When selling a luxury home, you need to think differently about the real estate market. High-end properties require a delicate touch, resources, assistance — and far more attention to detail to get the best price possible.
How you go about pricing, marketing, and staging the home has a significant impact on reaching your goals. The high-end home buyer is unique, which means you’ll need to make some carefully crafted decisions during the listing process. Higher prices equal higher expectations. Luxury homes also have a smaller market, which isn’t necessarily a surprise, but rather an integral part of the real estate puzzle.
Here we’re going to discuss some of the dos and don’ts of listing your luxury home so that you can get the results you’re looking for without sacrificing in price or wasting too much time.
Do Work With Experienced Realtors
Proven experience is the only way to be certain that your realtor knows the luxury market enough to get you the price you’re looking for. It takes a certain finesse and understanding of the high-end buyer to make the right marketing and pricing moves.
Nearly every real estate broker has their specialty, so it’s imperative that you find one that fits your needs and niche. You may know someone within your own personal sphere who has sold their luxury home recently — ask for a referral. Whether they’re the right match for your property or not, they may have recommendations or connections with a realtor who is the right fit.
If you don’t have someone in your personal network to ask for a referral, make sure that you limit your search to luxury realtors. Check portfolios, read reviews, and do your due diligence when researching the right fit for your high-end home.
Don’t Ignore the Importance of Pricing
One of the hardest parts of selling a luxury home is setting a price. If it’s too high, your home may end up on the market for far too long. If you price too low, you’re losing out on getting the most out of your real estate investment, which can be a devastating blow. So, how do you find the “Goldilocks” zone?
An experienced realtor should be able to help you explore a happy middle ground where your home gets what it deserves for its value without cutting out a significant portion of your potential buyer pool. Yes, you want a competitive price — but you also want to get the most for your luxury home. This is why we started this list off with the importance of an experienced realtor who can help you find this happy middle, and find success when pricing your high-end home.
Do Remember to Stage Properly
Perhaps the most important marketing move you can make is staging your luxury home properly. Buyers need to imagine living in the space, feel the ambiance, picture their future in every room, and see a future in their new home. Staging a home is by no means an easy task, which is why nearly everyone in the luxury home marketplace hires professional virtual stagers to create the perfect environment for the high-end buyer.
There are two primary ways of staging a home.
Physical staging refers to bringing in furniture, decor, and other home goods to the actual home, and creating a look and feel that potential buyers can see for themselves in person. Traditionally, this has been the go-to staging method for luxury home sellers. However, with the advent of new technological tools and resources, it’s quickly becoming both outdated and less cost-efficient — as realtors must source and store a wide range of decor and furnishings for use in luxury staging.
Virtual staging has become an increasingly popular way to showcase luxury homes, as it gives realtors endless possibilities with regards to style, furnishings, decor, materials, colors, and more. Virtual staging takes advantage of innovative technologies and online searches to reach buyers faster and more efficiently than ever before. The shift towards digitalization, even in the real estate market, has made virtual staging a reliable way to entice home buyers.
Don’t Host a Public Open House
When it comes to marketing and selling luxury properties, exclusivity is the name of the game. You want potential buyers to feel special and a sense of privilege to set foot inside the home, something that public open houses cannot fulfill. Public open houses work for homes with a larger market, but as we mentioned previously, luxury homes have a smaller pool of potential buyers. So, you’ll end up wasting more time than its worth to set up a public open house for countless non-buyers who are just checking out awesome properties.
Appointment-only viewings not only reach the right target audience but also save you from wasting time. Less is more when it comes to luxury open houses — which means it’s not always about getting more potential buyers in the door rather than the right ones. Truth be told, serious high-end home buyers will rarely attend a public open house — so be sure that you and your agent are on board with appoint-only viewings.
Do Focus on Main Selling Points
Whether it’s a wine cellar, indoor pool, sauna, or any other unique aspects of your home — it’s important to highlight these high-value features when marketing your property. These can be primary selling points that may be featured in marketing materials. Lead with key features that make your home stand out and exude the exclusive feel your target audience is searching for.
Wrapping Up
Your luxury home needs additional attention to get the listing results you’re looking for. Whether it’s through finding the right realtor, virtual staging, or exclusive open house opportunities — you need to think differently when selling a high-end property.
Trying to sell exceptional properties means taking extraordinary measures.
