If you are a real estate owner, you might reasonably ask why you wouldn’t just sell your property off market yourself, especially if you already know plenty of other investors who would be interested in buying it. At first glance, it can seem like a simple and efficient way to handle a sale.
But the reality is that selling commercial property off market often limits who sees the opportunity, and that limitation can directly impact price.
To understand why, it helps to go back to the most basic fundamentals of real estate.
Supply, Demand, and Who Sees the Deal
At its core, real estate pricing is driven by supply and demand. Many owners assume that as long as a reasonable number of buyers see the property, the offers they receive will reflect fair market value.
Let’s say you own a property and you know ten other real estate investors. You mention that you might sell, and all ten of them say they would pay the same number, perhaps $100,000 per unit. At that point, it feels logical to conclude that this is what the property is worth. Everyone you know is willing to pay the same price.
The issue is not what those ten people are willing to pay. The issue is who you do not know.
The Buyers You Don’t Know
In most cases, people tend to know other people who are similar to themselves. Investors often know other investors with similar goals, similar return expectations, and similar underwriting standards. That naturally leads to a narrow range of pricing.
But there may be other buyers, often outside your immediate circle, who value the property differently. These buyers might:
- live out of state
- have a different investment objective
- prioritize stability and long-term value over cash flow
For example, the buyer who is willing to pay $125,000 per unit instead of $100,000 per unit may not be another local investor at all. It could be a CPA, a business owner, or someone looking for a stable asset primarily for depreciation and long-term appreciation.
If you do not know people like that, and your property never reaches them, you may never see the offer that actually represents the highest value. This is where selling commercial property off market can quietly work against you as an owner.
Exposure Drives Price
The more people who see a property, the greater the chance that it reaches the buyer who values it the most. That does not mean every property needs to be blasted everywhere, but it does mean that exposure matters.
When a property is only shared within a small, familiar network, the pricing is often constrained by that group’s expectations. When it is exposed more broadly, it has a chance to reach buyers who see the property through a different lens.
That broader exposure is often what creates competition, and competition is what drives pricing higher.
Why Brokers Matter
This is where brokers come into the picture. A broker’s value is not just listing a property. It is the network they bring with them.
Experienced brokers have relationships with buyers across regions and across different buyer profiles. They are connected not only to investors, but also to professionals, business owners, and groups with very different motivations.
If you are confident that you personally can reach all of those buyers, then selling commercial property off market may work for you. But that is a high bar. Most owners do not have access to that breadth of connections on their own.
Without that reach, the property may never be seen by the buyer who is willing to pay the highest price.
Final Thoughts
Selling commercial property off market can work in certain situations, but it often limits exposure to the very buyers who might value the property the most. Knowing a handful of interested investors does not necessarily mean you have reached the full market.
Many owners we work with appreciate understanding how exposure, buyer profiles, and demand influence pricing. If you are considering selling a commercial property in Pennsylvania or Maryland, contact us to discuss how to position your asset so it reaches the right buyers and achieves the strongest possible outcome.
