Pocket Listings: A Little-Known Source of Real Estate Bargains

What is a pocket listing? A pocket listing is a property listed with an agent, but not yet placed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). In other words, it is not out there for the whole world to know about. Therefore, there is less competition, and a better chance of getting a bargain.

I have personally made hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of pocket listings.

How does it work? Usually, there is a time period between a week and a month, from the time an agent gets a listing, until they advertise it and put it on the MLS. Before they do that, they need to prepare the house, clean it, stage it, promote it within the office, prepare flyers and signs, etc.

Most agents hear about these properties once in a while. It can either be their pocket listing, or it may belong to someone else in their office (or company, if they have multiple offices-). What is sure is, if you network with enough agents, you will sometimes hear about pocket listings. You will often be the first to hear about deals, before they are widely advertised. Can you see the value in being the first to hear about a deal? Again, operating in a very competitive market (the San Francisco Bay Area), I have picked up some great deals this way.

Here are the instructions for calling Realtors® to find pocket listings:

Get a list of local Realtors® from the Yellow Pages, ads, realtor.com, Google search, or any of a number of websites.

Many cities have over 5,000 agents. Plenty to go around, and new ones all the time. Pick a place close to where you live or want to work.

You will probably be surprised to see how many agents there are, even in small towns. Most of them have a phone number listed on their website.

Start calling them! If you call enough of them, some will have deals.