- Daniel Daggers, star of the Netflix show “Buying London,” sells some of the UK’s most expensive homes.
- He spoke to BI about what selling multimillion-dollar properties to the supersuccessful is like.
- He said he’d noticed buyers were becoming much younger thanks to online entrepreneurship.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Daniel Daggers, a luxury real-estate agent and star of the Netflix show “Buying London.” It has been edited for length and clarity.
I came from humble beginnings.
When I was a kid, I would never have believed it if someone had told me, “You’re going to be representing the most successful people on the planet and bouncing around the world, seeing incredible homes.”
When I was 17, a short internship with a local real-estate agent led to a full time job. I spent 10 years carrying the keys, driving around, and learning the industry.
Then, I moved into a big firm where I started dealing with the super-prime market — properties valued in excess of $12.8 million. Now, I run my own agency.
There’s nuance in what makes a property super-prime
People misinterpret shiny as luxury. It’s not about that.
Maybe it’s an incredible location, the specification of finishes is out of this world, or the live style, meaning how you live in a property, is groundbreaking.
There’s all this nuance and when you get a number of those assets right, that’s what makes a super-prime property.
To be an agent at this level, you need to use different language with your client — be more articulate, provide more detailed information, and have a different attitude to work.
A knowledge of taxation, structure, interior design, art, and the legal system becomes more important because you’re in more of an advisory role.
This job gives me a wider understanding of what’s shaping our world
These people are often very time-poor. There is no finishing work at 6 p.m. You have to be available by phone for help or advice at any moment in the day.
But working at the top end of the market is very enjoyable. I am blessed with access to some of the best minds on the planet.
We talk about anything, not just real estate. It could be children, society, art, the legal system, friends, technology, how the industry’s changing — the much more macro, big-picture things.
It gives you a wider understanding of what’s shaping our world and how business takes place.
Buyers are getting younger
I noticed about a decade ago that buyers were becoming much younger.
Internet 2.0 enabled anyone to build businesses online, which meant the entry barrier to being a successful entrepreneur dropped drastically when it came to age and increased when it came to talent.
I tend to attract a lot of entrepreneurs. They come into the market after five or 10 years of hard work. You can almost watch the pattern play out with how they want to live compared to people who’ve grown up with wealth.
They are contemporary and mobile, have a different perspective on life, and an appetite for a different kind of real estate.
The traditionalists will stay in the “golden postcodes.” Contemporary money is indifferent; they don’t necessarily want that period house in Belgravia or Mayfair. They’re happy to have more properties but smaller ones worldwide.
There’s also a massive thunderstorm of change in our industry regarding how people are made aware of real estate.
We’ve sold properties over social media for over a decade, and now all the top agents around the world know one another and can refer business across this network.
I sold a $51 million property through my close friend’s network on Instagram. I was one of the first people ever to sell a property over WeChat, a Chinese app I used to communicate with the buyers, a 25-year-old billionaire who didn’t speak very good English.
I call myself ‘Mr. Super Prime.’ Building a brand in this industry is essential.
It’s essential to build your personal brand if you want to be successful in this industry.
When I worked in the firm, I started traveling to the US and saw how entrepreneurial they are. Every day is their best opportunity.
I realized that being that person, sharing information and access was valuable. So, I started curating content, documenting my days, and building my brand online. I called myself “Mr. Super Prime,” and the nickname stuck.
My colleagues thought it was an ego play. I got a lot of pushback even though I was telling them all to do the same. But I was generating £400 million worth of leads a month.
Now, I’ve scaled things up a level with my Netflix show “Selling London.”
This city is a hidden gem, and my agency, DDRE Global, has access to some of the most desirable homes here.
People are interested in very expensive and special properties. We are all voyeurs occasionally, and there’s an element of aspiration to the show.
Most real-estate agents are outgoing people, and if you put cameras inside anyone’s house for a year and squeeze it into three hours, there will always be some drama — the show also has a fair amount of it among my employees.
But competition is a healthy ingredient for people who want to be successful. Without it, you can become lazy and weak. You just need to remember that anyone you do business with today may be needed in the future.