The highest end of the luxury real estate market has long been the domain of a very few, well-connected brokers. However, now that the wealthiest buyers are out and looking again, some mainstream real estate firms hope to make $3 million-plus transactions a bigger part of their business.

Top brokers agree that success at the high end goes to those who can bring maximum value-add to their relationship with the client, in terms of information, service, and marketing know-how. Global reach, exhaustive market knowledge, and canny use of both electronic and print media are vital. Persistence is indispensable. Above all, connections count. The more access you have to the affluent buyer/seller, the more business you’ll do.

“The luxury market is very different from 20 years ago, when you could assume that your buyers would be coming from within a few miles,” says Alain Pinel, senior vice president/general manager of Intero Prestigio International in Menlo Park, Calif. “Now, buyers can—and do—come from anywhere, and they can buy anywhere. If they want something here, they’ll be open to the idea of buying on an island or on the Riviera.

“If you ask 100 brokers, ‘Are you able to reach the market globally?’ most will say yes, but in fact maybe just two of any hundred really have the means,” Pinel continues. “Putting properties on Zillow or Trulia isn’t enough; making your website accessible to anyone all the time isn’t enough. Those aren’t the media your target buyers are looking at. You have to use special newspapers with continent-specific editions, special magazines, etc., and you must be a member of a substantial global marketing network. If you don’t have this, you’re out of luck.”

“You have to consider the international buyer now, for three reasons,” concurs Paul Boomsma, president of Luxury Portfolio International, a division of the Chicago-based Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, where Boomsma serves as COO. “First, people can do business anywhere. If you live in Europe, you can work into the evening and not miss a beat in New York. Second, business is more global, and top executives might be transferred anywhere. Third, the U.S.A. is a safe place to invest, compared with many other countries.”

Another difference between most real estate companies and those that specialize in the highest-priced properties, Boomsma says, is that the latter, whether their operation is large or small, offers better service, more products, better information and direction.

“Those firms constantly reinvest in their service and are always looking to attract the next wave of buyers,” he explains. “Buyers change, the houses change, the media change. They can keep all those balls in the air, prioritize correctly, and create allegiances.”

“These clients want a broker who knows what’s coming on the market before it goes on the market,” says Betty Graham, president of Coldwell Banker Previews in Beverly Hills, Calif. “They want to know why the home is at the value that the seller has set. They expect their brokers to know the world, not just the market.”

Jack Cotton, owner of Sotheby’s International Realty in Osterville, Mass., insists that affluent buyers are easy to find, since even if they’re not local, they will have a connection to someone local. However, to reach them, you have to establish yourself as the top player in a market.

“Whether you’re working with a buyer or seller, your strategy is the same,” he says. “You must be perceived as the absolute expert on properties, people, prices, and values in your marketplace. I advise you to create a two-year history of everything that has occurred in your marketplace: every sale, every offering, every buyer, every owner.

“You need to write,” adds Cotton. “You can write a book. It’s not as hard as you think. Start articles, blogs, and reports. Get over your fear of public speaking, and volunteer to present at Rotary clubs, country clubs, or any groups or organizations that will have you.”

Richard Rocker, owner of Hawaii Luxury Homes, reveals that he built his luxury practice almost entirely on client testimonials.

“Whomever I work with, I ask them to write a letter about doing business with me,” says Rocker. “I say, ‘Just write your experiences.’ I have letters from presidents of investment firms, CEOs of REITs, owners of development companies—all on their most powerful letterheads—saying things like, ‘He showed us things about the property that we wouldn’t have noticed.’

“I don’t ask for the listing. I just say, ‘Look what people say about me.’ My conversion rate once I get someone on the phone is very good.”

Clients will perceive the broker’s knowledge as a value-add, at all points of the pricing spectrum—but the more affluent the client, the more the broker has to know.

“Luxury buyers and sellers come into the process very educated,” Graham warns. “They enjoy looking at real estate; they will have done their research online.”

For the luxury broker, an attractive website isn’t enough. A presence in social media is vital. Graham suggests infiltrating “all things beautiful” sites such as 1stdibs.com. And, more so than in the mainstream market, print remains an indispensable medium.

“Rich people depend on digital media, but they still like to touch and feel glossy pictures,” confirms Martha Turner of Martha Turner Properties in Houston. “They want a glowing brochure, so they can take it and say to their friends, ‘This is the house I’m buying.’

“There’s the buyer who wants to be seen, who’ll buy a property where most of the land is behind the setback of the house,” explains Turner. “Those who don’t want to be seen will put the home back behind winding driveways, so we have to do aerial shots to show the buyer where the house sits.”

But in the end, according to Erin Mathews, principal of the Dallas-based Mathews Nichols Group, the key to tapping into the luxury market is to determine the exact wants and needs of the buyer and seller.

“At the higher end, we want to make every showing count, so staging is especially important, and staging can cost tens of thousands,” she says. “Some people make the mistake of using less expensive furniture that would be appropriate for a lower-end home. This usually has disastrous results.

“As to the personality of the transaction, there’s no great difference between the high and the low end,” adds Mathews. “Only the names change…and the stakes.”

Joseph Dobrian is a business writer who specializes in commercial and residential real estate, and real estate finance. He's CEO of Dobrian, Frances, Bowie & Long, an editorial services firm in Iowa City, Iowa.

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