Unlocking the Hidden Housing Market: Unlisted Actualizes the Potential Off-Market Real Estate

A chance conversation with a neighbor about their not-for-sale home sparked an idea that would lead Katie Hill to reimagine how the real estate industry approaches off-market properties. As the founder and CEO of Unlisted, Hill has created a platform that’s opening up access to the 95% of homes that aren’t actively listed for sale – and changing how agents and buyers approach property acquisition in the process.

The genesis of Unlisted came from Hill’s personal experience as a potential buyer. She remembers her initial hesitation about approaching her neighbor. “When I approached him about liking his house, there was definitely a thing in the back of my mind that he would not like that, that it would feel weird or off-putting,” Hill recalls.

The neighbor’s response surprised her. Rather than being put off, he welcomed the conversation. Hill discovered he was contemplating retirement, and her interest provided valuable market feedback. “I think there’s reassurance knowing, really understanding, the marketability of your property, even if you’re not urgently marketing it,” she explains.

Uncovering the Gray Space

While the real estate industry focuses intensely on the less than 5% of homes actively listed for sale, Hill identified a fundamental truth about the market: “Everything to this point has been all or nothing, black or white. Either I’m not selling my house or I am, but people are sitting in the gray space.” This insight led her to create a platform that could help facilitate conversations between potential buyers and homeowners who might be open to selling under the right circumstances.

Through extensive research and surveys, Hill discovered that approximately 60% of homeowners sit in this gray space – they’re either ready to move now, planning to move in the next few years, or open to the right opportunity. Drawing from her background in database and direct marketing, she developed a platform that enables agents to connect qualified buyers with potential sellers in a sophisticated, privacy-focused way.

A Different Approach to Marketing

Unlisted’s approach differs markedly from traditional real estate marketing. “The Realtor isn’t the focus – they’re just alluded to in our communications,” Hill notes. “Rather the homeowner and the buyer are central… the experience homeowners should garner from this is that there’s a buyer who wants their home, which is different than there’s an agent who wants their listing.”

The Luxury Market Pivot

The platform has found particular traction in the luxury market, where privacy and discretion are paramount. Hill’s early luxury agent partners helped reshape the company’s direction: “They loved the concept, super relevant. For luxury clients, it’s about privacy. It’s about being able to do something quickly and easily, without having to open up their house.”

Fresh off raising over $2 million in funding led by HearstLab, Unlisted is leveraging artificial intelligence to analyze property data and buyer preferences in unprecedented ways. “We’re doing things today in an afternoon that two years ago would have been impossible,” Hill notes. The platform features natural language search capabilities that can surface unique property features that traditional platforms might miss.

Local Expertise at Scale

Looking ahead, Unlisted is rolling out a zip code product that allows agents to become off-market experts in specific geographic areas. After vetting and training, these agents gain exclusive access to unlisted opportunities within their designated territories. “Real estate is ultimately local,” Hill explains. “We have a really powerful tool that can expose all kinds of cool options for a buyer, but at the same time, we can also get you in touch with somebody who understands the nuances of the local community.”

Building for the Future

As Unlisted continues to evolve, Hill emphasizes its complementary role in the industry. “We’re not stealing market share. We’re saying to everybody who’s been focused on selling houses, we don’t touch that… we see it as additive. We’re paying attention to the properties other folks aren’t looking at.” This approach resonates with real estate professionals – as Hill notes, “Most of the realtors we’re talking to, they resent giving Zillow these giant checks every month. And if there’s a better way to approach this, we’re here for it.”

In a market struggling with inventory challenges, Unlisted’s approach to surfacing “hidden inventory” could be exactly what the real estate industry needs. By creating a comfortable middle ground between “not selling” and “actively listing,” while giving agents a more direct and authentic way to connect with potential sellers, the platform is opening up new possibilities for everyone in the real estate ecosystem – one property profile at a time.