Luxury Clues

Million Dollar Listing Strategies (week 5)

You must be willing to tell the truth about the price and walk away if the seller is unrealistic.

Estate properties are labor intensive, are often expensive to market, and usually require a much longer time to sell. If the seller is not willing to be realistic on their purchase price, you're throwing away your hard-earned money. While the status of having an expensive listing is great, an overpriced listing can hurt your credibility with both buyer leads as well as future listing leads. If the sellers aren't realistic, take a hard look at whether you really want to waste 6 to 12 months marketing a property that is overpriced.

Posted by Bernice L Ross
RealEstateCoach.com

Where Do Millionaire's Shop?

You're a smart, savvy luxury agent. How well do you know your clients' buying patterns? Take this little quiz to find out. Which of these two groupings of stores will be more likely to have millionaires shopping there? Answers in tomorrow's post.

a) Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom

b) Costco and Walmart

  Posted by Bernice Ross, www.RealEstateCoach.com

Cut Your Gas Costs in Half

  With gas prices nearing $4.00 per gallon in some places (and the equivalent of $7.50 per gallon in Europe) Mercedes is responding with an updated version of their diesel, the E 320 Blue-Tec. Not only is this car a snazzy, good looking vehicle, it gets over 30 miles per gallon AND meets the clean air requirements in 45 states. With upcoming modifications, it will meet these requirements in all 50 states. Best of all, a single tank of diesel will take you 700 miles rather than the 350 to 400 per tank of other luxury cars. Check out what Car and Driver have to say about the new Blue-Tech technology. If your gasoline bills are breaking your budget, this may be the smartest new car investment on the market.

Posted by Bernice Ross, www.RealEstateCoach.com

Salts of the Earth

One of the latest gourmet treats is to finish a dish with a particular type of salt.  For instance, Fleur de Sel, a French salt is gathered with a special rake to harvest only the top layer of the salt bed.  This work is usually done by women because of their delicate handling of the rake.  The name "Fleur de Sel" comes from the aroma of violets that develops as the salt is dried.  Fleur de Sel is recommended when baking chocolate cake to enhance its taste.

The list of gourmet salts is quite extensive.  Peruvian pink salt is the one for that beefsteak tomato you just picked from your garden. Nazuna sea salt, from Japan, transforms the taste of fish and seafood. Hawaiian pink salt is great for grilling your meats. 

The fascination with salt is not a new one.  Until the 1900s, salt was considered a currency.  Salt was often taxed, and some clever bakers (the Italians) figured out how to make bread without salt, so they would not be taxed.  The Romans paid part of their soldiers‚ wages in salt.  The word "SALARY" is derived from the Latin word "salarium" meaning a payment made in salt.  The 12th century Mali Empire in Africa valued salt so much that paid for its weight in gold.

Salt is also used for bathing.  For instance, salts from the Dead Sea, the second saltiest body of water in the world, were used by Cleopatra for bathing.  She paid for and obtained exclusive rights over the Dead Sea area, so she could continue her beauty regimen. She also built pharmaceutical and cosmetic factories near the Dead Sea.  The ruins of these factories remain to this day.

For more information go to SaltWorks.com.

Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants
Strategic Branding & Marketing
NapaConsultants.com

Is Building a Custom Home Worth the Frustration?

If you could have the perfect home for you, would you look for it on the MLS, would you do a major remodel on an existing property, would you design it yourself from the ground up with your architect, or would you select a model and then customize it? We are currently about 8 weeks away from finishing our new home. I have purchased my dream house from existing inventory, built from scratch in Beverly Hills, and am now completing a new home where we fell in love with a particular floor plan, put it on a lot with a knockout view, and customized it to our specifications. I have also remodeled an existing older home during the last 18 months. Each approach has its advantages and drawbacks. Over the next few months, LuxuryClues will take a closer look at what happens using each of these approaches to building luxury properties.

Given that I'm on the back end of the last two projects, the first thing that comes to mind is how tired I am of making decisions. We hired a decorator and still have spent endless hours looking at hinges, toilets, light fixtures, door knobs, paint colors, trim choices, where to position light switches--and it's still going on. The latest task before us in making a decision about a deck. (That's an education in itself--look for an upcoming post on that.) Whether you are building or remodeling, the decision making process is much more complex than most people realize. It's also extremely frustrating.

Thus, if your clients are thinking about buying a lot and building, the first issue you should raise with them is whether they have the time to spend hours making an incredible number of decisions. A new home has over 150,000 elements. Are they prepared to put in the necessary time and do they have the patience to invest hours in deciding how the house should look? If so, then they  may be good candidates for building with an architect or selecting a builder who will customize an existing model.

Those of you who have built your own luxury property, who have clients who are luxury builders, or who are currently working with a client who is building a luxury property, what are you hearing from your clients? What are the lessons learned along the way?

Posted by Bernice Ross, www.RealEstateCoach.com

The Millionaire's Ten Commandments

Here is the second part of the Millionaire's Ten Commandments according to Dr. Polmar. If you want to be better at serving your million dollar clients, this is a great way to structure your own life, even if you're not a millionaire.

Commandment #6: Get Involved

Commandment #7: Spend $$$ Wisely

Commandment #8: Be Motivated

Commandment #9: Be Committed

Commandment #10: Total Honesty

Posted by Bernice Ross, RealEstateCoach.com

Million Dollar Listing Strategies (week 4)

Estate owners expect estate level service.

When it comes to customer service, your estate owners will expect top drawer service from both you and your firm. This means keeping the seller updated on each showing, aggressively marketing the property by target marketing likely buyers, and doing little things to show your appreciation for their business. These "little touches" say you care and can be something as simple as bringing fresh flowers for your broker's open or serving a full blown catered lunch. Most importantly, you must let the sellers know what you do that differentiates you from your competition in terms of your service.

Posted by Bernice L Ross
RealEstateCoach.com

The Millionaire's Ten Commandments

I recently came across these "Ten Commandments" for Millionaire's by Dr. Jay C. Polmar. The first five are in today's post. The next five will follow in Friday's post. Enjoy!

Commandment #1: Give Thanks

Commandment #2: Be Ecstatic

Commandment #3: Be Generous

Commandment #4: Feel Wealthy

Commandment #5: Act Successfully

Posted by Bernice Ross, RealEstateCoach.com

Mount Kisco, NY

Unique private adobe style hilltop retreat with long drive to spectacular vistas, located in prestigious estate area. Custom built with red pine beams throughout, hand carved 3 inch pine doors, double sided Kiva fireplace, and walk-out lower level to the 37 foot heated gunite pool.

Listing provided by Point2Homes.com

We're Intimidated by These High Prices

You might think that this post is about buyers. In actuality, it's about agents. I recently had a discussion with a good friend who does mortgages here in Austin. She shared with me that agents in this market are struggling with the rapid increase in prices. They simply can't get their arms around the fact that people will pay over a million dollars for a substantial number of properties in this city. Coming from 19 years of Beverly Hills/Brentwood real estate, I was somewhat stunned by this. There have always been multi-million dollar properties in the market where I worked. What came up for me is that when you swim in the luxury market daily, you're like a fish in water. It's merely part of the landscape just like the hills, the ocean, and the smog.

If you're feeling intimidated by working with luxury clients, a key point to remember is that they want someone who will make their life simpler. They are busy people and have the money to write a check to make problems go away. Also, while they may have piles of cash, you still are the expert when it comes to real estate. Don't ever forget that. They came to you because they believe you can help them and simplify their lives. If you do that, the dollars are just marks on the paper. The only difference between $200,000 and $2,000,000 is an extra zero. Keep that in mind if you start to feel insecure--it's just a zero.

Posted by Bernice Ross, RealEstateCoach.com