It is no secret that the pandemic cemented multifamily as the darling of commercial real estate investment. Its strong performance has driven a new level of exuberance for apartment investment, and off-market transactions have always been one tool that investors have used to win deals.

"The increase in off-market multifamily deals has absolutely been impacted by the pandemic. We have seen by-and-large investors looking in secondary markets, like Phoenix, Raleigh and Austin," Kevin Mattice, chief product officer at Cherre, tells GlobeSt.com. "As people have moved to these markets, a supply demand problem has emerged, and developers are struggling to keep pace with the apartment demand. "That has really kicked off an increase in off-market transaction activity."

However, in the post-pandemic landscape, even an off-market deal looks a little different. Now, investors are leveraging data and analytics to gain informed strategic offers and gain market share while maintaining a competitive advantage. "From a potential seller's mentality, the second that you see a dollar value assigned to your home, an asset that you never imagined selling all of the sudden becomes very tempting because there is cash at your door. It is the Kelly Blue Book instant cash offer model. That works really well," says Mattice.