An Ideal Personality

Top luxury agents possess several core personality traits and use them throughout every stage of the transaction. Arguably, the most important personality trait is honesty and transparency. Luxury clients will not allow agents to waste their time, and want all the details up front. In addition, many luxury clients are high-profile, sometimes famous clients, who don’t necessarily want their transaction to be public, or to be kept as private as possible. For example, in 2012, it was reported that Jennifer Hudson almost bought a home in Burr Ridge…but when neighbors caught wind that Hudson was looking at a house in their neighborhood, a rumor mill started, the media started reporting on those rumors and eventually, the media speculation caused Hudson to look for a home elsewhere.

“Luxury clients require full disclosure in all aspects of the transaction – from the first meeting to negotiating – and they must be able to trust you,” Trace says. “Agents become a confidant, and clients expect a commitment.”

One thing they do not want, Nicholas Colagiovanni, a luxury agent with Baird & Warner, says, is for their home to be passed off to a stranger.

“When [luxury home sellers] contract with a listing agent, they expect that listing agent to show the property. They do not expect an assistant or a lockbox,” Colagiovanni says. “With my sellers, if they are contracting with me, they are getting me. If I decide to split the listing with a colleague, the seller is going to meet the colleague.”

For Greenberg, being honest with clients must sometimes be in the form of constructive criticism. It may be a difficult conversation, but once the home is sold, then all can be forgotten. She recalls a transaction surrounding a home that featured carpeted rooms with the original wood floors acting as borders. No surprise to Greenberg, but the home was simply not selling.

“I had to sit there and tell them that that was the reason…I told them they had to take the carpet out of the middle of their rooms, put down new wood floors and re-stain the whole thing,” she says. “We sold the home. I was very sure of myself, and you have to be. You have to be confident in your ability to know what is going to sell the home.”

Affluent people that tend to be connected, knowledgable and demanding are sure to know the market. Good luxury agents bring additional insight and strategy that only professionals can deliver with true market understanding.