How to Sell a Luxury Home in Today’s Market
By Brad Greiner, CEO of OpenAiRE Brokerage and Open Air Homes
Considering the value of your L.A. luxury home, it’s understandable that you want to get things right. You’ve invested hundreds of thousands—or millions—of dollars into your home and you want to be strategic about putting it on the market.
From attracting the right buyer to convincing the buyer that your home is worth the money, selling your luxury property takes strategy.
In this post, you’ll gain some valuable tips on how to sell your luxury residence in Southern California, giving you a greater chance of getting the best possible price.
What Is the Luxury Real Estate Market?
Luxury homes usually have unique features, such as an outdoor kitchen, pool, or spa bathroom. These high-end homes might also be in a highly sought-after neighborhood, next door to other luxury homes.
In Southern California, including the West Los Angeles area (i.e. Beverly Hills, Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood, Venice), a luxury property may have previously been owned by a celebrity, which might also make the home more attractive to a prospective buyer.
How Does Luxury Real Estate Differ From the Rest of the Market?
When listing a traditional home, potential homebuyers can easily find homes with similar features. Thanks to computer-generated algorithms, it’s easy to generate a list price based on certain factors like the number of bedrooms and square footage.
On the other hand, in the luxury real estate market, this isn’t the case. Because high-end homes are so unique, there are fewer reliable algorithms, which makes luxury real estate difficult to price.
It can also be harder to find a buyer for a luxury home. A luxury property that has a bunch of high-end features and prestigious history, such as being designed by a renowned architect or having hotel-like amenities such as a top-of-the-line fitness center will only appeal to a select few—wealthy clients. So, finding the right buyer for a luxury home may be a bit more involved, compared with other markets.
Another factor that differentiates the luxury real estate market from other markets is that buyers are looking for prestige, a home that sets a property apart from others as luxury.
What Is the Current State of the Luxury Real Estate Market in California?
Since the pandemic, potential homebuyers value a safe, secure home more than ever. Part of this security comes from buying larger homes. A plus of the luxury real estate market is that cost isn’t typically a deterrent, so affluent clients are willing to invest more in a home that meets their family’s needs and secures their personal palace.
One local market in which luxury homebuyers thrive is Los Angeles. Due to the pandemic, many wealthy homeowners left the city in search of greener, more spacious pastures. Buyers started looking for properties that provided privacy for their family and friends.
Reasons to Sell Your Luxury Home in Southern California
If you’re thinking about selling your luxury home in the Western Los Angeles or desert area (i.e. Palm Springs, Joshua Tree), it’s important to be up-to-date with some of the trends in the current market.
So, let’s look at a few reasons why it might be beneficial to sell your luxury Southern California home.
Remote Workers Are Still Getting Out of the City
During the pandemic, a lot of residents of large metro areas like Los Angeles took advantage of remote work opportunities and moved to areas that offered more affordable housing, more space, or resort-like activities.
And even though some workers are returning back to the office, others are still remote working indefinitely and still want to move out of metro areas. On the other hand, some homebuyers are looking to buy West Los Angeles real estate for weekend homes or primary residences. As new buyers enter this market, your Southern California luxury property will likely be high in demand.
Mortgage Interest Rates Remain Low
As we move out of the pandemic, mortgage rates still hold low. This is creating a huge incentive for buyers who are ready to purchase and jump into the market today. So, wealthy Americans are taking advantage of remote working and low mortgage rates to purchase luxury homes.
This means if you’re interested in selling your luxury property, be aware that the motivation for buyers to purchase right now is as high as ever due to the record-low mortgage rates.
Demand Is High
California luxury houses are often in high demand. Plus, with low housing inventory, prices tend to remain high as buyers compete to get a deal. Also, since the market is pretty competitive with a lack of homes for sale, bidding wars and offers over the asking price are common. As a result, you’re more likely to get multiple, quality offers on your home.
9 Tips for Selling a Luxury Home in California
If you’re looking to sell your luxury California home, you’ll need to properly market it to the right buyers. It’s important to understand that the luxury market is different from the standard housing market. As a result, buyers will have different expectations.
If you find the idea of selling your luxury property in Southern California intimidating, these tips can help you set your home apart from the rest. This can, in turn, increase buyer interest, and ultimately drive them to purchase.
1. Sell to the Right Buyers
If you don’t know your buyer, it can be difficult for you to successfully sell your luxury L.A. residence for the best possible price. So, make sure you’re focusing on buyers who can comfortably afford the home and who are familiar and drawn to that luxury lifestyle.
2. Hire a Professional Photographer and Videographer
When viewing potential properties to purchase, homebuyers will notice photographs and videos of a home before anything. So, if your visuals aren’t high-quality, you likely won’t have a good first impression on prospective buyers.
By working with a professional photographer and/or videographer, you can get the perfect shots you need to set your home apart. A good photographer will strategically use natural light or high-quality photography lighting to take captivating photos.
If you wanted to take things up a notch, you could hire a real estate videographer to create a virtual tour. This will give potential homebuyers the ability to see what your home has to offer right from their screen.
Other benefits of virtual tours include:
- Generate more interest. Today’s tech-savvy home buyers are searching for their dream homes on the internet. This means many online buyers are interested in virtual tours to see if the home they’re viewing has everything they’re looking for. With a virtual tour of your California luxury home, your listing can appeal to more buyers.
- Appeal to your target audience. A virtual tour can offer plenty of details to entice a potential buyer to come and see your luxury property. Whether your home has an indoor pool, open floor plan, outdoor kitchen, or a tennis court, you can put these features front and center on your virtual tour.
- Stand out from competing listings. Offering a virtual tour before other sellers can give you an advantage in the marketplace. This means you can attract buyers to your luxury California property before others can.
3. Host An Invite-Only Open House
Hosting appointment-only viewings and doing away with the public open house can help create an air of exclusivity for your West Los Angeles luxury property. As a result, buyers will feel like visiting your home is a privilege. This is huge for many wealthy homebuyers because they value prestige and status.
Another benefit to accommodating an invite-only open house is the ability to save time and zero in on buyers who are actually intent on buying your home. So, this eliminates non-buyers who likely just want to view your home because they’re interested in what it looks like on the inside.
You may be hesitant to make your open house invite-only because you think doing so will limit your pool of buyers, and this is likely true. However, in the greater Los Angeles luxury market, it’s not about getting as many people as possible to walk through your doors. It’s more about showing your home to the right buyers.
4. Market on Social Media
When it comes to selling a luxury home, marketing is key. And social media offers a powerful way to promote your listing and reach the right buyers.
If your home has a unique feature that isn’t common with other luxury homes in Southern California, create a post about it. Be sure to include a picture of the feature, describe why it’s so special, and link to your home listing.
You can also highlight the great things about your neighborhood. For example, if you’re selling in the Beverly Hills area, you can talk about the area’s luxury shopping options, the urban-suburban feel, and perfect picturesque views.
5. Stage Your Home
Staging is critical for generating buyer interest and receiving more offers, especially in California’s luxury home market. Staging can give potential homebuyers an idea of how the home will look once they add their own furniture.
If you’re not sure how to properly stage your home, you can always hire a professional staging company. A home stager can strategically place small pieces of furniture, artwork, or other decorative pieces to make your space more appealing.
6. Work With a Luxury Real Estate Agent
Hire a luxury real estate agent to help you sell your luxury home in California. A luxury real estate agent is skilled and experienced in selling homes in this market. This means they know the ins and outs of selling luxury residences, what most buyers want, and how best to find the ideal buyer.
Plus, they have something that’s vital to your success in selling your home—connections. An agent with a sterling reputation for multi-million dollar and luxury property sales will have the industry connections to match your property with the ideal buyer.
Selling a private estate in the heart of Beverly Hills? Looking for a buyer who’ll love an elaborate equestrian estate in the hills?
A realtor who specializes in this area can provide their expertise and connections, giving you a higher chance of reaching the right buyer.
7. Price Your Home Correctly
Making sure the price of your home provides a nice balance is critical. This means you shouldn’t price it too low or price it too high. By pricing your Los Angeles luxury home too low, you risk selling your home for less than it’s worth.
On the other hand, a price that’s too high may not receive any competitive and favorable offers. So, it’s important to work alongside your realtor to competitively price your home so that it attracts the most potential buyers.
8. “Brand” Your Home
Give your luxury California home a distinct identity. This is known as branding. Branding involves having a focused message that highlights all the selling points of your home and what makes it unique.
Whether you come up with a catchy tagline or use the same messaging throughout your listing, you’ve given your home a brand identity. As a result, potential buyers are more likely to remember your listing. And even if they don’t reach out the first time around, your home will be top-of-mind whenever they’re ready to make a decision.
9. Show Off the Lifestyle
Luxury real estate isn’t really about selling the home. It’s more about selling the lifestyle or benefits of the home. So, this means showing potential buyers what it might be like to own your home.
This might involve posting a video about the high-end restaurants, shopping, and entertainment in the area. Or you could show off a few pictures of the top amenities your luxury home has to offer, such as a chef’s kitchen, custom aquarium, or private golf course.
Sell Your Los Angeles Luxury Home With OpenAiRE
These are just a few of the many steps you should take to ensure you get the best price for your luxury West Hollywood home.
At OpenAiRE, we specialize in helping our clients with all their real estate needs. From second homes to primary residences, we’re here to help clients buy, sell, and monetize luxury vacation rental properties. Get in touch with us today to learn more.