In a seller’s market, there’s a clever tactic some agents love to use to find serious, ready-to-sign buyers: it’s called a private or pocket listing.
Think of it as a “secret sale” in real estate. Here in Illinois, for instance, the house only shows up on the MLS—a database just for real estate pros—staying off public sites like Zillow or Realtor.com
Now, you might wonder: why keep it under wraps instead of blasting it to every possible buyer? Fair question! The simple answer is that this approach weeds out the casual browsers and tire-kickers.
It draws in buyers who are 100% committed—folks who’ve already got their finances lined up and are usually working with a buyer’s agent. That agent spots the listing the second it hits the MLS and pings their client fast. No riffraff, just the real deal.
There are plenty of other reasons this works so well in today’s market, especially when buyers are hungry and homes are scarce. But here’s the catch: it only pays off if you nail the execution correctly. Mess it up, and it can flop hard within the first week on the MLS.
The exact playbook for pulling it off? That’s a special sauce I only share with my clients.
