Studying the markets and finding out where money is coming from these days is the key to success as a luxury agent, say the Altman Brothers.
In the process of selling multi-million dollar celebrity real estate in California, the Altman Brothers have become celebrities themselves thanks to the TV show ‘Million Dollar Listing’. Matt and younger brother Josh specialize in Los Angeles’ so-called platinum triangle suburbs of Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Holmby Hills, along with the famous Sunset Strip and Hollywood Hills.
They have sold homes to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West and DJ Calvin Harris, and sold Britney Spears’ home to an Australian businessman. The pair sells everything from $500,000 condos, the starting price in Los Angeles, all the way up to $50 million houses, with an average price of $3 million to $5 million. They have also begun developing high-end residential property themselves.
“For us the word luxury and the market of luxury is what our brand is,” says Matt speaking in Sydney last week. “We surround ourselves with people in luxurious places that do things. We go to events all around the world because that’s where you find people. We go to the Kentucky Derby or the Concours D’Elegance or Monaco to the Grand Prix. That’s a worthwhile investment because you’re hobnobbing with incredibly wealthy individuals.”
But despite the glitz of schmoozing with celebrities at sporting and entertainment events, the real key to being a successful luxury agent is research, says Josh. “I think at the end of the day the most important thing in any market is to become an expert in the market—you can only do so much without being an expert.” He attributes their success in the property business over the past 9 years to studying the markets.
This has seen the pair recently work with global real estate firm Knight Frank, who produce extensive research on the global luxury property market. “That’s important, finding out where money is coming from these days,” says Josh. “I think it’s clear that China is making a major impact not only here in Australia but also we see it in the US. Our top global clients are Saudi, Chinese and Russian right now. It’s pretty clear for what we deal with and I think it’s pretty much the same thing out here as far as seeing China leading in investing.”
“Real estate is the new global currency,” adds Matt. “It’s more about investing in a safe investment and less about their return right now or that they care about pay 10 or 15% above asking price. They’re looking at it more as a bank, a place to deposit money.”
Josh says that the deflated Australian dollar is helping to encourage foreign investment in Australian real estate. “Right now it seems like for foreign investors, it’s the perfect time to come in here and clean up,” he says. “The Chinese right now are getting 25% off everything, everybody likes a deal.” Adds Matt, “There’s a lot more global wealth, and we’re going to see a lot more of it coming in [to California] just like you folks are.”