Think luxury Realtor® are born and not made? Think again. Many of the most successful luxury agents on the RealTrends Verified list started where you are today. Thankfully, learning how to become a luxury real estate agent is no different than learning how to become an ordinary Realtor®. Shift your mindset, carve out time to build up your skills and market knowledge, and you will be working with luxury buyers and sellers in less time than you think possible.
Not convinced? Here’s a quick story that might change your mind. 15 years ago, I was an agent at a luxury brokerage in New York City. A new agent at a rival brokerage was making waves by slipping flyers under the doors of apartments in high-end condo buildings. His name was Ryan Serhant.
Becoming a luxury real estate agent isn’t easy. You will have to strive and grind just like Ryan did.To help, we put together seven proven tips to make it easier:
7 Proven Tips to Become a Luxury Real Estate Agent
As promised, here’s how to become a luxury real estate agent. Before you dig in, a word of caution. These tips are in this order for a reason. Skipping a step will mean slower progress toward your goal.
1. Shift your mindset — learn how to think like a luxury agent
To become a luxury agent, you must first learn to think like a luxury agent. Getting high-end buyers and sellers to know, like and trust you enough to handle their transactions isn’t easy. It’s also much more challenging when you’re just starting. You will compete for clients with your city’s most polished, professional and persuasive agents.
Soft skills — the “like” part of the equation — are critical in luxury sales. Before you begin your journey to becoming a hyper-local luxury expert who can easily rattle off luxury market stats, you must work on them.
Here are three key soft skills to master to become a successful luxury real estate agent:
- Staying positive — no matter what happens
- Developing an abundance mindset — and abandoning a scarcity mindset
- Emotional intelligence — to read others and react accordingly
This is not woo-woo advice. The mindset shift after working on these three soft skills is critical for success. Work on them like you would any other skill. Books and courses from self-help gurus such as Tony Robbins can help. Do not dismiss them. They will work if you put in the work. Many highly successful luxury agents on the RealTrends Verified list used them.
2. Study your local luxury real estate market — learn how to negotiate like a luxury agent
Once you have the right mindset to work in luxury sales, the next step is to study the market you’ll be working in. This will help you build trust with wealthy buyers and homeowners.
For the most part, luxury real estate markets work just like any other market. Inventory rises and falls and prices go up and down in response. Here are the critical differences you must learn in your luxury market:
- The pricing, number and type of luxury homes in the market – Use your MLS and market reports from luxury brokerages like Douglass Elliman or Compass to study the market. How many luxury homes are there? How long do they typically stay on the market? How often do they change listing agents? Which types of homes sell fast and which sell slowly?
- How local agents price the “X factor” of luxury homes – luxury homes are often priced more like rare art than traditional real estate. For example, an ocean view might add 30% to the price of an average home. The right ocean view can double or even triple the value of a luxury home. This is known as the “X factor”. Learn what they are and how much money they command in your market. You can’t sell to anyone unless you know exactly what they want and how much it costs.
- How local luxury properties respond to economic shifts- Since luxury buyers have easier access to capital, they are often less affected by economic downturns. Prices in some luxury markets might even rise in a recession. Learn how your local luxury market responds.
3. Study architecture and interior design styles—learn how to talk like a luxury agent
Now that you think like a luxury agent and know the market, it’s time to learn how to talk like a luxury agent. Learning to identify local architectural and interior design styles is the first step. This might include knowing the differences between a herringbone and a parquet floor and, more importantly, which style is more sought after by your potential clients. At the luxury level, tiny details matter more. Wealthy people can afford to be picky. And they will be. Trust me.
This step will take time but is well worth the effort. Start by visiting your local historical society website to learn the history of the homes in your city. Websites like Architectural Digest can help you learn to identify the basics of architectural and interior design styles and trends. Commit them to memory, and you’ll have an instant talking point for your listing presentation.
Wealthy people, particularly older people, love to talk about their homes. If you can confidently discuss the finer details of their homes, you will quickly impress them.
4. Consider joining a luxury listing team
You might consider this a step down, but joining a luxury listings team is the fastest way to jumpstart your career as a luxury agent. Why? They already know everything I just described above. Learning everything you need to know about your local luxury market can take years. Joining a team gives you an easy shortcut.
If you can make the math work, joining a team can help you expand your sphere of influence to wealthy homeowners, buyers and luxury listing agents. This covers the “know” part of the know, like and trust equation.
Are you having trouble with the math? Consider this: A smaller commission split on a multi-million dollar listing can sometimes be larger than a full split on an ordinary listing.
5. Build a polished and magnetic personal brand
A polished personal brand can be helpful in any niche you work in, but it’s everything for luxury. If your brand doesn’t exude luxury and competence, they will find an agent with a brand that does. A polished personal brand signals your competence to help them transact and shows them you possess the soft skills we discussed earlier.
Study the brands of luxury agents in your market
Go to your MLS or the RealTrends Verified listings for your city and find your market’s top 25 luxury agents to study their personal brands. What do their headshots, websites and marketing materials have in common? In many upscale markets, luxury agent brands are more casual than you might think.
Upgrade your personal brand
Next, honestly examine your current branding materials. How do they compare to the brands of the top 25 agents you researched? If your brand doesn’t compare, invest the time, money, and energy to upgrade it.
Here are three key branding assets that will likely need an upgrade to meet luxury brand standards:
Your headshots
A headshot from a professional photographer with a warm, genuine smile can go a long way in luxury real estate. Ask around your office to find the photographers luxury agents use and hire them. Make sure to ask for lifestyle shots as well. Most luxury agents include them in their marketing materials.
Your social media accounts
Since luxury clients often find you through your social media accounts, ensure they are as polished and professional as your new headshots. If you make videos, invest in a higher-quality microphone and camera, and consider using a social media marketing company like Coffee & Contracts for post templates.
Your website
Luxury clients will expect you to have a website. Your website should look sleek and professional, highlighting luxury listings and, more importantly, a luxury lifestyle. You can hire a web designer to build a site in WordPress or opt for a more affordable template website from providers such as Placester or Agentfire.
6. Elevate your listing marketing game
If you’re already a listing agent, you must treat every new listing as a luxury listing. This will help you impress fickle luxury homeowners. Remember, they can choose any agent they want. Elevated listing marketing can help stack the deck in your favor.
That means investing in the highest quality listing marketing you can afford. Go back to your list of the top 25 luxury agents in your market and study how they market their listings. Copy them.
Here are four easy ways to upgrade your listing marketing to meet luxury standards:
Professional listing photography
Hire the best listing photographer you can afford. Create a shot list for every new listing to ensure you are capturing the home’s best details.
3D tours
A Matterport tour might seem overkill for a starter home, but remember, your goal is to impress luxury homeowners with your listing marketing skills. Including 3D tours for your listing is an easy and affordable way.
Listing videos
Hire a videographer to create videos for your listings. Luxury listing agents usually incorporate drone footage of the exterior and interior of the home in their videos. This helps develop a sense of drama, which is critical for marketing luxury homes.
Social media posting and advertising
Luxury homeowners expect you to use up-to-the-minute marketing strategies to market their homes. In 2025, this means social media. Use your professionally shot listing pictures and videos to post about and advertise your listings on social media.
7. Become an active member of the luxury community
The final step to becoming a luxury real estate agent is to meet them where they are. Find places and activities wealthy people in your community enjoy and join them. Don’t worry;—we’re not suggesting you dine at Michelin-starred restaurants every night. You just need to find out where people who can afford luxury real estate hang out and join them there. A Starbucks in or near a neighborhood with luxury homes is one place to start. Make it your new remote work spot.
Here are a few more places to investigate:
- Art galleries and museums
- Charity events
- Sporting events
- Places of worship
- Country clubs
- Casual yet upscale cafes
Starting conversations with wealthy people that lead to new business and referrals is easier than you think. If you’re an active community member, you will have instant rapport. Your conversations will naturally flow to your occupation and the local real estate market. You will then have a chance to offer value with your newly acquired luxury real estate market expertise.
Bringing it all together
Learning how to become a luxury real estate agent isn’t easy. Luxury means different things to different people, and the definition of luxury can vary widely by market. Strategies to break into the luxury market in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, might not work in Beverly Hills. However, if you dedicate the next few months to working on the mindset and skills above, we know you will find success as a luxury agent.
Read the comments on this post for advice from fellow agents.
