Luxury trainer Laurie Moore-Moore with REALTORS® Mike Drews and Mabel Guzman

Every agent can tap into the luxury housing market in his or her community, says Laurie Moore-Moore, founder and CEO of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing and closing session speaker at the IAR Fall Conference on Saturday in Chicago.

What is luxury housing? Moore-Moore defines it as the top 10 percent of an area’s home sales in the past 12 months, but not lower than $500,000.

Laurie Moore-Moore

Luxury housing ($500,000 and above) represents 12.7 percent of total home sales and has been the fastest growing segment of the housing market, she said. What is also rising is the number of wealthy individuals. In fact, the city of Chicago ranks No. 4 in the number of ultra high net worth individuals ($30 million or more in investable assets).

Effectively reaching luxury clients can mean a change in terminology. Don’t call it a listing presentation. Show your sellers you’ll do more than just list their property by calling it a marketing consultation appointment. Don’t show luxury clients comparables of their one-of-a-kind homes. Show them relevant properties.

Today’s luxury clients are different than they were before the downturn. The traits they are looking for in a real estate agent are often the same as those in a financial advisor.

“The affluent today want to feel valued,” she said.

What do they want in an agent?

  • Professional competency is more important than friendship.
  • They expect more knowledge and expertise from their agent and demand a higher level of service.
  • Luxury clients want to feel you value them and understand their wants and needs.