"Hip Pocket" Listings

A "Hip Pocket" listing is a property that can be bought but that isn't being openly marketed at the moment. The listing agent has it in their "hip pocket". The most common reason for a property being in "hip pocket" status is that it isn't in "market-ready" condition. I currently have several of those we are working on. In the case of a Lakewood classic, the elderly owner has been relocated but the 17 cats are still in residence. We are working on those cats. That home can't go into the Multiple Listing System (MLS) until we get the cat situation under control.

I almost always have 2 or 3 hip-pockets that are condos around Central Market. It is common for me to get phone calls from other agents who are looking in the area and haven't found what they need. They call me.

The flip-side of that happened recently when I had a client who wanted something in one of the highrises. I phoned 3 agents who work in those buildings. Sure enough, I found a hip-pocket that we were able to go see.

Before MLS was put into use, the only way to find out what was on the market was to contact each and every real estate agent and ask what they had to sell. It was like going booth-to-booth at a flea market. Commercial real estate is still largely that way. You have to know what agent works in the area in which you want a bit of commercial real estate. Then you have to phone that agent and ask. On one level, it feels slow and cumbersome. On another level, I like it better because it is a much more personal way to do business. Real estate is a relationship-based business. Even in the age of social media and text messages, it is still about relationships, first and foremost.