A Discussion on Pocket Listings

Coldwell Banker Realty - Casey Cooke

You’ve probably heard agents or other homeowners use the term “pocket listing” before. A pocket listing is when a homeowner has a home that they are thinking about selling and then encourage an agent to promote the listing to see if they can find a buyer. If a home is a pocket listing, it’s not openly advertised for sale or listed on the internet. Although pocket listings do have their place in the market, I’m not a big fan of them as a whole. The majority of the time, a pocket listing is not a good idea for a homeowner. On the surface, it sounds like a good idea. You don’t have to prepare the home for the market or worry about having buyers come through all the time. However, if your goal is to get the most money possible out of your home sale, wouldn’t it make sense to advertise your home to the widest audience possible? Wouldn’t it also be wise to make a few cost-effective repairs in order to get it in the best possible condition? With a pocket listing, you don’t get to do this. Although pocket listings aren’t for everyone, they do still sell. If you’re in a situation where you have multiple properties and you aren’t sure whether you want to sell one or rent it out, selling it as a pocket listing could make a lot of sense. “My goal is to get my sellers as much money as possible.” However, my goal with all of my home sellers is to get you as much money as possible. I can’t do that with a pocket listing. I can do it by working with you to get your home in the best possible shape so that I can advertise it to a huge audience. It has worked for me in the past and I’d love for it to work for you. I hope this was helpful for you. If you have any questions for me in the meantime about pocket listings or anything else about real estate, give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you soon.