The ordinary processes of home buying and selling have changed since the pandemic. Many markets in the U.S. and Canada are seeing record sales, multiple offer situations, and record prices. Luckily the new normal has been a booming business for agents. Those freewheeling days of browsers dropping in for open houses, the playful back and forth of offers and counter-offers, and the luxury of conducting business between certain hours of the workday - are all long gone. In this new world amid a pandemic, real estate agents have had to evolve, modify and re-write their job! Here are 5 ways that the job of a realtor has changed:
With the pandemic, the sale of luxury properties has been rising all around the world. In this difficult period, investors and affluent buyers have been focusing on bricks and mortar, asset-based investments, like real estate.
We always talk about ListGlobally being the world’s largest network of property portals. But we are much more than that. We are a selling tool, we are a differentiator, and we offer the opportunity for you to be at the forefront of real estate.
On March 11, 2021, we talked with real estate agents and their offices about the state of the luxury market in North America and we looked at some key market trends in U.S. real estate. Despite Covid, it is an exciting time to be in real estate and we enjoyed having a conversation with agents about their experiences, too.
ListGlobally has just launched a new tool, the Marketing Kit is available through the Resources tab in your MyListGlobally dashboard. Our goal with the new Marketing Kit is to help you win more listings and make more sales by providing you with a tool that helps you better explain your global marketing strategy to your clients.
We have already talked about seducing customers through a property description, however the message displayed on the text must coincide with the images shown. But great real estate photos don’t come easy. You need to have an eagle eye, a sense of aesthetics and a sales perspective to take the best photo to impress your potential buyers.
Selling a property to a Chinese buyer has its challenges. As prominent real estate agents and developers, the Chinese buyer is one of the most sought-after markets in international property. Almost every day we hear news pertaining to new purchases in many locations and countries.
However, many property agents and developers have come to me over the past years, puzzled. It’s all over the news, we see them on the street, at auctions, at open house, but most have never successfully sold to any before. Many try to get into this market but hitting the wall each time.
Here are a few things you need to know what is going on in the mind of a Chinese buyer.
It is well understood that the cross-border property buying process generally takes longer than a domestic purchase, however for Chinese buyers, the duration could be much longer than all other international property buyers. Reasons for this include language barriers, a restriction of information within China (no Google and Google maps which makes it hard for buyers to make independent searches,) and transferring money out of China etc.
It Is therefore very important to have a strategic long-term plan dedicated to the Chinese market. For example, setting up a WeChat official account to ensure that you can consistently connect with these buyers via WeChat.
WeChat is a big part of the Chinese lifestyle – it’s WhatsApp, Facebook, Insta, Tinder, Amazon, Yelp, Banking, Uber, UberEats combined in one App. Chinese do not use emails as much as we do, most communication is done via WeChat. If you want to connect with them, familiarizing yourself with WeChat will be a good start. (Note: WeChat has a translation tool for your conversations)
On Chinese real estate portals like Anjuke.com & Fang.com, 95% of their buyer’s inquiries leave WeChat contact details instead of mobile numbers.
Post properties for sales or market update on your feed so buyers can get updated on your markets.
Yes, Chinese is a tough language, but bear in mind that it is not a blocking issue. At the end of the day, if the buyer is really interested in your property and if they do not speak a single word of English or your language, they will bring along a translator or a friend|relative who can speak the language. I have seen a German agent and Chinese buyer conversing on WeChat using a translation tool to finish up a sale. It does work.
What is more important, is to find an efficient way to communicate with Chinese buyers at the early stages of the buying process. For example, hire a Chinese-speaking staff member or work with an external Chinese concierge to send them translated brochures. Once the qualification process is done, you can take over the closing.
End of the day, I have to admit that Chinese buyers are tough to deal with. But the greatest pleasure and comfort I get out of these ordeals is the old adage about Chinese buyers: You get one, you get the entire village. Once you get the first deal across, the buyer will start getting all his family and friends to buy from you! It’s a long process but the reward is huge.
ListGlobally has you covered by providing access to a truly global audience and promotion across the largest network of real property portals available you will reach +200M potential buyers every month.
You select your properties and we publish worldwide through our network of +100 property portals in +60 countries.
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Esther Yong is the Director and Co-founder of ACproperty.com.au, Australia’s no.1 Chinese language property portal. ACproperty is currently working alongside ListGlobally, providing Chinese market solution to ListGlobally clients around the world.
Esther Yong’s Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/estheryongtj/
In our International Buyer Trends report for 2020, ListGlobally presents the latest trends in property searches in the United States, based on data from our proprietary business tools, results from ListGlobally survey questionnaire and validation by cross-referencing trusted sources.
Last year, foreign buyers spent $74 billion on U.S. properties. The world is more connected than ever. Cross border transactions and investments in international property remain stable and global property marketing has become a requirement.
The U.S. real estate market is booming, making it a surprising oasis amid the pandemic. In fact, the market continues to thrive due to record low mortgage interest rates and the ability to work from home.
2020 has been a rollercoaster - as far as the US real estate industry is concerned. Leading markets in the country have witnessed record-low mortgage rates even as buyer demand surged consistently. There also was a wave of relocations across the country, which pushed home prices in many states including New York, California and Florida to unprecedentedly higher boundaries.
It’s not unusual for people to dream about living in the mountains.
The United States is the world’s largest economy. For this reason, investing in real estate can be very profitable.
Winning and selling listings is what being a real estate professional is all about. Sometimes this is easier said than done, but we have some tips to help you win your next listing.
As an international agent, no doubt that many of your foreign buyers have their eye on Switzerland, North America, France, Spain and Portugal.
You are publishing your listings worldwide through ListGlobally network of real estate portals? Well done!
With ListGlobally’s access to listing portals around the globe and our user-friendly interface, our agents and clients have the tools in place to start selling to foreign buyers.
If you are one of those who prepared in advance, then it is time to reap the benefits! And sorry, not the 'spreading your towel on the sand and enjoying the sun' type of perks, but work related ones!
Earlier this month, with the help of Diane from Keyes.com, we talked about how to sell beachfront property. We discussed the fact that it’s a dream for many people to own beachfront property because summer awakens thoughts of basking in the sun and frolicking with family in paradise. It is also the busiest season when selling or leasing real estate along the water.
In this article, we offer some practical advice when dealing with beachfront buyers. Here you will find tips from an on-the-frontline agent in coastal North America, Diane from Keyes.com, to glean some insights on being an agent during this unique time.
There are many reasons a person might leave his country: work, studies or even the prospect of a better life. The fact is that with global mobility, many people and companies are exploring the option to work and/or live abroad. Global connectivity reinforces the perception that it is possible to manage your life and career regardless of your location in the world, thanks to modern technology and the recent pandemic which has shifted the definition of working remotely.
Summer vacation is the perfect time for foreign buyers to scope out the area where they have found a potential property to buy. It is common practice to visit the selected property as the final step before buyer’s seal the deal. Add this to an appetite for summer vacation plans and it is a well-balanced serving of business and pleasure.
We get it. All over the globe today, businesses are deciding where to make cutbacks until the economy gets back on track. Business owners can’t afford to dilly-dally around with initiatives that offer little or no return on investment. You put cash upfront in order to get a positive return. Well, we’re not interested in wasting your time - keep reading!
There is no doubt that the pandemic continues to affect our way of living. We can also be sure that after the economy reopens, we won’t be as eager to meet with a customer in a face-to-face scenario and we can forget about handshakes and other friendly greetings.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak started, we started analyzing the impact this crisis is having on the Foreign Buyers market. Two months ago, we noticed a strong increase in properties enquiries coming from China (x3). At the time, 81% of buyers told us they were still actively looking.
Several months ago, when China was in a lock down, our enquiries spiked quite significantly. As mentioned previously, there are a few reasons for this.
In a typical year, the real estate would begin its Spring boom right about now; however, 2020 will be no typical year. The Coronavirus pandemic has undeniably impacted the spring schedule, making it likely that real estate market activity is going to be pushed further into the spring and possibly into the summer months. With many people postponing (or cancelling) summer holidays and hundreds of millions being placed on lock down, buyers and sellers have been looking at properties online, even more so than they usually do. When society resumes its normal rhythm, and it will, pent-up demand will likely yield a surge of activity in the market. As a real estate professional, you’ll want to capitalize on this interest and hit the ground running. Make sure you are positioned properly through ListGlobally’s global listing coverage and integrated platforms to help you secure new business.
The coronavirus crisis has now reached Europe, causing a considerable slowdown in everyone's daily routine. But what are the consequences of the ‘stuck-at-home’ scenario for potential buyers and users of the ListGlobally real estate portals?
