"Off-market" gets thrown around like a buzzword.
Some buyer's agents build their entire pitch on it. Get access to the homes nobody else sees, and you'll get a bargain.
The truth is different than that. Off-market definitely an advantage. It's just not the whole game, and it doesn't always mean a cheaper price.
Here's how it works in greater Newcastle.
What "off-market" actually means
Off-market is a broad term. It covers properties at different stages of the sale process, or not in it at all.
The true definition is simple: every property is off-market, except the ones listed online.
In practice, you'll come across three types. Over half of what we buy is one of these variants.
Direct to vendor
On rare occasions you can buy a property straight from the owner. These come through past clients or the community, and no real estate agent is involved. We often receive enquiries through our website or social media for people wanting to sell without an agent, and we're the first people they call.
Off market
A real estate agent is handling the sale, but there's no intention of marketing it. No floorplans, no professional photography, no planned inspections.
For an agent to legally show you through, they must have a contract of sale in place. Many of these vendors are opportunistic. They'll sell if the right buyer comes along, or if someone can offer terms that suit their circumstances.
A lot of these sit on a real estate agent's book with no urgency. We often share client briefs with agents and they use our active buyers to start conversations with specific properties and vendors. We find that these conversations trickle into opportunities for our clients, that start to peak after working together for roughly 6 weeks.
Pre-market
These are very common. The property is already in the sales funnel. It's being prepared for market, renovated, staged, photographed or cleaned. Every property is in this stage at some point.
A good selling agent will bring buyer's agents through early for feedback, or to start a conversation before the campaign launches.
We often find these options a week or two early from staying in constant communication with agents. Some agents publicly advertise these properties to their databases through emailing lists, texts, and their websites. We track all of these since they are still a good opportunity, but you usually won't be negotiating one-to-one like in a true off market sale.
How many properties sell off-market?
Nobody knows precisely, and you should be wary of anyone quoting an exact figure.
Estimates vary widely. Numbers between roughly 10% and 20% of transactions get quoted nationally, and the share tends to be higher in premium markets and when listing volumes are low. This number looks very different in the Northern beaches compared to Newcastle's outer suburbs.
The problem is obvious once you think about it. A sale that's never advertised is hard to count.
Why do people sell off-market?
Most of the reasons tie back to something other than price. If a vendor truly wants the highest possible price, chances are they're going to market. We see this often with flips and renovations for profit.
Here are the common reasons someone sells quietly:
- Testing the market. They're unsure what the property is worth, and are trialing a price guide or gathering feedback before launching.
- Distressing circumstances. Speed matters, and preparing a property for market would slow them down.
- Privacy. Common at the high end, but also when vendors don't want the neighbours to know they're selling.
- A higher price. Uneducated buyers idolise off-market. Without the open market to calibrate price, they can pay a premium simply for the privilege.
- Marketing costs. Billboards, portal listings, photography and floor plans can cost more than $10,000.
- Selling as is. Common with investment properties that haven't been maintained, or homes that don't present well. The vendor doesn't want to do the work.
- Agent networks and ease. Some agents have huge networks of buyers and buyer's agents. If they can hit the vendor's price without a full campaign, some vendors prefer it.
- Kids. Keeping a house spotless and vacating it two or three times a week for opens is hard work for families. A handful of qualified buyers through the door makes life much easier.
That's not an exhaustive list. The point is this: once you understand why someone is selling off-market, you can structure a negotiation that appeals to what they actually want.
So, do off-market properties sell for less?
Anyone telling you a flat-out yes is trying to sell you something.
The honest answer is that it's circumstantial.
We've had outstanding off-market results, well under market value. The best ones came when the vendor's situation required complex terms that we could accommodate.
But sometimes a vendor is just testing their property's value. A good agent in tune with the market will have realistic expectations and won't let it go cheap. If a great property comes up pre-market and the vendor wants a fair price, that's still a good deal. It just isn't selling for less (although it might have sold above fair value on the open market).
And sometimes the reverse is true. Price expectations are too high, and the right move is to let the property go to market so other buyers can condition the vendor's expectations down.
The key is knowing the true value of a property, and knowing when to walk away from an overpriced deal.
Can you get off-market access without a buyer's agent?
Yes. Off-market properties aren't reserved for buyer's agents.
Some are shown only to buyer's agents, but plenty go through an off-market or pre-market campaign that buyers can access directly.
If you're going it alone:
- Get on as many real estate mailing lists as you can
- Check agency websites regularly
- Start calling agents and building relationships
The aim of the game is to be front of mind, so an agent calls you when something suitable comes up. Be prepared for some admin in tracking phone calls and property listings (or outsource this part!)
To put the effort in perspective, we make over a hundred calls to agents every week to keep momentum up and understand what's in their pipelines. That's how buyer's agents get access: almost entirely through relationships with selling agents, built over years.
The more proactive your buyer's agent is, the better your results. That's why we pride ourselves on our hard work and boutique client approach.
The mistake most buyers make with off-markets
They collect as many off-market properties as they can, with no process for triaging them down to the suitable ones.
A pile of listings isn't a strategy. If you can't tell a good property from a bad one, access just gives you more ways to make a mistake.
We see buyers wasting time collecting addresses like trophies, even if they aren't a fit.
In house, we use an AI system that tracks and maintains our off market database to ensure that it is up to date. This way, we can scrape potential listings for any new clients we onboard.
Be sceptical of an agent who only talks off-market
Off-market access is a core part of what we do. But a buyer's agent who keeps over-emphasising their access is missing the point of their own job.
It's a sign they haven't found another area where they can add more value than you could yourself. So they come back to the one place they definitely have more sway.
A buyer's agent's real value is managing the legwork, giving advice that removes risk and negotiating to a professional standard that results in a price better than you'd get on your own. That doesn't have to be off-market.
That's why we don't only show our clients off-market homes. More than half of what we buy is off-market, but the other half is on market or bought at auction. We keep an eye on every opportunity that we can.
The point is to see as much of the market as possible, then filter for the best options. A property being on market doesn't mean it isn't the best buy for you. You still need solid due diligence to be confident, and a strategy to get it for the best price.
The short version
- Off-market means anything not listed online: direct to vendor, agent-represented, or pre-market
- Nobody can tell you exactly how many homes sell this way
- Vendors sell quietly for reasons other than price, and those reasons are your negotiating leverage
- Off-market doesn't automatically mean cheaper. Sometimes it means fair, and sometimes it means overpriced
- Access matters, but judgement matters more
If you'd like to talk through what's moving quietly in your target suburbs, book a 15 minute call. No pressure, just a straight conversation.
Related questions
Tim Walker
A Newy local and one of Newcastle's highest performing buyers agents, purchasing 40+ properties a year across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Maitland.
