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Off-market property - Jo Eccles, Sourcing Property

Off-market property

In recent years, there has been an increasing fascination with off market property, especially with overseas buyers who have heard about this magical source of ‘under the radar’ homes – a term branded about by lots of property search agents.

But what does it actually mean, and do buyers benefit from purchasing this way? There are two forms of off market. Firstly, some properties that are off market are available through an estate agent, but just ‘quietly’ marketed or under the radar – they’ll only mention these properties to buyers and search agents they know well and trust. There are many reasons for quietly marketing a property. It could be because it’s a sensitive issue for the vendor, for example, a divorce or couple in financial difficutly who don’t want the neighbours to see the house is for sale and ask questions. Or, it may be a developer who needs to liquidate stock but doesn’t want everyone to know – genuine sellers who want to be more discreet.

The second type of ‘off-market’ buying is by approaching a home owner cold and offering to buy – this is the most expensive way to purchase, as you’re effectively uprooting someone who may not want to sell - you need to pay a big premium to do this. This can be effective for those buyers who are very specific about exactly which road or house they want, but it’s the most expensive way to buy. Bear in mind that there is a very tactical way of doing this; just writing a ‘dear homeowner’ letter won’t get you very far!

True off market property is often the route to take only if you’ve exhausted the on market route or you have exact requirements. However, lots of people are disillusioned – we regularly have clients say they only want off market property, but there are often just as good properties on the open market which have genuine sellers, especially if you are not too specific about the exact house you want / road you want to live in. We educate our clients about the pitfalls and premiums associated with off market, and explain that they would be excluding a huge chunk of the market buy just going down this route.

Jo Eccles

Jo Eccles is Director of Sourcing Property, an award winning and independent London property search company. She is also a widely regarded property expert and frequently comments on the property market in the national press and on TV, appearing as the property and relocation expert on London Tonight, BBC News, BBC2's Daily Politics programme and ITV's Homes & Property series.


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