Should you consider international homebuyers when selling your home?

As published in the News-Press, 8-Oct-2011

D. Michael Burke
Keller Williams Elite Realty
24851 S. Tamami Trail, Suite 1
Bonita Springs, FL 34134

239-498-7600

Should you consider international homebuyers when selling your home?

Did you know that during this past year alone, a staggering $82 billion of residential property in the U.S. was bought by foreign or foreign-born buyers? The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported this fact, along with the news that this was a $16 billion increase from 2010. What makes this more interesting yet is that 61% of this total represented single family homes.

The NAR profile states that most international homebuyers tend to move to warmer places such as Florida, California, Arizona and Texas but most international homebuyers also mentioned desirable location (45%) and profitable investment (29%) as the main reason for purchasing.

In addition, investors are coming to the United States because they like the idea that our wiring, plumbing and building codes are somewhat up-to-date as compared to those countries overseas.

But of course, there’s more to it than that, such as our newly affordable home prices, bountiful inventory, a strong U.S. rental market for investors and the availability of experienced property managers. United States home ownership is also seen as a secure investment. In addition, many U.S. Realtors have a global perspective and experience working with clients from different cultures. This allows for a comfortable client-agent relationship and smoother transactions.

This can be viewed as potentially good news for home sellers in Southwest Florida; 31% of real estate sales in Florida in 2011 were international buyers. But whether or not your plans to sell your Southwest Florida homes should include international homebuyers depends on many factors.

What price range are international buyers looking at?

When selling your property pricing is a large part of marketing, more so in the last few years. So what price range are international buyers looking at? The average home price paid by international buyers in the U.S. was $315,000. In South Florida, we’ve found that many foreign buyers have been purchasing waterfront properties specifically. Some oceanfront homes have been purchased by foreign buyers in excess of $10,000,000. Waterfront condos, going for over $2,000,000, are also popular amongst foreign buyers.

Who’s buying in Southwest Florida?

When deciding where to purchase, foreign investors often consider the proximity to their home country, convenience of air travel and airline routes, climate and nearness to attractions and resources such as colleges, job markets and international corporations. Generally speaking, the East Coast tends to attracts Europeans and the West Coast attracts more Asian buyers. Florida is popular among South American, European and Canadian buyers.

As a home seller or Realtor, international buyers are an important market to consider in your home selling efforts. For further insight into this growing group of buyers, read the National Association of Realtor’s 2011 Profile of International Home Buying Activity

Preparing to target foreign buyers

With the trend of international buyers considering Southwest Florida continuing to increase, you may want to consider marketing your home not only to those within your city or state or even nation, but to the world at large. Opening your property up to national as well as international buyers will give you the advantage you need to sell your home quickly and for a good price.

While you’ll want to be sure you retain a REALTOR^® who has experience in International buying, here are some strategies that can jumpstart your international home selling marketing plan.

· Advertise your property in a foreign newspaper. You can easily do a quick search for a newspaper in the countries you wish to advertise to, and through their website either place an ad directly or locate contact information for their classifieds department. Remember to keep in mind foreign currency rates when getting prices.

· Make your own website. One of the quickest and least expensive ways is to create your own website for the property. You can easily find a cheap or free website hosting service and can even hire a web designer to help you post the site if you feel like you are not technologically prepared to build a website on your own. Also, keep in mind that many hosting companies now offer very simple website building software that just about anyone can use, and on top of that most of these companies offer the software for free.

· Place an ad in a foreign magazine. If you truly have a great piece of luxury property, you may want to consider taking out an ad in a foreign magazine. Look for aspects of your home that are unique and look for magazines that match that uniqueness. So, for example, if you have a gourmet kitchen, you may want to put an ad in an international cooking magazine. Or, if you have waterfront property with water access, you may want to take out an ad in an international boating or fishing magazine.

· Post an ad on Craigslist or other international classifieds sites. Craigslist has made it as simple as possible to advertise your property to an international audience. Posting an ad on Craigslist and similar sites is also quite simple as well as free. You will not only be able to post a large amount of text regarding your property but you will also be able to post photos, and even a link to your website featuring the property if you have one.

· Make your home stand out. The best way to sell your home to any buyer, including an international buyer, is to find its selling points. Find what makes your home stand out among the many luxury properties and lofts and really sell that point. Whether it’s the view, the square footage, the location or the amenities, highlight them as much as you can in your ad to get your potential buyers hooked on learning more and potentially buying your property.

I cannot stress enough the importance of hiring a REALTOR^®with International selling/buying experience. Not only will you benefit when it comes time to negotiate and solidify the contract, but a REALTOR^® with this kind of experience can protect your interests as well.

By D. Michael Burke, P.A. Keller Williams Elite Realty

Michael@CoconutPointRealEstate.com

www.CoconutPointRealEstate.com