How often are homes being sold before going on Redfin?

[Anonymous]

Are realtors able to see all the homes before they become active on those online sites like Redfin and Zillow? And show them to thier potential buyers? I'm curious to know how often homes are being sold before being listed on those sites. Are the homes on those online sites just the leftovers that everyone can see? Are realtors able to check on listings before they go active, show them and sell them before they even go online?

[Anonymous]

This happens, but not very often. And it isn't really done by the realtor in a normal situation, it is generally some kind of over-the-fence deal (the neighbor is buying the property) or a family member is buying it, or someone made an offer to someone who wasn't planning on selling but then decided to do so because the offer was $$$$.

[Anonymous]

We recently sold and this didn't happen.

But the house we sold was "coming soon" on redfin for about a week, then went live for showings and we had multiple offers in hand within two days. Our agent had been on the phone with buyers' agents during that coming soon period stoking interest and plenty of potential buyers were at the house the day the listing went active, looking at it and already ready to submit their offers. Desirable house in low inventory neighborhood.

So, it was kinda sold before it went on redfin? But technically not. It did go up on redfin as a coming soon, and was up for a couple of days after that, but it was a snooze-you-lose situation.

[Anonymous]

This is the only rambler in River Falls and it went under contract before it get on the market:

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Potomac/7004-Masters-Dr-20854/home/10894790

[Anonymous]

Two different things:

1. Property is sold when it is on the MLS (including redfin) as "coming soon." You can gain access to a property when it is "coming soon" by knocking on the door without your agent and kindly asking the sellers to see the house, or having an agent that doesn't care about following MLS rules who will find a way to get you in.

2. Property is sold without ever being listed on the MLS. This is a private listing (compass calls them private exclusives). Basically, a brokerage advertises the property internally only to clients of that brokerage. If your agent is with Sotheby's and the private listing is with Compass, you probably won't find out about it.

[Anonymous]

Every time realtors or lawyers take advantage of seniors with no family or knowledge of how to value a home.

[Anonymous]

A brokerage advertises it privately to only their clients. This is how many properties sell
In my hot non-DMV area.

[Anonymous]

Redfin and Zillows are public information before that there is some time for insider information for connected realtors in their given market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A brokerage advertises it privately to only their clients. This is how many properties sell
In my hot non-DMV area.

I hear this a lot. Why would sellers agree to this? It seems like they’d potentially be leaving a lot of money on the table by limiting the buying pool so drastically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A brokerage advertises it privately to only their clients. This is how many properties sell
In my hot non-DMV area.

I hear this a lot. Why would sellers agree to this? It seems like they’d potentially be leaving a lot of money on the table by limiting the buying pool so drastically.

Privacy and the sellers don't care about every extra dollar of the sale price. Plus, sometimes buyers overpay with private listings because they think they're getting a special deal, so it's not necessarily true that sellers leave money on the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A brokerage advertises it privately to only their clients. This is how many properties sell
In my hot non-DMV area.

I hear this a lot. Why would sellers agree to this? It seems like they’d potentially be leaving a lot of money on the table by limiting the buying pool so drastically.

Privacy and the sellers don't care about every extra dollar of the sale price. Plus, sometimes buyers overpay with private listings because they think they're getting a special deal, so it's not necessarily true that sellers leave money on the table.

I guess if people don’t care about getting the best price for their house, it makes sense to limit their buying pool. I’m not buying that buyers are willing to pay more for private listings though. Why would they offer more than they would if it was on the full market when they have to compete with other buyers? Makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A brokerage advertises it privately to only their clients. This is how many properties sell
In my hot non-DMV area.

I hear this a lot. Why would sellers agree to this? It seems like they’d potentially be leaving a lot of money on the table by limiting the buying pool so drastically.

Privacy and the sellers don't care about every extra dollar of the sale price. Plus, sometimes buyers overpay with private listings because they think they're getting a special deal, so it's not necessarily true that sellers leave money on the table.

I guess if people don’t care about getting the best price for their house, it makes sense to limit their buying pool. I’m not buying that buyers are willing to pay more for private listings though. Why would they offer more than they would if it was on the full market when they have to compete with other buyers? Makes no sense.

Buyers are not always rational. When it's "exclusive," it seems more special. But then if they decide to pass on it, they're not going to make an offer when it is no longer exclusive. There's tons of stuff in life that only seems desirable if you have special, exclusive access to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A brokerage advertises it privately to only their clients. This is how many properties sell
In my hot non-DMV area.

I hear this a lot. Why would sellers agree to this? It seems like they’d potentially be leaving a lot of money on the table by limiting the buying pool so drastically.

Not necessarily. It depends.

If the brokerage you are listing with has a lot of interested buyer clients and you and your agent have a good sense of what the property should go for, it can make sense. With certain properties -- for example the really high end ones -- it's not going to be getting real, active buyers at the open house. That will be the looky-loos. For less rare properties, an open house or at least an active MLS listing for a few days will probably make more sense.

[Anonymous]

Owners hate having open houses. It benefits the seller's agent, to potentially get meet and greet more people and get other clients, but no one is thrilled to have neighbors tramp through and critique their house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Owners hate having open houses. It benefits the seller's agent, to potentially get meet and greet more people and get other clients, but no one is thrilled to have neighbors tramp through and critique their house.

Just sold a house. Couldn't have cared less about the idea of having "neighbors tramp through and critique" the house at an open house. I'm selling it. I'm moving. Who cares if neighbors want to see what it looks like?