Luxury Listing Specialist - Dominate High End Listings In Any Market

Typos and grammatical errors look unprofessional. I always get an analysis on my listings by fresh eyes. Your second sight should be someone you trust. There’s no shame in having someone else double-check your listing before it goes live, especially if they make it better.  Making those small changes to a listing can differentiate it from the competition and help it “stand out.” Listen to learn more about double-checking your listings. 

Do you recruit top performers? If one common thread binds real estate industry executives together, it’s all about attracting and retaining quality sales employees - which is crucial for continuing growth and success. On today’s show, our guest is Judy LaDeur, a real estate recruiting coach. Judy and her organization are dedicated to training the best brokers, managers, recruiters, agents, and team leaders. For more than 30 years, Judy’s teaching and coaching to many clients led to positive outcomes that further distinguished her from the rest. She is dedicated to your success and will work tirelessly to assist you in establishing, accomplishing, and exceeding your objectives. Learn more about Judy at: https://judyladeur.com/    “There is a lot of churn in this business. Due diligence is the best anecdote for ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’. ”  -Michael LaFido   Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode   - Asking the right questions: Whether you’re an agent, team leader, or broker, it is wise to invest

As a luxury specialist, I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to successfully sell a difficult or unique property for top dollar in the shortest amount of time. To achieve that for your clients, it's been my experience that you need to adhere to the three p’s: positioning, process, and price. Today I’ll talk about how each of these is critical to successfully selling these types of homes. 

On today’s show, I’m going to talk about the journey of a recent significant $7,500,000 home that I put under contract. This home was famous for being the backdrop for FOX's hit series "Empire" for 6 seasons, it was Lucious Lyon’s home (aka The Lyon’s Den) on the tv show. This journey started in 2013 when the home first went on the market for just under 16 million. After 8 years on the market - 6 with me - it came under contact within a few weeks of me producing this recording. There's an old adage in real estate: You want to be the firstborn, the second wife, and the third listing agent.” Any truth? Well, in this case, I was the third agent for this amazing home. I want to share with you how I landed the listing, and how I was able to retain this listing and client for 6 years, to how we put it under contract. I also have some great, behind-the-scenes stories from when the house was on the market that you’ll get a kick out of. Make sure you check out the "Lifestyle" video I created for this home HERE  

It can be hard to break into the luxury market if you don’t know what you’re doing. Fortunately, today I’ll be talking about one of the easiest ways that agents can start positioning themselves as go-to luxury experts. The idea is to use other people’s properties to build your business. You’re essentially helping other agents with things like open houses and online marketing, which helps your business gain recognition and grow. Listen to learn more. Learn More: https://www.luxurylistingspecialist.com/

When selling luxury real estate, the biggest challenge is that luxury home buyers rarely have a sense of urgency. Even if they feel the need to upgrade to something bigger or better, they’re often too busy to actively pursue buying a new home. Because of this, it can be challenging to get their attention and even more challenging to get them to come see what you’re selling. It’s a given that when you’re selling a high-end or unique property, you want to get high-quality traffic. So you need to ask yourself, “What can you do that's different from the competition?” One effective way to market a home is through event-based marketing. And I’m not talking about having an open house where you having appetizers and giving away prizes. The overall idea of event-based marketing is that the event is both something with true value - independent of the house or agent... and that it’s fun. In markets where getting rival brokers in to preview a luxury home for their clients is key, these events can provide a true entic

We’ve finally had the opportunity to host live events once again, and our most recent gatherings have been absolutely fantastic! We flew in 70 top-producing agents from throughout the country to AXR Winery at Napa, where we conducted a training seminar and viewed some multi-million dollar properties. We received some excellent feedback from those who attended, and we’re excited to do more throughout 2021 and beyond. To learn more about our recent events and how attending one can benefit your business, listen to this podcast. Learn More: https://www.luxurylistingspecialist.c...

Divorce is an incredibly emotional experience, but the reality of our society is that it exists. In most cases, the house is often the largest asset and will end up being sold.  As real estate professionals, we can be on hand to help, but we have to approach it the right way. Divorce sales come with a ton of nuances, and as agents, we need to be aware of them before diving in. So what’s the best way to handle real estate during a divorce? In this episode, I interview Laurel Starks, real estate agent and family law expert who is the founder of The Ilumni Institute. Her company trains real estate agents on how to work with divorce attorneys and how to build a divorce real estate business.  Laurel discusses her work as a court-appointed real estate expert and shares several helpful tips for divorce case listings. Resources: To reach Laurel, you may email her at Laurel@ilumniinstitute.com Website: ilumniinstitute.com/ https://www.getdivorcecertified.com/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheIlumniInstitute/  

When we’re talking about the $1 million and above price point properties in the Chicagoland market, you have to remember that this area is a buyer’s market. At these high price points, your agent needs to be aggressive and be able to think outside the box. This is where the power of event-based marketing comes into play. Using event-based marketing can be an amazing way to showcase a property and expose it to even more potential buyers. To hear more about event-based marketing and our recent showcase, listen to our podcast. 

This week brings a major milestone for the Luxury Listing Specialist - we’ve published 150 episodes. Can you believe it? Thank you, everyone, for tuning in and sharing with your friends! It was a year ago when we launched our 100th episode. And what a year it’s been. The pandemic brought about many changes in housing and lifestyle needs. The luxury real estate market is still hot. The average home sale price has gone up across the country. Even houses that languished on the market for months are selling. So to mark the occasion, rather than looking back at all 150 episodes, I’m just going to focus on episodes 101 to 150. My favorite episodes, takeaways, and how-tos the industry experts have offered real estate agents over the past year.   “In this industry, it’s easy to get dragged down...whether it’s from the competition, a difficult client, or just life in general. We need to continue to build each other up and build ourselves up.” -Michael Lafido                                               Thr

What do migration patterns have to do with luxury real estate? When you know that a large number of people are moving to a specific city or state from your market, you’re in a much better position to offer value to them by recommending a LUXE agent with a proven track record. Listen to learn more. 

The LGBTQ community has immense buying power in the housing market, and it’s going unused. Why? In short, it’s because of discrimination. Housing discrimination within the LGBTQ community has been and continues to be a serious issue. On today's episode, Ryan Weyandt, the CEO of the LGBTQ Real Estate Alliance, is my guest. Ryan’s an essential voice in the discussion of fair housing for the LGBTQ community. Listen in to Ryan's insights as he discusses what the future holds for the Alliance.

For this week’s message, I’d like to discuss the power of little fixes, the small things you can do as an agent to make your sellers’ listings stand out. If you’re going on a listing appointment with a seller and they have some deferred maintenance, you’ll want to roll up your sleeves and tackle some of those issues yourself. Today I’ll share a few stories of how I’ve done this for my clients, including a small but useful tip about how you can hide imperfections on hardwood floors and wood vanities. To learn more, have a listen. 

As you know I'm always looking to bring on guests that fill voids, or perhaps on a topic we haven't covered before. And today's guest is no different. I'm very excited to have Leigh Steinberg with us. Leigh’s a sports super agent who’s represented NFL players, from Troy Aikman to Howie Long, to Patrick Mahomes. He was the real-life inspiration behind the movie, “Jerry Maguire” starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr. (“Show me the money!”) You may think there are a thousand differences between a sports agent and a real estate agent, but the surprising truth is - they’re not that different at heart. Theoretically, they might require different skill sets, however, if you listen carefully to Leigh’s recommendations, they are the “secrets” to a successful real estate career. Hope you enjoy this one. You can contact Leigh through his website at steinbergsports.com or if you’re interested in his Sports Business Certificate program (no experience necessary).     “Put the client's best interests before you

When I became a licensed real estate agent in the fall of 2000, I wish someone would have shared with me these three words of wisdom. I would say these three are vital to help newer agents differentiate themselves and become consistent top-producing agents. 1. Be likable and be you, 2. Grow your knowledge and your confidence will grow too. 3. Diversify your portfolio of homes you represent. 

Sometimes I'll do some high-level ninja-trick podcasts that dive deep into some really important marketing angles... and capital gains tax is one of those sticking points.  You might be wondering what does a defunct movie rental business and a flouring, $161 million streaming business have to do with capital gains tax, let alone luxury real estate?  It's the analogy, my brilliant guest, Brett Swarts uses to describe the advantage of using a deferred sales trust over a 1031 exchange. He's the CEO of Capital Gains Tax Solutions and an expert in alternative to capital gains tax.  Right now, the luxury market is the hottest it's ever been. However, there are certain properties out there, at certain price points where it's still difficult to sell. It's called a buyer's market.  That's why I have Brett with us today - to talk about a possible solution for your clients. If you're representing a seller this might help to alleviate some potential objections.  As a matter of fact, capital gains tax is one of the t

Today’s topic is empathy - or more specifically, having empathy for the stress your buyer and seller clients are going through when trying to sell their home and buy a home. Make sure that you as an agent are empathetic to your buyers and sellers….it will only make your client's experience better and will help you earn more referrals. 

On today’s podcast, Pete Middleton, one of La Jolla’s top brokers, and I have some great tips for differentiating yourself from the competition.  Pete grew up in a real estate family in Brockton, Massachusetts. He moved to the San Diego/La Jolla area in the early 90’s. Since then, he’s received several awards and recognition for his work in real estate. We had an informative talk about what to do if you're dealing with a buyer’s agent that’s inexperienced. How do you work with a buyer's agent that's not well-versed in comparables, or maybe the agent or their buyer doesn't see the home's value or agree with your comparables. A powerful strategy that Pete uses is emphasizing "payment" over asking price.  Before using this strategy, be sure to talk with your lender first so you’re able to break it down and articulate it to the buyer’s agent (and possibly the buyer). Practice the K.I.S.S. “Keep It Simple Stupid” Principle (or, “Keep It Super Simple”, for those of a more delicate disposition).   You can text

You may be talking with some prospects who are interested in selling this summer or “later in the year”. What can you do right now for those sellers? I have some advice for any agent looking to start off strong this summer of 2021. 

  On this week’s show, I spoke with Jordan Stuart, founder, and CEO of Next Move. He’s a seasoned agent who’s an expert in closing transactions with athletes. He’s recently branched out into helping people in the military find homes across the country.  We talked about various topics from what not to do when working with a professional athlete, getting referrals and testimonials, smart strategies for delivering 5-star service, and the importance of having a clean car.  You can contact Jordan at jordan@makethenextmove.com "The biggest mistake an agent can make is not listening to their client.” -Jordan Stuart Three Things You'll Learn Buyers need a trusted advisor: When working with an athlete they’re counting on you to be the expert advisor. You need to able to understand and evaluate your client’s wants and needs so you can speak their language and provide them with a logical action plan. Be an active listener. How you communicate with them should not be any different than how you treat your