CASE STUDY: The Psychology Behind NYC Luxury Real Estate Listings Can Work in Miami

Here are some factors that luxury residential brokers consider when creating a listing, according to DNA Info New York Writer Amy Zimmer:

The power of pricing “just below”

Just as in retail, many in real estate price their property “just below” a round number — for example listing an apartment for $499,000 instead of $500,000.

“There is a psychological effect of being just a hair under,” said broker Claire Groome with Warburg Realty.

For instance, she recently sold a three luxury queen bed style bedroom co-op in Carnegie Hill listed for $3.495 million after three days on the market, saying, “Rarely will you see something listed for $4 million.”

When Dan Bamberger, of the Bamberger Group, analyzed Manhattan sales prices in 2015 using Streeteasy data, he found that listings between $300,000 and $1 million used the “just below” strategy nearly 90 percent of the time. Homes priced between $1 million and $10 million used the strategy 78 percent of the time.

 The allure of neutral spaces

Staging apartments — which often involves de-cluttering, painting and changing furniture — has become more common, even for apartments at lower price points.

These apartments tend to show better in photos as well as in real life, experts say, as they give would-be buyers an easier canvas upon which to quickly project their lives.

 The repellent effect of stale listings

In this market, listings that sit longer than 60 to 90 days raise red flags, said Broker Zach Ehrlich of Mdrn. Residential.

Buyers are suspicious of stale listings, thinking something must be wrong with the property. Their agents also steer clear, thinking the seller isn’t likely to cut the price, he said.

To avoid that perception, brokers often try to work around this. They might reduce the price by some nominal amount — like $1,000 or $5,000 — to grab attention again as a price reduction or might re-list an apartment, reversing the order of the unit number. So, apartment 11K might be relisted as K11 to trick websites like Streeteasy and Zillow.

 A listing’s wording is chosen with care

Though text may be secondary to pictures, many brokers still labor over word choice — even more so now, said Stephen Kliegerman of Halstead Property Development Marketing.

“You want to make sure your messaging is clear and direct, but you want make sure you leave some things out so people still call you,” he said, explaining that if a listing has too much information, would-be buyers might think they don’t have to see the space.

You can read the entire article here: https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/features/apartmentality