In the world of real estate investing, we know you have many different options to acquire real estate properties. The markets have heated up again and so has the desire for off-market properties. Why off-market properties? What is the basis of the desire for these listings? We asked a couple high-end real estate investors why they love to buy off-market properties and here is what they told us.
Off-market properties are desirable for cash buyers for the following six reasons:
- There is presumably less competition because the property is not on the open marketplace like Multiple Listing Service (MLS). They don’t have to worry about getting outbid by several other investors.
The property is exclusive and therefore, based on who you know, you will have access to different types. Some higher end properties never get publicly listed; and so if your broker isn’t well connected, you’re going to miss out.
- The buyer can use the perception value of a property as off market to monetize it to other buyers.
- There are fewer broker fees since usually two realtors will split them.
There is more time to make a decision. Since there are fewer buyers who know about the property, it could take the seller longer to sell it. This means you might be able to take more time making such a big decision.
- Avoid looking at tons of homes. We can get overwhelmed by the amount of homes on the market. When shopping off-market, you don’t have to look at so many properties.
- Banks and private lenders tend to be more lenient and excited about these deals. The lower degree of competition involved improves the chances to close escrow.
- Finally, these deals are good candidates to cross-collateralize against other deals.