Sunday, January 22, 2012

7 Tips for Working with Foreign Real Estate Buyers

7 Tips for Working with Foreign Real Estate Buyers
March 2006

With immigrants and foreign business entities looking beyond the coasts, the opportunity to work with foreign buyers isn’t limited to certain markets or to practitioners who travel overseas. Here’s how to succeed.

1. Remember that foreign clients may know real estate but not U.S. real estate. You need to explain local market conditions and U.S. legal issues. But be careful not to talk down to them, cautions Gustavo Lumer, CIPS, CRS®, with Lumer Real Estate in North Miami Beach, Fla.

2. Focus on clients from one or two countries, especially when you’re just getting started, suggests Carmela Ma, CCIM, CIPS, president of CJM Associates Inc. in Beverly Hills, Calif. In that way, you can become more familiar with the culture and establish a wider network of contacts, more rapidly.

3. Recognize that factors such as currency fluctuations and a need for market stability may influence buying decisions, says Pius Leung, CCIM, CIPS, president of Charter Equity in Houston. Leung recalls a client who bought a building, left it vacant for three years, then sold it for about what he paid originally. Yet, the client was happy because the currency in his home country had devalued by 50 percent over that period. So just by parking the money in the United States, the owner had made a profit, says Leung.

4. Take it slowly. Recognize that some cultures require more consultation and time to make a decision.

5. Develop a group of tax, legal, and other experts in foreign ownership of U.S. real estate you can offer foreign buyers as a resource, suggests Ma. Once you’re seen as a trusted adviser, offshore clients will often look to you for assistance in other parts of the transaction, such as finding legal advice.

6. Help bridge differences, suggests Alan Berger, CIPS, of Breslin Realty in Garden City, N.Y. Simple things such as converting a price from dollars to euros or square feet to meters can make a foreign buyer more comfortable, says Berger.

7. Get your Certified International Property Specialist designation from NAR’s International Division. It’s a great way to acquire skills needed to work with foreign clients and to network. “The CIPS network represents the best-kept secret around for making contact,” says Lumer.

More: Market to international buyers using the Distinctive Properties Advertising Service from REALTOR Benefits(sm) Program partner WorldProperties.com.

7 comments:

Thanks for sharing those tips for working with Foreign Real Estate buyers. You really gave valuable information here.
Pia | Philippines properties for sale

This is very nice idea and it is really helpful for every one who are in the real estate industry. Thanks for the information you share for us.

You could also try to visit this: Philippines property

wasaga beach cottage rentals
Thank you for sharing this article. I love it. Keep on writing this type of great stuff.

Really nice Article about real estate and real estate tips, i enjoyed a lot and If you are thinking of buying a new home, then the Internet is the best place to search. Get homes for sale mn offer NOW!!!

Well this is new for me. There is indeed a possibility of getting a property from other places and your tips will really help. My friend plans to get a home for sale in McKinney and this will be useful.

Thanks for these helpful tips! By the way, if you want to buy property here in the Philippines, visit: www.vistalandinternational.com.

Thanks for providing this very inspiring post. Nice share!

Tanya | Makati Condo for Sale

Post a Comment