“As more and more people in different nations recognize the value of owning [investment] property [or a vacation home in the US], the opportunities and challenges for real estate professionals to broker U.S. property to foreign home buyers are numerous.”
- From The 2007 NAR Profile of International Home Buying Activity

There are some major factors that are contributing to this influx of foreign property investors. International capital is on the rise, and it’s no secret, the American Dollar is declining in value. For example, the Euro is worth about 50% more than the American dollar, meaning international buyers are basically getting a 50% discount when they invest in North American properties.

According to the NAR Report, the typical international buyer purchased a single-family home or townhouse to be used primarily as a vacation venue for family and friends. The average sales price was $299,500, financed through a mortgage loan.

One main difference between the North American real estate market and foreign markets is that there is not a comparable MLS system in the foreign markets yet. So getting your property listed in these foreign markets takes some creative planning.

Your business can take advantage of this tremendous market opportunity by doing the following:

• Target International buyers with SEO and specific Key Words. The truth is international buyers will still be looking locally, so your local key words are important (ie. Vail Real Estate).
• Provide clear direction and content on your site specifically directed to International Buyers.
• Syndicate your listings to international sites (for example, properazzi.com is about open up for North American syndication)
• Target ads in International media featuring your website and opportunities available.
• Track your advertising. For example, if you are running an ad in the UK, you might want to use a specific landing page (ie. www.broker.com/uk) as well as a specific phone number so you can track your hits and ad effectiveness. It is important to know which marketing strategies are working and which are not.
• Showcase your properties with professional, high quality video giving international buyers the most informative online experience possible.
• Offer incentives for the buyer to travel and visit your properties.
• Hire a multi-lingual concierge.

By incorporating into your business specific strategies to attract and serve the international buyer, you will be leveraging this tremendous opportunity. You remain the local expert, but with the global clientele.