Luxury Real Estate Tips For Real Estate Agents
You’re driving through a luxury neighborhood. You see a Realtor’s sign in front of a home, then you drive a little further… and see the same agent’s sign again. Then, you turn a corner and see another sign.
You get closer and realize… it’s the same agent. They are owning this entire high-end neighborhood. That is where you need to be. Or should want to be. If someone is looking to buy or sell a house in that area, the agent with their face on any of for sale signs or any online listing. That agent is probably known by the neighbors as well. They get all the referrals for any of these houses.
Borrow/Copy ideas.
First, take note of these high-end agent’s actions. See how they present their brand and how do they market themselves. They are clearly doing something that sits well luxury homeowners. Then preview properties and work as many open houses in your targeted price point. Really take these steps to paint yourself as the expert in this area. Learn the number of listings, sales, pendings, expireds and fsbos is the neighborhood.
Immerse Yourself
Then you immerse yourself in the community, with the schools, parks, events and anything else. You may even want to start dressing similar (or more similar) the owners, since people love working with someone who dresses and acts like them.
Attend events, eat at restaurants and go to hot spots where your ideal clients would be. Get out of the office! Spend some time working in local community coffee shops where your clients may be.
Network
Finding the right businesses to network work with can do the most for you here. This means lawyers and doctors. Offer them free home evaluations or market reports so they know you are the expert when it comes to this stuff. Then, they will refer you to their own clients if something comes up.
Network with private lenders and bankers. There’s always a chance that banks can refer you to the buyers in the market for luxury homes.
Direct Mail
Direct mail works great when it comes to these homes. REH Real Estate offers luxury letters and postcards to our agents. Send something out stating how much a home just sold for in the neighborhood. In the more detailed versions outline your marketing techniques and include all the steps you would go through to sell the home. You should avoid neighborhoods that have low turnover and a lot of competition. Then these owners are going to be numb to these types of offers.
Direct mail serves as a great way to get your foot in the door in these types of neighborhoods. The best neighborhood has expensive homes, high turnover, and little competition. Don’t be afraid that even great marketing won’t convince these sellers to list their home with me. It will.
Know Your Market
When it comes time to appeal to buyers, you need to be aware of what luxury homeowners are going to be looking for in a home. Trying to sell a mid-class house to someone who is looking in a more expensive neighborhood is just a waste of time.
Read & Study
You don’t need to grow up around that type of clientele. It’s a matter of educating yourself. Read blogs and articles that your target clientele read. It’s not so much playing in their league as it is speaking their language.
Layout
Avoid houses with long hallways, stairwells, awkward columns and other unfortunate space wasters. They will be expecting to be shown houses with a bunch of space in it, but make sure it is really practical.
Uniqueness
This is a giant factor with houses in this neighborhood. Good architecture retains value. Having any special features or rooms like this is going to be something you can use to market and it will attract buyers.
Extra Amenities
Find out what type of amenities are common in the neighborhood when you are getting yourself introduced and immersed in it. Then you can start pre-planning any marketing or using that as a jumping point when offering to sell someone’s home. It almost goes without saying that a gym, pool or eat-in kitchen are what buyers will be looking for in these areas.
Ceiling Height
The higher the better.
Co-List
In order for an agent to obtain a high-end listing, they need to have already sold one. It’s a catch 22.
And it makes sense! A luxury seller simply won’t trust an agent who doesn’t have any prior experience with luxury properties. After all, luxury home shoppers have multiple concerns they need to worry about.
And an under-qualified agent is not worth their effort. So what if an agent hasn’t sold one before?
How do they get started?
Co-list.
This is the single best way for an agent to break into the luxury market. If you can team up with a current luxury agent and co-list one of their properties, then you will add that luxury property to your empty portfolio.
It’s as simple as that.
And the more you do this, the stronger your luxury portfolio will become. However, there is one tiny little problem. How the heck do you find a luxury agent to co-list a property with you!?
Ah, yes.
Fortunately for you Real Estate Agents seeking to break into the luxury market, we have a roster of beyond capable Luxury Real Estate Agents with our sister real estate brokerage Lowell & Vanderbilt who are always looking to mentor new agents to keep their skills sharp and to build their networks. Learn the 3 top reasons experienced agents mentor in our recent blog post.
