Case Studies in Private Marketing and Sales
PRIVATE MARKETING & SALES
Case Studies in Strategic Private Marketing
Stories of celebrities, tech CEO/founders and billionaires selling their homes quietly circulates among the real estate industry like insider trading tips. No asking prices, images or descriptions are available to the intrusive eyes of neighbors, friends, fans, shareholders, investors or, worse – snarky bloggers. These notable owners valued the privacy and discretion of an “off-market” sale.
In San Francisco, a private transaction has long been a strategy employed by top agents who represent our mansion owners. After a transaction closes, a story might run appear in SF:Curbed with a single image of an impressive Pacific Heights manse and a “rumored” sale price.
Recently, this formula has changed as more homeowners at every price level inquire about the benefits and challenges of an off-market home sale. Additionally, agents employ private marketing in a strategic effort to control the messaging about a listing among the agent community. In the third quarter, the Gregg Lynn Team represented three sellers in the private marketing and sale of their homes. And while our team is experienced in this strategy at the $10,000,000+ level, these third quarter clients quietly traded homes in the $2,000,000-$5,000,000 range… without a name to protect.
Below are three case studies in private marketing and sales of three unique listings.
2411 Green | Pacific Heights
This English Country-style home in prime Pacific Heights had a smaller square footage than most Pacific Heights houses, yet had lush wrap-around gardens and was positioned on a wide lot. Agent Kevin Delmore on our team strategized a private marketing campaign at the end of the summer in an effort to keep the higher price per square foot away from larger agent community where Kevin believed agents would question the $/SqFt and negotiate against his clients. “The sellers had done a number of upgrades that justified the asking price. But we didn’t want agents who didn’t understand the property questioning the price per square foot,” said Kevin. The owner of the house agreed with Kevin’s strategy and had purchased a larger property off-market earlier in the year, and they appreciated the opportunity to repeat a quiet transaction. After photography and videography had been delivered, the marketing team built a password protected website which Kevin shared with a few key agents whom he knew had clients looking in Pacific Heights. After just two weeks of private showings, an offer for over the private asking price was received and a smooth, under-the-radar escrow followed with both buyer and seller pleased with the outcome.
72 Walter | Dolores Heights
The owners of 72 Walter were considering selling their condo however were unable to move out of their home to properly present it to the open market. Additionally, for employment reasons, they did not want the property to be found on popular search sites like Zillow. When the owners shared that they would be on holiday for two weeks, agent Alex Hachiya on our team suggested a private marketing campaign for the duration of their trip. The marketing team quickly contracted the best vendors to produce video and images and created an email campaign to the top San Francisco agents. The campaign garnered a single private showing request, after which a full price offer was submitted and accepted by the sellers during their holiday. Alex negotiated 30 days of free rent after closing so his clients would be able to return from their trip and coordinate their next move without feeling pressed for time
999 Green | Russian Hill
Clients who were considering selling their view apartment on Russian Hill had shared that while they were unmotivated to sell before 2020, they would for the right buyer and price. As the market-share leader for San Francisco’s condominium market, Gregg is a “go-to” realtor for most agents in the City searching for off-market condos for their buyers. Such a colleague reached out to Gregg with a buyer who toured the condo and submitted a competitive offer, which the seller soon accepted.
While private marketing can result in favorable outcomes for sellers, this strategy comes with inherent challenges. Highly personalized homes or sellers who must sell quickly are not a good match for a private marketing campaign. Additionally, it’s imperative that the agent orchestrating the campaign be familiar with the private strategy and be well connected in their local agent community.
If you would like to know more about the private sale of your home, or if you’re interested to know what private inventory our team is representing, feel free to reach out!