Understanding the Needs of the Affluent Homebuyer

Jul 22, 2019

Last year at this time, the news was full of the gloom and doom the president’s new tax plan was going to drop on the real estate market – especially the high-end second-home market.

Some experts predicted that owners who can’t find a tax loophole may end up selling, thus adding to the luxury home inventory.

Selling any home requires an understanding of the buyer pool. When the home is high-end, it’s even more important, as this pool is significantly smaller and those swimming in it are much more specific in their wants and needs.

While the list changes frequently, a few features that attract affluent homebuyers remain the same decade after decade. These include privacy and security, a personalized or custom space and a home that helps build “happy memories with family and friends,” according to a 2018 Luxury Portfolio International® study.

Putting these qualities into words and highlighting them is critical when marketing a luxury property.

What else are today’s wealthy homebuyers seeking? Read on to learn more.

What are the affluent homebuyer’s hot buttons?

It’s challenging to lump together any group of individuals and assume they all want the same things. The luxury homebuying pool is no exception. International buyers, for instance, have vastly different desires than the luxury buyer planning to live in the home full-time.

Then, the more expensive the home, the longer the list of must-haves.

Available in the postcard section under the Luxury Series.

But, when studying domestic luxury homebuyers, certain themes become apparent. These include their desire for privacy, energy efficiency and a spa-like master suite, among others.

Privacy

Privacy tops the list of concerns of affluent homebuyers, according to the Luxury Portfolio International study of the top 10 percent (by income) of real estate consumers.

This is particularly evident in land-starved areas, such as Silicon Valley, where Mark Zuckerberg bought four of his neighbor’s homes to provide a buffer between his family and the rest of us. He also walled off his neighbor’s ocean views near his Hawaii home, trying to create even more privacy.

Wealthy homebuyers want tech-friendly homes

When we think “tech-friendly” we typically picture a millennial homebuyer. Recent surveys show, however that 87 percent of buyers shopping in the luxury market won’t purchase a home that doesn’t offer tech features.

App-driven security systems are the most in-demand feature (with more than half of high-end property buyers requesting them), followed by automated climate control.

If your luxury listing’s tech system also extends to controlling other home systems, you’ll want to hit the feature hard in your marketing materials.

Scaled back swimming pool

A Redfin study finds that luxury buyers, for the most part, still insist on a swimming pool, but they want it to be smaller. This makes sense when we understand their desire for more backyard entertainment features. A smaller pool leaves more room for these additional features.

What the affluent seek in a real estate agent

According to a 2017 Luxury Portfolio International white paper, there are three qualities that the high-end home shopper or seller is seeking in an agent.

The first is trustworthiness. Let your testimonials do the heavy lifting on this one. Ensure that you place your best one above the fold on your website and that the others are easily accessible.

The second quality you’ll need to attract affluent real estate consumers is proof that you understand the “details that distinguish the best.” This means understanding “artistic craftsmanship.”

Yes, it’s something that can be learned, but it takes time. Immerse yourself in architecture and art. Tour high-end homes to get a feel for what constitutes “aesthetic quality.” Get to know the luxury brands that this pool of homebuyers finds valuable.

Finally, when asked about their ideal real estate agent, luxury homebuyers say they want to work with someone who is willing to “take the time to understand my needs.”

Now that one is universal.

A great resource for agents interested in entering the luxury market is Michael LaFido’s Luxury Blueprint Video Series. It’s a three-part series on how to break into and sell more high-end and luxury homes.

You can also listen to his podcast “Luxury Listing Specialist” on iTunes or Stitcher. For information on Michael’s Luxury Listing Specialist Certification Click Here.

Luxury Property Flyers (available under the Luxury Marketing tab on our website)

If you have a luxury property listing be sure to order Luxury Property Flyers to enhance your client’s property and highlight its outstanding features.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

“Get MORE Listings & Begin to Dominate Your Market!” Free online webinar. Learn the 3-7-27 strategy for explosive growth, why 95% of agents have less than 20% market share, and how to become the agent everyone competes against. – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. –Click Here

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan. – Click Here

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! –Click Here

5 simple rules of writing real estate content for the web

Jul 17, 2019

Content is the cornerstone of your online presence and your brand’s biggest ambassador. Done right and shared frequently, it will deliver visitors to your website where you can work your conversion magic.

Writing isn’t easy for those who don’t do it every day. But you don’t need to bend it like Dostoevsky or Shakespeare. Once you realize that, you free yourself of that little nag in your head that tells you that you suck at writing.

Let’s take a look at some of the basics, as applied to your blog posts but transferrable to most website content.

Know your audience

It’s crazy to try to target every conceivable real estate consumer in one blog post. You won’t succeed.

Before setting fingers to keyboard, take the time to think about to whom your topic will appeal. That is your audience for this particular post.

That’s the person you’ll imagine as you write. For instance, when writing a post on downsizing, your audience is most likely:

A homeowner
A member of the baby boomer generation
Someone who owns a large home
Someone who needs help both selling and buying

Draw an imaginary picture of this person, sitting at his or her computer reading your article. Keep that picture top-of-mind while writing.

Remain focused on the topic

Nothing will tick your readers off more than a snappy title luring them into reading a post that ends up having little to do with the title. The anger will be worse if your post offers no solutions and few answers.

Their anger toward you is well deserved; you’ve effectively ripped off their time.

It’s a common problem with folks who don’t write for a living. A solution to this is to create the title of your piece last.

Free Report for Real Estate Marketing to sellers — available under the Free Report tab on our website.

Then, when you’re finished writing and you proofread it, determine your main theme, come up with a brilliant title and remove anything in the post that strays from it.

Short and simple

This rule applies to sentences as well as paragraphs and even words.

Don’t use a $5 million word when a $2 word will suffice

For example:

We will accompany you – We will go with you
When you relocate to – When you move to
The optimum time to buy (or sell) – The best time to buy (or sell)
Obtain a mortgage – get a home loan
Purchase a home – Buy a home

The same holds true for sentences and paragraphs; keep them short and easy to read.

Looks matter

When a visitor lands on your blog post, it’s the visual appeal that he or she will notice first. If your post appears too wordy, too challenging to read, the chances are good your visitor will leave.

Aside from that snappy title, one of the best ways to “trick” them into staying is by making the post appear to be a quick, easy read. Use the following in each post:

Lots of white space. You can get this by keeping your paragraphs short – no longer than five sentences, but shorter is better.
Bullet points
Numbered lists
Stand-alone quotes

Proof and edit – a couple of times

Congratulations! You’ve got yourself a first draft. Keep in mind that

“The first draft of anything is sh#$”

According to the late Ernest Hemmingway.

Now, you need to hone that blog post. Read through it, looking for spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes. Then, check it for factual and logical errors. Ensure that claims you make are backed up by facts.

We found the perfect example of a logical error on a New Jersey luxury agent’s blog. He opens it with a question, asking the reader if he or she is considering “knocking down the walls of an existing property.”

As opposed to a non-existing property? Hopefully, had the agent proofed his post, he would’ve caught this. Obviously, he didn’t proof.

After making your edits, read the post once more for flow. Organize the information so that each thought leads logically to the next.

Then, set it aside for a few hours and repeat the process. You may be surprised how many mistakes you missed on the first-read.

available under the Free Report tab on our website.

Your final task is to share your content — in as many places as possible.

Offer the Free Report, “Five Ways Waiting to Sell Can Cost You Thousands” as an opt in our your blog in exchange for email addresses.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

How to stop wasting time and start selling more real estate

Jul 14, 2019

If you’re of a certain age you may recall when the personal computer was brand spanking new to the world and all the promises it held out to us.

It would usher in a paperless society, they said. It will transform our work environment, saving tons of time and making us more productive, they promised.

Sure, personal computers have caused the demise of the video store and we no longer have to stand in line at the bank, but many of us still deal with piles of paper and spend way too much time online.

Both of those (paperwork and the internet) are major time thieves, but they aren’t the only ones you may routinely face during the work day.

Email is supposed to be a tool

A recent Michigan State University study found that we spend more than 90 minutes a day – “or seven-and-a-half hours every week – recovering from email interruptions.”

Have you ever figured out what your time is worth? Take your annual commission amount and divide it by 2,000 (the average number of hours most people work each year, with two weeks deducted for vacation time).

That’s a rough estimate of your hourly rate. That is how much money you lose, per day, by allowing yourself to be a slave to your email. Multiply that out over the course of a year – shocking, isn’t it?

Think about how much more productive you would be with an extra hour and a half each day. Then, stop being reactive when it comes to email. Turn off email notifications and only check for new emails during specific times.

Or, assign email-checking to your assistant. No assistant? Why not?

Social media marketing as a rabbit hole

Yes, social media marketing is important. But it is entirely too easy to stop by Facebook to share your latest blog post and end up chasing shiny objects. Minutes can easily turn into an hour, or more.

In fact, studies by eMarketer claim that we spend 40 minutes a day on Facebook. Add that 40 minutes (if it’s not spent solely on business marketing) to the 90 you lose checking email and you’ve lost more than 2 hours a day to non-income-producing distractions.

Use Free Reports as opt ins and sellers calling you (available under our Free Report tab).

If the shiny objects are far too attractive to you, plan on saving your social media marketing for the end of the day. Then, discipline yourself to save the socializing for after you take care of the marketing stuff.

Temptations in the home office

You can’t beat working from home. Wear whatever you want, eat lunch whenever you want and take breaks whenever you please.

It’s a blessing, yes, but it’s also a curse. There are so many distractions when working from home—distractions that can ruin your productivity.

Not only does the pile of clean laundry call out to you to be folded and put away, but other household chores suddenly seem more interesting than the work at hand. Besides, it’ll only take a few minutes, right?

Staying focused on your work can be challenging. If it is for you, try the “rule of 52 and 17.” John Rampton at Inc.com says.

The study apparently found that “the most productive people take a 17-minute break every 52 minutes.” Rampton adjusted the rule to fit his attention span and works “in shorter, 30-minute sprints,” breaking for 5 to 7 minutes.

Set a timer or ask Alexa to remind you when your time is up, but vow to remain focused during the work period. Then you can fold that laundry.

But, there’s more

Home office workers don’t know this but they have a sign on their backs that says “I’m at home so I’m not really working. Feel free to ask me to pick up your dry-cleaning, run your daughter to ballet class or drop your dog at the vet.”

Find a local professional errand runner and keep his or her phone number handy. Every time your sister calls with an errand for you to run, give her the number.

Setting boundaries is actually the key to success. It may take time, but the more often you meet these requests by reminding the people making them that you are working, the less it will happen.

These time-wasters only scratch the surface of what a real estate agent may face during the work day. Add time-wasting clients, disorganized work spaces and cars and working without a plan to the list.

Learning how to be more self-disciplined isn’t easy but it’s critical to the success of your real estate business. Plus, it makes you happy, according to a study published in the Journal of Personality.

“Exerting self-control can make you happier not only in the long run, but also in the moment,” Time.com’s Maia Szalavitz says, citing the study.

Apparently, “managing conflicting goals” successfully makes us feel good. In real estate, it also helps you make more money.

Get hands raising with an attention-getting free report (available under the Free Report tabe on our website).

Educate your target market and get them leaning forward to work with you by adding the Free Report, “9 Ways to Get More Money, Less Time, With Less Headaches“ as an opt in to all of your marketing.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

The 3 Most Damaging Website Mistakes & How to Fix Them

Jul 10, 2019

Most agent website mistakes are easy fix once you know how.

Let’s take a look at the three most damaging agent website problems and their solutions.

1. Lack of focus

Many agent websites seem to reflect a common agent mindset: “I am a jack of all trades and master at none.” When agents are trying to reach every, last conceivable prospect, their websites end up with a vague and meaningless focus.

No, “Buyers” and “Sellers” aren’t target audiences – at least not in a way that sets you apart from every other agent in town. If you truly want these two, overly-broad groups as a target, create two websites, one for each.

Your buyer’s site can then be narrowed down even further. Are you looking to work with first-time buyers? Condo buyers? Move up buyers? Retirement buyers? Luxury or ranch home buyers?

The same holds true for the seller-focused site: first-time sellers, downsizers, selling the luxury or waterfront home, for instance.

“One of the biggest marketing mistakes is to attempt to appeal to everyone at once.”

Suggests Tom Hallissey at Fat Guy Media. “The most-efficient way to reach more qualified consumers is to target smaller, more specific groups.”

We once worked with a woman who specialized in mobile home buyers. Sure, one mobile home here and there seems hardly worth the effort, but this lady specialized and marketed herself as the expert. She made a killing in the mobile home market and, her website was one of her best lead generation tools.

2. Overly-focused on the wrong things

Real estate prospecting is all about building relationships and each visitor to your site is a prospect. What happens then when visitors are immediately bombarded by how great you are, how many homes you’ve sold and how much money you make?

Is the braggadocio the person you would want to build a relationship with? Of course not. Self-important bragging is unattractive and doesn’t tell your website visitor one thing about “what is in it for them”.

So, skip the hype about you and, instead, make your website client-focused. If your ideal prospects visit your website, what do they want to know? How can you help them find it? Use your knowledge of and experience in real estate to demonstrate why you are the agent they should hire.

3. Wait … isn’t real estate all about location?

We recently read a Facebook post from an agent who was complaining that, after six months, his website just wasn’t “working.” He was blaming the website company.

Yet, one look at his site points the finger right back at the agent. The only mention of his market – his geographic location – was in his email address, posted at the bottom of the page.

He bought a template website and did nothing to customize it, except to plaster his own name all over it. This, despite there being numerous opportunities on the home page alone to stick in at least the name of his town.

His neighborhood pages consisted of his IDX for the area. That’s it.

According to NAR’s study, Real Estate in the Digital Age, nearly half of homebuyers using the internet are interested in neighborhood information.

Many agents ignore this section (if they even have one) of their websites, and it’s a pity. What’s it like living in a particular community? What are the good points? Why would I – as a first-time buyer, a move-up buyer, a commuter, retirement buyer, someone with a family or any other type of buyer want to live there?

Use your website to show pictures, discuss local news and events in your blog posts and anything else that captures why this neighborhood is a great place to live.

If your website isn’t converting as you hoped it would consider tweaking it to be more consumer-focused and offer the information they’re craving.

Start providing your farm with the neighborhood information they crave today.

Send at least 100 Neighborhood Update postcards to your farm or an area where you want more listings.

You might also like:

New Agent Success: Generate Listing Leads

Must-Use Marketing and the Path to Success

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Get the Attention of Expireds & Win Their Listing – 2 Killer Tools

Jul 8, 2019

Working with sellers of expired listings is almost always a great listing opportunity. Granted, some are disillusioned, worried and flat out angry they didn’t get results the first time around. But most of the time – they’re still motivated to sell.

One of the first things you have to do when working with Expireds is to help them figure out why their home didn’t sell. Was the selling price a factor, the terms, or maybe the home’s condition?

Whatever it was, the key to keeping a bad outcome from happening again is to make sure your sellers are 100% onboard and invested in creating a successful end result.

Using visuals aids while discussing an effective action plan can help you communicate with your clients more clearly. In addition, they lend an extra layer of authority to the conversation, appeal to both auditory and visual thinkers and help you and your clients stay on track.

Killer tool #1 – The Merchandising Review

The Merchandising Review is the perfect visual tool for walking sellers through the potential pitfalls that can happen if you don’t follow a success track when listing a property.

It demonstrates some of the top reasons why a home will or will not sell. Using this tool allows you the ability to make whatever adjustments are needed, with a sound explanation, to help get your clients on board.

Did I mention it’s free?

Yes, it’s one of many of our free resources available to you. Click here to go to our Resource Page and download the Merchandising Review now.

While you are there, download the 6 Pitfalls of Overpricing Free Report too – it’s a must-have for today’s listing presentation.

Killer tool #2 – Get Their Attention

Now that you have the perfect tool to guide you through the selling process with your clients, it’s time to make those Expireds aware of their neighborhood expert and get them raising their hands for help.

At least twice a week, pull the Expireds in your market and send them a series of 3-5 postcards from our Expired Series, mailing one every 5-7 days. Use the back of the postcard to announce that you have a “highly effective tool” that will help determine what went wrong with their home sale and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Invite them to call you for a copy of their own. It’s a great way in the door to these potential sellers.

Begin to go after Expireds today by sending the Four Questions You Should Ask About Your Expired Listing postcard from the Expired 7 Series.

You might also like:

New Agent Success: Generate Listing Leads

Must-Use Marketing and the Path to Success

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

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What are the affluent homebuyer’s hot buttons?

Privacy

Wealthy homebuyers want tech-friendly homes

Scaled back swimming pool

What the affluent seek in a real estate agent

If you have a luxury property listing be sure to order Luxury Property Flyers to enhance your client’s property and highlight its outstanding features.

Know your audience

Remain focused on the topic

Short and simple

Looks matter

“The first draft of anything is sh#$”

Offer the Free Report, “Five Ways Waiting to Sell Can Cost You Thousands” as an opt in our your blog in exchange for email addresses.

Email is supposed to be a tool

Social media marketing as a rabbit hole

Temptations in the home office

But, there’s more

Educate your target market and get them leaning forward to work with you by adding the Free Report, “9 Ways to Get More Money, Less Time, With Less Headaches“ as an opt in to all of your marketing.

1. Lack of focus

“One of the biggest marketing mistakes is to attempt to appeal to everyone at once.”

2. Overly-focused on the wrong things

3. Wait … isn’t real estate all about location?

Start providing your farm with the neighborhood information they crave today.

Send at least 100 Neighborhood Update postcards to your farm or an area where you want more listings.

You might also like:

Killer tool #1 – The Merchandising Review

Killer tool #2 – Get Their Attention

Begin to go after Expireds today by sending the Four Questions You Should Ask About Your Expired Listing postcard from the Expired 7 Series.

You might also like:

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