Test your luxury real estate marketing savvy
Below you will find a list of 11 questions that address key points you need to know when working with luxury real estate buyers and sellers.
What are the “Three C’s” of luxury real estate marketing?
The correct answer is “b.” According to Clotaire Rapaille, an international expert on marketing and what causes various countries to buy luxury homes and goods, the “Three C’s” of marketing luxury real estate are champagne, caviar, and chocolate. Rapaille’s client list includes many Fortune 100 firms who pay him $200,000 a day for his consulting services.
Curiosity, communication and commonality
Champagne, caviar and chocolate
Confidentiality, cultural competence and customization
None of the above
According to Clotaire Rapaille, an international expert on luxury marketing, what word(s) or “code(s)” trigger buying behavior in the United States?
The correct answer is answer “d.” According to Rapaille, while “dream,” “hope,” and “fix it,” are all “codes” that trigger buying behavior in the United States, the most powerful “code” is the word “dream.” To tap into this code with a luxury buyer you can say, “The mansion you have always dreamed of owning,” or “The dream house only a select few can afford.”
Dream
Hope
“Fix it”
All of the above
What is the one mistake that can kill your luxury real estate business in a heartbeat?
The correct answer is “a.” The one mistake that can kill your luxury real estate business in a heartbeat is violating confidentiality. Buyers from outside the U.S. may hire an American agent who doesn’t speak their language over someone from their own country to avoid having the agent gossip about them in their community. In the ultra-luxury market, unless your clients tell you to publicize that you are working with them, never discuss who you’re working with, where they are looking or how much they are willing to spend.
Inability to deal with the client’s business manager, attorney or CPA who typically negotiates the deal and who is usually a “numbers” person
Failure to maintain confidentiality
Wasting their time showing them the “wrong” types of properties
Failure to provide “white glove” customer service
According to Goldman Sachs, for luxury clients who are relocating from their current state, the primary reason they are moving is to be in a state where there are:
While each answer is a reason luxury clients relocate, according to Goldman Sachs, the primary reason the wealthy are moving is to be in states with no or very low taxes. Texas and Florida are top destinations.
Less regulatory hurdles for their business
Lower operational costs for their business
No or very low income and property taxes
All of the above
According to Frank McKinney, the most opulent spec builder in real estate, which of the following five luxury factors was NOT mentioned as a top priority for clients that buy his $20 to $50 million homes?
Although Clotaire Rapaille has demonstrated the “hand-crafted” is a primary code for international luxury, Frank McKinney says the four factors that matter most to his ultra-luxury clients are:
-
Uniqueness: McKinney has built a James Bond room, shark aquariums, double helix staircases, etc. His clients don’t want to see their marbles, woods, and other features in another home. (See Acqua Liana to view his work).
-
The house must tell a “story.” For example, the floors and doors may have been sourced from a 300-year-old country church in Spain, the house may have had celebrity occupants, or it was tied to an important historical event.
-
The house must be “germ free.” The wealthier the client, the more likely they are to be germaphobes.
-
Green features: including energy-saving appliances, renewable woods, water reclamation and cooling, etc.
Customized, hand-crafted
Green features including energy-saving appliances, renewable woods, water reclamation and cooling, etc.
House must “tell a story”
House must be “germ free”
Uniqueness
According to Immobel, what percentage of worldwide real estate searches are conducted in languages other than English?
According to Immobel website, 71 percent of all real estate searches worldwide take place in languages other than English. Having listing translation services available for your sellers here in the U.S. is extremely important since so many people in this country speak a language other than English as their first language.
29 percent
42 percent
59 percent
71 percent
What website allows you to market your listings in 18 different languages, reach 90 percent of the homebuyers in the world in their native language and get referrals from other international real estate agents?
Real-Buzz.com (powered by Immobel.) Immobel has a 20-year track record of providing listing translation to companies including Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Douglas Elliman, Sotheby’s and many MLSs as well. The Real-Buzz website allows individual agents to take advantage of their translation and referral services to reach website visitors and other agents in their native languages. Using Real-Buzz.com, you can actually chat with a buyer in Japan in Japanese using machine translation. This is an especially powerful listing conversion tool.
IBM Watson translator
Real-buzz
Unbabel
Yandex
Which of the five senses are agents least likely to address when they stage a luxury property?
When most agents stage a property, they focus on staging it visually but often fail to stage for the other four senses: sound, taste, smell and kinesthetic (how it feels). The reason builders often serve warm chocolate chip cookies at their model homes is they smell and taste great. Moreover, the chocolate and sugar make potential buyers feel good. Agents are least likely to stage for auditory/sound.
Auditory/sound
Kinesthetic (how it feels)
Smell
Taste
Visual
What is the biggest concern among ultra-wealthy luxury real estate clients?
According to Robert Frank, the author of Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich, the No. 1 concern among the ultra-wealthy is their safety — kidnapping, stalking, and theft are huge threats, especially for high-profile clients.
Germs
Lack of time
Safety
They don’t have enough money to support their current lifestyle
Fractionals have been a hot trend in the luxury market for over a decade. Which of the companies below has been grabbing recent headlines with its innovative approach in this area?
The correct answer is Pacaso. The other four companies are luxury timeshares or vacation clubs. According to the Pacaso website, timeshares and vacation clubs only allow people the right to use a condo, house, or hotel room for a set period of time.
In contrast, Pacaso homes provide joint ownership of a single-family home using an LLC. If you decide to sell, your interest is first offered to the other owners. If they don’t want it, the transaction will be conducted in partnership with real estate agents using the standard real estate sales process.
In contrast, Pacaso homes provide joint ownership of a single-family home using an LLC. If you decide to sell, your interest is first offered to the other owners. If they don’t want it, the transaction will be conducted in partnership with real estate agents using the standard real estate sales process.
Elite Destination Homes
Equity Residences
Inspirato
Pacaso
Quintess
Is this statement true or false? When working in the ultra-luxury market, you should never “refer” a client to another agent.
This statement is true. Making a “referral” sounds as if you are merely handing your client off to another agent. Here’s how Donna Lee Laue, the founder of Unique Global Estates and one of the leading international experts in luxury real estate, described how she approaches this issue:
"When I introduce an agent to one of our buyers or sellers, I have a relationship. I know the intent, financial capacity, and the needs of the clients. I want to introduce the wealth of the world to their new best friend."
"When I introduce an agent to one of our buyers or sellers, I have a relationship. I know the intent, financial capacity, and the needs of the clients. I want to introduce the wealth of the world to their new best friend."
True
False
You got {number correct}/{number of questions} correct answers
You’ve come to the right place because it’s luxury month at Inman! Read the articles, watch the videos, and then attend Luxury Connect to really get grounded in what it takes to be a successful luxury agent.
You got {number correct}/{number of questions} correct answers
You have a solid foundation. Review the items on this quiz and look for opportunities to integrate some of the additional strategies and tools covered above.
You got {number correct}/{number of questions} correct answers
You’re well-grounded in what it takes to be successful in the luxury real estate market. If you’re not already working with luxury clients, you probably should be.