Top 3 Tips to Break into Luxury Real Estate
How would you like to get a $1,000,000 commission check?
You don’t need a college degree or decades worth of experience. All you need is a real estate license and a hunger to break into the luxury real estate market, one of the handful of industries where getting a 9-figure payout is possible.
It may seem daunting dealing with exceptionally rich people who will scrutinize your every move. But the great thing about the real estate business is that it’s a people business. All you have to do is get your client to like you. And once you have that first deal under your belt, you will be able to use that as a foundation to build a successful career in the high-end market.
Here are the three most important tips you will need to know to break into the luxury market.
#1 Understand Your Clientele
The luxury clientele is going to be a lot different from your traditional single-family-home-type customer. They most likely have a lot more money than you, and they are probably a lot smarter than you as well. This doesn’t necessarily mean academically smart but they may be really business savvy as there are a lot of successful millionaires who never went to college. This may seem intimidating at first, but if you get to know your client as much as possible and focus on your needs, then you will feel a lot more comfortable when you interact with them.
One of the first things you can do is identify their personality type. There are a variety of personality tests available to help you make your assessment. Arguably the most well-known is the DISC personality test. This method breaks down a person’s personality into four major categories: Dominance (D), Influence (I), Steadiness (S), and Conscientiousness (C).
Once you’ve identified what kind of personality type your client has, you can tailor your communication style to help build rapport. If you want to take it to the next level, there are marketing companies like Crystal, which uses artificial intelligence and adaptive selling methods to do the work for you. They take whatever message you want to send and translate that to fit your client’s personality communication style.
Another important area you need to identify with the luxury client is their preferred method of communication. Do you they prefer to talk through text messages, email, or over the phone? What times of the day work best for them? If they are not responsive, it may help to change it up. Try different methods and times of the day and see which one they respond to the most.
Keep in mind that the luxury client is most likely in the market due to desire, not out of necessity. This means they are not in a rush to make a deal, which means this will most likely be an impulse purchase. They are not going to buy a house because they like it. They are going to buy a house because they absolutely love it.
Find out what is important to them. Do they want spectacular landscape views? Are they big on the social scene and want to be close to special events and parties? How important is the weather going to be for their lifestyle? What are their hobbies and types of venues they frequent for dining and entertainment?
The more you know about your client and what they want, the better chance you will have at winning their business.
#2 Do Your Homework
The competition in the luxury real estate space is cutthroat. Simply knowing everything you can about your client is not going to be enough. You need to know everything you can about the properties as well. This is where you can really set yourself apart from other agents and establish yourself as someone with insider knowledge.
This is usually the boring part of the job, where you are doing a lot of monotonous tasks. This means driving by every single neighborhood and scouring databases to find out the previous owners of the properties. Learn about why they are selling, any interesting historical facts about the properties, and about the surrounding community as well. You literally want to know about every single house in the neighborhood.
Once you have all this knowledge, you can use it as a selling point for yourself by putting it on display to impress your clients. You can consolidate all your research in a binder or booklet and personally hand it to them. Most luxury clients still like to have something tactile when they browse real estate properties.
The key is to anticipate what you think they are going to want to see and focus on those specific areas. If they are technical and detail-oriented, then it may help to include a lot of numbers and statistical data. If they are more of a visionary or a dreamer, then focus more on including high-quality photos and videos to highlight the general aesthetics of the property.
The more time you spend doing your homework on the property and the surrounding areas, the more your client will appreciate your hard work and want to work with you. There is no substitute for preparation. Leave nothing to chance.
#3 Be Yourself
The great thing about being a luxury real estate agent is that you don’t need a special college degree or certification to do it. As long as you have an active real estate license, you can jump into it at any time you want. Your skills, knowledge, and hunger for more is what will determine how successful you are.
If you are completely new to the luxury real estate market, you may be feeling apprehensive or worried that you don’t have what it takes to succeed. Fortunately, skills and experience can be acquired over time. Don’t get caught up in the mindset that you aren’t good enough. Rather, you should be focused on pursuing a goal and trying to live that luxurious lifestyle for yourself.
If you worried about your lack of experience, sell what you do have. Focus on your strengths. You can always research harder and put in more hours than your competitors. If your broker has a prominent reputation in the luxury space, use their numbers to give yourself credibility. Whatever you do, you should definitely not sell something that you don’t have.
Remember, in real estate, clients don’t look to choose the best agent in the world, they choose you for your personality and what you bring to the table. If that were the case, then there would only be one luxury agent that everyone uses. The luxury client only cares about what you are going to do for them today, not what you did for your clients in the past.