I’m in the process of selling a house as part of an estate settlement, and the property is valued at over $3M. I’m wondering what the key differences are in selling a high-value property compared to a more typical home priced under $1M. Are closing costs and realtor fees generally similar, or should I expect significant differences? Any insights or advice for navigating this type of sale would be greatly appreciated!
There’s a much smaller population of people interested in your property, especially considering location—like NYC, Bay Area, or LA compared to most of the rest of the US. So marketing could be much more important.
Where is the property? If you’re in a very high cost of living area, $3M isn’t that high. For example, in Seattle, the median price is over $900K, so a typical single-family home is about $1.6M.
It’s in a high cost of living area. Average home prices here are $1.5M. This is just larger than I have experience with.
For a high-end property like yours, your agent should be present for every showing. The marketing should reflect the price point—think about using 3D imagery, video tours, and aerial photos. Your agent should also host invitation-only open houses for brokers and special clients. Make sure your agent has a good reputation and is experienced at that level.
100% agree. In that price range, buyers can be very picky and want everything to be perfect and move-in ready. For example, my condo is for sale at $4.5M, and someone was turned off because the kitchen drawers weren’t self-closing. I suggest hiring a staging company to improve the property’s appearance. Also, switch out all the light bulbs to daylight ones for better photos and videos.
Stop. Much of what you say has weight, but it’s simpler than that. The presentation must attract the buyer, but sometimes all that is irrelevant. Does it need to be professionally staged? Most likely, but it depends. Drone shots are key, but the reputation of the realtor isn’t as critical as you might think. Many realtors with poor reputations still do plenty of business.
Commission is based on percentage, so you’re looking at paying about $180k in commissions for a $3 million property.
Jai said:
Commission is based on percentage, so you’re looking at paying about $180k in commissions for a $3 million property.
Woof. That’s a lot.