How to Market a Pocket Listing

In today’s competitive market it’s easy for people to list their home and sell quickly (and above asking price). However, there are still many people out there looking for something more exclusive. This is when a pocket listing may be in your favor! Read on as we discuss pocket listings and how a Realtor can market them for success.

How are pocket listings beneficial for clients?

• Buyers: Right now, it’s an uphill battle for many buyers to purchase a home without having to pay well over asking price. Due to this, the inventory of homes available for purchase is limited. Pocket listings aren’t open to the public, giving home buyers who can’t compete with above asking price offers a unique opportunity to gain access to homes they wouldn’t normally be able to buy.
• Sellers: Pocket listings can also help protect the privacy of the seller. For example, if you are working with someone high profile, it’s beneficial to have a sale go through without public knowledge. This keeps the sellers safe and keeps them from any unwanted attention, especially if the sale is happening due to a divorce or financial issue.

Why would someone choose a pocket listing?

There are many reasons a client may want to keep their home “off-market.” These may include:

• A celebrity client who doesn’t want people to know where they live or the price they’re selling for.
• Other clients who want to keep the cost of their home under wraps and maintain exclusivity in the selling process.
• Landowners who don’t want developers to have access to their property.
• Employees who have yet to tell their place of work they’re planning to move.
• A client who doesn’t want to have showings in their home.
• Sellers who work hard to maintain privacy and don’t wish for their home to be publicly listed.
• People who want to quietly see if their house will garner any interest before making the sale public.

While this doesn’t cover every scenario for choosing a pocket listing, it gives a good foundation for understanding why keeping a listing “off market” is beneficial to a client. It also lays the groundwork for different ways a Realtor could market in these situations.

What’s the best way to market a pocket listing?

To sell a pocket listing, you will have to market to your personal network rather than working through the MLS. While the hope is the home will sell quickly through your network, it may require some creativity to market it. Here are some ideas to help you get the word out about your pocket listing:

• Talk to neighbors. When working with a pocket listing, neighbors can be especially helpful. Everyone would love to have a friend live next door, and the neighbors may have someone within their network who can purchase the home.
• Email marketing. If you have a group of people you know are looking and you already have a relationship with them, you can market to them. The key here is you must already have a personal relationship with the people you are marketing to if you want to send out emails showcasing a property that isn’t listed on MLS.
• Contact HR. Yes, you read that right! A great way to market a pocket listing is by reaching out to the Human Resources department of area businesses. As you get to know the HR people for bigger businesses in the area, they can send you employees who may be relocating.
• Inside the office. The personal networks of colleagues can span farther than you think! While you may have some contacts in common, odds are your peers will have plenty of people they can connect you with who are ready to buy or know someone who is!

Remember: If you are associated with the NAR, you MUST put the listing on MLS within 24 hours according to the Clear Cooperation Policy that was put into effect on January 1, 2020.

How can you help clients buy a pocket listing?

If you are aware of a pocket listing within your agency, or perhaps have one yourself, you can then make an offer that is either under or at asking price on behalf of your client. Since there isn’t any external competition, your buyers will have a much easier time making an offer and having it accepted.

Houses are moving fast, which means your clients need to feel secure in making an offer quickly. That’s why it’s so important to partner with a mortgage company that has your clients’ best interests at heart. At Churchill Mortgage, we believe in doing what’s right for you. For Realtors, that means making sure your clients have a simple and straightforward home loan process that keeps them, and you, feeling as stress-free as possible.