Off-Market Listings: Can You Find Hidden Gem Properties in the San Francisco Bay Area?

 

Can you still find off-market real estate listings (aka “coming soon” properties) around the San Francisco Bay Area?

 

Real estate agents often promote their ability to access off-market properties, claiming that the brokerage they work for has exclusive access to a bevy of shadow inventory.

 

If you’re not opposed to us being quite blunt, the idea that an agent has access to a hidden trove of off-market properties, simply due to which company they work for, is highly exaggerated.

 

Historically, an agent’s access to pocket listings was based on their years in the business and depth of contacts in the real estate industry. All of this changed significantly in 2020 with the new MLS rules.

 

 

Beginning in 2020, the California Association of Realtors®, including San Francisco and the Greater Bay Area, adopted what is called the “Clear Cooperation Policy.” Put plainly, all listings must be entered in the MLS as either “active” or “coming soon” by the next business day if you are advertising a property for sale.

 

If you want to be excluded from this rule, the listing agent can only promote the listing for sale within their own brokerage. If the listing agent promotes, communicates (even with a phone call or text to an agent), or advertises the home in any way outside of their brokerage, they must add the listing to the MLS for cooperation with all other agents within one business day.

 

 

It is true that some select sellers want and need total privacy when selling their home. While this remains an option, the process cannot involve any public marketing.

 

For the vast majority of home sellers, they want the highest possible price. Would you disagree that, 99.9% of the time, the best chance of getting top dollar is to publicly market the home for sale?

 

So, in theory, there are still truly off-market properties available. In practice, this is a tiny fraction of the market. Of course, when it comes to finding the right home for you, we search high and low to include all the off-market and coming soon listings provided by our robust agent network and connections made throughout nearly two decades in Bay Area real estate.

 

 

At Vivre Real Estate, we’re all about enhancing your home life — whether that means finding your next home that checks all the boxes, or enhancing your current home to net and negotiate the highest possible price.

 

If you are considering your options to sell, or buy and sell, a home in the San Francisco Bay Area, please don’t hesitate to reach out for a no-pressure consultation. We are always happy to hear from you and discuss your options! Get in touch today.

 

 

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