3 Ways to Breakthrough to Your First Luxury Real Estate Listing
Congratulations, you’re looking to get into luxury real estate! Now, how do you get your first luxury real estate listing?
I’ve got good news for you—there are three ways that you can get your foot in the door and put yourself on the map as you break into this next level of your real estate career.
The Big One: Three Ways to Breakthrough to Your First Luxury Real Estate Listing
1. Expired Listings
Many new agents don’t understand how often expired listings come up in the high-end market. So many established agents get listings because they are well-connected. These agents also often treat their business as an avocation rather than a vocation. A lot of them are unqualified and, despite having a good pedigree and a great Rolodex, they know nothing about the business.
Simply put, they get the listings just because of their connections. As a result, they rampantly overprice them, causing them to expire on a regular basis.
When this happens, you have a great opportunity to be the second agent in. An expired listing is an excellent opportunity for your first luxury real estate listing!
2. Market Maverick
Another excellent way to get your first luxury real estate listing is to find the maverick in your market. The maverick in your market is the person who wants to show people they’re different. They typically want to take a chance on a new person and they are the ones willing to go with an agent who is new, fresh, audacious, and creative. That’s the person you want to go to.
For example, one time, I was viewing a woman’s property. She had a grandiose barn that she must have spent millions of dollars building. The barn had heated tile floors, naturally finished wainscoting, and a beautiful chair rail. It was breathtaking, to say the least.
However, when I went to the area where the car was parked, I saw a deep metallic green Subaru Outback. She’s a maverick. She spends millions and millions, but when she goes into town, she goes in a Subaru.
This is where market research pays dividends. Knowing the individuals in your market will help you find the mavericks. They’re the ones who show up in town with a truck. I’ve shown multimillion-dollar homes to people who show up in pick-up trucks. They’re trying to throw you off track, but that’s the kind of person who will take a chance on an agent who’s new to the market, new to luxury real estate, or new to a location.
3. Gatekeepers and Appointments
We talked about gatekeepers a few weeks ago, and that’s the long-term path to getting listings. This is because all those gatekeepers—the attorneys, the CPAs, the trust officers at banks—know which clients are putting their homes on the market next.
When you can provide value to them with your yearly valuation updates, they will provide you with referrals.
An Important Reminder: Diagnose Before You Prescribe
Moreover, I always tell people, on your first appointment, you want to diagnose before you prescribe. Salespeople can’t seem to help themselves. They go in and start blabbing away before really listening to their client’s needs or wants.
Think of yourself as a doctor. Ask them lots of questions. Ask them to show you the house and then go through on your own. I always have the seller show me their house and then I go back through with a recorder and a checklist. I laser measure the whole house and make notes. And then I execute my checklist while I’m there.
Lastly, and this is very important, never give them the price on the first appointment.
Even if I think I know what it is and they’re dying for the price on the first appointment, I try to create more mystique and a greater sense of value for the price opinion I’m ultimately going to give them.
When asked, you can say, “I have to see your house first to reconcile all the market data I’ve already collected around the property that I’ve just seen for the first time today. When I have enough confidence in my opinion that I can sign my name to it, I will tell you how much I think your house is worth.”
On the second appointment, you want to make your listing presentation. I like to give one in writing and also in PowerPoint. It can’t be some generic presentation. I do listing presentations that are up to 50 or 60 pages long, but I always have a three-page executive summary in the front so that they don’t have to read the whole thing.
Good luck, luxury realtor, on getting your first listing.
If you have more questions about breaking into the luxury market, don’t hesitate to reach out or consider joining Luxury Real Estate Unplugged!
