Million-dollar deals don’t happen often—at least not in the typical market.
Today, we’re taking a closer look at how to secure and close luxury deals by interviewing my good friend and fellow agent Paul Harootunian, a super agent in Chester, Delaware in Montgomery County.
What Paul did recently is something a lot of agents say they want to do more of: sell luxury real estate and raise their average price point.
Paul recently closed a $2 million deal. The reason I’m sharing this is because, number one, people don’t understand how hard these deals can be to put together. Secondly, this deal was four years in the making.
Keep in mind sale prices above $1 million makeup barely over 4% of the market in suburban Philadelphia—a tiny percentage. For that reason, a lot of folks say they do luxury, but they’re actually selling median price point homes.
So, we’re breaking down how Paul set up this sale four years in the making.
A $2 Million real estate deal
It all started with some property owners who came to Paul’s attention through BoomTown four years ago. After years of follow up from the inside sales team, Paul got involved in November when he had a buyer agency contract meeting on the phone.
He and the buyers checked out the $2M property about a week later and found there were multiple complications—like a farm and two extra lots being included in the deal. Paul did his homework to figure out the values of the lots as well as the home. He knew his numbers going in. He and the buyer ended up submitting an offer that was a little low, which naturally led to the first revision.
Five revisions later, Paul and his client ended up getting the property under contract.
Five revisions probably sounds like a lot, but it’s pretty common at this price point. With that kind of money involved, there’s a lot of back and forth with adjustments that need to be made. This isn’t a $300K or $400K home. There’s a lot more at stake.
Over 30 days of negotiating, Paul never worried that the deal was going to fall apart when he was negotiating. In his words, “I just met them where they were.”
Here’s his closing line, which everyone should write down: “You got the house for $2,150,000— do you want it?” They responded, “Absolutely,” and the contract was signed.
For more details, watch the full video to hear Paul explain the whole process.
In a nutshell, here’s what Paul did during this transaction that he recommends to any agent looking to break into this price point:
- Meet the (potential) client where they are
- Ensure all the counter-offers are in writing
- Listen to them (and get clear on what they want)
- Don’t oversell the property
- Commit to constant communication— with your client and the other agent
- Don’t give up, and keep adding value.
As Paul’s example shows, deals at higher price points can take quite a bit longer than for median-priced homes. And it can be an exhausting process for both you and your client. Keep that in mind and look for ways to keep adding value to the agent-client relationship.
After all, you work for them—not the other way around.
