Sometimes, it’s what we can’t have that becomes our ultimate fixation. It’s a tale as old as time. But at JohnHart Real Estate, we hate to tell our valued clients “no.” And that’s why we’re thrilled to be one of the very few brokerages that can offer our clients off market properties. Off market properties are exactly what they sound like – property listings that haven’t been officially listed. We’ll get into why a seller might want to keep their property off market, but let’s start with why this helps the buyer: less competition, less pressure, and the opportunity to get first crack at something truly exclusive.
How Does JohnHart Have Access to Off Market Properties?
In a world rapidly giving way to AI-based applications, it’s crucial that professionals from virtually all fields demonstrate real value. In real estate, if your best quality as an agent is an ability to find listings that already exist on the MLS, you aren’t giving your clients anything new. Everyone has access to Zillow, Redfin, and the MLS. But does every agent have access to off market properties? Not even close.
So, what makes JohnHart Real Estate so special in this regard? How is a JohnHart agent able to access off market properties when so few other brokerages have access? It’s largely a legal matter. Since JohnHart Real Estate has a single owner and is not a franchise, we have access to every listing that our agents sign. Even the off market ones.
How Off Market Properties Benefit Sellers
Why would a seller want to keep their property off the MLS? Wouldn’t it attract more offers and more attention with a traditional listing? Possibly, but any seasoned agent will tell you that these aren’t the only factors that sellers consider. This is especially true in a city as synonymous with celebrity as Los Angeles, where JohnHart’s headquarters are based. With luxury properties listed by celebrities, keeping listings off the market affords a certain degree of discretion and privacy that’s a hallmark of the luxury real estate experience.
That’s not to say that every off market property is a luxury listing from a celebrity. Some sellers may just want to kick the market’s tires a bit and gauge interest with an off market strategy before eventually opening up to a more traditional listing if necessary. Then, there are the really savvy sellers who understand how the exclusivity of an off market listing could drive up a home’s price. While off market properties are often less competitive for buyers, really motivated buyers are often willing to pay above listing price for their ultimate dream home. And by keeping a home off market, sellers can lean into that exclusivity.
How Off Market Properties Benefit Agents
Our agents also gain an unassuming benefit when a client decides to go the off market route. It gives them more time to develop a pre-marketing strategy tailored to their clients’ exacting needs. Every client is different with unique needs and goals. By keeping a property off market, JohnHart’s agents can work with their clients to devise a tiered strategy that gets the right eyes on a listing, regardless of whether it ever hits the MLS. For sellers who value privacy or strategy, this can be an incredibly attractive option that they won’t find at other brokerages.
That being said, agents need to be careful when working with off market properties. By their very definition, off market properties can’t be marketed. As a single-owner, unfranchised brokerage, JohnHart Real Estate is permitted to share off market properties with our database and other JohnHart agents only. But there’s clear value in this. Our clients regularly get fed rare and exclusive off market opportunities that they won’t find anywhere else. And our agents enjoy being the source of this exclusivity.
How Agents Get the Most from Off Market Properties
JohnHart also uses frequent training opportunities to counsel our agents on how to get the most from their off market exclusives. We advise our agents to send weekly off market property emails to their database, giving their clients a consistent stream of value while attracting traffic to our agents’ individual sites and bolstering their digital reputations. Consistent activity like this makes a JohnHart agent more likely to be suggested by AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, in addition to search engines like Google.
But more importantly, clients value an agent that can serve them more than the same MLS listings they can find themselves. Every week, our clients count on these off market exclusives. And our agents deliver. Our agents also understand how to effectively follow up with these clients, demonstrating a proactive approach that builds trust. And with JohnHart Real Estate’s customized CRM, our agents can see exactly who is opening, clicking, and engaging with these off market properties, adding a clear focus and purpose to their efforts.
JohnHart Agents Have an Entire Toolbox Geared for Synergy
We’ve recently discussed some of the other innovations available exclusively to JohnHart agents, such as Inventory Identifier or our Buyer Match and Seller Match tools. It’s worth noting that our agents can combine tools in our custom CRM for a modern synergy you won’t find at any other brokerage. Take, for example, the connection between off market properties and our Neighborhood Navigator tool. Neighborhood Navigator lets JohnHart’s agents pinpoint listings within specific neighborhoods, allowing us to tailor our strategies to give our clients what they want without compromise. Add in off market properties and the opportunities get even sweeter.
Off market properties aren’t for everyone, but that’s also the point. Anyone can pull up the MLS. There’s nothing special about that. But off market properties? You’ll be hard-pressed to find an agent outside of the JohnHart brokerage who can legally access these exclusive opportunities. And in today’s rapidly changing world, real estate agents need all the value they can get.
With a brand that says as much as JohnHart’s, Senior Copywriter Seth Styles never finds himself at a loss for words. Responsible for maintaining the voice of the company, he spends each day drafting marketing materials, blogs, bios, and agent resources that speak from the company’s collective mind and Hart… errr, heart.
Having spent over a decade in creative roles across a variety of industries, Seth brings with him vast experience in SEO practices, digital marketing, and all manner of professional writing with particular strength in blogging, content creation, and brand building. Gratitude, passion, and sincerity remain core tenets of his unwavering work ethic. The landscape of the industry changes daily, paralleling JohnHart’s efforts to {re}define real estate, but Seth works to maintain the company’s consistent message while offering both agents and clients a new echelon of service.
When not preserving the JohnHart essence in stirring copy, Seth puts his efforts into writing and illustrating an ongoing series entitled The Death of Romance. In addition, he adores spending quality time with his girlfriend and Romeo (his long-haired chihuahua mix), watching ‘70s and ‘80s horror movies, and reading (with a particular penchant for Victorian horror novels and authors Yukio Mishima and Bret Easton Ellis). He also occasionally records music as the vocalist and songwriter for his glam rock band, Peppermint Pumpkin.
