Luxury Insights

Are Your Listing Photos Swipeable?

If you don't have professional quality photos that tell the lifestyle story of every home you are marketing, you are doing yourself and your sellers a disservice.  End of story.

Have you looked at the key role that GOOD photographs play in connecting with buyers on Realtor.com/Move's new Doorsteps Swipe app?  You should.  Especially if you are looking to connect with Gen X, Gen Y, or Millennial buyers. 

Doorsteps Swipe is a good example of the changing ways in which buyers and sellers are being exposed to and interacting with your marketing information. 

What’s up in Manhattan? Number of sales and prices!

According to the just released EllimanReport: Quarterly Survey of Co-op and Condo Sales, the Manhattan market is going strong.

Highlights:

Most first quarter sales in seven years as listing inventory stabilized.
There were 3,307 sales, 34.6% above the same period last year, marking the highest first quarter total in years. Listing inventory was essentially unchanged at 4,968 after three years of declines.

Average price per square foot set a 25-year record.
The average price per square foot of a Manhattan apartment reached a record $1,363, 23.6% above the prior year level. Median sales price increased 18.5% to $972,428 from the prior year level, but remained 5.1% below the record set in the second quarter of 2008.

Days on market and listing discount tightened. 
The time to market a property was 17 days faster than the same period last year, falling to 115 days.  Listing discount decreased 2.6% from 4.3% in the same period last year.

For more information on the city’s real estate market, check out the EllimanReport and a recent article in The New York Times.

Delivering Good Service: What are your affluent clients' expectations?

As luxury real estate professionals, we strive to provide our clients with outstanding service. Understanding a client's values and expectations is essential to meeting and exceeding their expectations, as is knowing the measures they will use to evaluate the service they receive.

What do the affluent expect?

Based on a new report by Vanguard and the Spectrem Group, it would appear that they expect communication & competence.

If you've completed our CLHMS Training this should sound very familiar!  

While the report looks at the affluent and their relationships with investment advisors, their expectations for real estate professionals are very similar.  

As we can see, the two most important criteria are:

1. Returning phone calls in a timely manner (Communication!)
2. Providing good ideas and advice (Competence!)

What does "in a timely manner" really mean?

Pretty darn quick.  As we can see in the chart above, among the Ultra-High-Net-Worth, almost a third of them expect a return call or email within two hours.  In almost all cases, a response two days later is a losing proposition.

The takeaways?  

Discuss and know your clients' expectations on communication.  As you begin to work with a buyer or seller, they will have expectations and preferences about communication. Ask, “How would you like me to communicate with you and how frequently?”  Also establish their expectations as to response time.

They may ask for a weekly phone call and an additional call when something important occurs. Or, they prefer that the principal form of contact be a weekly email with a phone call as necessary. Whatever their preference, it is important for you to be aware of it. If you have a specific communication schedule, share that with them. “I call my sellers every Monday night between 6:00 and 8:00. Will that work for you?” If they tell you that’s when they play bridge at the club, you’ll need to agree on another communication schedule. In short, agree as to when and how you’ll stay in touch. The relationship will benefit and they’ll feel more positive about you and
your service.

 Communicate your knowledge and expertise.  When working with the affluent, success comes not from who you know, but WHAT you know.  Be an expert.  Advise your clients from a position of knowledge and expertise, and you will be rewarded with their trust and loyalty. 

China: Reversal of Fortunes?

Over the past few years, Chinese buyers have been one of the big stories in luxury real estate.

Recently, there has been increasing speculation about troubles in the Chinese economy.  

There is also growing speculation that A Chinese housing market crash could be even more disastrous than America's (Quartz), and concern that As credit tightens at home, Chinese sell Hong Kong luxury real estate (Reuters).  

Will wealthy Chinese sell-off overseas properties to gain liquidity?  
Are we seeing the beginning of a bubble-burst?
Stay tuned...

Millennials - Breaking the Myths

Market research firm Nielsen has released a new report: Millennials - Breaking the Myths.  

Among their key findings, Millennials are...

• Diverse, Expressive and Optimistic

• Driving a Social Movement Back to the Cities

• Struggling, But They Have an Entrepreneurial Spirit

• Deal Shoppers and Desire Authenticity

• Connected and Want the Personal Touch

Contrary to popular notions, some millennials are quite affluent.  About 15% of Americans with assets above $2M are Millennials:

Where do the wealthier Millennilas live?

For more details, download the full report.

Forbes Billionaire List Hits Newstands

Forbes’ new Billionaire List hit the newsstands and the Forbes website this month. The current list of 1,645 billionaires reveals that after four years, Microsoft magnate Bill Gates has jumped over Mexican Carlos Slim Helu to retake the number one spot on the list. The five wealthiest on this year’s list with their estimated wealth and home country:

1. Bill Gates, $76, billion, U.S.A.
2. Carlos Slim Helu, $72 billion, Mexico
3. Amanico Ortega, $64 billion, Spain
4. Warren Buffet, $58.2 billion, U.S.A.
5. Larry Ellison, $48 billion, U.S.A.

Other highlights from the list:

• The aggregate wealth of billionaires is $6.4 trillion.
• Roughly two thirds built their own fortunes.  Another 13% inherited, while 21% added to their inheritance. 
• Sixty nine countries are represented on the list. Billionaires from the U.S. continue to dominate with 492 billionaires, or about 30%.
• China is represented with 152 billionaires and Russia with 111.
• There were 268 newcomers to the list.
• Thirty one of the billionaires are under age 40.
• The wealthiest woman, Walmart heiress Christy Walton, weighed in at #9 on the list with $36.7 billion.
• Of 172 women on the list, 32 had a “meaningful hand in building their own fortunes.”

The Ultra-Rich Plan to Buy More Property in 2014

According to the Knight Frank The Wealth Report 2014 which surveyed about  600 private bankers or wealth advisors representing around 23,000 UHNWI clients across the world,

"Almost a quarter of UHNWI investment portfolios is accounted for by property and as an asset class it is growing in popularity.

Just over 40% of survey respondents said their clients increased their allocation to property in 2013 and 47% expect it to increase further in 2014.

Residential property was the most popular area to invest in (54%), followed by commercial premises (34%) and agricultural land and forestry (12%)."

More info on the Knight Frank blog

The Wealth Report 2014

Über Rich...and Getting Richer

"For Rich, ’13 Was Good for Making, and Spending, Money" - an  article in Yesterday's New York Times, highlights the fact that the wealth of the über-rich continues to grow.  

A few of the highlights:

• The world’s club of ultrawealthy individuals, or those with $30 million or more in net assets, added about 5,000 new members last year

• Over the last decade, the ranks of the über-rich have swelled by 59 percent, and the register of billionaires climbed 80 percent, to 1,682

• The world’s 0.1 percenters had a pretty good year; three-quarters said their assets had increased. Only 4 percent said they wound up worth less

• By 2023, China is expected to have 322 billionaires, more than Britain, Russia, France and Switzerland combined

• Looking for someplace to park their wealth, the world’s rich still prefer property

Chinese Real Estate Investors Predicted to Flood US

Highligts from the OPP article "China and US 'to top cross-border property investment'":

• Chinese investment in overseas property is set to at least double in 2014
• By 2016, Chinese cross-border real estate funds flowing in to the United States will be the highest in the world, beating the current US$1.3billion from Singapore to the UK
• Among leading targets for High Net Worth Investors, commercial investors and developers are the gateway cities of New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco

For more details, check out the full artcle.

It's a Shark Tank out there...will your property pitch get the home sold?

Here's a short radio interview with Jules Peiri, founder and CEO of The Grommet and business pitch expert:  

 

In a nutshell: Jules Peiri has heard more pitches than any of us.  She knows what makes a good one.

She visits Harvard twice a month to hear pitches from MBAs.  According to her, 90% of them make the same mistake: Not getting the basic point across quickly or clearly enough. 

Guess what?  
Most real estate agents are making this same mistake!

Her advice in a nutshell: Find a simple analogy that communicates the essence of your business and, "Use it right up front and repeat it many times."

Selling a home is very much like pitching a business idea.  
The key is to effectively communicate:

• What you're offering
• How it is unique and better
• How it benefits your targeted audience (and you need to know your targeted audience!)

While real estate professionals may not  be "'pitching" the home to venture capitalists or reality TV show panels, an agent's marketing materials are essentially a pitch.  

Your HEADLINE is often the first and best opportunity to get your point across quickly.  Whatever you do, DO NOT waste it on the address.  

The only exception to this would be an address that itself tells a compelling story, like "1600 Pennsylvania Ave." or "15 Central Park West."  

 Use your headline to provide as much information to your targeted prospects as you can.  For example, how about an amazing home that is "too much" for the neighborhood?

 

 "Central Austin: Sexiest home in town. Priced Accordingly" tells a potential buyer a lot more about the property than, "1105 W. 31st St." doesn't it? It also begins to position the property effectively too.  Let's look at what's communicated with this headline:

• "Central Austin" - The location/neighborhood. Obviously key criteria for a prospect.  It is not as specific as the address, but it doesn't have to be to be meaningful.  Remember, the full address can be provided anywhere in the piece. Don't waste the headline opportunity on it!  
• "Sexiest home in town." - This is a real attention getter, and a strong claim to be making. With a headline like this, you know that there will be nothing average or typical about this property.  The property is likely to be an over-the-top, "show" home.  This statement WILL alienate some folks--those who are not likely to be real buyers of a home like this--and that's actually part of the reason for using it.  They are not prospects.  You don't want to waste their time or yours.  You want to reach the targeted prospects whose lifestyles match the property and will respond positively to this language.
• "Priced Accordingly" - It's the sexiest and it has a price to match.  This tells us that this is an expensive home, probably more expensive than most or all of the other homes in the neighborhood.  If you like sexy and expensive, this will have your attention for sure.  If you don't like sexy and expensive, move along,  you are not going to buy this house anyway, regardless of price.   

8 words.  Look at how much has been communicated.  With this simple headline, we have a real sense of the home's "personality" and the personality of the likely buyer!  

Remember Pieri's advice? 
Find a simple analogy that communicates the essence of your business and, "Use it right up front and repeat it many times." 

This headline does exactly that.