Real-Estate Agents’ Over the Top Gifts for Home Buyers

When Christophe Choo helped a couple purchase a $15 million Los Angeles home, he wanted to buy them a closing gift that was equally impressive. So instead of leaving a bottle of Champagne in the fridge, he and his wife ushered them onto a chartered jet bound for Vegas. Mr. Choo, a real-estate agent at Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills, said he spent about $30,000 to accompany his clients on an all-expense paid weekend in Las Vegas, which included suites at the Encore Resort at Wynn and a visit to Tryst nightclub. Mr. Choo said his over-the-top closing gift strategy, which includes giving the most lavish gifts to clients who spend over $10 million, pays off. “My business is 70% repeat clients,” he said. “Creating memories is important.” He declined to say how much in commission he earned on the sale.

Closing gifts have long been a staple of the industry, as agents often rely on repeat business from a pool of existing clients. As competition for high-end listings heats up, top-shelf agents are trying harder to come up with more creative, sometimes more lavish, closing gifts that will ensure their names remain on clients’ minds. While luxury real-estate agents generally sell fewer properties per year than their mid-market colleagues, some top-shelf agents can earn six-figure commissions, or as much as 6% of the final sale price, from a single purchase. Agents say they’ve given clients everything from bicycles to Buddha earrings to custom dog portraits. “When I work with a client, in particular with a buyer, you get to know them really well,” said Danny Hertzberg, an associate at the Jills at Coldwell Banker in Miami who budgets between $250 and $1,000 per family member, along with a $500 donation to charity. After selling a Miami condo to a couple of snowbirds, Mr. Hertzberg recently presented them with a pair of bikes that they can ride to the beach. He also bought bells, locks and baskets for the bicycles and asked the store to put a large bow on each one.

Speed is crucial. Florian Jouin, an agent at One Sotheby’s International Realty in Miami, gives closing gifts within two weeks of a sale because that’s when clients often share the news of a purchase with friends and associates. Last fall, Mr. Jouin flew to Monaco to personally deliver to a client the keys to his just-purchased $1.2 million Miami condo. Mr. Jouin presented the keys on a Tiffany & Co. key ring along with a new bracelet, after he noticed his client was wearing a discolored bracelet in a meeting. “I’m trying to create a spark,” Mr. Jouin said. “They can buy everything they want.” His trip, which he combined with seeing family, resulted in the client introducing him to two other possible future clients. Others give gifts that ensure them face-to-face time with clients’ friends and family members. For many of her high-net-worth clients, Lauren Mitrick, a broker with Newman Realty in Chicago, hires a private chef to stage a housewarming party for the buyer and up to 10 guests for $600. To avoid wearing out her welcome, Ms. Mitrick and her business partner often leave after “meeting their family and friends,” allowing the party to continue. Brian Buffini, founder of a Carlsbad, Calif.-based coaching company for real estate agents, discourages agents from spending over $50 on closing gifts, as less-expensive gifts can have the same return on investment. He suggests agents instead spend their resources to check in—say, by inviting former clients to come and pick out a pie from their offices for the holidays. “It’s kind of goofy, but people still like this stuff,” he said. Mr. Choo, the underwriter of the Vegas trip, said he gives gifts throughout the year, not just at the holidays or closings. For ideas, he pays attention to what the client is posting on social media. Recently, he sent a basket of artisanal snacks to a former client who announced a promotion at work, and decorative angels to a former client who was collecting the figurines in her new garden. A client who admired Mr. Choo’s crystal Buddha cufflinks is getting custom-made Buddha earrings. Wendy Sarasohn, an agent at Brown Harris Stevens in New York, brings large custom gift baskets to her closings. Hand wrapped, they include a present for each member of the family including the pets. Recently she’s given tickets to a runway show for Fashion Week, a dog bowl engraved with the pet’s name and a Nespresso machine for coffee lovers. When gift-giving during the holiday season, Ms. Sarasohn said the manner of delivery manners. So over the last two weeks in December she delivers the colorfully wrapped presents herself, along with handwritten thank you notes, to a list of about 25 clients from the previous year. To wrap the gifts, Ms. Sarasohn and two other agents form a “conveyor line” of ribbon curling and wrapping. “Our office looks like Santa’s elf shop,” she said.

After meeting her client’s rescue dog Ginger at their first meeting, Constance Houghton, an agent with the Corcoran Group in New York, knew a gift involving the pup would resonate with the owner. After the closing, Ms. Houghton commissioned an artist via Etsy to create canvas print of the dog for $100. “My client fell in love with it,” she said. Ginger’s owner, Kristine Faxon, a marketing director, said the portrait of her Chihuahua mix hangs in the foyer of the Kips Bay one-bedroom in Manhattan that she bought through Ms. Houghton. It was the first time she found a closing gift that made her “home feel special,” said Ms. Faxon who worked with Ms. Houghton to sell her West Village condo prior to the purchase. “The typical closing gifts that I’ve received in the past are Champagne or wine, and I don’t drink,” she said. Not all thoughtful presents are appreciated by clients, cautions Mr. Hertzberg, who adds that he’ll stay away from any meaningful jewelry or items of clothing. “You try to get specific and personal, but not so personal” as to mistakenly offend clients, he said. No matter the choice of gift, it’s important to make them “heartfelt” and to resist the urge of sticking a business card into the box, said Lizzie Post, etiquette expert at the Emily Post Institute. “The gift shouldn’t scream ‘give me more business’,” Ms. Post said. This article originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal.