Sell Your Home, Keep Your Privacy

Privacy is the ultimate commodity and the decision to sell your home is a personal one. There
are many reasons why you may want to sell a property without listing it publicly, such as a new
job or relocation, family changes like marriage or divorce, evolving financial circumstances,
health issues, valuable belongings like art or furniture, or opposition to holding open houses.
Public sales can be frustrating and time-consuming, not to mention excessively intrusive.
To avoid this, you can sell “privately.”

But there are often stigmas associated with private sales. The thought usually accompanies an
idea of a desperate seller looking to save on realtor fees. But, when I refer to exclusive sales, I
mean private exclusive and more discreet listings that do not take the traditional MLS-listing
route.

What I know from years of experience dealing in the market is that not every home needs to be
listed on an MLS or have excessive advertising to receive sufficient interest from buyers.
Discreet – or exclusive – sales can generate relevant interest and lead to better sales prices,
which is why I encourage sellers to consider this option.

How A Private Exclusive Sale Works
Private Exclusive sales tailor the selling experience to the desires of the seller.
When listing exclusively, a home goes on the market without publicizing this fact. This means
foregoing MLS listings, Zillow, or even Facebook ads, and other formats usually used to draw
attention to the property. Instead, when undergoing a private exclusive sale, we tap into an
existing network of buyers and realtors to find interested – and qualified buyers – who are in the
market for a property just like yours.
In the beginning, the process works similarly to a regular sale and entails meeting with the
owner and working through the specifics of the sale to determine basics like listing price, home
features, and so on. Then using this information, the real estate agent creates a private
exclusive listing used to attract private buyers.

Why You Should Consider A Discreet Real Estate Sale
Not every sale needs to be exclusive or discreet, but in the circumstances where this is
required, knowing that you have options that greatly benefit your sale is ideal. These are just
some of the benefits you should consider if you're reviewing this option.

Avoid Unnecessary Exposure and Prying Eyes
A for sale sign can be indicative of personal circumstances that you may not want to broadcast
such as divorce, illness etc. or, you simply don’t want selling your house being the talk of the town.

If you want to preserve your privacy, you may be wary of putting up MLS listings that
could lead to uncomfortable questions from neighbors, friends, coworkers, or family members.
As a seller, there is only one way to guarantee the process remains private – and that’s through
a private exclusive sale.

Test the Market
Maybe you aren’t ready to sell your house, or maybe you just bought a house that will be under
construction for the next year, or won’t be move in ready for a few months. This is the perfect
opportunity for you to test the market without starting the MLS or Zillow clock. Having your
house listed as a compass private exclusive allows you to have your house on our backend for
the compass agent community to see, and show your house to already vetted and qualified
buyers. By the way, agents talk to agents regardless of the company they are with, when
someone knows of an “off-market” or “coming soon” listing, it is considered GOLD, and
everyone wants it.
This is your chance to get the best offer by testing the market privately to gather key insights
without your listing getting stale.

Expedite The Sale Process
When you decide to sell your property, there is plenty of preparation that goes into it. In a
regular sale, with MLS listings and advertising, you’ll need to make your home more appealing –
investing in upgrades and renovations that make your home more appealing on the open
market. All these changes and renovations take time – the planning, budgeting, and execution
can delay your plans to sell by several months. Then, when your home finally reaches the
market, you have to contend with only attracting a handful of interested buyers. However,
discerning between the interested buyers and unscrupulous buyers usually lengthens the sale
period.

With a private exclusive sale, you bypass this process. Every buyer that’s contacted about your
home is interested, vetted, and – if they make an offer – is more likely to follow through. You’ve
also been able to bypass investing any additional capital in renovations and remodeling since
you don’t have to pander to the market.

Reduce The Risk of Speculative Market Influence
When listing on an MLS, you’re introduced to several factors outside of your control. One of
those factors is market influence. From the minute you list your home on an MLS, it is exposed
to competition and market trends.
In some instances, an MLS listing may negatively impact the success of your sale because the
longer your home is available on the market, the more opportunistic buyers you attract. This is
only exacerbated by the perception that your home may not be “worth” the listed figure. When
you list privately, most of the buyers don’t participate in market speculation and have already
decided how much they’re willing to invest
Circumstances change.

In life, some instances require discretion. While selling a home doesn't often fall into that
category, the times when it does, knowing you have a reasonable alternative is comforting. In

these exigent circumstances, not only can you sell your home faster and at the asking price, but
you're able to rely on a team of experienced real estate agents who treat the sale with the
utmost confidentiality.

“My clients and I tested an aggressive price as a Private
Exclusive on Compass. Another agent brought buyers to
see the home and they submitted a full price, all cash offer
within days. My clients said this was the easiest, no hassle
sale they’ve experienced!”
David S & Victoria H, Agents | San Francisco Bay Area

The Compass Private Exclusive program is not available in all markets and local policy definitions may restrict how Private
Exclusive listings can be shared between agents, even within the same brokerage. Where the program is available, pre-marketing
and listing strategies are independently determined by the client. Compass does not recommend one particular strategy or
guarantee results.