Guide · 18 August 2025 · 8 min read
Buying a house that was never advertised
A third of what we sell never reaches a listing. The process is different, and most buyers approach it wrongly.
Private sales are not auctions with fewer people. There is no deadline, no sealed envelope and usually no competing party, which removes the pressure buyers are used to and replaces it with something harder: you have to know what you actually want.
The introduction is the whole mechanism. We take a brief, and when a house comes up that answers it we call the two or three people it was written for. If none of them wants it, it may go to a listing months later, or never.
The practical advice is unglamorous. Give us a real brief, including budget, and tell us what you would refuse. A vague buyer cannot be matched to a specific house.
Written by Tobias Renn · Acquisition
