The Luxury real estate market is definitely a different market entirely than the regular real estate market. Luxury homes are “want to” homes, not “have to” – meaning home buyers typically want to live in these luxury homes whether they are on Marco Island Florida or a luxury home in Detroit, it doesn’t change the fact that these homes are, well in a word, luxuries. In addition, many of these homes are only lived in for a short period of time. The question comes then, How do you market a luxury home? So we’re here to the rescue with 9 Luxury real estate marketing ideas for 2018.
1. Know Your Luxury Real Estate Market & Customer
You have to know what kind of real estate market you are in. Are you primarily a primary residence, vacation market, second-home destination or attractive to retirees? Which home features are most desired in your area? What amenities? Being able to profile your home and determine where it sits versus all the above can help you begin to understand the challenges of marketing a luxury home.
2. Set Your Price Right
One thing that does not change in any type of market is the price! However, luxury home buyers do care about different things than your typical home. Things like high-end appliances, out-of-the-ordinary features such as heated garages or elevators, and in-home theater systems (crazy pools?). Plus, things specific to your home’s location are a very big deal. Nothing is more important than how you price it and you can’t price it without a firm understanding of what’s going on in your market.
3. Know When to Sell
Generally, luxury homes take longer to sell and might be less susceptible to seasonality than traditional homes. However, this is not the case for luxury homes in luxury destinations. So while a luxury home in Richardson TX won’t see any differences in Seasons, a luxury home in Davenport FL, outside of Orlando might notice it. Even though Davenport is not on the beach it’s in Florida and the real estate Seasonality greatly influence Florida.
4. Effective Digital Marketing
Today, nothing is more vital to the sale of a luxury property than effective, robust and powerful digital marketing. The trouble is, almost no real estate broker can do it effectively. Digital marketing techniques are very complex, they change daily and are, for most other industries, a full-time job staffed with professionals who have degrees in marketing, PR, software engineering and data analysis. It simply isn’t something you usually find at your local real estate office. Don’t settle for a luxury agent that can’t prove their expertise in digital marketing. This is usually a 7 Figure sell, it’s important to choose real estate agents that understand the luxury market and luxury marketing techniques.
5. Stage Your Home
No where is staging more important than the sale of a luxury home. Luxury consumers as a group have similar buying habits in everything they buy. When they’re in a luxury home, the need to find evidence that someone “like them” also bought this home and they need to feel “at home.” In other words, they need to see the same kinds of things they’d buy and have in their own luxury homes. Nothing delivers that feeling of connection more quickly than showing a home that’s tastefully appointed, very clean, well lit and well-maintained. Most of all, let your sense of style come through. Luxury buyers as a whole prefer the creative as opposed to an empty home.
6. Make the home Brandable, Build Intrigue
Marketing a luxury home isn’t just about selling its most distinctive features. It’s also about creating a certain prestige that sparks desire among interested buyers. This might involve taking a more “experiential” approach to selling your home. Essentially, think about the kind of “lifestyle” potential luxury buyers can enjoy with the home.
Another topic might be to talk about who owned the home previously? For some buyers, owning a former Tyler Perry home might be a big deal in Atlanta Real Estate.
7. High-Quality Video and Photos
Effectively marketing your home on the web, mobile and on social media will need eye-catching and high-definition imagery and video. Luxury buyers expect things to look, well, luxury. Skimp on the photography and video and it will undercut your agent’s entire digital marketing campaign. Drone video fly-arounds, live broadcast walk-thrus and virtual floorplans are all hitting big with the luxury buyer, so be sure to get an agent that not only knows of these things but knows which ones will work best in – you guessed it – your market.
8. 3D Floorplans
It’s not enough to simply have great photos and a video walkthrough. Selling luxury real estate is about standing out above the crowd. In some luxury communities, image is just as important as the home. For example, luxury real estate in Edina MN offers many different options in terms of architecture, but ultimately the best marketer is going to win. Don’t skimp, get the 3D Floorplan.
9. VR – Virtual Reality Walkthrough
We’ve said it through this entire post, but image matters. Wow your luxury home buyers by doing a virtual reality walkthrough of the home. You’ll be putting the home in the top 1% of 1% … which after all is what Luxury Real Estate is all about.
Hire The Right Luxury Agent!
No list would be complete without mentioning this step. Instead of trying to sell you on the idea of a luxury real estate agent, we’ll just let you know that not all real estate agents are created equal and it’s important for you to interview them and see what they offer.