Private Listings! Looking for thoughts and input

There’s no lack of debate over various things in the news nowadays, but for now I’d like to address Real Estate media and “Private Listings”. Having been a Realtor for over 30 years in Boston and the greater Los Angeles area, I find it fascinating how various platforms twist and turn the phrase and how it should be used.  Personally, is this approach as in ‘private marketing’ the best option for the seller?  What exactly are the benefits and drawbacks?

In my personal experience over the years, I have found that what benefits my sellers best is the more eyes that see a listing make the best odds that a property will be sold faster and for the highest dollar amount.  If a property is listed as ‘private’ the exposure is extremely limited, hence limiting the sales potential. There is a real estate adage that the longer a property is on the market the more buyers will be suspicious that there is something underlying or wrong with the property giving buyers an opportunity to negotiate an offer on the listing price to a lower number. To present both sides, let’s examine one argument people will use in support of a private listing of a property.

There are buyers who are only focused on listings not in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or not on the public platforms (Zillow, Realtor.com and individual Brokerage platforms to name a few.)  In my observation, this is a small pool of potential buyers hence ultimately not worth keeping the listing out of the view of the much larger pool of buyers. I compare this to not using a Yard Sign to let buyers know that a  property is for sale. Let’s face it, in spite of today’s online capabilities, there are still potential buyers who drive ‘old school’ style into various areas seeking “For Sale Signs” who may miss out on a property if there is no sign. (Isn’t one of the best ways to determine if you want to live in a neighborhood is to see what it’s like before you live there?)  If not you personally, locals might notice a For Sale or Open House sign and share with their friends, relatives or coworkers who they know are looking for a property.

With all that said, my observation is that one should expose the property to as many eyes and platforms as they can.  To do otherwise, in my opinion, is more of a political power play by the big websites; Zillow would not exist if they did not get all their listings from the MLS. Yet now they play hardball because over the past ten years buyers and sellers have reached out to Zillow to get the listings rather than their local MLS. Again, in my opinion, they are not focused on the best interest of the sellers, rather they are looking out for their investors.

What are your thoughts?

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