Being a genius in real estate and related business ventures, it should come as no surprise that real estate expert Nick Millican has plenty of insight to offer when it comes to mysterious ghost listings that have been popping up online. Some who understand these listings call them foolish, however, their massive increase in popularity among the fractured housing marketing cannot be denied. The real question is whether they will remain popular as the market sorts itself out.
A ghost listing is when a property is listed on a real estate website with minimal or no details. While this may seem counterintuitive, the purpose of doing this is to sell the property “off-market.” This allows the seller to avoid scrutiny when things don’t work out quite as planned. Nick Millican states that an example of this would be having to lower the price or if the property simply doesn’t sell at all.
With the population of London estate agents ballooning from just 20 a year ago to 120 today, being able to stay competitive is even more important than ever and Nick Millican knows that agents will take any advantage they can get (Twitter).
While ghost listings may be seen as a necessary tactic to stay competitive, there are several clear drawbacks. For one thing, once a property is listed on a portal, it is no longer “off-market” regardless of how things proceed from there even if the details are kept private. Another issue that Nick Millican has recognized is that the practice encourages a more hands-off approach from buyers, at least during the initial stages. In some cases, sellers may find themselves dealing with a nanny or security guard looking to suss out the details before the actual buyer gets involved.