At Concierge Auctions, we know luxury real estate. Our principals have touched every aspect of the business. In fact, we were born out of the brokerage community. As a result, our combined efforts have produced nearly $1B in sales — spanning 32 US states and 10 countries — and our global Rolodex includes over 350,000 contacts.
We maintain a pulse on the top luxury markets worldwide.
This 5-part blog series details what we think are the most important factors in preparing to sell your luxury home. We hope you find it useful.
Last week, we reviewed the process of selecting your agent. This week, we continue with the second part.
PART TWO OF FIVE: EVALUATE THE COMPETITION
Properly positioning your home relative to the immediate competitive-set is crucial when selling a luxury property. If your home is located in a luxury condominium complex, or a master-planned community with like-kind assets, the standard industry metrics (beds, baths, square-footage, lot size, etc) will likely gauge the value. Data like this is readily available by having your agent run a simple report.
Don’t focus all of your attention on other currently listed properties. How the sold data has trended over time is also very crucial. Sellers who recognize this fact are more likely to get out in front of competing properties in pricing, and are less likely to get stuck chasing a number that was only achievable in the past.
By analyzing all of the data, you will quickly realize that a sizable portion of the market is still significantly overpriced. If you truly want to sell, you have to believe what the data is telling you and act accordingly.
Some luxury properties are located in areas that are nearly impossible to “comp.” There might be data available, but each home is so unique that your neighbor’s list price is almost irrelevant. Markets that are very nuanced are almost always difficult to evaluate.
A good place to start is to look at comparable acreage in the immediate area. How is the vacant land priced, and what has recently sold? This will help you establish a reasonable basis for determining value of the entire package. It gets harder from here.
If the home is relatively new, then replacement cost to rebuild the structure could be added to the value of the land to get a sense of the best-case scenario. However, almost nobody is seeing offers at or around what they have invested in the project.
At this point, you should consult with several competent Buyer Agents in the area. Good agents generally tour 20 homes a week, or sometimes more. They have seen your competition and are listening to Buyers’ feedback. These agents should be able to recommend an expected selling range and give you direction about where to price your home.
Next week, we discuss knowing your marketing strategy.