Listing Luxury Real Estate with Michael LaFido

Michael LaFido the founder of the Marketing Luxury Group, assisting other real estate agents, brokers, and affluent homeowners by providing top-tier services including consulting, lifestyle marketing, public relations, and coaching to help agents and owners sell their luxury homes; utilizing proven and innovative strategies. The Marketing Luxury Group has been recognized as the ‘Best Property Consulting/Marketing’ by the International Property Awards.

Michael has created the nationally recognized luxury designation for real estate agents which is known as Luxury Listing Specialist (LUXE). This designation establishes an in-depth and detailed set of standards for agents that represent luxury homes and is currently offered for Continuing Education (CE) for real estate agents in Texas and Georgia. The training is based on the same principles Michael outlines in his book, “Luxury Listing Specialist” that he teaches to agents across the world.

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Listing Luxury Real Estate with Michael LaFido

Brett:

I’m excited about our next guest. He’s been featured in CNN, Forbes Fox, Northwest Herald, The Wall Street Journal. He’s a real estate consultant and Top Producing Realtor with over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry. And he specializes in luxury listings. And he has been marketing and featured on some of the biggest names in the industry, including, again, Fox News, Chicago business hour to name a few. He’s also the author of the books Luxury Listing Specialist and Outside The Box, and Marketing Luxury, please welcome to the show with me, Michael LaFido. Hey, Michael, how are you doing?

Michael:

I’m doing excellent. Thanks for having me.

Brett:

Absolutely excited to dive in a little bit. To get to know you a little bit more. We had the I had the pleasure to attend your training or amazing training in Napa, California just a few weeks ago. And so we got to meet in person, which is not something to take for granted these days. Right, given COVID-19. And so thanks for coming out to California. I know you’re from Chicago land. And so you’ll tell us a little bit about that. For our listeners, we’re gonna be talking about listing luxury real estate, and Michael is has a worldwide training and platform of helping realtors level up their game and help them to sell luxury. But before we dive into that, Michael, would you give our listeners a little bit more about your story and your current focus?

Michael:

Yeah, so Michael LaFido, based in the Chicagoland suburbs was been licensed since 2000. And I was a part-time real estate agent and a full-time high school teacher up until 2010. And then we really just went all full steam ahead on our home selling business. And through that a lot of agents a lot of relationships occurred where people are like, how are you doing so well, when you were a full-time teacher part-time agents, so we launched some coaching and some products and DVD products and, and had a lot of success there. And I had an agent who was a top luxury agent and a few others reached out to me. And basically say we want to take those same concepts and apply them to luxury. So we made the switch to the focus to be luxury in about 2013-14. And fast forward a couple of years after that, and in 2016 we launched our flagship product, if you will, it’s our designation called Lux for short l u xe but luxury listing specialist. And we coach we train, we help individual agents, team leaders, and brokerages, increase their average sale price and dominate their business in the high-end and luxury properties for their given market.

Brett:

Amazing and we’re gonna dive into that here all in a minute. And by the way, you can find more about Michael’s affiliate marketingluxurygroup.com that’s marketingluxurygroup.com. So, Michael, that’s amazing. And I can’t wait to dive into you know, the high school teacher right into the, one of the leading voices for realtors in the nation and for listing luxury properties, maybe even the world now. But before we go there, I think, I can take a step back and even go even a little bit deeper to who you are Michael, maybe go back to the high school days, maybe the college days. And you I believe I’ve been given certain gifts in this life. And these gifts I believe are given to us to be a blessing and help to others. Some people call them strengths. Some people call them superpowers. You know, I think their God-given gifts, and I’m curious, what are those one or two gifts that you believe you are given? And how does that help how you help and bless people today?

Michael:

Yeah, great question. So a lot of the success we’ve had I owe to, high school athletics. think you can learn more on the gridiron football field or the baseball field or the wrestling mat, whatever it might be the gymnastics mat, then just in the classroom by itself. So whether it be working with others, whether it be not giving up, whether it be you know, mentally you’re tired, you’re exhausted, you don’t want to go to practice, you don’t want to compete, all those, those things that you know, fake face as husbands as fathers as wives Brett to have, those foundational principles that I learned through athletics. So, for me, I use a lot of ISMS if you will. Coaching ISMS you know I’ll say some on today’s show but you know behind me one of them that you can maybe see is proving them wrong I love when people say you can’t do something right or another one I say all the time is refused to lose or refuse to be average. So you can always get better and if you’re not getting better your competition is taking those concepts and just consistently trying to apply and get better at them. You know, whether whatever you do in your industry, just SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), what are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are you passionate about? What are some threats to you and your industry and you know, iron sharpens iron just my butt’s always burned in my mind’s always going, I’m always trying to get better and, and that’s that stems from being part of an amazing football program where we won the state championship and taking those same concepts to really every aspect in life, you know, including parenting and coaching and, and, and being a better husband and trying to be right.

Brett:

Absolutely love it. Yeah, I certainly resonate with that playing high school sports myself and you know, college, high school football, and high school basketball and had a chance to play basketball in college. And I always said that was my classroom. I definitely resonated more, I wasn’t as much of a bookworm. You know, I found certain subjects very, very passionate about history, math. Suddenly other ones. I was just kind of like, when can I get to play basketball? When can I get to play sports again, and practice and such. So I definitely resonate with that. I appreciate you sharing that. And that’s those are lifelong truths. I love to prove them wrong. I love the refusal to be average, and then working with others and persevering. So now let’s dive right into the topic of the show, Michael, you’re talking about listing luxury, real estate. So Michael, what’s the number one secret for a listing luxury specialist with number one seek it for them to start with to obtain in order to be successful and listing and obtaining more and more deals that are higher-end?

Michael:

Yeah, so I look at it as diversification of your portfolio. So let’s just say you won the mega lotto. You know, your financial advisor would tell you to diversify, right, have some low risks, some high risks and long term, short term investments, no different than the properties that agents and team leaders and brokerages represent I, most agents and team leaders focus on the average price properties for their market or maybe an entry-level starter. I challenge agents to go after more high-end and more luxury. But, you know, getting back to your original question, there’s, there’s no, I can tell you, Brett, there’s no easy button, right? Everybody’s looking for the easy button. So none of it works all the time. But the vast majority of things that we talk about work the majority of the time. So you know, I use football as my background. You know, Vince Lombardi says, whether you think you can win or not, you’re right. So my point is many agents have what I call limiting beliefs, they believe they have to live in a certain size home or drive a certain car or come from wealth or be wealthy themselves, themselves to work with the luxury buyers and sellers. And although if you did come from money, and you and your parents do belong to a country club, and you live in a gated community, it certainly makes it a lot easier. But I didn’t come from any of that. And so, you really have to start with your mindset. Lisa Hayes says whether you think you can, she says, Be careful how you talk to yourself because guess what you are listening to. And so you really have to believe you belong you have to believe that you can do it. It really starts from the mindset that’s the most important thing and many agents won’t go on those opportunities because of the what-ifs and they will lift themselves to death. What if they asked me this? Like, for example, a property you mentioned, you mentioned my book earlier and I’m looking forward I can’t find it. But the cover that’s on my book, there’s a house that we represent. It was Architectural Digest’s most beautiful home for sale in Illinois. It’s on the market for seven and a half million. You know, when he interviewed me he flat out said how many other homes have you sold in Barrington Hills, Illinois. I said I haven’t sold any other homes in this area. But you just you’re currently listed with the second neighborhood specialist the first and get the job done. The second hasn’t. So if you want someone that keeps doing the same things as everybody else locally, Einstein defines that insanity but if you want something that’s outside the box, that’s creative. doesn’t think like a real estate agent but thinks like a marketer. You’re talking to the right guy, so I don’t even like saying listing luxury real estate with Michael LaFido. I would like I would call it marketing real estate luxury real estate with Michael LaFido because really I teach agents not to think like a listing agent, but think like a marketer.

Brett:

That is phenomenal. It’s so much the golden nuggets there. I want to focus first on mindset one. Because you have a really unique story, and that you were a high school teacher High School, you know, athletic coach, I think basketball, football or both. And you’re there and you’re in the middle of doing that into transitioning. And I imagine, it wasn’t like just wonder like, I’m not going to struggle with the identity of I’m just a luxury listing. It was a process you had to work through. So take us through that shift that mindset? And how did you really breakthrough? What was the moment where you said, okay, it doesn’t matter what I drive or my income right now. But I will be a top listing agent.

Michael:

So mindsets are important, I teach agents to grow their knowledge, and your confidence will grow, grow your knowledge, and your confidence will grow. Of course, Brett, when you’re more confident, you’ll step out of your comfort zone more when you step out of your comfort zone more. And that’s I think, where the magic happens. So that whether that be attending events, whether that be, you know, reading certain, you know, publications, whether it be a podcast, grow your knowledge, and your confidence will grow. And so for me, mentorship is important. Tony Robbins says success leaves clues, go figure out what someone’s success was doing and model and tweak it and improve it and make it your own. So one of my mentors was Dan S. Kennedy. And he’s written a lot of books out there. And, and one of them we talked about is marketing to the affluent. And so if you’re going to sell widgets, if you’re going to sell supplies, if you’re going to sell towels, if you’re going to sell, in my case, real estate, you know, he talked about might as well sell that more expensive ones, there’s more margins, and you can make more money, selling fewer products. And so that resonated with me. And, and so I just was like a sponge, I tried to absorb and consume as much knowledge as I could. And so that’s what prompted me to make the tweak from the entry-level properties and the average properties to go after the high end and the luxury but it took some time for me.

Brett:

So having that Dan Kennedy, having I mentor, absorbing, observing, wanting that, learning about that, and applying that. And then so you make the shift. I think at one point, you’re telling your story when enough what you’re saying all of a sudden, I was making, much more money, the person was pretty close, that it was like more and then it was much more you’re like, now I’m retiring from being a teacher.

Michael:

I retired from a teacher, it was like, the lightbulb went off. Like, what are you doing here, you can help impact thousands of lives. So for me, too, I have a podcast like you. And so, I want to educate others, and but you’re doing it I’m doing we’re impacting thousands of lives versus, you know, a couple 100 over a couple of years in teaching. And that’s important. I’m not downplaying that my wife’s a teacher, so kudos to them, but I’m following my passions and what I feel is like my calling.

Brett:

Beautiful, absolutely. So that’s number two. Number one is diversifying your portfolio. Can overcoming limiting beliefs. And Michael LaFido could do it as being a teacher, and moving to luxury, we can do it right. That’s part of the amazing thing that Michael is doing. So that number two, what would be the number two secret now.

Michael:

So the number two secret we were talking about.

Brett:

So we’re talking. All things marketing, luxury, real estate with Michael LaFido are listing luxury, real estate. So, Michael, we had a little station identification, a little commercial break. Right? Sorry about that.

Michael:

No, you’re fine. So you were talking about what’s the number two tip?

Brett:

The number two secret you have to be leveling up your game? If you’re already trying to break into luxury or just, what’s the number two thing to get going?

Michael:

I don’t know what it sounds like, but go to where the money is. So what I mean by that is, I’m based in a suburb of Chicago and, and I literally joined the Chamber of Commerce 45 minutes away, where the million dollars properties were selling and, and there were high-end buyers. And so, you got to maybe join that that Chamber of Commerce, you got to go to those networking events, you got to maybe go to that Golf Club, whatever it might be. But, you know, if you’re in an area where there are a lot of high-end and luxury properties, that’s okay. You might have to drive a little bit. So you know, I’m a licensed data In the state of Illinois, my philosophy is the half car will travel, I have a winery, I’m selling two and a half hours outside of Chicago. Okay, so you might have to go to where these opportunities are, you know, you might not pick up and move your family or you might some cases, but I didn’t. But I just networked and went to the city of Chicago, even though you know, I’m 40 minutes outside of there. And so, again, go to where those opportunities are because they’re not going to land in your lap.

Brett:

Excellent. Join the King’s Chamber of Commerce, join the golf club, go tour, go to where those opportunities are willing to get in your car and, and go to those meetings and network. So that’s excellent. You’re building that. So that’s number two. What’s number three Michael?

Michael:

Yeah. So real quick on number two. So going to the chamber. The reason you do that is your network with other business owners that cater to high net worth individuals, right. And so it’s about the best way to get referrals as give them so if you’re that connector if you’re that guy that’s always looking out for others, and those just happen to be business owners that cater to successful people, you’re going to differentiate yourself, and you’re going to be top of mind awareness. So that’s, that’s why number two, I talked about that chamber. As an example, you know, number three, I think is hire a mentor or coach, right. Tony Robbins says success leaves clues. I belong to orange theory fitness, that’s a public workout place. I know I could run on a treadmill, I know to go run a mile or two, I was a former physical education teacher, I know what I should do. But having accountability, being on that treadmill next to a guy next to you that you want to beat competing is important. Well, no different than in business. So having that coach that mentorship that holds you accountable, that pushes you, you know, that is really important as well. So, again, the top business, the top CEOs, the top, luxury agents, the top agents, period, they have mentorship, they have coaching, they have accountability.

Brett:

Excellent. And even the great, Michael Jordan, late Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James. I mean, these guys all have. Well, they’re all billionaires or whatever. They can do that. But you know, they have, they have coaching on every level of Fitness, Health of business. And so as real estate professionals, and as a commercial real estate broker, myself, and even I had to overcome that as well. I mean, I went from athletics, having all this coaching and even academics having all these teachers and mentors, to now you’re in the real world, you think, Well, no, that doesn’t stop. I should just lead you to get more coaching attorneys at, first of all, Michael,

Listing Luxury Real Estate: “Never let people who chose the path of least resistance steer you away from your chosen path of most resistance.” – David Goggins

Michael:

Absolutely want to get better iron sharpens iron, there’s accountability to so you were at that event that we did in Napa, 70 agents 19 states represented. So hopefully, there were some relationships formed there. And during those relationships, where agents are sharing best practices, they might be holding each other accountable weekly, or monthly check-ins, hey, you know, I know you had these, these three items you want to implement in the next 60 to 90 days? How are you doing? So accountability? Checking in with others, being a part of a mastermind, where you’re not the smartest person in a world maybe in the room, excuse me, maybe you’re the least smart in that room, they’ll pull you up. But then giving back to being part of groups where you clearly have the knowledge over some others, but you’re helping and giving back.

Brett:

So well said yes. It’s like a flow of knowledge and wisdom and giving back. Flows into should flow out. I love that accountability point. That’s what changes. Something we have wisdom and knowledge or to have information and knowledge. But it’s not until we were taking that action, have that accountability to get it to stick that either Ailey’s into that experience and traction on stuff. So I think that’s huge on accountability. Excellent. So maybe number four, is there a fourth one?

Michael:

That’s a great question. For real estate agents, it would be you know, the old song from the 1990’s opp. By leveraging other people’s successes until you have your own. So, you know, let’s just say you’re a real estate agent with eXp or Compass doesn’t matter. If there’s someone in your office that has had success, with their permission, of course, leveraging their successful sales, or maybe attending their open houses, shooting some videos there, maybe offering the host open houses, leveraging other people’s properties, until you have your own.

Brett:

I think that’s so smart. And I made a video on YouTube, from the Napa winery that we toured right. And I spoke about this on your podcast, it was an $18 million listing on a $10 million basis. You know, she’s single kids are gone. She’s moving out of California. I mean, this thing is just magnificent. Beautiful has its own small winery. And so she’s selling and she has these huge Capital Gains Tax. And of course, that’s what we do here Capital Gains Tax. So she’ll be able to defer capital gains tax, not using 1031 exchange. And so I was able to not only, you know, promote the video, also promote what I’m doing as well, and just telling the story, as I’m walking around showing, like tangibly, like, if they sell this property, you know, they’re looking at about $3.3 million of tax. And so using the Deferred Sales Trust, we can defer that. And that’s neat because that agent gets some, some promotion, I get a little bit of promotion, and then maybe the client, if it works out, and they liked what we do, hey, they differ 3.3 million in taxes, a win-win for everybody. So I love the idea of leveraging other people’s success until you have your own, whether that’s been working with a mentor or listing agent who’s done it before you, and or just adding value doing open houses for agents. It’s all available. It’s just about taking those action steps on that. Is that a fair summary Michael?

Michael:

Yeah. Yes, it is.

Brett:

Excellent. All right, let’s shift a little bit here into a little bit about Capital Gains Tax, I’m curious, you know, sellers in the past or even yourself, what’s the biggest frustration, Michael, when it comes to, you know, selling luxury houses, and either not having the 1031 exchange option, or having to, you know, walk clients through this huge capital gains tax liability, that perhaps is a big challenge for some of your clients?

Michael:

Well, bridging the gap. So you know, in the Chicagoland market, for example, it’s been a buyers market forever in the upper price points, now, it’s, it’s more neutral, I wouldn’t call it a seller’s market in that multi-million-dollar, for example, we’re representing a property that’s close to $10 million. And, you know, we got a $5 million offer on the table, which is 50%, of the asking price, which is low, low, low. But, you know, having ways that we can make it a win-win for both parties, we got a huge gap where we got to bridge this gap, whether it be somewhere in the middle, maybe my guy doesn’t come down, not even close to somewhere in the middle, the buyer doesn’t want to come up, how do we bridge the gap. So having solutions were, Mr. Seller, you’re going to be if even if you got your price, you’re going to be paying X and capital gains taxes. But here’s an option where, you know, you got a buyer that’s willing to pay this you’re willing to sell here, we’ve got this gap, but I have a solution that can help bridge this gap through creativity, being creative. And, and so that’s where someone like yourself would come in. And those are real-life scenarios that we face, in those upper price points.

Brett:

Yeah. 100%. I like the way you put that bridging the gap. It’s not always what’s it’s not just what you can sell a force what the seller is going to the net. So they’re gonna want to know, what is the commission’s what are the closing costs? Where am I? What’s the debt, you know, all of those things and taxes, literally, especially if it’s higher-end and you own it for, 1015 years? That’s gonna be the biggest expense. It’s not the Commission’s it’s not the closing cost, right. It’s that tax, right. That tax, again, can be somewhere between 30 and 50%, depending on if it’s an investment property, they have depreciation recapture. And Biden, by the way, Michael, he’s, you know, the administration is proposing to take capital gains tax federal from 20, to potentially 40. Right. So you’re looking at an additional 20%. So that house in Napa, we’re talking about 3.3 million could be 5.3. So even again, this becomes more of a challenge for sellers. So yes, that’s the Deferred Sales Trust. For those who are wondering, you can go to capitalgainstaxsolutions.com, that’s capitalgainstaxsolutions.com, to learn more about that we do free consultations. Your client doesn’t pay us anything, or you don’t pay us anything unless you do the deal. And we close on it. So there’s no obligation that you can go to capitalgainstaxsolutions.com. Okay, back. Well, thank you for sharing.

Michael:

In that example, that’s a perfect example of not knowing that going from 20% to 40%. You know, how do you create urgency, in a stagnant market some of those price points like that winery that we visited $18 million property, you know, I don’t know that might motivate a seller knowing that they might be paying twice the amount in capital gains taxes if they go about it the traditional way. And so, again, providing solutions, educating my clients so they can make a sound decision. So, I’m so so glad that we met in Napa. And you know, we had you on our show.

Brett:

Cool. Thank you, Mike. Appreciate that. So, that being said, we’re running out of time you ready for the lightning round?

Michael:

Let’s do it.

Brett:

All right, knowing what you know. Now, Michael, if you go back to your 25 yourself, if you could, what was the what’s the one Golden Nugget, make sure to tell yourself to do?

Michael:

Don’t wait 10 to 12 years before you start going to high-end and luxury real estate start off to the get-go.

Brett:

Don’t wait to get started. Absolutely. Question number two, what’s the number one book you’ve recommended or gifted the most in the past year? And of course, it could be your book too.

Michael:

Yeah. I mean, we’ve gifted our book that’s luxury listing specialists it’s on Amazon, but that’s, another book that I highly recommend that has, is The 5 Love Languages from Gary Chapman has nothing to do with business. But I can tell you if you have a successful relationship, if you’re married or you’re in a relationship, your business will follow. The flip side of that is if you have a terrible relationship you’re in, you know, your business will struggle more so than if you were in a positive relationship.

Brett:

Absolutely love that five love language that’s like a part of my brain when I read it for the first time they get opened up for the first time like, oh, wow, like that makes sense. Now, so yeah, the five love languages. Excellent. Question number three, what’s the number one theme or leadership quote that you strive to live by?

Michael:

Well, I think for this topic, the number one quote that I think people would get out of here to work with more high-end clients is from Daniel Kaman. He says people would rather do business with someone they like, and trust, rather than someone they don’t, even if this likable person is offering a lower quality product and service at a higher price. So I teach agents to, offer a higher quality product and service that have more of a silver platter, mentality, white-glove mentality. And now you can justify your fee, you don’t have to discount because you do what you say you’re going to do. And you bring our higher quality product and service, but you’re likable, be likable.

Brett:

Beautiful, perfect, beautiful. I love that. Number one, our biggest obstacle facing luxury agents or realtors in general.

Michael:

There are so many options out there. You know, there’s a lot of commission suppression out there. So agents have to bring more value, you got to do what you say you’re going to do. And if you focus on what they net just like your business, if I help an agent focus on what they net to superior marketing, exposure, better negotiating bigger database, a more, you know, more qualified traffic, then that’s really what they care about, what am I going to the net when the dust settles? You know, they won’t focus on this or their fees. They’ll focus on netting and not by default. You got to educate them, you got to share with them why they should be focusing on net versus fees.

Brett:

Very well said. Second last question. What are you most curious about Michael?

Michael:

What am I most curious about? Man? Well, I know I’m most curious to see if the truth about this virus is going to come out? I guess that’s what I’m most curious about. I don’t trust the media anymore. It’s one-sided. I want the truth to come out. Did it start in a lab? Did it start in a wet market? Was it politically motivated? I’d like to know the answers to that.

Brett:

So what I that’s a very well said. Last question, Michael after helping all the people you’ve helped after transitioning from a full-time high school teacher to one of the leading luxury realtors, perhaps definitely the nation but perhaps even in the world now. It was so sweet your training, writing all the books, your family, everything you’ve succeeded with? How do you stay centered in your values? And how do you stay encouraged to charge forward to reach new heights?

Michael:

Staying centered is I think a lot of your roots, you know, I come from blue-collar. So knowing that there’s gonna be highs and lows and turbulence in business and relationships. You know, you know, believing in God and Jesus Christ, you know, that humbles you, right? Who do you compare yourself to? Do you compare yourself to, as a former football player, the inferior teams? Well, man, I feel pretty good. I’m pretty good at football already. You compare yourself to the best, and you realize, man, I got to continue to get better. So being humble, but having that, that burning desire, there’s that, that balance, that that I struggle with, that we all struggle with, as far as being a husband, being a parent, and my kids the first day of school off of school is today and, and being available for them, right. So that’s something that you know, having your priorities and remaining true to those priorities is something that we can all get better at. But I take pride in trying to and to be, the best I can be.

Brett:

Amazing, Michael, I want to thank you for being on the show. Michael, I want to thank you for sharing a lot about your story, tons of wisdom. And I want to encourage you to keep using the gifts and talents you’ve been given perseverance working with others, proving them wrong, right, proving them wrong, and instilling belief and encouragement. For anyone listening today. whatever profession they’re in. To overcome false beliefs, limiting beliefs, and to take action to use the gifts they’ve been given to bless others. For those who want to get in touch with you, Michael, would you remind them one last time what’s the best place for them to connect with you?

Michael:

Yeah, probably. Our website has all our contact information like Brett said, marketingluxurygroup.com or michaellafido.com but emails probably best michael@marketingluxurygroup.com it’s just michael@marketingluxurygroup.com you can find me all over the web you can. I hate to say Google me, but you can google me and find us out there.

Brett:

Awesome, Michael thanks for being on the show, and also want to thank our listeners for listening to that episode of the Capital Gains Tax Solutions Podcast. Also, stream on expertcresecrets.com, hey, well, we believe the highest net worth individuals and those who help them they struggle with clarifying their Capital Gains Tax Deferral Options not having a clear plan is the enemy and using a proven tax deferral strategy such as the Deferred Sales Trust is the best way for you to sell high your luxury property your cryptocurrency your primary home business and defer the capital gains taxes so you can net more when you sell right and you can build more wealth. If we can help you at all We would love to go to capital gains tax solutions.com to learn more about the deferred sales trust. You’ll also search on YouTube Capital Gains Tax Solutions, please rate review, subscribe, and please share this with somebody who can help out. We so appreciate everyone out there. Have a great day everybody. Bye

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About Michael LaFido

Michael LaFido is a real estate consultant and top-producing Realtor with over twenty years of experience in the real estate industry. Michael’s marketing has been the featured cover story in Crain’s Chicago Business and highlighted in Forbes and FOX News Chicago Business Hour. He is also the author of the books “Luxury Listing Specialist”, “Outside The Box”, and “Marketing Luxury”.

Throughout his career, Michael learned the importance of high-caliber marketing versus “traditional marketing”, which has become pivotal to his success. Over the past twenty years, LaFido and his team have developed a method that takes a more comprehensive, and proactive approach when positioning and marketing a home.

Michael, the founder of the Marketing Luxury Group, assisting other real estate agents, brokers, and affluent homeowners by providing top-tier services including consulting, lifestyle marketing, public relations, and coaching to help agents and owners sell their luxury homes; utilizing proven and innovative strategies. The Marketing Luxury Group has been recognized as the ‘Best Property Consulting/Marketing’ by the International Property Awards.

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