Your Pocket Listings Questions, Answered.
You have a question about pocket listings? We’ll do our best to answer it!
Q: I saw a foreclosure ad for a property, only after an offer was accepted . I never saw any ads including a listing anywhere on any site or on foreclosures sites. This house had an accepted offer in 2 days. Can agents do that?
A: Agents can sell a bank owned property (REO or foreclosures) as a pocket listing; as long as they get the bank the price they want, they can use multiple channels or methods to sell it. When there is a “good deal” in hot markets buyers will submit offers without even seeing homes in many cases.
Q: Are pocket listings legal?
A: A listing gets the name “pocket listing” or “pocket deal,” as well as an “off-MLS listing” because the broker figuratively keeps the property in his or her pocket and does not list it for sale on the multiple listing service (MLS). A broker has a fiduciary duty to make sure he or she sells a home for the best price, no matter how the broker lists the home.
“Much marketing is done via email, word-of-mouth, phone calls to shoppers in the price range. Sometimes they do web sites for them and create virtual tours. It’s just not on the MLS,” said Brenda Miller a real estate agent with Alain Pinel Realtors in Saratoga. “In Silicon Valley, this is happening in the northern area, the 650 area code (the stomping ground of technology-made multi-billionaires), more than in the 408 area code,” said Miller.
Q: Why are pocket listings becoming more popular with sellers?
A: There are sellers who have been interested in selling but aren’t comfortable with current home values. These sellers may sit on the sidelines and will only sell if they can get the price they want. Additionally, as soon as a home is listed in the MLS, the infamous “days on market” clock starts ticking. The longer your home sits on the market, the more “stale” it becomes and the less money you’re likely to be offered. Buyers, seeing that a home has been for sale for 30 or 60 days or even longer, will inevitably make low-ball offers. And so, instead of going on the market, a seller who wants a certain price may engage their real estate professional and put the listing out there as a “pocket” listing.
Q: Are pocket listings a trend or here to stay?
A: In some markets, there are entire websites devoted to pocket listings or networking opportunities with other agents about upcoming listings and properties. What started as a way to get the word out about future listings has turned into a secondary market of homes for sale for well-connected real estate agents.
Source: Realtor.com, Fox News, Deadlinenews.com
