Pros, Cons and Risks of a Private Sale

If you're selling, this is for you

Twenty years ago, someone tried to buy my home for less than it was worth.

I was a young single mother in the middle of a divorce. I had to make a tough decision: pay the divorce attorney or pay my mortgage. I paid the attorney. That put me a month behind.

The calls started almost immediately. "Angel investors" who had found me through my divorce filing and my late mortgage payments. Both matters of public record. Offering to take the house off my hands. Quickly. Quietly. For a fraction of what it was worth.

They weren’t villains. What they offered, a fast, private, off-market transaction, is exactly what some sellers need. I wasn’t one of them. My home had equity. I had options. I just didn’t know it yet.

I dug in. Somewhere in that process I became so determined to understand how the system worked, and how it could work for people rather than against them, that I got my real estate license. I realized quickly that real estate, for me, isn't about selling homes. It's about helping people through a series of small decisions that lead to life-changing outcomes. I've never forgotten that. More than twenty years later, I’m in the top 1.5% of all realtors in the United States. Not despite that chapter. Largely because of it.

So however you sell or buy, publicly or privately, there’s no wrong offer. Only what's right for you.

Every sale starts with a conversation.

"Not all homes should sell privately. Not all sellers want maximum exposure. Your job is to understand your options, then choose what feels right."

LISA SEVAJIAN

A true story · New Hampshire

How do you get 28 offers on a house in a town where almost everything is sitting?

How do you know that cash offer is really the best you can do? This New Hampshire family found out.

Groups Through

Written Offers

$474,000

List Price

$525,000

Sold Price

6 Days

The LSG Selling Strategy

Imagine needing every dollar from your sale. Someone's offering you a swift sale at a price they say is market based. Your next chapter depends on this one number.

Now imagine watching your neighbor's bigger home sit. Watching prices soften. Wondering if you already missed your window.

That's the market these sellers walked into.

Here's the truth: we could have sold this home privately. We had buyers ready to buy it. They just wouldn't have paid what the buyers who saw it on the market did.

The similar sales supported one number. We saw more. Most agents would have priced lower, because that's all the paperwork could prove. We looked at five years of real updates and almost two acres, and we listed at $474,000.

Then we ran the LSG 6-day selling strategy: tell the home's real story, price with conviction, give every buyer one deadline.

96 groups walked through. 28 wrote offers. Sold for $525,000, higher than anything we could document going in.

With 28 offers, you're not hoping for a good outcome. You're choosing your favorite one.

More true stories · Groveland & Everett

It wasn't a fluke. It's a pattern.

on-market

Groveland, MA

Developers at the door

This family wanted more money and fewer headaches, and selling to a developer looked like the easy path. Then the developers actually showed up. Offers in the low $400s. One came in the $200s. Sketchy contract language. Incomplete legal documents. Endless inspections.

We suggested going to market instead. Listed at $490,000 with three open houses in one weekend, ninety minutes each.

The Result

Sold for $523,000, over asking, to a buyer with family right on the street.

on-market

Everett, MA

Cash knocks on the door

Strangers kept knocking on her door offering cash in the $200s and $300s. They said it kindly. They said it confidently. They made it sound like a favor.

Most would have suggested a careful, modest list price. We saw more, and we listed at $469,000.

The Result

Multiple offers in days. Sold for $480,000, more than $200,000 over what the door knockers felt her home was worth.

"Three towns. Three homes. Same story: the private buyer pays for your uncertainty. The open market pays for your home."

LISA SEVAJIAN

Understanding the fundamentals

Know your options. Then decide.

Before you commit to any strategy, you deserve a clear, honest picture of what each path actually means. Not a sales pitch. Just the facts.

On-Market

Public · MLS listed · Maximum exposure

Your property is listed publicly on the MLS and syndicated to all major portals. Every buyer, every agent, and the general public can see it. Simultaneously.

Off-Market

Private · Targeted · Confidential

Your property is sold privately without a public MLS listing. Marketing is targeted to a curated pool of buyers, investors, or an agent's network. The transaction stays largely confidential.

The public path: where it wins, where to weigh it.

on-market

The Kellermans

Price maximization · Windham, NH

Eight years of thoughtful renovations. New kitchen, finished basement, updated baths. Retiring to Florida, no rush, nothing to hide. A home that photographs beautifully and appeals to everyone.

The Result

11 showings the first weekend. Four offers Monday morning. Guided to a sale 6% above asking.

on-market

Priya, 36

First-time seller · Lowell, MA

Selling her starter condo to fund a down payment on a larger home. Clean, updated, financing-friendly building. Comfortable with showings, no reason for privacy, sixty-day window.

The Result

Seven offers by Sunday. Accepted $12,000 above asking with no contingencies.

WHERE IT WINS	WHERE TO WEIGH IT
Maximum exposure Reaches every active buyer through the MLS, all major portals, and agent networks, all at once.	Public visibility Price reductions, days on market, and listing history become permanent public record.
Competitive bidding Multiple buyers competing in real time can drive the final price well above asking.	Showing disruption You keep the home show-ready and accommodate showings, sometimes on short notice.
Market validation Public pricing and activity data establish credible, defensible value.	Longer timeline Achieving maximum price often requires patience. The full buyer pool takes time to engage.
Broad financing access Conventional, FHA, and VA buyers can all participate. The widest possible buyer pool.	Deeper due diligence Buyers and agents will conduct thorough inspections, appraisals, and contingency reviews.

The private path: where it wins, where to weigh it.

A note on privacy. The names, identifying details, and specific circumstances in the stories that follow have been altered or are composites drawn from common seller situations. They don’t represent specific clients or actual transactions.

off-market

Marcus, 44

Executive privacy · Andover, MA

A VP at a publicly traded company. When he accepted a relocation to Austin, he needed to sell without his address, timeline, and asking price showing up on Zillow for colleagues and competitors. His tenant had two months left on their lease.

The Result

Three serious offers in ten days. Strong cash offer accepted, leaseback negotiated, sold without a single listing photo going public.

off-market

Dorothy, 78

Urgent cash sale · Revere, MA

Dorothy raised four children in the Cape Cod she and her late husband bought in 1974. Medical emergencies wiped out her savings. She had 18 days before the bank filed for foreclosure. Her home wouldn’t pass conventional appraisal.

The Result

A private approach reached cash buyers who saw the land value. Clean offer, 14-day close. Dorothy settled her debt, moved in with her daughter, and kept her head held high.

WHERE IT WINS	WHERE TO WEIGH IT
Privacy and discretion Your sale stays out of public record until closing. Neighbors and competitors need not know.	Limited buyer pool Without public exposure, you may never reach the buyer willing to pay the highest price.
Faster timelines Pre-qualified, motivated buyers can move quickly. Sometimes in days, not weeks.	Potentially lower price Fewer competing offers generally reduces upward price pressure.
Reduced contingencies Off-market buyers, often investors or cash purchasers, frequently waive standard contingencies.	Less price discovery Without open-market competition, it’s harder to confirm you received full market value.
Closing certainty Cash-based off-market deals offer a high degree of certainty once terms are agreed.	Buyer leverage A small buyer pool gives each individual buyer more negotiating power relative to the seller.

Before you sign anything

When the cash offer knocks.

Some cash buyers are exactly who they say they’re. Some are wholesalers. You deserve to know the difference before you sign.

What’s a wholesaler?

A wholesaler is a middleman, not your final buyer. They put your home under contract at one price, then sell that contract to an investor for a fee. If they can’t find an investor, many simply walk away. The person at your kitchen table may never have intended to own your home at all.

What is "a wholesale"?

A wholesale is the deal itself. Your home goes under contract at a discount, and the contract, not the home, is what gets sold. The wholesaler either assigns your contract to an investor for a fee, or runs a double closing, buying and reselling your home the same day. Either way, an end buyer was willing to pay more than you accepted. That gap is their profit.

How they work

Watch for a contract that names the buyer as "[Name] and/or assigns." That little phrase lets them hand your deal to a stranger. It usually travels with a small deposit and a long inspection window. That combination lets them shop your home around nearly risk free while you’re locked in and off the market.

Wholesaling is legal in many states, and some wholesalers are upfront about what they do. The problem is never the label. The problem is signing before you know who you’re really dealing with and what your home would bring with real competition.

Remember Everett. The door knockers offered the $200s and $300s. The market paid $480,000. Never let the first quiet offer decide what your home is worth.

How to spot one

You didn’t call them, they called you · A price appears before they have seen the home · "And/or assigns" in the paperwork · A tiny earnest money deposit · Long or flexible closing dates · Reluctance to show proof of funds in their own name · Pressure to sign today, kindly delivered

Seven questions to ask any cash buyer

1. Are you buying this home yourself, or will you assign the contract to someone else?
2. Can you show me proof of funds in your own name, dated this week?
3. How much is your deposit, and when does it become non-refundable?
4. How many homes have you closed in your own name in the last twelve months?
5. What happens to me if you can’t find your end buyer?
6. Will you agree in writing to remove the assignment clause?
7. Can my attorney and my agent review this before I sign?

What the answers tell you

A legitimate cash buyer answers all seven without flinching. A wholesaler usually gets vague around number one.

When is it really a wholesale?

A REAL CASH PURCHASE	A WHOLESALE IN DISGUISE
Proof of funds in the buyer's own name · A deposit with real weight · A short, firm closing date · No assignment clause, the name on the contract is the name at closing · A track record of homes closed in their own name	"And/or assigns" next to the buyer's name · A deposit under $1,000 · A long inspection or "due diligence" window · Strangers or "partners" asking to walk through before closing · The buyer's name changes, or a double closing appears on the schedule

For buyers · The other side of private

Thinking of buying privately? Read this first.

Private deals get sold to buyers as an inside track. Here’s what that track actually looks like from your side of the table.

You have no idea if that price is real.

With no market exposure, there’s no competition to validate what the seller is asking. The number came from them, not from buyers voting with real offers.

You have no clue what the competition or traction would be.

On the open market you can see days on market, showings, and interest. Privately, you’re negotiating blind.

The seller has no real pressure.

No deadline, no competing offers, no reason to meet you anywhere. Every ounce of urgency in the deal is yours.

Your offer often becomes their shopping tool.

Sellers use a private offer to test the waters, then end up on the market anyway, with your number as the floor everyone else gets to beat.

The leverage flips onto you.

You get pressured into offering more money and better terms so the seller doesn’t sell to someone else. We see this all the time.

The honest upside
Maybe you're the buyer who gets lucky. Some sellers genuinely undervalue their home. They want a quick, easy sale. They don't want a crowd. Those homes exist, and we find them for buyers regularly.

PRO TIP: Before you write anything, get a thorough market analysis and an appraisal. Luck is only luck when you can prove there isn't something you're missing.

	ON-MARKET	OFF-MARKET	THE LSG SELLING STRATEGY
Buyer exposure	Maximum · Entire active market	Limited · Targeted pool	Extensive, far-reaching · Often 60,000+ online views
Price potential	Highest with competitive bidding	Moderate to strong	Strong
Timeline	Weeks to months	Days to weeks	Average 6 days to offer
Privacy	Low · Fully public	High · Private	Extensive privacy protocols
Showings required	Yes · Often many	Minimal to none	Often very few
Open house	Common	Rare	Often the best plan
Contingencies	Typical	Often waived	Vary by state
Best for	Maximum price	Speed and privacy	Control over your selling process

A third path worth understanding

The direct sale. Buyer to seller.

Can you? Of course. Should you? That depends.

The laws around inspections, documentation, and buyer qualification aren’t a footnote. They’re the entire game. A direct sale is possible. It happens. But the moment two parties sit across from each other without professional representation, the risk asymmetry is real.

A skilled negotiator on the buyer's side can systematically reduce what they pay. A skilled negotiator on the seller's side can protect, or enhance, what they receive. Without either, someone almost always leaves something significant on the table.

Two questions worth sitting with honestly:

Are you comfortable paying more than you should? Very often, this is what happens on the buyer's side of a direct sale.

Are you comfortable taking less than you're owed? Very often, this is what happens on the seller's side.

My position isn’t that direct sales can’t work. It’s that in this market, with the complexity of today's contracts, contingencies, and buyer qualification requirements, the margin for error is thin. The consequences are real.

direct sale

The Jamesons

Seller · Suburban MA

The Jamesons called to cancel our upcoming listing agreement. A neighbor wanted to buy their house directly, and they would save the 4% commission. I told them they should absolutely go for it if that felt right. I gave them the necessary documents, set them up with an attorney, and sent them off with my full support.

Two months later, they came back. The buyer couldn’t buy. He wasn’t qualified. They had been in a binding agreement, with a buyer who had no path to financing, for sixty days.

The Result

Two months lost. Market momentum gone. I would have identified the buyer's qualification issue in twenty minutes.

Finding your fit

Which strategy is right for you?

Every seller's situation is unique. Use this as a starting framework. Then have a candid conversation with your agent.

CONSIDER ON-MARKET IF…

You want to achieve the highest possible sale price
You have time to prepare and run a full marketing campaign
Your home will easily pass conventional financing inspection
You’re in a high-demand area with strong buyer activity
You want full transparency and market validation of your price
You’re comfortable with open houses and public visibility

CONSIDER OFF-MARKET IF…

Privacy is a priority for personal, professional, or family reasons
You need to sell quickly and avoid the disruption of showings
Your home needs work or won’t qualify for traditional financing
Your buyer audience is narrow: investors, builders, or cash buyers
You want to test price or timing before committing to a public launch
A fast, certain close matters more than extracting maximum price

Common questions

Frequently asked.

Can I try off-market first, then go on-market if it doesn’t sell?

Yes. This is a common strategy. Testing privately first can provide pricing feedback and preserve optionality. Be mindful that time spent off-market may affect buyer perception once you do list publicly.

Will I always get a lower price selling off-market?

Not necessarily. For distressed properties, unique homes, or when targeting motivated cash buyers, off-market sales can achieve strong results. That said, competitive bidding statistically produces the highest prices.

Do I still need a real estate agent for an off-market sale?

The value of an experienced agent actually increases in off-market deals. When the public market isn’t validating your price, your agent's buyer network, negotiating skill, and command of comparable-sale data become your only safeguards against underselling.

What’s the MLS and why does it matter?

The MLS is the shared database real estate agents use to distribute listings. It’s the most effective mechanism for simultaneously reaching every active buyer and their agent in the market. New rules also require certain disclosures if you market privately first.

Is off-market selling only for distressed or luxury properties?

No. It’s used for investment properties, estate sales, occupied homes, privacy situations, and any case where a motivated buyer is already identified. At any price point.

What if my situation doesn’t fit either path cleanly?

Most sellers don’t. The right answer is usually a hybrid: private outreach first, public launch if needed, or a public listing with careful discretion around showings. That’s the conversation to have with your agent before you commit.

One last thought

Before you decide.

"How will you know you walked away with the right sale if you kept it hush hush?"

Off-market has real advantages. Privacy. Speed. Control over who walks through your home. For some sellers, in some situations, it’s exactly the right call.

But if you never test the open market, you never really know what the market would have paid. You may have accepted a fair offer. Or you may have left tens of thousands of dollars on the table, and you’ll never be able to prove it either way. That uncertainty is the trade you make for privacy.

Ask yourself honestly: Is that a trade I’m at peace with?

If the answer is yes, and privacy, speed, or discretion matter more than the last dollar, off-market can be the right path. If the answer is no, or if you aren’t sure, that hesitation is worth sitting with before you decide.

Either way, the goal is the same. Walk away knowing you made the choice, not that the choice was made for you.

LISA SEVAJIAN

Go public with your home sale.

Twenty years ago, someone tried to buy my home for less than it was worth.

How do you get 28 offers on a house in a town where almost everything is sitting?

It wasn't a fluke. It's a pattern.

Groveland, MA

Everett, MA

Know your options. Then decide.

Public · MLS listed · Maximum exposure

Private · Targeted · Confidential

The public path: where it wins, where to weigh it.

The Kellermans

Priya, 36

The private path: where it wins, where to weigh it.

Marcus, 44

Dorothy, 78

When the cash offer knocks.

What’s a wholesaler?

What is "a wholesale"?

How they work

When is it really a wholesale?

Thinking of buying privately? Read this first.

Side by side.

The direct sale. Buyer to seller.

The Jamesons

Which strategy is right for you?

Frequently asked.

Before you decide.

Let's find the right approach for your goals.