A Comprehensive Guide to Selling Luxury Homes

EIGHT THINGS TO THINK ABOUT WHEN SELLING A LUXURY HOME

Selling a home is not easy, but it does not have to be as difficult as solving the Rubik’s cube! When selling a luxury home, the level of difficulty rises. As the level of difficulty rises, so does the level of expertise required to sell a luxury home.

When selling luxury homes, many real estate agents are clueless. The same can be said for luxury homeowners. All necessary steps must be taken to ensure the home is sold on time and for a fair market value price!

Here’s a short but informative video with these eight tips for selling luxury real estate. Continue reading for more in-depth explanations of the eight tips for selling luxury real estate discussed in the video above. There are some fantastic real-life examples, pointers, and tips to assist!

Guideline 1: Is It The Right Asking Price?

Pricing a home correctly from the start is critical whether you’re selling a $100,000 home or a 1.5 million dollar luxury home! Hiring a real estate agent who suggests the highest price is a common real estate pricing mistake, and this can be costly to the luxury home market,

A luxury home must be priced competitively or aggressively from the start to attract buyers. A luxury home is more likely to sit on the market for longer than a lower-priced home; however, a luxury home does not have to sit on the market if priced correctly from the start!

In order to determine a competitive or aggressive price for a luxury home, an in-depth comparative market analysis must be completed. A real estate agent should spend several hours sorting through the data, touring other comparable luxury homes currently on the market, and contacting other real estate brokers who have recently sold comparable properties to the subject home.

Homes in certain neighborhoods are frequently extremely similar to one another. Because it is uncommon to find two identical luxury homes, knowing every amenity a luxury home has is critical when determining the price!

Guideline 2: Effective Marketing Is Critical!

The price at which a home enters the market does a good deal of marketing; however, other marketing tools should be used when selling a luxury home.

Print advertising and direct mailing should remain important to any real estate agent’s marketing strategy. However, the internet has significantly altered how consumers shop. This is also true in the real estate industry!

It is critical that a real estate agent who is selling a luxury home uses the internet. A real estate agent should have their own website and blog, and it should be mobile responsive. Many home buyers are doing their shopping on tablets and mobile devices.

It is critical for a real estate agent to use social media when selling a luxury home. Social media is an extremely important marketing tool for real estate agents because it allows them to give their clients the most exposure possible! It is a marketing tool that the majority of real estate agents do not use or comprehend.

Consider how many people in the market to buy or sell a home have a Facebook Page, Twitter Handle, or Pinterest Account. 95%+? A real estate agent does their client a huge disservice by not marketing a luxury home for sale on social media!

When choosing a real estate agent to sell a luxury home, it is critical to understand where, how, and how frequently the luxury home will be marketed. A real estate agent must have a comprehensive marketing plan/system when selling a luxury home and cannot simply list a luxury home and hope it sells. These real estate agents are also called “post and pray Realtors.”

Guideline 3: Quality Photographs, Videos, and Virtual Tours Are Compulsory!

“Quality over quantity,” as the saying goes. This is directly related to the high-quality photographs and videos of a luxury home for sale. With over 90% of buyers starting their home search online, it’s critical that a luxury home’s photographs and videos are outstanding and nothing but the best!

Every real estate agent will offer to take photos of a home, but it shouldn’t be as simple as taking photos leisurely. If the real estate agent is not having a professional photographer take photos of the home when selling it, they better have some great equipment.

Top real estate agents who choose to photograph their luxury home listings themselves must have experience as well as high-end equipment such as a wide-angle lens. When photographing a luxury home, several factors must be considered: is the lighting appropriate for the photos, are the amenities being photographed, and is the exquisite location being highlighted?

How much is a video or virtual tour worth if a picture is worth a thousand words? One billion? When selling a luxury home, a professionally created video or virtual tour can make or break the sale. Most local MLSs have a limit on the number of photos that can be posted online, but they do allow for the placement of a video tour or “virtual tour.”

Many luxury homes are much larger and more glamorous than 25 photos can show, so the video is a great way to allow potential buyers to “walk through” the luxury home from the comfort of their current residence.

Guideline 4: Timing Is Vital

When selling a luxury home, timing is more important than when selling a non-luxury home. For example, if a waterfront luxury home is being sold in Rochester, NY, it is critical to choose the right time of year to sell. Selling a home in the dead of winter would not be a good time to highlight the waterfront!

Similarly, selling a luxury waterfront house in Jupiter, FL, during hurricane season may not be the best time to list a luxury home for sale.

Guideline 5: Ascertain Whether Open Houses Are Required

Is there going to be an official event? A common question many homeowners ask real estate agents is – are you going to have an open house? There is much debate about whether or not public open houses help sell homes.

When it comes to luxury homes, public open houses are ineffective. When it comes to selling a luxury home, public open houses frequently attract people who are simply curious about how the “rich and famous” live. There is no way to tell whether the people who come to the open house are qualified to buy the luxury home or not!

While public open houses are ineffective at selling luxury homes, broker open houses can be beneficial. A broker open, also known as an open house for local real estate professionals, enables real estate agents with buyer prospects looking for luxury homes to view potential matches. A broker open is much more successful if the real estate agents who sell luxury homes in the area can attend, as they are the most likely to have a client for the home!

Guideline 6: Location and Lifestyle Must Be Painted Correctly

Location and lifestyle give luxury homes their luxuriousness. If a luxury home is part of a development that includes a clubhouse or yacht club privileges, it is critical to include this information in the listing.

Another reason why using a video or virtual tour when selling a luxury home is a great marketing tool is that it is a great way to present a home’s location as well as the lifestyle.

Prospective buyers of luxury homes frequently want to know who else lives in the general vicinity of the home. It is critical to know or discover who else lives in the neighbourhood and to make this information available to real estate agents who are showing the home.

Guideline 7: Staging Is Critical When Selling A Luxury Home

Staging does not sell homes, but it can help! Many sellers believe that if they hire a real estate agent with a staging designation, their home will sell because it has been staged. This is incorrect. Obtaining a staging designation does not necessarily imply that they are an excellent real estate agent.

When it comes to selling a luxury home, staging can help you get the best price and spend the least amount of time on the market. When staging a luxury home, it is critical to highlight the features that make the home luxurious. Is an outdoor grill staged so potential buyers can imagine their summer gatherings? A luxury home with a large formal dining room should have elegant place settings with fine china at each place setting to help a buyer envision their fine dining parties.

Guideline 8: Patience Is Key

Patience is one of the most important factors when selling a luxury home. Selling a luxury home typically takes longer than selling a non-luxury home.

One of the primary reasons that luxury homes take longer to sell than non-luxury homes is the number of potential buyers. Let’s face it: there are a lot of buyers who can afford a $150,000 home entering the market every day. Daily, there aren’t many buyers who can afford a 1.5 million dollar home entering the market. For this reason alone, it is critical to be patient and understand that if the aforementioned tips are followed, a buyer will emerge!

Last Thoughts

Selling luxury real estate is not the same as selling a $100,000 home in the suburbs. The above luxury real estate selling tips must be followed for sale to succeed. If you don’t consider these luxury real estate selling tips, the sale will likely take a long time, if it ever happens at all.