buyer protection which is used by the Lender to inform and insulate themselves from risk- they will only lend on opinion of value. 

A question floating around the real estate industry is one of ethics to the practice of manipulating the MLS (multiple listing service) data to skew the amplitude of bidding on these homes being transacted in the first quarter of 2022.

How the data is used:

Buyers agents use the List Price to Closed Price as a barometer when recommending where to “throw the dart” for contract pricing.

Listing agents use the List Price to Closed Price to establish recommendations/ forecasts for Sellers that come after this sale. 

This data would regularly be used for 6-12 months.

This week Zillow Homes hit pause on their home purchasing/ iBuyer program. This article captures the granular information and what does this mean for me as a Realtor in Cincinnati?

Before we get into how this impacts my business, lets recap:

What Zillow has been doing from my Point of View:

1. Started as a useful real estate searching app on mobile phones, less clunky than my Keller Williams consumer app.
2. Created revenue by capturing leads off website and selling them to realtors.
3. Grew with acquisitions to create a “one stop shop” for real estate transactions.
4. Partnered with local agents and specific agencies to roll out an iBuyer program which makes offers to homeowners for overmarket prices and as-is condition.
5. Just hit pause because they have too much inventory, October 2021.

From my Point of View, Zillow has not disrupted the markets within Cincinnati for several reasons.

1. Cincinnati is a diverse market and not like other “Boom Towns” with miles of homogenous homes.
2. Cincinnati is conservative and not typically an early adopter
3. Cincinnati is very neighborhood specific and if youre expecting AI (artificial intelligence) or someone who isn’t local to understand “perceived versus physical” boundaries, youre going to miss out.

Why has the program failed or hit a major hurdle?

1. The agents who are selling them are simply using the internet as a tool and they dont have the invested interest in advocating for their client.
2. The sterile and corporate transaction is so void of emotion that people are not attracted to the model.
3. The homes are overpriced.
4. The contracts required are 28 pages which is 2.8x longer than our standard Cincinnati contract. Imagine the legal language…
5. What started off as convenient/ easy; is now more difficult.

Agents who have paid thousands of dollars on Zillow for leads and advertising are in the business of transacting real estate. Those transactional focuses are stereotypically agents who lack quality or have teams which they can not support alone with database driven business.

What my focus will continue to be is nearly opposite of Zillows model. Personal, local data analysis, diverse high quality partners; like a title fight boxer Realtors are only as good as their last transaction and my service will beat the competition everytime to maintain my market relevance longer than a virtual disrupter.

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