Market Strategy: What Matters Most

With record-setting prices and continued low inventory of luxury properties for sale, it’s easy for sellers to become complacent. But every quarter-point uptick in the interest rate puts growing pressure on buyers, and even those with deep pockets may be persuaded to postpone their major purchase.

A savvy strategy is critical for sellers. Unlike mid-range properties, which attract a much larger pool of buyers, estate properties must reach–and appeal to–a more select audience. Here are a few points to keep in mind:

Eye appeal

The owners of luxury properties have a wide range of taste in style and dé While the seller may have spent a lifetime collecting French antiques, the buyer may be looking for a home that will accommodate Picasso or Hockney. “Neutral” and sophisticated staging is more important than ever. As soon as potential buyers step through the door, they need to be able to imagine themselves living–with their own curated collections–in the home.

When we bring an estate property to market, we recommend top-to-bottom freshening and staging–inside and out. If the property has been listed with another broker, it’s time to re-stage so that the home and grounds are fresh to agents and buyers when the new round of marketing begins. If the property remains unsold for many months, we stage it anew.

Market appeal

Selling a luxury property is a process that begins long before the potential buyer walks through the door. Even the most majestic estates require dynamic marketing: spectacular photography, lively descriptive text, an appealing website, and superbly managed media exposure.

But those tools and techniques won’t get far without effective networking. Real estate continues to be a personal, relationship business. Contacts among agents and ongoing communication with past clients often contain the seeds of a successful sale.

Price appeal

In a market that seems to have no ceiling, sellers may be hard-pressed to resist the temptation to add zeros to a property’s selling price. After all, a higher price means a greater profit. Or does it? What we understand about buyers at every level of the marketplace is that they are looking for value. The surest way to attract more potential buyers is to price the property slightly below.

More agents will preview the property, more buyers will request showings, and more offers are likely to push the selling price upward. This is one of the most difficult strategies for sellers to embrace, but it is the one that can yield the most lucrative results.

Naturally, there are many more steps to a successful outcome, including market knowledge, responsive communication, and skilled and sensitive negotiation. With these and other tactics, and years of experience in all market conditions, the Joyce Rey Team has recorded more than $4 billion in career sales, one estate property at a time.