Are you wondering how to sell luxury real estate?
Considering the value of luxury homes, it is understandable that sellers would want to get things right.
Luxury real estate is a substantial investment, often worth millions of dollars.
Fewer luxury homes are available, which makes it all the more critical that the seller presents a positive image of the house.
You have to attract the right buyer, make the buyer understand what makes the home worth the money, and negotiate effectively when selling some of the highest-priced homes.
The correct list price and the best real estate agent are vital in selling a luxury home.
Keep reading, and you will see how to sell luxury real estate for the most money possible in the least amount of time.
These luxury home selling tips will allow you to maximize both with less stress!
What is Luxury Real Estate?
Luxury real estate is considered a premium property. It is a high-end home priced at the top of the local real estate market.
Luxurious property for sale is reserved for buyers with high incomes or a substantial amount of cash. These premium properties have unique and highly desirable features and amenities.
Most luxury real estate makes up a small segment of the market. Typically, a smaller percentage of buyers can afford these high-end homes.
When luxury homes are enormous, with intricate details, they are considered mansions. Most mansions are over 7,000 square feet.
On the other hand, McMansions are also considered luxury houses. They are not quite as large and are often mass-produced. A McMansion has nowhere near the level of detail or expense of a mansion.
Who is The Buyer of High-End Homes?
Typically, affluent property purchasers are seasoned real estate buyers. Their motivations lie with desire rather than necessity.
Luxury homebuyers search for a connection with their property, seeking elements that work within their daily routine.
From the initial steps of waking up in the morning to the smooth flow of days ahead – they are looking to find components that echo their desired lifestyle.
For example, some high-end home buyers may want a waterfront property or a mountain view, while others may want a luxury condo in the heart of a metropolitan area.
Understanding the Luxury Buyer’s Lifestyle and Community Preferences
Luxury buyers seek more than just a home; they seek a lifestyle that complements their status and meets their specific needs. As a luxury real estate agent, it is crucial to understand the community and lifestyle preferences that attract high-end buyers.
This includes knowledge about local schools, country clubs, fitness clubs, and cultural amenities. Providing this information can help buyers visualize their life in the new home and community, making your property more appealing.
Creating a Psychological Profile of The Luxury Home Buyer is Helpful
It may seem strange to start a list of the best luxury home selling tips by creating a psychological profile of the end buyer, but it’s not. First and foremost, you want to know who you will be marketing to when drawing in a high-end clientele.
With a luxury home sale, you are not always casting the widest net but trying to appeal to a specific audience. Of course, the buyer must be able to afford the home comfortably.
The last thing you want to target is those who are marginally qualified.
But what exactly are you selling? Beyond the magnificent architecture of your property, are you selling proximity to a major city, an award-winning school system, the top neighborhood in the area, or the best restaurants and shops within walking distance?
These are just a few examples. There could be many more that apply to your specific home.
You and your real estate agent need to understand what separates your home from other luxury properties in the area and market to those strengths.
US News has an excellent article on thinking like a luxury real estate agent. Understanding what motivates a luxury home buyer is essential.
Pricing Correctly is Crucial
One of the most vital tips for selling a luxury home is pricing it at the right price from day one.
Pricing a standard home correctly can be challenging. Putting an accurate price tag on luxury real estate can be far more complex.
Many more unique features hold value in luxurious properties for sale.
Knowing how to look at a home, measure its strengths and weaknesses, compare it to similar homes, examine the surrounding market, and price it to both sell promptly and for a reasonable price – these are skills that Realtors take years to master.
Luxury homes add another layer of difficulty when it comes to pricing.
There are fewer comparable homes to reference, and each luxury home tends to have unique features that only some buyers will value.
These premium properties can also have features that some buyers will value.
Some inexperienced agents will try to use rudimentary methods to price the home, like price per square foot. This is a surefire way to get the price of a luxury home wrong!
Pricing a luxury home presents significantly more challenges. However, the price needs to be spot on if you want top dollar.
If you price a home too high, it will sit on the market for months without selling. Eventually, it will develop a stigma—buyers will assume something is wrong.
Hiring a Real Estate Agent Skilled at Home Pricing is Essential
This is especially true with luxury homes because buyers and their agents are unlikely to forget about the house with such a smaller supply. They will recognize it, even if it pops up a year later at a lower price.
Pricing the home correctly is one of the biggest reasons to hire an agent familiar with luxury properties. The agent should understand the difference that location plays in the comparable sales data and how one neighborhood differs from the next.
The neighborhood in which a property is located can significantly influence value.
A skilled luxury real estate agent understands the factors that influence home values. Great agents know that comparable sold properties are vital to establishing market value.
They don’t waste much time looking at homes on the market that have not sold. Knowing how to sell a luxury home starts with accurate pricing.
Good timing Is Helpful in Selling.
Luxury homes are often located in areas that take advantage of local attractions and geography. A house along the Puget Sound in the Seattle area will look out over the water and offer views of nearby mountain peaks and possibly the city.
In the summer, buyers can absorb all this and get an authentic sense of why the home is so unique.
In the last months of winter, cold wind, oppressive rain, and constant cloud cover tend to obscure the many benefits of home ownership.
Selling such a home would be easier in better weather, and it would most likely fetch a higher price if buyers see it in the best possible light. An excellent luxury home selling tip is taking advantage of the optimal season in your location.
Here in Massachusetts, where I am located, it would not make sense to list a luxury home in the dead of winter unless your financial situation dictates it.
With a luxury property, you want to take advantage of the best-selling season when more buyers are looking for luxury real estate. The best time of the year to sell a luxury home is spring.
In the spring, buyers can fully understand the grounds, which is often a prominent selling feature in luxury homes.
There will be things you can’t appreciate in the winter, such as a luxury swimming pool, tennis court, magnificent landscape, and many other features that can get obscured by snow.
Selling a home in the winter is usually not the ideal time in Massachusetts. This is undoubtedly the case if you are selling a luxury waterfront property.
Effective Marketing Online is Necessary With Premium Properties
Finding the right buyer requires getting the word out about the property for sale.
Today, the primary marketing channel is the internet, but putting up a listing on the multiple listing service (MLS) is not enough to sell a luxury property – or any home, for that matter.
In addition to pricing a home, a reputable Realtor will have several marketing options for your luxury home.
The first will be online on the best real estate websites, but the most pervasive will often be their network with other Realtors, past clients, and other people involved in high-end real estate.
The best buyers may be found on the Internet or through real estate agents. The point is to work with someone who can reach buyers who want what you offer.
Top real estate agents understand the best marketing tips for selling a home, and they take advantage of them all. Exceptional agents leave no stone uncovered when selling a high-end home.
The real estate agent you select to sell your luxury home should have a dominant internet presence.
Use Google to seek out and find luxury market real estate agents in your area.
You can try searching for “top real estate agent, city, state” to locate an exceptional agent. Typically, agents that come up high in searches like this tend to understand real estate marketing well.
A highly visible real estate agent will be knowledgeable in search engine optimization (SEO) and have excellent social media skills.
Let’s face it: more and more people spend a ton of time on their smartphones. Everyone has their favorite social network they regularly use. Social media real estate marketing is just another way of going outside the box in getting a high-end home sold.
Whether it is marketing on Facebook or Pinterest – people love looking at luxury properties. Real Estate agents should be well-versed in marketing to affluent clients.
Use High-end Photography and Video To Market Well.
Whether a buyer finds your home online or through your real estate agent contacts, most people will want to look at the listing before they schedule a viewing.
A quality listing will contain pictures and a video tour of the property. Just as a good portrait photographer can bring out the best in a person, a skilled home photographer can make any home look its best.
You want pictures that attract buyers, which requires working with a professional.
Luxury homes deserve exceptional professional photography. This is one of the most critical aspects of selling a luxury home.
When someone asks how you sell a luxury home, photography will be at the top of the list! Here are some excellent photography tips specifically for real estate.
Video is becoming as important as photos when selling real estate, especially a luxury home. Buyers may be coming from across the country to view your home.
Even if they are coming from next door, a video tour can give them a good idea of what living in the home would be like and convey what makes your home special.
Filming a quality luxury real estate video tour may cost more, but it can be considered an investment. The better the video looks, the more likely you are to attract the right kind of buyer.
Leveraging Technology is Important
In today’s digital age, leveraging technology is crucial in attracting and engaging with luxury property buyers. Virtual tours, augmented reality, and high-resolution aerial photography can provide an immersive experience highlighting the property’s features.
These technologies enhance the buyer’s experience and broaden the reach of potential international buyers who might not be able to visit the property in person.
When selling luxury real estate, it would be best to avoid hiring a real estate agent who does not provide a high-end video tour.
Look at the video of this luxury home in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Please pay attention to the quality of the video and how many people have viewed it online!
Would you agree that this video marketing does an incredible job of capturing all the best features of this luxury home? Videos are a great way to introduce a property before entering the door.
Look for someone who can do an excellent job with a voice that captures the essence of your luxury home’s best features.
Effective Offline Marketing is a Must
While online marketing is critical to selling a luxury home, so is your print marketing material. Additional money should be invested into marketing material when marketing a high-end home.
Perception is everything regarding marketing to buyers who are purchasing an expensive home. Brochures should be of the high-end glossy variety.
The marketing material should tell a story about the home and the city or town where the property is located. Selling such things as the neighborhood or outstanding education is all part of the puzzle.
You often sell a lifestyle, which should be conveyed in the marketing material. Keep in mind that many luxury home buyers look for well-known luxury brands, and this should be reflected in your marketing.
For example, in the kitchen, high-end appliances include a Sub-Zero fridge, a Wolfe or Viking stove, a Thermador oven, and a Miele or Bosch dishwasher. Luxury buyers look for these brands.
When marketing the home, your property descriptions should emphasize these items. The kitchen is the most crucial room in the house, so extra time should be spent featuring it.
Avoid Open Houses With Luxury Properties
Open houses are so typical when selling homes that most sellers assume they are necessary. There is no consensus on the benefit of an open house when selling the average home. However, there is a consensus on open houses for luxury homes – avoid them.
When you hold an open house for a luxury home, you attract everyone in the area.
Many people who do not have the financial ability to buy your home will show up. Even those that do have the money may not be interested in buying. They may come over to compare, to see how you live, or just for something to do.
Anyone can come to an open house, and they will.
People often ask if open houses work for selling homes. The answer is they are entirely unnecessary to sell a home in the digital age.
The benefit of an open house goes to the real estate agent, who uses this time as a prospecting opportunity for potential sellers in the neighborhood and buyers who can’t afford your home.
Remember that, with a luxury home, there will be a high level of curiosity. This will bring through the door plenty of people who don’t belong.
More problematic is the criminal element that can be attracted to open houses. It is hard to track everyone coming in and out of the house, which allows unsavory individuals to take things that are not theirs.
Even worse, they may not take anything from the open house. Instead, they may use the open house to unlock doors or windows to access the home later and take as much as they like.
Open Houses Are Breeding Grounds For Crime
Open houses are a breeding ground for criminals to enter your home and take what they want, especially when selling a high-end home. Skip the open house, and you won’t miss a beat. Be very cautious of an agent who pushes for an open house.
Instead of an open house to the public, do a broker’s open house instead. Your real estate agent will invite all the local real estate agents, especially those Realtors who specialize in working in the luxury home market.
A broker open house lets local agents see all the best features that make your property luxurious. If they work with a luxury buyer, the agent will be well-versed enough to speak intelligently about it.
Staging is Essential
Luxurious property for sale needs to be in pristine condition. When selling million-dollar homes, you can’t afford not to have your home looking its best.
Staging a home so buyers can see its best qualities is critical. You cannot afford clutter all around the property. Invest the time in decluttering before putting it on the market.
The agent you’re working with should be able to provide advice. If not, see the advice of a professional home stager. Stagers know how to bring out the best in your high-end home.
Expect Longer Sales Times
Luxury properties typically take longer to sell, especially in a buyer’s market. Remember, there are fewer buyers for luxurious homes.
Keep the faith, and don’t worry if you see lower-priced properties around you selling.
Traits of Luxury Home Real Estate Agents
The agent you select becomes even more critical when marketing and selling a luxury home.
The agent you hire will be your voice in promoting your property’s magnificence.
Some of the essential traits of a luxury real estate agent include:
- Very effective communicators.
- Extremely detail-oriented.
- Understand the local market inside and out. This includes all local attractions.
- Well-versed in pricing homes correctly. The agent should have a great list price-to-sale price ratio and lower days on the market than the average.
- Expert marketers.
- Have a good sphere of influence.
- Skilled in problem-solving.
All of these skill sets are valuable when selling a high-end property.
Remember that your real estate agent plays a vital role in the sale from start to finish.
Each aspect of the transaction is essential, whether communicating with you or the other agent or potentially solving a problem in the sale.
Selling a high-end home is not just about marketing! Selecting the best real estate agent is one of the most important tips when selling luxury real estate.
Avoid Dual Agents
When selling luxury real estate, you’ll want your agent to remain your fiduciary throughout the transaction. Never accept dual agency in real estate. When you do, your agent will not represent you any longer.
They become a neutral party in the transaction. Don’t be fooled by the real estate agent who says dual agency is fine.
It is one of the shady tricks of real estate agents who care more about their income than the client’s best interests.
Knowing How to Sell is Essential
High homes often have features not found in any other type of property. High-end fixtures, cabinets, appliances, woodwork, lighting, etc. More often than not, luxury homes have features like:
- Extravagant home theaters.
- Incredible wine cellars.
- An indoor pool.
- An intricate security system.
- Surveillance cameras.
- A central music service.
- Energy monitoring.
- Thermostatic control.
- Window covering controls.
- Complete “smart home” capability.
Realtors must understand all of these components and features if they want to get the best price for a home.
Location and neighborhoods are other factors when dealing with luxury real estate. Sometimes, the place is just as important as the home. The agent must know how to sell all these things, which not every real estate agent can do.
When you aim for the best possible price, you need an agent who understands luxury and knows how to sell it to potential buyers. Keep these things in mind when choosing your real estate agent.
Each of these nine tips should be considered when selling a high-end home. Follow the advice, and your home will be pending in no time.
Do You Need a Referal?
Do you have a luxury home to sell in a state other than Massachusetts and want to work with an exceptional Realtor who specializes in luxury home sales?
If you reach out to me, I will be happy to refer you to an outstanding real estate agent in your area who specializes in high-end properties.
Selling In Massachusetts?
Do you have a luxury home to sell in the Metrowest, Massachusetts area? I would love the opportunity to interview for your business.
You can work with an agent with thirty-seven years of experience who has sold many luxury properties.
Additional Helpful Articles on Selling to The Affluent
- Selling to affluent consumers – get some helpful tips on selling to those with lots of money to spend.
- Considerations for selling a luxury property – see even more tips on how to sell a luxury property.
- Be a Realtor for the ultra-rich – learn valuable insights on how you can be chosen as a Realtor to list luxury homes for sale.
Use these additional articles to help you pursue how to appeal to luxury home buyers and get your property sold.
About the Author: The above Real Estate information about selling luxury real estate was provided by Bill Gassett, a nationally recognized leader in his field. Bill has expertise in mortgages, financing, moving, home improvement, and general real estate.
Learn more about Bill Gassett and the publications in which he has been featured. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-625-0191. Bill has helped people move in and out of Metrowest towns for the last 38+ years.
Are you thinking of selling your home? I am passionate about real estate and love sharing my marketing expertise!
I service Real Estate Sales in the following Metrowest MA towns: Ashland, Bellingham, Douglas, Framingham, Franklin, Grafton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, Natick, Northborough, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Sutton, Wayland, Westborough, Whitinsville, Worcester, Upton, and Uxbridge Massachusetts.
