Several frustrated column readers and home seekers reached out to me recently with their complaints.were sold before they hit the marketAfter doing some digging, I learned that in some cases, listing agents are double-ending deals — putting a buyer and seller under contract before publishing a listing on the multiple listing service or MLS.
But dig inside the data and we find that, for some deals, selling properties quickly doesn’t necessarily beget the highest prices. Conversely, deals in Los Angeles and Orange counties were better for the sellers when homes sold before hitting the open market. One of those sales agents, Kimberlee Drake, “told me she had exactly what I wanted,” Diane told me, snagging a home for her before it ever hit the market.
Many real estate professionals have a network of trusted agents they go to before launching a listing on the MLS. Phil Immel, a broker associate at Sotheby’s International, is one of them.