For Jellis Craig Inner North Group director Sam Rigopoulos, some of the most valuable sales opportunities are created long before a property appears on the major portals, with a well-executed off-market strategy giving agents the chance to secure a premium result while building valuable intelligence about the buyers in their market.
Between 20 and 30 per cent of his group’s properties have sold off-market annually for the past five years, a consistent share that reflects the strength of its buyer relationships and a deliberate approach to matching properties with purchasers before launching a public campaign.
And with stock levels in his Melbourne market almost 20 per cent lower, according to Sam, buyers and buyer’s advocates are increasingly looking to agents for access to properties they cannot find online.
His team has responded by establishing a dedicated off-market Instagram channel, attracting almost 1,000 buyers who receive regular updates about properties before they are publicly advertised.
But while technology has made it easier to connect buyers with off-market opportunities, Sam believes the real advantage lies in something far more fundamental: knowing who is ready to buy, what they are looking for and which properties are likely to capture their interest.
“I don’t think it’s so much price dependent as it is data dependent,” Sam says.
“Ultimately, it’s as good as the data you have. If you have really good data for a particular price range, then you will have an effective campaign.”
It is an approach that challenges the assumption that off-market selling is primarily suited to prestige properties or agents operating at the top end of the market.
Sam says an agency with strong buyer intelligence in a particular suburb, price bracket or property category can be highly effective, regardless of whether it dominates that market.
“You don’t have to be the number one player in your market. You just have to have collated the data, categorised it appropriately and have it at your fingertips when you need it.”
That requires agents to invest time in maintaining their buyer relationships, understanding changing requirements and ensuring their databases contain meaningful information rather than simply large numbers of contacts.
For Sam, that work is what ultimately creates the opportunity to transact before a property is publicly listed.
Finding the right buyer before establishing the price
One of the most important distinctions in Sam’s off-market strategy is the way his team approaches pricing.
Rather than concentrating exclusively on buyers searching within a narrow price bracket, he favours identifying purchasers whose property requirements align with the home and then using their response to help establish its market position.
A property worth approximately $2 million, for example, might be introduced to qualified buyers searching anywhere between $1.7 million and $2.5 million.
The objective is to understand which buyers connect with the property based on its location, design, accommodation and other features, rather than allowing a fixed price expectation to determine who sees it.
“You lead with criteria rather than price,” Sam says.
“Eventually, a particular group of buyers starts to gravitate towards a house and really connect with it, and that helps you establish price.”
The process also gives agents a clearer understanding of where demand is concentrated and whether the vendor’s expectations align with buyer sentiment.
Sam says even when a property does not sell during the off-market period, the feedback can be enormously valuable in preparing for a public launch.
He recalls a recent property introduced privately with price expectations in the $3 million range that initially struggled to attract interest.
Despite approaching prospective buyers, the team found it difficult to generate inspections.
Further investigation suggested buyers considered the price too high relative to the size of the block.
Following discussions with the vendor, the property’s price positioning was adjusted, resulting in a noticeable improvement in enquiry and inspection interest.
“You can tell whether you’re on track or off track by how many people are dismissing the house,” Sam says.
For agents, that intelligence can be particularly useful when managing vendor expectations.
Rather than relying solely on comparable sales or theoretical pricing discussions, an off-market introduction allows the agent to demonstrate how active buyers are responding to the property.
It can identify a pricing issue, reveal which features buyers value most and help establish the strongest positioning for a subsequent public campaign.
Why buyers are looking beyond the portals
While off-market properties are sometimes associated with exclusivity or the prospect of securing a bargain, Sam says the buyers engaging with his team’s opportunities are generally motivated by something more straightforward.
They want to find the right home. With fewer properties available in his local market, buyers are exploring additional channels to access homes that meet their requirements.
That might mean a particular street, architectural style, floor plan or combination of amenities that has proved difficult to find through publicly advertised listings.
Sam says buyer’s advocates are also regularly approaching his team to ask what properties are available off-market.
The level of demand prompted the group to establish its dedicated Instagram channel, bringing its private opportunities together in one place.
“We’ve got almost a thousand buyers on that channel who receive updates from us every couple of days on the off-market properties,” he says.
The channel complements the agency’s existing database and individual agents’ buyer relationships, allowing the team to introduce properties to a wider pool of qualified purchasers without committing to a full public campaign.
And while buyers may welcome the possibility of avoiding auction competition, Sam does not believe that necessarily means they expect to purchase below market value.
He says the group’s off-market transactions have continued to achieve what he considers appropriate market prices.
Buyers are generally responding because a property satisfies their needs, rather than because they believe a private transaction automatically represents a discount.
The distinction is important because it reinforces the value of presenting a property to buyers based on suitability rather than simply promoting it as an exclusive opportunity.
Certainty can be a premium outcome
For vendors, the attraction of an off-market strategy extends beyond avoiding advertising costs or preparing a home for public inspections.
Sam believes an early offer that satisfies a seller’s expectations can represent an excellent result, particularly in a market where competitive bidding is not consistently producing prices well above reserve.
“Not many sellers are selling for hundreds of thousands over reserve at the moment,” he says.
“So if a vendor can get what they want early, then that’s a great position for a seller.”
The decision ultimately comes down to the vendor’s circumstances, price expectations and appetite for risk.
Some sellers will prefer to test the broader market in the hope of generating competition, while others may place greater value on the certainty of an acceptable offer without the time and expense of a public campaign.
“To have an offer that meets the requirements early, without risk or cost, I would put that in the basket of a premium outcome,” Sam says.
He recently advised a client planning to sell in January or February who was not yet ready to launch a formal campaign.
Although the owners had made a firm decision to sell, they were not in a position to take the property publicly to market immediately.
Sam suggested introducing it to qualified buyers in the meantime.
If somebody was prepared to meet the owners’ expectations, they could secure an early sale.
If not, the process would provide feedback about pricing, presentation and buyer preferences that could be incorporated into the eventual public campaign.
For Sam, this is one of the strongest arguments for incorporating off-market opportunities into an agency’s sales strategy.
A private introduction does not have to result in an immediate transaction to deliver value and it can also provide a head start on understanding the market before a property is launched more widely.
The first two weeks matter
Although off-market selling can provide flexibility for vendors, Sam says the most successful campaigns tend to generate meaningful interest relatively quickly.
His experience suggests that when a property is correctly priced, matched with the right buyers and introduced to an active purchaser pool, a sale can often be achieved within one or two weeks.
“If there’s a good connection, it’s priced right and it fits the buyer pool that’s available now, it will often sell within a week or two,” he says.
“If it hasn’t sold within two or three weeks, it’s probably not going to sell off-market without some sort of adjustment.”
That adjustment might involve revisiting the price, waiting for new buyers to enter the market or moving to a public campaign.
Rather than viewing the change as a failure, Sam believes it is part of understanding how to use different sales methods effectively.
He particularly favours off-market campaigns that operate as a preview ahead of a planned online launch.
Around 80 per cent of his group’s off-market opportunities follow this approach, giving buyers the chance to inspect and potentially purchase a property before it becomes available to the wider market.
The planned launch date creates a natural deadline and provides an incentive for interested purchasers to act.
It also helps agents preserve the impact of a public campaign if the property does not sell privately.
Sam says this is important because an off-market campaign that continues indefinitely can eventually lose momentum, particularly when the strongest buyers have already been approached.
The skill lies in recognising when a property is gaining traction and when a different approach may be needed.
Why some buyers need competition
One of the more interesting lessons Sam has observed is that buyer interest does not always translate into an immediate willingness to make an offer.
Some purchasers are comfortable inspecting an off-market property and expressing enthusiasm but are reluctant to be the first person to negotiate.
They may ask to be contacted if another offer emerges or request updates about the campaign without making a commitment themselves.
Yet those same buyers can become much more decisive once a property reaches auction.
Sam believes the visible presence of other interested purchasers can give buyers confidence in their own assessment of a property’s value.
“They feel comfortable because they can see that level of transparency and observe the other buyers in the market going for it. That gives them peace of mind,” he says.
For agents, understanding this behaviour can help determine whether to continue private negotiations or move towards a more competitive sales environment.
It also demonstrates why Sam does not see off-market selling and auctions as competing strategies.
Both have a role, and the most effective approach depends on the property, the available buyers and the vendor’s objectives.
Despite lower auction volumes in his market, Sam says his group’s proportion of off-market sales has remained relatively stable over the past five years.
He has observed greater use of expressions of interest and other campaign methods, but does not believe off-market transactions are necessarily increasing as a direct consequence of fewer auctions.
He also considers it too early to assess whether Victoria’s changing sales disclosure requirements will encourage more vendors to pursue private sales.
For now, off-market selling remains an established part of the group’s business rather than a replacement for traditional campaigns.
The work behind a successful off-market sale
While off-market transactions can appear relatively straightforward from the outside, Sam says they require a structured approach and considerable work from agents.
His team typically begins by preparing a small but professional marketing package, including photographs of the property’s key features, a floor plan, written copy and a video walkthrough.
The next stage involves identifying the most relevant prospective purchasers.
Agents work through their active buyer lists, the wider agency database and buyers who have recently shown interest in comparable properties.
The off-market Instagram channel provides another avenue for reaching purchasers who have actively sought access to private opportunities.
From there, the team establishes inspection opportunities, including scheduled open times and private appointments, while ensuring a contract of sale is available for buyers ready to submit offers.
Where a public launch is planned, that date is communicated to interested parties.
The result is a targeted campaign with many of the same disciplines as a traditional listing, but with a more carefully selected audience.
“There’s a lot of work actually getting off-market deals done,” Sam says.
“They’re not easy on the agent side. They’re a lot more work.”
Unlike publicly advertised campaigns, where enquiries can come from buyers outside an agent’s existing network, an off-market sale depends heavily on the agency’s ability to identify and engage suitable purchasers.
That places greater importance on the quality of buyer relationships, the accuracy of database information and the agent’s ability to recognise genuine purchasing intent.
It also means off-market selling is not necessarily the strongest option when an agency has limited buyer coverage in a particular segment.
Where the relevant buyer pool is not well represented in the database, a public campaign may be required to uncover additional demand.
A competitive advantage built before the listing
For Sam, the consistency of his group’s off-market results demonstrates that private selling is not simply a response to changing market conditions.
It is an established capability built through years of buyer relationships, market knowledge and disciplined database management.
The fact that between 20 and 30 per cent of the group’s properties have sold off-market annually over the past five years also suggests that the strategy has become a reliable component of its broader sales business.
And while the dedicated Instagram channel has created another way to distribute opportunities, Sam believes the underlying principle remains unchanged; agents who know their buyers, understand their requirements and maintain those relationships are better positioned to recognise opportunities before a property is publicly advertised.
They can introduce homes to relevant purchasers, test pricing expectations, generate early offers and use the resulting feedback to strengthen a public campaign if one is required.
For vendors, that can mean greater flexibility, fewer upfront costs and the possibility of securing an acceptable result without the uncertainty of a full marketing program.
For agents, it creates another avenue to demonstrate the value of their market knowledge and relationships.
And in a market where buyers are searching harder for the right property and sellers are weighing certainty against the prospect of wider competition, those capabilities are becoming increasingly valuable.
The off-market advantage, Sam believes, is ultimately less about keeping a property out of public view and more about having the right buyers ready when an opportunity arises.