July is Luxury Month at Inman. We’ll take the temperature of the luxury market, talk to top producers in the ultra-luxury space and dive into the luxe trends of today — all culminating at Luxury Connect in San Diego, where we’ll announce this year’s Golden I Club honorees.
Ask just about anyone in the industry, and they will tell you that Jade Mills is a luxury real estate icon.
The Coldwell Banker Global Luxury ambassador has been serving clients in LA and Beverly Hills for more than 30 years, and has closed some of the biggest deals in the country, giving her a total career sales volume that exceeds $9 billion. She is consistently ranked as one of the top agents worldwide in the Coldwell Banker network and across all brokerages in the U.S.
In addition to her impressive track record and accolades, Mills is well-loved in the industry for her kindness and respect towards other agents. And at the end of this month, she will be sharing her industry insights at Luxury Connect at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.
In advance of her appearance at Connect, Inman spoke with Mills about market happenings, trends and what she’s looking forward to at the event.
The conversation below has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Inman: How is the market in LA right now?
Jade Mills: As far as the market is concerned, we’re seeing that selling homes is very sporadic at this time. Something will sell — we just closed something for $31 million — and then things become very quiet. And then we have another sale.
A lot of people that I speak with are taking money out of the stock market and buying real estate, which is great. We, of course, are encouraging that, because the stock market has also been volatile, and we don’t know where it’s going.
I do a little trading on E-Trade myself, just for fun … So, I think we all know where the market is and I always tell people, when I started selling real estate, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to make a lot of money,’ but you never make a lot of money unless you’re a real-estate investor.
Now, the best thing that we can tell our clients is exactly that: Buy. If you need to sell, sell. But buy, buy, buy, buy, buy, and try to buy and hold, if you can.
Speaking of how the market is going, I’ve read reports recently — one of them was Coldwell Banker Global Luxury’s Mid-Year Report — where buyers are really kind of focusing in on turnkey properties, or they’re just really uninterested in anything that resembles a ‘project.’ Have you seen that yourself?
Because you can buy things, at least here in LA, for almost the same price as if you buy a burned-out lot in the Palisades or in Malibu, and for the time it’s going to take you, you’re better off buying something that is existing. Something many, many people are saying is, ‘I don’t want to do any work. I want to get a deal, or I want to get a discount, but I don’t want to do any work,’ so it’s our job to then watch the market, see who becomes a little more anxious to sell.
We always advise to buy in the best area or on the best street, even if you’re paying a little bit more, because that is going to appreciate more.
Another trend that I heard about recently is these international buyers being attracted to the US now, with the dollar being down in comparison to the euro or other currencies. And I was curious, if you work with international buyers, what their thoughts are on all of this?
I know a lot of my clients that I’ve been working with for many years, from China, from Hong Kong, are saying that they now have money that they can spend and get out — a lot of their money is either in Switzerland or in New York — and they are able to buy easily here.
We also have a couple of Russian clients. We have a huge Saudi client, and they have a lot of money. Also, Qatar is an option right now. So I’m not saying that there are a lot of those people, but there are some, and we’re seeing them start to look and buy here again, which is great.
What would you say is the most challenging thing that you’ve had to deal with in your business in the last month or so?
I think the most challenging aspect of our business right now is that people want a great deal. [So, you’re going to another] agent or seller and you’re kind of apologizing up front saying, ‘I’m really sorry, but if something is listed for $10 million, they want to make a $7 million offer.’
I always like to talk to the listing agent first, or, if it’s my listing, I like that agent to call me and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do. Can you guide me? Can you tell me if it’s a waste of time?’ Because it’s great to have good relationships with other agents, and honesty, integrity is the name of our game.
I saw you share a few months ago on Instagram your ‘best real estate marketing strategy,’ which was to make t-shirts with your name and contact info on them and have your kid pass them out at school.
That was actually my husband’s idea. And this was years ago — what he did was, he sent my son to school in a t-shirt that had a lightning bolt on the back and it said, ‘Jade Mills, Coldwell Banker,’ and we gave them to the whole class.
One of my competitors, who was actually a dear friend, his son came home with one of my t-shirts on. So he called me and said, ‘Oh my gosh, my son came home with a Jade Mills t-shirt on,’ and he said, ‘Honestly, I think that was a brilliant idea,’ and that is really where I got my start.
I love that. For new agents who are getting started and struggling in this slow market, do you have ideas for what they could do to build their network up and reach new clients?
Absolutely. Today, as 33 years ago, the best thing you can do is not spend a lot of money, because you don’t have a lot of money to spend. Sitting Sunday open houses is still, to me, the very best thing that you can do. Yes, it’s time consuming, and maybe you’ll have two people come into an open house on a Sunday, and maybe you’ll have 30 people, but it’s connecting, and grabbing on to that person and making a relationship.
So I really feel like if you like people — and you should not be in this business if you don’t like people or enjoy conversation and talking real estate — you can connect with people.
Great. We’ll be excited to see you at Inman Connect San Diego, which is coming up in a few weeks. What are you looking forward to in San Diego this year?
I love [Inman events], and I always learn something, and we can’t ever stop learning. Every time I’ve come to an Inman event, I enjoy the panels, I enjoy hearing people speak, and I really feel you can learn forever.
Whether you’re in the business for one year or 33 years, you can always learn from other people. And this is a great way. Inman seems to choose people who have a lot to say and a lot to teach. And I love it.
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