What is an Off-Market Sale?
An off-market sale takes place outside the public marketplace. Your properties are not advertised on Rightmove, Zoopla or any other public portal, there are no boards outside your properties and there are no open viewings. Instead, your portfolio is presented to selected investor buyers who have signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Off-market transactions are common in commercial property, where larger deals are often agreed between investors without public marketing. The same approach is used in residential portfolio sales, particularly where landlords want to limit disruption to tenants and keep their plans private while they explore a sale.
Off-market portfolio sales are PSC's core service. Before PSC acts for you, you receive written terms of business explaining what PSC does, how PSC is paid, and whether PSC or anyone connected to it also acts for or is paid by the buyer.
Why Choose an Off-Market Sale?
Landlords choose an off-market route for different reasons. It is worth weighing these against the wider reach of an open-market sale.
Discretion. Because there is no public advertising, fewer people are likely to learn of the sale while it is being explored. We handle your information discreetly and share details only with those who need them – such as solicitors, lenders and serious buyers who have signed a non-disclosure agreement. Tenants must be told about their new landlord when the sale completes, and buyers may need access to inspect properties.
Targeted introductions. Rather than advertising widely and waiting for enquiries, PSC presents your portfolio to investor buyers in our network whose interests appear to match it. This can be more efficient, but it reaches fewer buyers than open-market marketing.
Less disruption to day-to-day management. Coordinating viewings across several tenanted properties takes effort. Off-market sales may involve fewer inspections, depending on the buyer and the portfolio.
Professional relationships. For landlords who manage their own properties, a public listing can be unsettling for contractors and letting agents. An off-market approach lets you choose when to tell them.
How We Match You to the Right Buyer
Portfolio Appraisal
We gather the details of your portfolio – property types, locations, tenancies, rental income and any known issues – and give you our indicative market view. This is a desktop market appraisal, not a RICS Red Book valuation. We share portfolio details with buyers only with your consent.
Methodology Review & Professional Advice
There is often more than one way to dispose of a portfolio: a single sale, phased sales over more than one tax year, selling with tenants in place, or selling a company that owns the properties. We review the options with you before anything is marketed. PSC does not give tax or legal advice, but where formal advice is needed we can introduce or recommend regulated tax advisers and solicitors.
Terms and Checks
If you wish to proceed, you receive our written terms of business and we complete the usual know-your-client, identity and anti-money-laundering checks.
NDA and Introduction
We identify investor buyers in our network whose interests appear to match your portfolio. Before any details are shared, the buyer signs a non-disclosure agreement. The buyer then reviews the information and may ask to inspect some or all of the properties.
Offer and Completion
If a buyer wishes to proceed, they make an offer. If you accept, both sides instruct solicitors and the legal process moves towards exchange and completion. PSC coordinates between buyer, seller and solicitors to help keep the transaction moving.
Will I Achieve a Lower Price Off-Market?
This is a fair question. With fewer buyers seeing the portfolio, there may be less competition than in an open-market campaign, and for some properties – particularly those that would appeal to owner-occupiers – an open-market sale through an estate agent may achieve a higher price.
For tenanted investment portfolios, the realistic buyers are usually investors in any case, which can narrow the difference. Even so, the outcome depends on the portfolio and the interest it attracts. Price depends on the properties, tenancies, condition and the buyer's funding; we will explain how any offer compares with open-market evidence.
When comparing routes, look at the whole picture: price, the costs of each route, the time involved, the likelihood of completion and the effect on your tenants. How PSC is paid is set out in writing in our terms of business before you agree to anything, including whether any fee is paid by the buyer. You will also pay your own solicitor's conveyancing costs and any lender redemption costs.
Explore a Discreet Sale
Start with a no-obligation conversation about your portfolio. We will explain how an off-market sale would work for you and whether another route might suit you better.
Frequently Asked Questions
Off-market means your properties are not advertised on public portals such as Rightmove or Zoopla, and there are no "For Sale" boards. Instead, Portfolio Sales Consultancy presents your portfolio discreetly to investor buyers in our network who have signed a non-disclosure agreement.
It is possible. An off-market sale reaches a smaller, targeted group of buyers, so there may be less competition than with open-market marketing through an estate agent, and for some properties the open market may achieve a higher price. Price depends on the properties, tenancies, condition and the buyer's funding; we will explain how any offer compares with open-market evidence.
We present your portfolio to investor buyers in our network whose interests appear to match it. Before any details are shared, buyers sign a non-disclosure agreement. We only share your information with your consent.
Off-market means your properties are not advertised publicly, which reduces the chance of tenants learning about a sale from marketing. We handle your information discreetly and share details only with those who need them – such as solicitors, lenders and serious buyers who have signed a non-disclosure agreement. Buyers may need access for inspections, and tenants must be told about their new landlord when the sale completes.
Portfolio sales commonly take several months. Timescales depend on the number of properties, tenancies, lenders, searches and the buyer's funding. We do not promise a fixed timescale.