When you’re first learning how to work with wealthy clients, selling luxury real estate can be intimidating.
You might find yourself wondering how you’ll win your first listing, what to say if anyone asks whether you’ve sold at a certain price point you have no experience in, or wondering how to compete with other professionals who have a bigger budget for a high-end real estate marketing strategy.
The good news?
You don’t always need to win a luxury listing to break into selling luxury real estate. In fact, you can break into luxury real estate by selling at the price point just below your market’s luxury threshold.
This unique strategy comes recommended by David Collins of REAL Marketing, one of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing’s (The Institute) strategic partners and sponsors for our “Estate of Mind” podcast.
In a recent interview on our podcast, Collins revealed a couple of ways new luxury real estate professionals can leverage sales just below upper-tier to seamlessly transition into higher price points—even if they have no prior experience.
Here’s what he suggests:
Use Luxury-Level Marketing to Market ‘Just-Below’ Luxury Homes
For an aspiring luxury real estate professional looking to jump from selling traditional homes to selling luxury real estate, there’s often both an experiential barrier and a psychological barrier when it comes to selling higher-priced homes.
To compensate for both, Collins suggests finding the middle ground between the highest price point you’ve sold in and what is considered “luxury” in your market and starting there.
For example, if your market considers $1 million homes the minimum threshold for luxury real estate, and you’ve only sold homes up to $500,000 range, then you’d want to aim for homes hovering around $750,000 instead of jumping all the way up to the luxury threshold.
Not only does this mean you can draw on experience from the $500,000 homes, but it also gives you a unique opportunity to “practice” luxury real estate marketing at a price point where high-end marketing is unexpected.
Collins explains that most traditional real estate agents don’t want to put a few extra hundred dollars into marketing their listings, even at the price range just below luxury. This means high-end marketing is more likely to stand out at this price point to get your listing sold quickly.
Let Repeat Clients Take You to the Luxury Threshold
When you start selling homes in the price point just below luxury, you’ll often find that repeat clients who return to you for their next sale will want an upgrade that takes them into the luxury market. In that case, your client’s upgrade will take you right into the luxury real estate market with them.
During our interview, Collins used himself as an example. When he and his wife were ready to sell their condo, their next purchase bumped them up into just above the luxury real estate threshold in their market.
Because they used the same real estate professional for both transactions, their upgrade now allows their agent to leverage their experience to buy and sell with clients in even higher price points.
This speaks to the importance of going out of your way for clients in any price point, and why thinking long-term is one of the best ways to secure your success in luxury real estate.
Want to know how top producers are selling luxury real estate in 2021?
The Institute’s in-person Luxury Live events are back and—for the first time ever—we’ve introduced a Member Happy Hour to give you even more time to network with other luxury real estate professionals (or aspiring luxury real estate professionals).
The curriculum for these exciting two-day events is based on our proven Seven-Step Luxury Marketing Blueprint to help you break into luxury real estate or reach the next level in your luxury real estate career.
To learn more and see when Luxury Live is coming to your city, click here.
Diane Hartley is president of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, an independent authority in training and designation for real estate agents working in the luxury residential market. Hartley brings her passion for luxury marketing and more than 20 years of experience growing and leading businesses to her role as president of The Institute. For more information, please visit www.luxuryhomemarketing.com.
