Placing a luxury home on the market for sale undoubtedly involves a larger budget and more personal effort than a median priced home. This is true in any market, as today’s luxury buyers are global. They may be at their lake house in Tahoe one week and their Hawaiian bungalow the next. In order to attract their attention, the message needs to get in front of them — wherever they are. Top high-end real estate agents understand how to sell luxury real estate, incorporating not only local but also national and sometimes global exposure through advertising, marketing, public relations, and yes, must we never forget, personal sales outreach.
A luxury real estate auction is no exception. The budgets for sales conducted by Concierge Auctions vary widely, as they are customized to the property itself and account for outreach to all necessary target markets. Skillfully allocating the appropriate amount of funds towards marketing and sales — on an accelerated timeframe — is one of the things that makes a real estate auction a unique option in selling luxury real estate. A successful high-end home auction involves a cohesive campaign of placements in print and online advertising outlets, direct mail and email marketing, social media outreach, and a complex public relations plan. It also includes money to employ sales staff to field inquiries, assist in the auction registration process, and conduct the auction. The time and effort of the marketing, public relations, and sales staff goes above and beyond what a single agent can do on their own and is typically condensed to 4-6 weeks.
With a substantial budget and the combined time and commitment of multiple people, it is imperative to keep track of all these efforts. Advertisements, mailings, online outreach, and public relations efforts should all be monitored, and the ROI should be analyzed. The real estate auction company should keep you, as the listing agent, informed of these tracking efforts and the progress of the different marketing and sales strategies.
There should be at least one touch base period during the auction exposure cycle — if not more — to ensure you and everyone involved in the sale are understanding of the activities and making necessary adjustments along the way.
A number of key metrics may be used to evaluate success of marketing and sales initiatives. How many people have seen the advertisements and public relations stories? How many have inquired for more information? How many viewers have visited the website, and where are they from? With proper tracking systems, the real estate auction company should be able to quantify the response and thus decipher the benefit of each exposure item.
These statistics and analysis will help determine the general success of the exposure plan. But next, you as the listing agent and the auction firm must determine the quality of all the leads coming through the marketing and sales efforts. After all, quality is more important than quantity. To achieve the highest sales price on auction day, you will need qualified auction participants, including that one buyer who is perfect for the unique luxury home selling on auction day.
Ask us about any of the statistics that we track. Or click below for more on your role as an agent in the real estate auction process.
Although she’s never divulged the full story, we can only assume Laura’s nickname, “Doctor,” comes from the fact that she’s wicked smart. Before Concierge, Laura led a team of real estate agents at SKY Sotheby’s International Realty in Sarasota, Fla. Not only was she personally involved in more than $100 million in sales, but other life accomplishments include testing out of college Calculus, surviving a mid-century remodel and giving birth to twins.
laura.brady@conciergeauctions.com 888.966.4759 X 701