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International 101 - Texas Today and Tomorrow (Richard Miranda)
The Texas International Homebuyers Report highlights that Texas is a leading destination for international buyers, particularly from Mexico, with a total spending of $11.06 billion and 12% of international buyers owning homes in the state. Naturalized citizens are more likely to own homes than native Texans, with affordability, climate, and close connections to their home countries being key factors in their decision-making. Real estate professionals are encouraged to adapt their marketing strategies to better serve international clients by embracing technology and understanding different cultural preferences.
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International 101 - Texas Today and Tomorrow (Richard Miranda)
- 1. International Real Estatein Texas: Cindy Fauth, Commercial & Global Services National Association of REALTORS®
- 2. Texas International HomebuyersReport 12% of all international buyers in U.S.
- 3. Impact is Immense $11.06 Billion
- 4. Texas International HomebuyersReport Third-largest immigration population in U.S. 6of the top metro areas for immigration: #6 Houston|Sugar Land|Baytown #8 Dallas|FortWorth|Arlington #26 Austin|Round Rock|San Marcos #27 San Antonio|New Braunfels #28 El Paso #40 McAllen|Edinburg|Mission
- 5. Texas International HomebuyersReport Naturalized citizens: 12% more likely to own a home than native Texans Over 75% of naturalized U.S. citizens in Texas are homeowners, compared to only 63.5% of native citizens in Texas.
- 6. What Makes TexasSo Attractive? Criteria driving destination choice: Proximity to home country/airport. Presence of relatives, friends, associates. Job/education opportunities. Climate and location. Affordability.
- 7. Texas International HomebuyersReport 59% 18% 9% 5% 4%
- 8. Texas International HomeBuyers Report • Over 65% of Mexican homebuyers in U.S. purchased in Texas. • Mexican homebuyers accounted for $4.5 billion, or approximately 5%, of all international home sales. • 62% purchased to relocate, while 33% purchased a home to serve as a vacation home or rental property. • 46% paid with cash, 54% financed with a mortgage.
- 9. NAR’s Profile ofInternational Home Buying Activity Foreign buyers spent $149,000 more (mean purchase price) on homes in the U.S. than domestic buyers. 60%of foreign buyers paid in all cash, versus about a third of domestic (U.S.) buyers. 59% of international clients were from referrals.
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- 11. What should yoube doing? 1. Don’t assume international clients are searching the same way U.S. clients do. Commonalities: Internet Connection, Content, Video 2. Establish a niche. What countries/cultures are your affinity? Think about: -Heritage -Language -Geographic location -Personal interests What’s the draw for foreigners to your market? - Foreign companies - University/community college - Luxury properties, condos, coastline, or other lifestyle attributes
- 12. What should yoube doing? Establish a niche, think about how they search. China: They don’t have Google. They use Baidu. What are their SEO search requirements/algorithms?
- 13. What should yoube doing? China: Uses SouFun real estate search engine. Canada: Zoocasa
- 14. Tips from NARGlobal 3. Video transcends language. Quality video of properties to market overseas. Visuals overcome language and timezone barriers. 4. Be the expert. What do you offer that they can’t Google? Know your market and neighborhoods in YOUR area.
- 15. Tips from NARGlobal
- 16. Tips from NARGlobal 5. Use tech to connect your offline connections online. Make it easy for people to get to you. Skype. FaceTime. Use Google Translate to respond electronically in their language (even if it’s just a phrase or two!) CONTACT INFO ON EVERY PAGE OF YOUR SITE!
- 17. Tips from NARGlobal Challenges: Language Ability to travel Too complicated, too time-consuming Obtaining financing Type of properties sought
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- 20. Give and ReceiveReferral Business www.realtor.org/earncips
- 21. How cCaann NNAARRhHeellpp?? Research Education Bilateral Partnerships Global Business Councils realtor.org/global
- 22. Join the Conversation Facebook.com/narglobal Twitter.com/narglobal LinkedIn Official Group: NAR Global The Global View Blog http://theglobalview.blogs.realtor.org/
- 23. Questions? Cindy Fauth Marketing & Communications Commercial and Global Services +1.312.329.8627 cfauth@realtors.org
Editor's Notes
- #2 Talking points: Data from Texas International Home Buyers Report Origin, destination of foreign buyers How you can market yourself to potential international clients A few NAR resources that can help you overcome challenges with international transactions
- #3 - New research report released by TAR, the 2014 Texas International Homebuyers Report. - Proves that Texas is a major component of the international real estate landscape in the U.S. - Texas remains the third-ranked destination for international home sales in the U.S., behind only California and Florida. So overall, international buyers purchased $92.2 billion of U.S. real estate last year – a 35% increase over the prior year. Texas represented 12% of that total.
- #4 Which means international buyers purchased over $11 BILLION in real estate in Texas alone. This is huge, and proves that as long as you sell real estate in Texas, this is a market you don’t have the luxury of ignoring. It’s a nominal increase over the year prior (3%), but this number is the highest it’s been in 5 years.
- #5 Texas is home to the third largest immigration population in the United States, and 6 of the top metros for immigration in the U.S. were Texas metro areas: Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, and McAllen.
- #6 As we know from the $11 billion figure, not only are international buyers moving here to Texas, they are purchasing their homes. Naturalized citizens in Texas are almost 12% more likely to own a home than their native counterparts.
- #7 From NAR’s Profile of International Home Buying Activity, we know that proximity to the home country, the presence of relatives, friends and associates, job and education opportunities, and climate and location are important considerations to prospective buyers.
- #8 All of these things make Texas an attractive destination, particularly for buyers from Latin America and the Caribbean. The numbers reflect that – more than half of all international buyers in Texas originate from Latin America or the Caribbean. This can be widely attributed to proximity to their home country, and the presence of relatives, friends and associates. 18% are from Asian region, and that’s where you have highly skilled workers coming from China and Asia to work in Texas’ booming tech and industry sectors, as well as those looking to educate their children in the United States.
- #9 MEXICO and Texas Real Estate: It goes without saying that Mexico’s influence on Texas is huge. These numbers show how huge it is, as related to the housing market. Think about this: Over 65% of all Mexican homebuyers purchasing in the U.S., choose Texas. Not Los Angeles, not San Diego – but Texas. Their economic influence is $4.5 billion, and nearly half of them pay with cash. This helps the real estate agent when it comes to closing the deal, considering about a quarter of all international transactions do not close because of problems getting financing.
- #10 No doubt, working with international clients can be challenging. But it is very much worth it. This is data from the NAR Profile of International HomeBuying activity. They are spending more money, paying in cash, and refer their friends and business associates. Foreign transactions can be more time-consuming and will require that you educate a client on your home country’s real estate practices – but I can assure you, it is time well spent. They refer business to friends and family in their home country, which means more residual business at a higher price point.
- #11 All of your listings that are currently on realtor.com, are also on Realtor.com International. On this site, home searchers from all over the world can view your listing in their own language, their currency, and units of measurement. We track the origins of searches from realtor.com international, and here we have the top 10 countries searching U.S. properties. You can see Houston and San Antonio show up from multiple countries. No surprises from Mexico, and we can probably attribute the Germany and Japan searches to military personnel who will be relocating back to the States.
- #12 We have a tendency to think the world works the same way U.S. clients do, which isn’t necessarily true. Believe it or not, not every country is on the iPhone like we are, they don’t use the same search engines, and they don’t even search houses the same way we do – (ex: we look for 3 BR 2 BA, in other countries they search for total number of rooms in a house.). The commonalities are really an internet connection, content, and video. VIDEO TRANSCENDS LANGUAGE – even if the client has no idea what you are saying in the video, the virtual walk-through of the property speaks a thousand words, more than static pictures can. Know what types of properties are they looking for, where they are searching. Texas draws vast numbers of college students – 3rd in the country, over 63,000 total in this state right now. Businesses are attracted to it because it’s more affordable and tax-friendly than California.
- #13 When you’ve established your niche, think about how the people in that niche search, and build your web site and SEO practices accordingly. For example, if your niche is China – don’t waste your time worrying about improving web site SEO for Google. They don’t have Google there, they use Baidu.
- #14 Listing and searching properties: They don’t always do this the same way they do in the U.S. – China uses SouFun to list their properties. Canada uses Zoocasa.
- #15 Video – transcends language. CONTENT – this is what will set you apart. Are you offering them information they can’t Google? Neighborhood “personalities”, offering information on what businesses are coming, demographic info (from RPR), etc.
- #16 This is from an agent in Nashville – he has a whole section of his website, in the main navigation, called “NEIGHBORHOODS”. As you scroll down this page, each neighborhood in Nasvhille is listed and you can click on it, get a neighborhood map, learn about the general vibe, and get neighborhood facts. It’s clean, it’s easy to use, and most importantly: easy to find on this web site.
- #18 Most commonly cited challenges from agents who are working or want to work with foreign buyers. How can you overcome these?
- #19 Here are some solutions from NAR Global: Global Perspectives – titles such as Financing Considerations, Investment visas, Online marketing (so you don’t have to be a jet-setter, this issue teaches how to make sure you can attract foreign buyers just from your web site.) Bi-monthly newsletter, designees get the print version but past issues are housed on realtor.org/global, bottom right hand corner.
- #20 The Global View blog – again, features tips on how to make sure your clients aren’t overpaying to move funds into your country. How to overcome language barriers. Myths about the complications of international real estate and how you can overcome them.
- #21 30% of agents said that finding the right property for their client was the reason a transaction with a foreign client didn’t go through. Wouldn’t it be great if you had a referral network, to send these buyers to someone in another area that might have a more attractive property for them? There are over 2,500 CIPS designees who ALL have the education and preparation to work with foreign buyers. And guess what – they’ll pay referral fees! So rather than letting a client walk, refer them. Our friends from Mexico host a few CIPS institutes a year – I would encourage you to sign up and see how it can help your business.
- #22 Not mentioned here are Texas State University, Baylor, Rice, and Texas Tech --- this is a concentration of renowned universities that few other states have. Total number of Foreign Students in Texas: 61,511. Getting educated in the United States is important to foreign students and their parents. Many send their children to the U.S. for a “better way of life,” and the earlier they get acclimated to the U.S. business and education processes, the better. The University of Texas at Austin is one of the most recognized programs for what they’ve done with international students and preparing them to compete in a global marketplace, and their technology program makes them extremely attractive as well. Parents aren’t just investing in the education, though. Often times, they either don’t have individual property rights in their own country, or the investment won’t yield the return that a U.S. property will. So they will invest in safe, secure housing near campus for their child. This is a huge market, and it has recently gained a lot of attention in the media was well as from NAR.
- #23 Part of knowing how to connect with these inbound student buyers is knowing where they are coming from. As you’ll learn if you read the Global Perspectives magazine, these schools are actively recruiting in countries they know are interested in what they have to offer. You should do the same! It is working for them. You are working with some of the best clients because they have the money and, per the NAR Profile of International Home Buying Activity, they are spending a higher median price on housing than domestic buyers are. By the way, these education stats are from the Institute of International Education, their Open Doors Report has some incredible information and a fantastic fact sheet on Educational Exchange data for each state. Visit their site at iie.org to see all their information, it can be a valuable resource if you are interested.
- #24 My suggestion? Assess opportunities at local colleges & universities: What is the International Population? Housing needs? Most parents will talk to the housing department first to get a feel for on-campus housing and/or opportunities for investment housing. By getting in touch with the housing department and establishing a relationship with them, you can become their “go-to” REALTOR recommendation.
- #25 NAR has formed bilateral partnerships with 80 associations/organizations in 60 countries. Each country has a U.S.-based President’s Liaison that helps exchange information and business across borders. Those organizations all have REALTOR® members, who abide by the same code of ethics you do, and are ready for referral exchange. Global Business Councils exist in state and local associations all over the country, and offer products, services, education and networking events, and more resources to help you do business globally, with a local focus.