How To Become A Luxury Real Estate Agent In 2023 (Step-By-Step)

Do you fancy yourself among the elite real estate agents who buy and sell homes valued at $1 million and more? Becoming a luxury real estate agent can skyrocket your income, but it takes strategic planning to get you there.

In this post, I’ll guide you through the process so you can know exactly what it will take to transform your existing real estate business into a luxury real estate business. In this guide, we’ll discuss:

• What credentials do you need to be a luxury real estate agent
• How marketing can improve your skills and abilities
• What steps to take to stand out to potential clients 

If you would rather watch or listen to this content, check out the video or podcast below!

How to Become a Luxury Real Estate Agent – The Definitive Guide

Luxury home sales are on the rise. Forbes indicates that at the end of 2020, luxury home sales were up 60.7%. Learning how to become a luxury real estate agent will help you get part of this income for yourself. 

If you want to become a luxury REALTOR or real estate agent, you must know how to find people, interact with them, and convince them to list with you. I’ve grown a successful business doing just this, and I am going to tell you how to do it, too.

1. Become a Licensed Real Estate Agent

The first step may seem obvious, but if you’re not already a licensed real estate agent in your community, this is where you need to start.

To get started, take the time to learn your state’s real estate licensing requirements. Then, take a prelicensing course and apply for the real estate agent exam. After passing, you will get your real estate license and can start practicing.

My link to Real Estate Express is a good place to start!

2. Get Some Real Estate Industry Sales Experience

Before you can target luxury home sales, you need to get some basic sales experience. Make sure you know exactly how to handle the entire sales process from start to finish. Be sure to join the right real estate brokerage that can help you get started and on the path to achieving your goals.

These first two steps may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many agents want to jump right into the luxury market with little knowledge of basic sales. You can’t break into the luxury home market until you are a successful real estate agent first. Do your groundwork first to become an experienced agent, then start targeting the bigger sales and affluent clients in the luxury niche.

3. Find the Luxury Buyers and Sellers

Once you have experience, you need to get yourself out there. Discover where the high-net-worth individuals in your community hang out, and make sure you are there, too.

For instance, if the Starbucks in a particular neighborhood is the one that appeals to them, make that your morning coffee stop. Strike up as many conversations as you can. Keep the conversations natural, though, so you don’t seem desperate.

As you converse, guide the conversation toward real estate. Ask about what neighborhood they live in or about a popular local home that just sold, or talk to them about their work, then about yours. This will guide the conversation toward real estate, and you can put in a gentle plug for your services.

4. Learn What High-End Clients Need

Another way to reach the luxury real estate market is to solve a problem that a luxury client might have. Wealthy property owners want information about these types of problems:

• Legacy planning
• Real estate taxes
• Insurance
• Asset appraisal
• Banking and lending
• Asset preservation
• Common property
• Prenuptial agreements
• Asset privacy

Determine which of these you wish to focus on, and learn all you can about it. Then, when a prospective luxury client comes your way, you can present the solution to the problem they have.

This can help you land a new client instead of your competition.

Once you know what your problem-solving tactic is going to be, create a marketing mission statement around it. I might recommend something like this:

Helping high-net-worth individuals protect their real estate assets and leave a legacy.

5. Brand Yourself an Authority and Start Teaching

Once you’ve learned all you can about this particular problem, take your knowledge a step further. Consider creating an educational course, and offering it to luxury clients. Now you are more than just a luxury REALTOR, you are an educator.

As a real estate professional, you hold quite a bit of clout. When you share your knowledge with a potential buyer or seller, you are suddenly branded in their mind as an expert. This is marketing genius because your educational materials double as marketing materials.

What will happen when you host these educational sessions is this: wealthy people will come to learn the answer to the problem they have. Then, when they have expensive homes to sell or want to buy a new property, they will think of you as a luxury home specialist, and you will get a new potential client.

6. Take the Luxury Homes Certification From NAR

If you want to further your experience and knowledge that will help you land high-end buyers or sellers, consider the Luxury Homes Certification (LHC) course from the National Association of Realtors. This is an online class for real estate agents who want to work with the most affluent clients.

This course will teach several things, including how to:

• Work with high net worth clients, including ultra-high net worth buyers or sellers
• Promote and market yourself in the luxury home market
• Show luxury properties
• List luxury homes

After finishing the course, you will receive a one-year membership to the Luxury Home Council, which can also help with your luxury home marketing efforts.

7. Get a “Rich People” Hobby

Luxury real estate clients tend to partner with a broker or agent they have personal knowledge of or that someone else with a luxury home personally recommends. Getting to know a luxury buyer before they are ready to start house shopping will give you a leg up on the other agents in your area.

The best way to do this is to find a recreational outlet that also attracts wealthy people. A luxury lifestyle often leaves quite a bit of room for recreation, so make your recreation the same that your potential client would choose.

If you start interacting with high net worth individuals on a personal level, you’ll be the agent they choose when they want someone to help with marketing their home for sale or shopping for a new home. When you’re hanging out at the track or ski lodge, you can drop hints that you work in real estate while your fellow hobbyists are talking about their work.

8. Target Expired Luxury Listings

Luxury property listings tend to expire much more frequently than regular listings. Go after these expired luxury listings. Figure out why they expired, then approach the seller with an alternative that will help them market their property more effectively.

Pay particular attention to FSBO luxury listings. Most of the time, luxury real estate owners don’t know how to market luxury property, causing these listings to flop. You can step in as a luxury agent and offer an alternative, and many clients will gladly let you take over.

When approaching owners with expired luxury real estate listings, you need to show that you are an expert in the market. Your client wants confidence that you’ll be able to succeed where they failed, so show them why you are the luxury expert they want.

9. Market the Luxury Lifestyle, not Just the Luxury Real Estate

Ultimately, when you are trying to market luxury real estate, you are marketing more than just homes. You’re marking the lifestyle that comes with luxury listings.

As a luxury buyer’s agent, you must understand what is drawing your buyer to the properties they want to see. Are you marketing the home because of its amenities, or its location? What do they hope to gain by buying in this particular luxury real estate market?

Once you answer these questions, make the lifestyle a key component of your marketing. Don’t just post about the real estate market in your area, but also post about lifestyle happenings, like the opening of a new art gallery or high-end restaurant.

Think about the answers to these questions every time you post marketing copy about your property.

When listing a luxury home in a publication that will catch the eye of a foreign buyer, capitalize on the benefits of owning property in your local area. If you’re doing a write-up of the property for Architectural Digest Magazine, focus on its architectural amenities and how they appeal to the luxury lifestyle.

10. Protect Your Image at All Cost

Being a successful luxury real estate agent is all about marketing and personal branding, and not just for your clients, but also for yourself.

You want to brand yourself as a luxury home specialist. Everything from the car you drive to the outfits you wear is part of that image. Take time to build yourself as a luxury brand, and you will attract the kind of client you want to work with.

11. Consider Co-Listing

Breaking into any new market is tough. One way to get a foot in the door is to co-list a property with an experienced broker who is already well established in the area.

if you can prove your merit with a co-listing, you’ll start getting a name for yourself in the luxury home market in that region.

To find co-listings, build your network of real estate professionals, and work that network as much as possible. Help fellow agents find success, and they might be willing to turn to you when they have a large listing they need help with.

The Luxury Real Estate Market Is Tough, but Worth It

The luxury real estate market can be hard to break into, but I’ll tell you this – it is worth it. You can quickly build your own wealth when you help affluent clients buy and sell the properties they want. This is an effort worth putting in because the rewards are great.

How to Become a Luxury Real Estate Agent FAQs

Where is the luxury real estate market?

Most communities have a luxury real estate market. Homes valued at $1 million or more are often included in this market, but it’s not uncommon to find luxury homes with multi-million-dollar price tags. 

What is a good luxury real estate marketing strategy?

There is no black-and-white luxury real estate marketing strategy. To market luxury properties, you must be as creative as possible, while also balancing the needs and desires of your buyer. Networking is a key component of this type of marketing, so take the time to build a solid network of wealthy individuals in your community before jumping into the luxury market.

How can I become a luxury real estate agent?

Luxury agents must have real estate irreverence and additional training in the luxury markets. 

To become one, learn your local markets, get your real estate license, and start building a network of wealthy individuals around you, and you might be able to break into this market too.