3 steps to get access to properties before they hit the market

Have you ever wondered how you can get access to exclusive deals before they hit the market?

As a buyer’s agent, one of the biggest value adds I can provide my clients is to bring them access to off-market or pre-market opportunities.

That means the seller’s decided to sell their property to us before taking it to market, rather than listing it online where the general public can vie for it.

And if you can buy it before the market sees it, then there’s a good chance you can get a great deal rather than becoming embroiled in an all-out bidding war.

Now the seller may decide to sell off market for any number of reasons.

Sometimes it’s a divorce.

Sometimes they want to keep it private.

Sometimes they just want a quick sale, and they don’t care about taking it to market – they just want a fair price for their property and they want to move on.

Why they do it is not the point though. I want to show you how you can actually get these deals yourself, because it’s not limited to just the professionals, and it’s not rocket science.

We do it in three easy steps.

1. Focus

The first step is to focus.

Focus on an area you really love, and go for properties in those areas only. Select three suburbs at maximum. Keep it concentrated and learn everything you can about those 3 areas – what properties are for sale, what the others have sold for, who the agents are that work there.

Become an area expert.

2. Communicate

The next step is to talk to agents.

As it turns out, agents tend to focus on certain suburbs as well – called “farm areas” – and if you can tap into the highest-performing agents in the suburbs you’ve selected, you may find yourself with a gateway to some great opportunities.

3. Persist

Once you’ve found those high-performing agents in the area you love, you need to be calling them all the time.

That means every week, at least once or twice a week.

Ask them, “What have you got coming up? What hasn’t been listed? This is our brief, and this is what we’re looking for.”

Remember, you don’t want to waste their time here. You need to have your finance in place and be serious about making offers.

If you can do those three things though – focus on a maximum of three key suburbs, communicate to the most successful agents in those suburbs, and really keep on top of them, then the chance of getting access to off-market and pre-market opportunities will skyrocket and hopefully you will find a deal that you can beat the competition to.