Have you ever missed out on buying a property that sold before it was advertised for sale (including on the Internet)? We often hear buyers tell us how surprised they were to see a SOLD sign go up in front of a house that they would have loved to buy themselves had they known about it.
Known as the ‘Silent Sell’ (sometimes also referred to as the ‘Undercover’ or ‘Discreet’ Sale) this type of listing is becoming an increasingly popular choice by sellers for a variety of reasons. In fact, at any given time there are many great properties available for sale that sell before they’re advertised on the open market.
Why do people choose to sell silently?
There are two main reasons why people would choose the Silent Sell method:
Busy lives – Sellers may not be quite ready to go to market for a variety of work/health/personal reasons. Or perhaps they are about to go on holidays for a period of time, and a full marketing campaign with weekly Home Opens may not be possible at the time. However they often say to us, “We wouldn’t want to miss out on a genuine buyer in the meantime”. So if we have genuine buyers on our database or buyers we have met in our other real estate related activities, including home opens, we may introduce them to the property.
Not wanting their property to ‘stagnate’ on the market – By putting a property onto real estate websites before the sellers are fully ready, it can appear to be on the market for an extended period of time without a sale, thereby giving buyers the impression that it has gone stale. Often this leads to an assumption that there is something wrong with the property.
How does it work?
The Silent Sell method focuses on the process and the strategy. As the leading agents in the area with a large database of active buyers, we have secured many successful sales for clients using the Silent Sell method.
Every day we talk to buyers who are looking for their dream home. By cross matching the seller’s property with people in our buyer database (which currently holds the contact details of around 9,700 potential buyers categorised according to price range and the area they are looking to buy in), we actively look for as many good matches as we can find.
We then contact those buyers to let them know about the property we have just listed silently.
It can also work the other way around. Buyers can approach us with their specific needs and we then assess all our listed (silent and advertised) properties to find a suitable match. This is why it is so important to let us know if you are in the market to buy.
Either way, it’s a process of cross matching and connecting.
The Shelmark Silent Sell process in more detail
• We start by having professional photos, text and floor plans created and develop a Web Book (a beautifully presented digital brochure) for the property. Click here to view an example.
• We then send a text message containing this Web Book link to all potential buyers in the database whose criteria match the property.
• We feature the property on our Facebook page and boost the posts.
• We follow up with phone calls to set up appointments to view the property (no home opens, no curious neighbours).
• If the property ends up going to market, it appears as a brand new listing.
At the same time, when conducting other home opens, if the property a buyer has come through isn’t suitable for them, we direct them to the Web Book of the Silent Sell property (if it matches their criteria) and suggest they drive by the property to see if it appeals to them. We then follow up those buyers to set up an appointment to view the property if they are interested.
This is how we recently sold 13 Blackman Road, Mount Pleasant and another one on The Promenade, Mount Pleasant last week.
Contact us if you would like to explore the Silent Sell option further.