The Myth Of Off-Market Minneapolis Duplex Sales

As a Realtor known for working with investment properties, I get several calls, emails or text messages every month from people looking for off-market deals.

I rarely know who these people are, nor if they have the resources to actually buy a property regardless of whether it is on the market, meaning listed on the MLS, or off.

From experience, I know what they are really asking is for me to help them to get one of my sellers to accept an offer on their property for less than what it’s worth.

Why would I do that?

When I work with a seller, I have a fiduciary duty to act in their best interests at all times. That means my job is to help them get the price and terms that are most beneficial to them. Usually, that is the highest price, the best terms, the least hassle and on the time line most conducive to them achieving their goals.

In complete transparency, it is in the seller’s best interest to not only be exposed to my list of prospective buyers, and also those of the roughly 17,000 Realtors in the Twin Cities. If each of those agents had even just one buyer, it insures the seller will obtain the maximum market value for their property. After all, that’s basic economics. The greater the demand for something there isn’t a lot of, the higher the price that widget will ultimately sell for.

Do I sometimes have sellers who don’t want the hassle of putting the property on the MLS? Yes. For a minute. Usually it’s because they don’t understand it isn’t necessary to rehab a property before putting it on the MLS. In reality, it’s simply a matter of mowing the lawn, hanging a lockbox on the door, complying with any city-mandated time of sale inspections, and taking a picture.

If anything, would-be duplex sellers should get more for their properties if they sell them off market. That’s because they are foregoing the opportunity to have the market determine their property, where they might earn considerably more.

And in fact, that’s what I tend to see. Sellers will offer a property for sale off-market at an above market price, or at market value provided the buyer doesn’t involve a Realtor. In other words, they want to pocket the commission themselves, without the benefit for both the buyer and seller knowledge or expertise of a professional, while the transaction they are comparing themselves did.

Believe it or not, I even see this in those infamous “off market deals” groups on social media. Properties are typically priced at above market value and touted as deals, simply because they are not on the MLS.

If you simply want to be done with your Minneapolis or St Paul duplex, and want to learn what your options are to earn the most money in the least amount of time, give me a call. I can help you find a way to do both.