Introducing Keller Williams Main Line Luxury
An elite group of Keller Williams Realtors delivers on the high expectations of buyers and sellers interested in luxury homes on the iconic Main Line.
Realtors who qualify for the group known as Keller Williams Main Line Luxury may come from different backgrounds, but they all share at least one common trait: a commitment to going above and beyond in catering to the area’s most discerning buyers and sellers.
Keller Williams ranks among the world’s most respected and recognizable real estate companies. The newly launched Keller Williams Main Line Luxury group includes the “cream of the crop” among area Realtors, an experienced team dedicated to assisting clients who are interested in buying and selling luxury homes along Philadelphia’s iconic Main Line. Each member of this elite group has experienced considerable success on the Main Line, which is renowned for its awe-inspiring, multimillion-dollar homes and mansions, many of which are historic.
“On the Main Line, you have to know your client,” says Lynise Caruso, a Keller Williams Main Line Luxury agent who has 22 years of industry experience, including 17 in the Philadelphia area. “You have to know their wants and needs. You have to know about the finer things in life, as they do. When you walk through a home with them, you have to know what you’re talking about.”
Caruso notes that luxury clients have the potential to be somewhat complicated; they have high expectations, and the Realtors they prefer to work with must know how to effectively manage those expectations.
“The Main Line is a unique niche,” Caruso adds. “I’ve worked in Chicago and Washington, D.C., and nowhere else is like the Main Line.”
Keller Williams Main Line Luxury Realtor Sara Friel Olender specializes in the sale of luxury homes on the Main Line. She resides in Wynnewood, where she was raised, and has sold luxury homes in the area for the past five years. The connections she has formed through her work have given her an intimate appreciation of the area, which is invaluable when showing a property.
“Selling an expensive home is different,” says Olender, who co-chairs Keller Williams Main Line Luxury with fellow Keller Williams Realtor Lisa Getson. “There’s real estate marketing and then there’s luxury home marketing, which encompasses using professional staging to really capture the best of the home. We use quality photography and video, including drone photography, because many times we’re marketing properties that have large acreage, and we need to capture it to let people understand the property. Images are so important, especially for properties in the $1 million-plus range. We want to ensure the property is shining. As a luxury agent, I want that home to shine brightest.”
Like Olender, Getson’s Main Line roots run deep. She grew up in Lower Merion and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Juris Doctor from the Villanova University School of Law. In addition to having sold luxury homes in the area for the past 25 years, her mother, Judy, has spent many years as a top-performing luxury agent.
“What makes me effective in selling luxury homes is my knowledge of the marketplace and my connections with clients and other agents,” says Lisa Getson. “I know how to market a luxury listing, who to call for photography and video, how to get the house ready, how to stage it, and how to make it stand out.”
Getson also utilizes social media platforms and high-end financial publications, such as Barron’s, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal, to present luxury homes to prospective buyers. She is particularly fond of video as a marketing tool.
“More and more buyers today are looking online, which is why videos are so important,” Getson says. “In the past few years, I started being in the videos, to announce the house in the beginning, and thanking them for watching at the end. That kind of involvement has been very effective in establishing connections with people.”
Damon Michels is another key member of Keller Williams Main Line Luxury. Michels has realized a tremendous degree of success selling million-dollar homes on the Main Line. From his perspective, there is no secret to moving expensive homes; rather, he believes success comes through knowledge, preparation, honesty, and hard work.
“I think those things add value when you’re dealing with people,” says Michels, a Main Line native who came to the real estate business 18 years ago after a career in finance. “Also, I’m always about the easy sell, not the hard sell. I like to give buyers as much information at their fingertips as possible, whether that’s with drone videos, virtual walkthroughs, photos, or whatever else they might need to make an informed decision.”
Michels sells more than $30 million a year on the Main Line, according to Caruso, who characterizes him as “a great salesman and networker.” “He’s our No. 1 luxury agent,” she adds. “I’ve known him for 12 years. He’s been on the Main Line for a very long time, and he has a lot of repeat business. He’s still selling to people he knew in high school.”
All members of Keller Williams Main Line Luxury strive to deliver unequaled service for clients, whether those individuals are looking to buy or sell their Main Line property. Beyond thoughtful marketing strategies pertaining to the use of technology and social media, the most indispensable factor that may determine an agent’s success is, in fact, the agent themselves.
“The No. 1 thing you need to be successful is making the human connection with the client,” says Olender. “When you go to a listing presentation with a luxury seller, having that connection is the most important thing. The second you walk into their home you must establish that connection. You need to have energy, and they have to feel that energy. The client should get that feeling from you—that energy—in two minutes. You have to show that excitement.”
In other words, members of Keller Williams Main Line Luxury always have to perform at their best. Their clients, after all, will accept nothing less.
Keller Williams Main Line Luxury
www.mainlinekw.com
(610) 520-0100 office
www.mainlinekw.com
(610) 520-0100 office
Keller Williams Main Line Luxury would like to thank Anvil Remediation and Restoration. Count on Anvil to protect and restore your home, with services from radon testing and remediation to repair of damage caused by faulty stucco, water, fire, mold or a storm. For more information, visit Anvilanswers.com.
Photograph by Nina Lea Photography
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, April 2022.
