High-End Marketing for High-End Homes

By Laura Duggan, CRB, Real Estate Business Magazine, October/November 2006

A real estate firm specializing in luxury homes takes steps to find out what buyers and sellers really want.

Increasingly, real estate brokers face pressure from consumers to reduce professional fees, but are they really asking us to take less for our services or to deliver more for our fees? While a place for discount brokers exists in the market for consumers who want minimal service, research shows that most consumers want more service and superior marketing and are willing to pay a premium for the best.

As an industry, we think we know what buyers and sellers expect from us. Agents deliver their listing and selling presentations, giving consumers a litany of activities and services based on the tools and marketing knowledge that they have acquired through their experiences — but do these fall short of the consumers' expectations?

In 2005, West Austin Properties, an upscale boutique real estate firm in Texas, conducted a focus group with buyers and sellers of high-end homes. Each group was asked to describe the "ultimate" real estate experience. Some of their responses were surprising, and as a result, the company conceived a marketing and service program designed to give clients a "platinum" experience.