Twin Cities upper bracket

Realtor Name-Dropping

After almost a decade attending Edina Realty “Exceptional Properties” meetings — held weekly at an upper bracket Twin Cities home — I figure I’ve now heard my colleagues sing the praises of something like 2,000 homes, cumulatively worth a cool $3 billion or so (and have pitched a few of my own listings at such meetings).

And yet, I can’t recall a single instance where the listing agent touted that the home was built by Toll Bros, or D.R. Horton, or some other high-end national builder.

Instead, what I regularly hear is:

“Amazing home built by Ken Durr.”

“Soaring contemporary by Peterssen/Keller.”

“One of Lecy’s most impressive Arts-and-Crafts homes.”

And that was just at yesterday’s meeting (if you didn’t know, all of the above are well-regarded Twin Cities builders). 

Seller Short-Hand

What do I make of the foregoing?

Two things.

First, there’s no equivalent to “Gucci” or “Coach” in upper bracket new construction, i.e., a nationally-known and recognized “luxury home brand” worthy of the name.

Such efforts, by definition, are one-of-a kind, custom and  . . . . local — vs. “scaleable” and national in scope.

Unlike upper bracket home builders, luxury brands like Gucci and Coach — plus others that come to mind such as Westin, Porsche, and Tiffany — all follow a replicable blueprint or design (albeit one with very high standards). 

Second.  Upper bracket Buyers know all that — and so do their Realtors.

So, prominently plugging the name of the (custom) home builder is really just smart marketing.

In effect, it becomes a sort of Seller shorthand, telling Buyers in a word or two that the home they’re considering is built with fine materials and craftsmanship, is aesthetically pleasing, etc.

What upper bracket Buyer doesn’t want that?

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