What is a pocket listing?
Basically, a pocket listing is when you have an agent who tries to sell a home before it hits the market. The agent tries to market that property to their internal list of buyers so they can get both halves of the commission. If you’re a seller, there are both pros and cons to this type of listing.

On the pro side, it’s a much quieter sale. You can avoid having a lot of showings or walkthroughs and your agent can sell the property directly to one of the few buyers who come to your house.

On the con side, not exposing the listing to the public market means not generating any competition. Less competition means the buyer who’s bidding on your house has no incentive to get aggressive on their offer price. Therefore, you won’t have the best chance to get a great price on your house.

We’re seeing record-low inventory in our market right now, so there is fierce competition and multiple bids happening for many listed homes that end up selling over their asking price. Before you let an agent sell your home as a pocket listing, stop and consider what your aim is. The buyer doesn’t have to compete against other buyers and the agent gets both sides of the commission without the extra work, but what about you?

On our team, even if we have a buyer that’s perfect for one of our seller’s properties, we still suggest to that seller that it might be a good idea to expose that property to the public market before allowing the buyer to make an offer on it. By widening the number of potential buyers, you increase your odds of getting the best possible price for your home.

If you have any questions about this topic or have a topic in mind you’d like to see me discuss in a future video, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you.