Being a Realtor for the Rich Can Teach You a Lot. Here’s What You Can Learn from Them While Doing Your Job.
It takes an experienced real-estate agent to sell property to the wealthy. You need to be an expert in your field and in their market. It’s worth the effort, as you’ll be handsomely rewarded after each sale, not only financially but also in knowledge.
Here’s 15 Things You Learn Selling Real-Estate to the Super-Rich.
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1
You’ll Learn More about the Property Market Than You Initially Thought
It’s not enough that you know how many bedrooms or bathrooms a property has, because if you’re selling a home to the mega-wealthy, it’s more than that.
Luxury homes are more challenging to box into the “price per square foot category” according to certified luxury home marketing specialist, Vivien Snyder. There are construction features and structural components to consider and all the finer details that don’t come standard with your regular house purchase.
As a real-estate agent for the wealthy, you will learn things about the property market that are way beyond your initial scope.
2
You’ll Learn to Communicate Well with the Wealthy
And this Aluxers, will open more doors for you.
Often people feel flustered or shy when interacting with the wealthy, but when it’s what you do day in, day out, you’ll feel completely confident in interacting and communicating with the uber-rich.
You’ll also learn to be very detail-oriented, prepared, be able to back up any information with facts and evidence and pre-empt questions and concerns before they’re even asked.
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3
The Rich Don’t Make Rushed Decisions
It’s easy to assume that the rich will saunter into a beautiful home, flash their hundred-dollar bills and walk away a property owner within minutes, but it doesn’t happen that way.
The rich don’t let their emotions influence their purchase decision.
Legendary copywriter, Joseph Sugarman once said, “You sell on emotion, but you justify a purchase with logic.” And this is true when it comes to the wealthy and their house-buying decision… they cross every T and dot every I, and only once everything aligns perfectly, do they sign on the dotted line.
Which brings us to our next point…
4
The Rich Always Get a Better Deal
So what if they can afford the asking price? They don’t need to pay it, and they will negotiate their way into a better deal. In fact, Aluxers, it’s expected.
When you are selling real-estate to the rich, you quickly learn how the rich negotiate better deals, and not only in the selling price of the property, but also in the interest rates that the bank charges on the monthly loan repayments.
Overall, a seller can never expect a rich person to pay the asking price and best you learn quickly to negotiate well if you want to ensure your commission remains as high as possible.
5
The Super-rich Are Willing to Pay for the Right Advice
We’ve touched on this topic over the past couple of weeks, in our videos 15 Things You LEARN Being A DRIVER For RICH People, and 15 Things You Learn Working for Extremely Rich People where one common fact cropped up … the wealthy don’t pretend to know everything, and when they don’t know something, they ask.
When it comes to buying property, they will ensure that they get the right advice, and they will pay for it if needed.
They’re not going to take the advice of their friends, neighbours or family…. Well, unless those people happen to be ace in the property game, but if not, they’ll hire someone to give them professional guidance on whether or not the purchase is a solid investment.
6
The Wealthy Don’t Just Buy Property to Live In
When purchasing a property, a rich buyer will have different goals for their property investment. Some will want to physically live in the property, while others will want it for long-term investment returns.
As the seller, you’ll need to pick up on the concrete differences of the needs of the client and ensure that his or her purchase will offer the best returns over time.
Your client might also be interested in flipping houses, which will require an entirely different perspective.
These are fantastic opportunities to learn from the professionals, and with time, you could find yourself in the exact same position.
7
The Super-rich Only Invest in Areas Appreciating in Value
Housing.com gives 5 factors that cause property price appreciation, which include:
– Infrastructure development – this includes any new transport facilities being made available, which means more people in the area, which means more property being needed.
– Upcoming or available amenities – Compare a house for sale with a garage and house for sale with no garage in the same street… the one with the garage will sell at a higher price. Any property that can offer something that is needed in a certain area, will appreciate well.
– Local development – If the area is all about growth and is maintained well, a buyer can’t go wrong with purchasing in that area.
– Policy changes – directly influenced by lending rate and finally…
– Economic situation – is it currently expensive to buy building materials or hire labourers etc.
All these points influence the buying decisions of the rich.
8
Take Full Advantage of the Tax Code
Aluxers, the rich use the tax system to their advantage. And by saying this, we’re not suggesting they’re crooking the system… although, of course, some do.
As explained by Investopedia, “Investing in real estate continues to be one of the best ways to build wealth and cut taxes.” They expand by explaining that investors can “defer taxes by selling an investment property and using the equity to purchase another property in what is known as a 1031 like-kind exchange.”
Other benefits include being able to borrow against the home equity of their property to use the money for other investments, owners could potentially be excluded from capital gain taxes on the sale of their home, depending on the property sale value and they can deduct the interest paid on their mortgages.
If you are interested to know how the rich go about their taxes, check out 15 Ways Rich People Avoid Paying Taxes.
9
Focus On Building a Relationship and Not Just Selling the Property
This is one of the most important lessons to learn when selling real-estate to the wealthy. They’re not going to remember some random person they bought a house from. They’re going to remember the quality person that was honest, that they got along with and who also didn’t take cr*p.
That’s the person they’re going to go back to when they want to buy another property.
10
Only a Select Few Will Become a Realtor for the Rich
Forbes says that the average income of a realtor is $41,289.
There are currently 1.3 million active realtors in the USA, and only 2% of those earn more than $250,000 a year. A survey conducted by ActiveRain confirmed that 22% of agents earned less than $35,000 per year and 21% earned more than $100,000 a year.
States where realtors make the most money are New York, Texas and Hawaii, and the least money made is in Ohio, Arkansas and Montana – according to Forbes.
11
The Wealthy Are Not Always Right, and They Don’t Mind You Pointing It Out
Successful realtors believe that part of their success is that they don’t tell their clients want they want to hear, they tell them what they need to hear.
As their realtor, it’s their job to save them money, listen to their needs and ensure that they are fully informed about their purchase.
The realtor can then let their client make their decision with all the right knowledge in hand, and there is no room for, “you should have told me XYZ,” or any unexpected “surprises.”
By dealing with clientele this way, you gain respect and trust.
12
You’ll Stay Informed with Current Trends and Tech Developments
Aluxers, you’re not going to sell any property to the rich if you’re not staying up to date with current trends and developments.
Subscribe to real-estate blogs, follow reputable agents on their social media, read industry journals and watch the news.
If there are new tools created to help you with the job, utilize them.
Technology is a powerful tool to help industry leaders sell houses, especially with Covid-19 still in full force and agents that haven’t taken advantage of these tools are trailing behind others who have.
Tech Republic says, “because of COVID-19 regulations, the long-standing real estate process had to change, and quickly: There was no in-person open house, brokers’ open or walk-through of houses for potential buyers, their agent and the seller’s agent. Wheels spun and innovation happened.”
Speaking of tech Aluxers, coming up, we’ll tell you how crypto and NFTs could help regular people become real estate tycoons.
13
The Wealthy Are Not Time Wasters
Anyone selling real-estate knows just how much of their day is time wasted – either waiting for people to show up for appointments, waiting for others to arrive home to let you in, waiting for feedback, follow ups and so on… it’s an industry of “hurry up and wait.”
Rich people don’t have time to waste. They will arrive promptly, do the necessary and then head to their next appointment… on time.
14
You Learn to Become More Visible and Active In Your Community
Aluxers, the only way you’re going to be noticed by the wealthy is to take an active role in your community. By doing this, you will establish good relationships with the local residents and get to know how the neighbourhood works.
People generally do business with those they are familiar with and with people that are doing good in their community.
If you’d like to get more active in the community, you can volunteer at an animal rescue centre, you could sponsor a local sports team, you could offer your advice for free on the local radio station, or even offer to speak to students about the pros and cons of going into the real-estate industry.
Whatever you decide to do, do it because you want to and not because you have to… people will pick up on that immediately.
15
It’s Less Challenging Selling to the Wealthy
It’s easy to assume that selling property to the wealthy will be more difficult than selling to “ordinary” people, but the opposite is true.
An ordinary person buying a home has a lot of challenges that crop up. Finances are not quite all there, they can only afford to buy in a sh*tty area, or their bond falls through last minute – so many factors could crop up.
A wealthy person knows what they want, has the finance to overcome the regular challenges that come with buying property and can communicate their needs well.
So, Aluxers, if you work hard in the beginning, you will be rewarded with high-end, wealthy clients.
Question:
Are you in the real-estate industry? If so, what do you find the biggest challenges are?
