The market for luxury homes is picking up but getting yours sold quick, for top dollar takes a little effort. These tips will take you through some of the most important steps to getting your home sold. Including finding the right Realtor and staging your home so that it looks like a Luxury home.

1. 10 Things To Do Before Selling Your Luxury Home
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Low inventory means that homes are selling faster than they have since the peak of the market. In Las
Vegas, 52% of the homes that sold in May were on the market 30 days or less. It may seem that homes
are selling so quick you don’t need to do anything other than put a sign in the front yard and wait for the
offers to come in.
It isn’t quite that simple. Homes sell in less than 30 days because the sellers and their agents take the
right steps to get the home sold. And, it’s more likely that your home will sell quick if it’s in the lower price
range. If you are considering selling your luxury home you still need to pay attention to the little details.
What steps do you take to get your luxury home sold?
Any home seller can benefit by following the tips in “10 Things To Do Before Selling A Home”. Bill
Gassett’s common sense approach works in Las Vegas as well as Massachusetts. “What Steps Are
Involved in Selling a Home” covers getting your home ready for market to celebrating after it closes
escrow.
Most of the homes that sell quick are in the lower price ranges. In Las Vegas, 87.8% of the homes that
sold in less than 30 days in May were priced at $300K or less. Only 36 of the homes that sold in 30 days
or less were priced above $500K and 7 were priced above $1 Million.
Homes in the luxury price range are selling. They just aren’t selling as quick as in the lower price
ranges. In May we sold 112 that were priced above $500K in Las Vegas and 25 of those were priced
above $1 Million. NAR reports this is the segment of the market showing the most growth.
Did You Know? More than 11% of homes sold had a sales price over $500,000, and sales
growth was highest among homes in above-median-priced categories.
Ready to Sell Your Luxury Home?
If you’re ready to sell your luxury home, this may be the perfect time. There are some areas that deserve
extra attention when selling a luxury home for top dollar.
1 – Gather Paperwork and Find Out How Much You Owe On Your Mortgage. Custom home? See if
you still have the blue prints. New owners will appreciate those if they decide to remodel. Luxury homes
tend to have a lot of high tech features. Gather all your paperwork for appliances and the systems that
operate your home. You’ll need the manuals for the new owners once you’ve SOLD.
Most of our luxury home buyers do pay cash for their homes. Over recent years, low interest rates have
led many affluent home owners to take a mortgage on their home. Before you make the decision to sell
your home you should find out how much you owe. The balance on your mortgage won’t influence the
price you get for the home. You’ll want to know that your home has enough equity to cover paying off the
mortgage after sales expenses. If it doesn’t, you may have to come out of pocket to pay the difference or
consider whether doing a short sale is an option. It’s better to find out how much equity you have in your
home before listing rather than getting an unpleasant surprise later.

2. New owners will appreciate having manuals to help them learn how
to operate all the electronics.
Luxury Homes deserve professional photos. This is the day view
from a luxury high rise condo.
2 – Hire a Realtor with Knowledge of the
Luxury Home Market. It may be tempting to hire
your relative who just got their real estate license.
Your best friend may have a kid in college who is
trying to earn extra money by selling homes.
While it is admirable that you want to help out, it
may not be the best idea when you’re selling one
of your most important investments.
Start by interviewing your local luxury home
experts. Find out what steps they will take to
market your home to qualified luxury buyers. Do
they have a team to help them with showings
when they’re on other appointments? How many
other listings do they have in your neighborhood?
Having more listings in your specific
neighborhood may give them expertise. It may
also mean they have similar homes that are
competing with yours. Do they have a blog that
offers expert advice for the luxury home market?
Do they have a custom website that ranks well
when you google “luxury homes for sale in ____”?
An experienced luxury home agent is usually your
best choice but you may want to consider a newer
agent. If you hire a less experienced agent, ask
how they will promote your property. Make sure
they’re prepared to spend money on professional
photographs, ads and marketing. Ask if the office
they work with has other agents who work in the
luxury market? Can they call on those agents for advice? Do they network with luxury home agents in
other areas? If the answer to those questions is yes, they may already have a network of agents who has
the right buyer for your home.
3 – Decide if Your Home Should be a Pocket Listing? A pocket listing is when you list your home
exclusively with an agent but don’t allow them to put it in
the MLS. Most sellers who insist on pocket listings do not want their home advertised in print, online or to
the public in general. The listing agent is only allowed to promote the listing by word of mouth to their
buyers and/or other agents.
We only advise a pocket listing in situations where the seller doesn’t want anyone to know they’re selling.
Listing your home in the MLS is the most effective way to get it sold for the best price in the least amount
of time. From the MLS it can be syndicated to a host of websites that will expose it to buyers all over the
world. The more eyes that see your home, the better your chances of getting it sold quick for a good price.
A pocket listing may protect your privacy but it handicaps the marketing efforts.
4 – Price it Right. Pricing a luxury home is more challenging than pricing tract homes where there may
be several comps that are similar. In addition, custom features and upgrades vary from one home to the
next. The luxury home with the latest tech features and a view will get a better price than the outdated
home next door with no view.

3. Night time photos can add glamour to a luxury home. This is the
night view from the same luxury high rise.
Price It Right!
A good agent will be able to take these differences into consideration when helping you price your home.
There are dangers to over-pricing your home. An
over-priced home that sits on the market for more
than a year is stigmatized. Buyers will wonder
what’s wrong with it and assume that it’s over-
priced.
In the end, you get a better price if you price it
right from the beginning. If you under-price your
home, you are likely to create a bidding war that
brings multiple offers and bids the price up.
5 – Insist on Professional Photographs.
Today’s home buyers start with the internet. They
look at the photos and virtual tours of homes. In
the lower price ranges, a home might sell quick
just because it’s priced right and in a desirable
area. In higher price ranges, you need good
photographs. Luxury homes can have finishes
like dark wood that do not show up well when
photographed with a cell phone.
A professional photographer will be able to capture
the detail of your home. Luxury homes may need
two photo shoots. One during the day time and
another at night. The night time photos may
capture the glamor of a home when all the lights
are turned on or a view of the Strip.
Many top agents are now providing videos of their
listings as well as photos and virtual tours. This is
especially important in a luxury home market like
Las Vegas. Many of our affluent buyers live in other States or Countries. A good video of the home may be
the touch that gets an affluent buyer to fly in for a viewing.
6 – Decide Who Can See Your Home. When working the luxury home market, agents need to qualify
“buyers” who ask to view a home. Sometimes a caller
will want to see a home that’s worth millions. When asked if they can provide a proof of funds or pre-
approval letter, most serious buyers will comply.
Others may not be so forthcoming. Sometimes they’ll admit they don’t “have it yet”. Sometimes they’re
waiting for the settlement from a lawsuit. Sometimes it’s an investment that’s about to mature. Your agent
needs to tell them to come back when they have a proof of funds.
You don’t want to be so protective that you drive away qualified buyers. Before the housing collapse, it
was common to ask for financials to view homes of $2 Million or more in Las Vegas. Over the past few
years, we’ve seen requests for financials on homes over $1 Mil and now we sometimes see them on
homes that are only $500K. Asking for financials in the lower price ranges may discourage qualified
buyers who are just beginning to look at a move up home. We don’t recommend requiring financials on
homes priced below $1 Million.

4. An experienced agent will use discretion in deciding who
views your home.
Buyers may understand that your home is “lived in” but clutter could
mean that you’re still living there in a year.
Qualified affluent buyers can be private. Rather than a blanket statement that no one can see the home
without financials, it’s better to use discretion. If someone
can be found on google and it’s obvious that they own an
estate in Malibu, you might want to let them see your
home.
7 – How and When Can Buyers See Your Home?
Asking for 24 hour notice before showings is not
unreasonable. However, you should be prepared to make
exceptions. Serious buyers may only be in town for a few
days. They may have flown into town with a list of homes
to view. Maybe the homes they’ve seen aren’t quite as
perfect as they hoped. They notice your home online but
they’re leaving the next day. You have two hours to get
your home ready for them to view. You can ask for 24
hour notice, but be prepared to accommodate qualified
buyers when necessary.
You and your agent will have to decide if your home should
be on an electronic lockbox that only other Realtors can
open. Or do you want it shown “by appointment only” with your agent present for showings? The answer
to this is going to vary from one home to the next. If you’ve already moved, it may be easy to put up a
lockbox and let agents show at their convenience. If you still live in the home, having your agent do all the
showings may be advisable. In either case, make sure you and your agent agree in advance how your
home will be shown.
8 – Cover your Assets. Any homeowner should
take precautions when inviting strangers to view
their home. It goes without saying that valuables
should be put away.
You should also use judgment when the home is
being photographed. Do you have a rare piece of
art that shouldn’t be photographed? Do you really
want to show your car collection? Take the photos
but put away things that might attract someone
who is more interested in those items than buying
your home.
Theft isn’t the only concern. You own an
expensive home and appear to have assets. Take
a look at your home before putting it on the
market. Is there a crack in the sidewalk that could cause someone to trip and fall? Is there a rug in the
entry way that wants to slide on the travertine floors? Take a good look at your home and fix anything that
might be an accident/liability waiting to happen.
9 – Get rid of Clutter, Clean and Set the Stage. This is good advice when selling any home. It’s
especially important when selling a luxury home. When buyers are looking at a million dollar home, they
expect to see something that looks like a million dollar home. They don’t expect to see your clothes strewn
on the sofa and your closets crammed full.
Clutter includes your photos that are all over the place. That photo of you and your favorite politician may

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be something you’re proud of. It may also turn off a buyer who votes for the other guys. Leaving a few
photos of sports teams isn’t likely to be a deal breaker,
even if your team is the Dodgers and the buyers are
Giants fans. The photo of you with President so and
so may make a cash buyer turn around and walk out.
Better to put them away. You’ll have a head start on
packing when your home is sold if you’ve already
packed the personal items.
Most luxury home owners have household help to
keep their homes clean. It’s easy for someone who
cleans a home to get into a routine. The surfaces get
polished but do they get into the corners? Buyers may
open cupboards and look under sinks that you never
notice. Make sure they don’t find a collection of dust.
Ask your household staff to give everything a
thorough cleaning before you list.
Take an honest look at your home and decide if it looks like a luxury home. Would you be wowed by it if
you didn’t live there? If the answer is no, you may want to do a bit of staging. These 5 Staging Tips to
Help Maximize Price and Minimize Time on the Market provides a good checklist. It’s important to stage
and maintain your home if you have moved out. Make sure someone keeps it clean. Leaving a few
pieces of furniture will give potential buyers a better perception of how large a bed will fit in. Fresh flowers
will make it seem less abandoned.
10 – Consult with your trusted professionals. You will want to discuss your plans with your financial
advisers. Your accountant will help you prepare for any
tax consequences that may result from the sale.
Your financial advisors may have suggestions for
investing the funds you receive from the sale. If
the home is your primary residence, you may
want to buy another home in a “tax friendly”
State…..Nevada comes to mind.
Selling a luxury home for the best price
Selling your luxury home for the best price
requires knowledge of the local market. It also
requires an agent who will take necessary steps to
protect your security and privacy. Selling your
luxury home in another city? Let us know. We’ll
be happy to refer you to a Top Luxury Home
Realtor in your area.
Debbie Drummond has over ten years experience in the Las Vegas Real Estate Market. She specializes in
luxury homes and high rise properties. If you’re buying or selling a Las Vegas home, call (702)354-6900 or
email Debbie@LVHomePro.com. We’ll be happy to assist you in your move.