This is a recorded interview between Jay Papizan and luxury real estate agent Renee Lossia Acho about building and managing a successful luxury real estate practice. Renee describes her transition from teaching to real estate, gives concrete operational advice for agents breaking into luxury (know the product: construction/finish details; position yourself as a financial/portfolio strategist; be prepared to invest in staging and marketing), shares performance metrics (average sale price ~ $1.2M; has sold ~100 luxury properties for over $100M per Jay's comment), and closes by reframing 'luxury' as an experience rather than a price point.
Chapters
Luxury is really about an experience. It's not about a price point. If you're selling $100,000 house or a $10 million house, it's about the experience. How are you handling your clients at every price point?
Hey, everybody, it's Jay Papizan, your VP of content. I'm excited to do another interview today. We've got Renee Lacia Acho from the greater Michigan area. Welcome, Renee.
Thank you. Happy to be here, Jay. Thanks for having me.
You've carved out a very successful career in luxury real estate. Would you take just a couple of minutes and tell us about, like, when you got started and describe your current business today?
So I have a very interesting story. Started off as a high school teacher, have a master's in education and somehow find my found myself in real estate. I was driven to this in this journey from a financial need, from a health crisis with daughter. So my why is really my motivator that brought me here and kept me focused.
How many of your former students have you now sold houses to? Are they old enough to buy houses from you yet?
Not only are they old enough to buy houses, some of them have worked for me. Actually. They came back years later and wanted to start in real estate. And I coached a few of them through it and some have stayed, some have not in the field. It's not for everybody, as we know. And you know what? J. It's so true because I see myself still as a teacher. I and I think that that is one of the main differences that I like to certainly emulate within my business. My vision, our mission is to really be a consultant, to be a strategist for our clients. And I think that is absolutely comes from a background of teaching and educating.
I love that. Our job is to help people make great decisions. And a great teacher, a truly great teacher, we've all had them that changed our lives. You get to also make a massive impact on their financial life. In this job. You sold the numbers. I have about 100 luxury properties for over 100 million. That's a very successful business.
Average sales price is typically around 1.2 million. So my sales volume and my units are typically one to one or very close to that. And it's a nice formula for not too much, too many units and yet still doing a really high volume.
You shared with me that because you've been successful at this and doing that level of success for a long time, lots of people want to learn from you. Like, how do I break into luxury? What advice do you give them?
They will expect you to be a veteran in the business or you to at least have the knowledge of a veteran in the business. So what does that mean? We are a resource to our clients? That's what I pride myself on. I'm a resource to my client. But I also have a background in building, architecture and design. So what does that mean? It means that my clients know that I have a thorough understanding of not just the home buying and selling process, but actually the product behind it. What makes a home worth a million dollars or more? What makes a house have a higher quality of level of finish and amenities? Do you know the difference between appliances? Do you know the difference between a shingle of a roof of a window of a floor of a wood species? Do you truly understand a cabinetry difference and granite versus a marble or a quartzite? Those are things that people are looking for your advice on to some degree and your knowledge and expertise. Because if they're buying something valued at 1, 2, $3 million, you're helping to guide to make sure that that is a true value.
Well, I'm just going to role play with you, Renee. Like all that sounds very intimidating. Like I have to learn about construction and architecture and design. What's the best way to go about that? Do I need to go get an architecture degree or can I start being purposeful about maybe previewing luxury properties? What's the right way to go about that education?
There is no wrong way to go about it as long as you do it. So I tell people, start with product understanding, talk to an inspector, go through an inspection and really understand what it is that they're looking at. What is an H VAC component? How do, what are the differences throughout that, learn that work with a builder, sit down, observe, go through a set of plans, go through and understand and learn. So the more you go into homes, go open and close the doors, turn the knobs, understand, go into, you know, anywhere that's got plumbing fixtures or lighting fixtures, people are willing to teach you. And there are aspects of where you can learn this from. If you find a relationship, let's just say with an architect or a newer builder that maybe wants to put themselves on the map and get their name out there, maybe this is a relationship that you can build one on one with them, where you're sharing ideas. We teach people that if you're going to sell real estate, you need to know mortgages and you need to know the title work and you should know a home warranty. And we tell people, go have lunch with a mortgage Expert, go have lunch and sit down with a title or you know, a closing department and learn what those documents are. Why can't we do the same thing with an architect or a designer or a decorator or a builder and use each other's resources to learn and leverage.
So number one is know your product. Yes. I, I thought like not just the, the inventory, but you're also talking about, know about the inventory itself. Like how's this home built and why is it in the luxury class? What's number two for?
You think of yourself more as financial consultant. This is part of a portfolio that at this level someone probably has a more robust portfolio that they're dealing with, that they have. So this is an asset to them. Differently perhaps than just a house would be. We lead with questions whenever we sit down with a client. Where is your 5 and 10 year projection goal in terms of your lifestyle and where you're going to be at and creating the plan with them so that you really are more of a strategist in their eyes than a salesperson. So the more that they understand that you're there to build a relationship relationship and not to collect a commission, that is going to be the main differential between helping them to feel the trust and that you have the knowledge and you are going to help navigate their process. People say, oh, I want to sell luxury real estate and I want. You need to understand when you're selling homes at a premium price point, whatever that is, again for your area, there's a lot of expense and cost that goes along with it. So to be in a high level, only sales position, there's cost involved that I think sometimes people don't understand. Number one, you're typically holding that listing for more than 90 days. A million, 2 million, $3 million property.
So are these costs in your market, are these costs that you're bearing for the 90 days and then you're being reimbursed at closing, or do you bear them outright or do you pass them on? I just want to make sure I'm understanding, certainly.
So the hard costs are different. One of the main things that if someone's interviewing four agents for the same property, what is it that makes you stand out? And one of the things that we really pride ourselves on is preparing your home in its best light. I will not take photos or a video of your house. If it's not ready and we start with staging, that's my expense. I stage every home. That means I have a team of people who really do go into the house. We Organize closets and cabinets. We move pillows and furniture. We prepare the home in its best light. We will go in and bring painters and bring in designers and bring in people. Because ultimately, if you want the top number for that house, you have to show up in your top performance level. We put it behind all the social media, and we have an entire platform and a strategy. It's costly. My average listing will be up to $5,000 before it's sold. And that is a cost that I bear. And what I learned, Jay, is that if I don't do that, the listing costs me more because I'll take it. It won't be prepared, and it won't likely sell for the number that the client wants. And therefore I'll have lost. Whether it's 1,500 dol or up to $5,000, I'd rather have a greater guarantee that I'm going to close that property, know that my clients are satisfied, know that they have, that they're very, very happy with what we've done and the skill set that we brought to them and that the outcome and results are what they wanted. Rather than dating me for three months and then not selling the property and breaking up with me, it's something that I want to stay committed to, and I'm willing to put my money behind it.
All right, so I've got three big ones, and that's great. You got to be prepared, you've got to be a resource, and frankly, you've got to be sure of the you're ready to make the commitment necessary to be successful. Any final advice as we wrap this up? For someone thinking about making the leap.
Into luxury, I would tell anybody the same thing I tell my clients, Luxury. When people say luxury. Luxury is really about an experience. It's not about a price point. If you're selling $100,000 house or a $10 million house, the experience that your client has a feeling you are truly the resource that they need. You are their advocate, you are their consultant. And your knowledge exceeds sometimes what theirs is in the market. Because if it's in real estate, you should have a knowledge base that is at, if not better than, what the general consumer has. I would hope. But understand, it's about the experience. How are you handling your clients at every price point? And remember that luxury is really about an experience. That's what they're looking for.
Love that. Thank you so much for sharing with us today. Well, I hope you enjoyed that interview. If you'd like to see more and learn more about real estate. Check out some of our other content. Go ahead, just click on one and explore.
